A day in Brum with Niamhy Noodles

We arranged to meet Donna and Niamh at the station to go on the train into Brum to see Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy release some balloons for the start of their tour run.

The lady at the kiosk in the station said how cute Tilly was. She did look very cute, she had her dress (that I made her on), her Charlie and Lola coat and her hair in bunches. Very cute indeed. Always makes me so proud when strangers comment on her good behaviour or cuteness.

We had a fun train journey in, Tilly and Niamh commenting on the way, spotting sheep, cars etc. We stopped just outside the station near a tunnel and it was so funny listening to the girls talk to each other.
T: "TUNNNELLLLL . *looks at Niamh*. . "we going in there"
N: "no we not. It's dark"
T: "we are though"
N: "no, we not"
T: *Shrieks with excitement as she looks at the entrance of the tunnel "OOOH TRAAAAAINNNN"

We got up to the square and there was a very poor turnout and a desperate PR man or promo manager running towards us, pleaing for us to be in the photoshoot. He asked how we found out (through my work) and he said that no papers were coming so he had to do himself. We walked over to the one other mum near the balloons. We watched him accosting other mums with young children. I couldn't help but burst out laughing when one lady, when she was told Igglepiggle was coming out asked if he'd be in costume! I mean honestly. She looked quite respectable, maybe she was having an off day.
It wasn't long before IgglePiggle and Upsy Daisy came out. One mum (the first one there) alarmingly started jumping and screaming like she'd just spotted a boy band. Again, I couldn't help but laugh. The girls were amazed. The balloons were let off and hilariously IgglePiggle's rather large head got caught in the netting. sadly by the time my camera phone loaded they had managed to set him free.
We went up to Igglepiggle and shook his hand, Upsy Daisy beckoned us over and Tilly shook hers too. I was so proud of Tilly not to be too scared. She wouldn't have her picture taken with them though, I think she needed to keep them in sight.

Had a lovely day around Birmingham with the girls and another trip on the train back home. Tilly really does love her best friend Niamhy Noodles.

Starbucks family

We used to go to Birmingham all the time but since we had Tilly we've not been.  I think it is the time spent to get there in the car.  We mooched about, down the canals, to IKON gallery and a few other places as well as the traditional shopping trip around Bullring, especially Selfridges. 

Having a break for a coffee we went to Starbucks in Borders, always nice as it tends to be child friendly, near the children's books and keeps Richard happy as he can always have a browse.  

I took a seat while Richard bought the drinks.  No sooner than I sat down and a small child (7 ish) turned to me and said 'hello' and that he 'liked making friends'.  My polite smiles opened the floodgates as he then showed me his pictures in his sketch book.  This all sounds very odd but it was a beautiful thing.  The two brothers were sitting on the sofa in Starbucks, their parents heavily engaged in conversation with friends on the sofa next to them. The boys both had sketch books filled with stories they'd written with accompanying pictures, the table in front of them was full of stickers, pencils, pens and more.  

Early on in this encounter I was sorting Tilly out with her milk and the small boy asked if I liked being pregnant, a weird question but the then clarified by telling me his mum was pregnant again and it was the size of a small tomato.  The constant barrage of questions, explanations and stories continued and I learnt of their parent's desire to have a girl, that they both liked Batman (but had improved his powers in their stories and even designed new logos for every year since 1980), heard about every other 'friend' that they'd made in Starbucks, in fact there wasn't much they didn't tell me!  Their parents seemed very relaxed by this conversation and sat heavily engaged in their own conversations.  Richard approached quizzically as these boys were by now standing up next to me showing me their sketches, many of which were Batman logos, Starbucks logos and a picture story that hadn't been finished as he couldn't decide what should happen. 

Richard always complains about his lack of understanding of what small children are saying and his ability to talk to them.  But that wasn't the case with them, I think it shows how much he has learnt and eased up with children since having Matilda.  He discussed and asked questions about their books and stories and the boys seem genuinely excited that he was interested and they excitedly nudged each other and talked louder to try to get his attention.  After about 25 minutes of this 'entertainment' we decided it was time to go.  Their father had finished talking to their other friends and apologised for them, there was no need to, they really had made it a quirky addition to our trip.  He told us to 'pop in anytime and say hi' which made both of us question if they were there every week, it certainly would explain the Starbucks logos in the sketch book dated 2006 and the boys revelations for customers that had been there.  I must remember that as a cheap parenting tool, let your children be entertained and learn socialisation lessons for free by spending Saturday afternoons in your local Starbucks!