Monthly Archives: April 2009

Remember you’re a Wandle

Wandle park - playgroundIt’s been a good few years now since I first went past Wandle park tram stop while on the way to Ikea with Rich. When I first saw it I said to Rich that I thought it was a fantastic name for a park – I even went so far as to say that if I had a park I would want to call it that. So every time we travel past that stop on the tram and notice the Wandle Arms pub on the way I always think to myself that one day I’ll get off and go have a look round.

Well today Sam and I did get off – though we didn’t intend that Wandle park would be our destination, a naughty man who shouldn’t have had his bicycle on the tram caused a big delay while extra transport people came along to evict him and the offending bike. So instead of going a few stops further down the line we got off at Wandle park instead and had a wander around.

Wandle park

The weather today was glorious – lovely and sunny and warm with a slight breeze to keep you feeling refreshed. We started out by having a quick look at the playground and Sam even had a very gentle go on one of the swings while being held on my lap – he really seemed to enjoy it. As the other climbing frames and spinny things were a little too old for Sam we went off to see what else the park had to offer. That’s when we came to a little section that looked like in better times to have been some sort of small formal garden and nearby that was this little monument thingie which was engraved with the date the park first opened in 1890.

I’m happy to say that this park has won some lottery funding to pay for improvements including the raising of the River Wandle (which runs underground through the park), sadly the Fuzzy family will have probably moved up North by that time but maybe one day we will get to see the park after all the work has been completed.

Cold inside

From the top...

From the top...

Steve was kind enough to organise a trip to Xscape (Milton Keynes) last Friday and I went along to see if I could still ski, a year after my first experiences in La Plagne. We went straight from work and hit a jam on the M25 where Steve had to tolerate me and Chris telling him the current traffic status using our iPhones.

We grabbed a quick bite at Wetherspoons and then went through to get our equipment. You always need to be ready to disclose your weight when you go skiing as they need to set the ski bindings up correctly. After revealing this embarrassing fact and collecting my skis I was ready to tackle the slope.

They had a snow plough too!

They had a snow plough too!

The slope would only rank as part of an easy blue run but it still looked a bit daunting for someone who hadn’t been skiing for a year. The run-off area at the bottom of the slope was quite short and there was no chance of starting on the easy slope as it was in use for lessons. In the end the first run down was fine and I managed to get through the whole evening without falling over. Chris’ first run was a little different – he got right to the bottom of the slope before he spotted one of his beloved safety fences and fell over in his excitement.

We ended up with about 3 hours of skiing taking a brief hot chocolate break in the middle. I was satisfied that I had remembered most of my skiing lessons but still felt like I was getting in the way of everyone else (mostly snowboarders). I’d recommend the experience though, and might have to visit the one in Leeds sometime.

Thanks again the Steve for organising and chauffeuring us to Milton Keynes and back.

Park life

The FeltonsAhh – there’s nothing like a nice lazy Sunday to recharge your batteries for the week ahead. After a morning of shopping and a little house work we decided to have a quick walk in the nearby park. Rich took Sam in the baby carrier and for what is possibly the first time Sam seemed to enjoy it. We put Sam in facing outwards so that he could see what was around him and he seemed to enjoy having a good look everywhere.

To give Rich a break from carrying his increasingly heavy son (who is now over a whole stone in weight!) we stopped to have a rest on the grass and managed to take this great photo. Rich and Sam also had a go on one of the swings in the kids playground – but Sam seemed not to care too much about it.

sam_in_blanket

Oh – and I also managed to finally finish Sam’s cot bed blanket that I’ve been working on for about 4 months. I’m particularly taken with it and just love how well it turned out, especially how well all the colours seem to go together. I’m a little late getting in done though so it will have to go away until next winter when Sam can have it on his bed.

Sam receives recognition from the mayor!

Sam meets the mayorSam and I have been enjoying our newly found local library quite a bit this week and were delighted to find that Sam had a personal invitation to meet with the Mayor of Croydon on Saturday. Sam has been taking part in the national ‘Book crawl‘ initiative and as we had read through 4 books from our new found library he was entitled to a certificate which the Mayor himself wanted to come and present to him.

Also attending Sam’s certificate presentation was the Bookstart bear himself who was quite a draw for some of the other children who also happened to be in the library that day. We had some ‘rhyme time’ fun before the certificates where we all joined in some of our childhood songs and Sam got a rattle to shake while Rich helped him join in with some of the actions. Impressively the mayor did join in for some of the songs too and even sat down on the floor with the rest of us kids 🙂

Sam’s weigh in

Park lifeSam is surprised to announce that he now weighs in at a hefty 6.88 kg (15 lb 2 oz)! My – all that solid food must be doing a good job 🙂

You can see him in this photo modelling his new sun hat while out enjoying the sunshine in our local park. He was trying to reach the camera while I was taking this photo which is why he has a look of annoyed concentration on his face.

Library adventures

Old library buildingYesterday afternoon Sam and I decided to test out his new sun hat at the local park where we decided to stop for half an hour and enjoy the lovely sunshine. We chose to sit near the building that used to be a library – but sadly is now empty. After spending some time looking at the lovely old building and wishing that it still contained a library we decided to head back home after doing a circuit of the park.

On our way back I noticed a sign to a ‘public library’ which lead us to where this old library must have been rehomed! Very excitedly we went in to have a good look around and spent a little time admiring the nice spacious layout. We sadly had to go home for Sam’s feed but decided to make a return visit this morning for their Tuesday ‘Rhyme time’.

Well – the Rhyme time was good fun and very popular, lot’s and lot’s of other small children came along and Sam had a good look at them all crawling around or walking about (I hope he is taking good notice!). Some of the songs I already knew but most of them I’ll have to learn, though I think if we make this a regular weekly event that won’t be too hard 🙂 I’m very happy to have found our local library at last and I’m looking forward to the day when Sam gets as excited about visiting it as I do.

Visitors from Northland

Bouncy SamFor the last couple of days we have been enjoying the company of Rich’s parents who made the trip down south to come and visit Sam (and us!) this weekend. Having guests round is always great as it gives me a great excuse to ‘forget’ my diet for a few days while I indulge on the tasty food we have when we have guests.

Rich’s parents also came with gifts – most of which were for Sam but also included a friend’s secondhand sewing machine for me to learn to use… I’m very very excited about this and I can’t wait to get started. Hopefully I’ll be able to start making a few items of clothing for Sam if I get the hang of it quickly enough – he’s growing so quick at the moment that I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to keep up!

We spent Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning with Rich’s parents but they sadly had to return to Northland this morning as they have jobs to get back to. Thanks so much for coming all the way down to visit us – we loved seeing you 🙂

After Rich’s parents had left we had a few hours to sort ourselves out before dashing off to meet up with a group of our friends from work in a nearby park before heading off for a meal out together. This was Sam’s first ever time at a restaurant with us and he was started out well by napping while we ate our main course, however he woke up before we ordered dessert and needed a little entertaining while we tried to get some pudding into ourselves. Now we’ve started feeding Sam mashed up food I think he fancies the food on our plates too!

All in all a great weekend was had by the Fuzzy household, though now we are all ready for bed. zzzzzz

Nonsuch park

Nonsuch palaceToday Sam and I made the journey over to Cheam to visit Joh and Claire. Sam and I arrived a little early so that Sam could have a quick bite to eat before we all went off to have a wander around Nonsuch park.

Foolishly I forgot to take any photos from our trip out so I can’t show you just how lovely the park is, the picture on the left is of Nonsuch manor which is very similar to the style of the old manor house where Rich and I work.

We bought some drinks and cake from the little cafe in the manor and ate them outside while admiring the scenery. After fortifying ourselves we then went for a good walk round the park which as well as being lovely is also huge. Before we knew it it was time to dash off to catch our train back, Joh very kindly walked us back and even though she is 9 months pregnant it was me that was out of breath when we got there!

Joh is due to be having her little one very soon now and I’m really looking forward to being able to visit her in such lovely surroundings while she is on her maternity leave.

Happy Easter!

Sam with Grandad and GrandmaEaster seems to have crept in early this year, it came as a real surprise to me when I looked in my diary and noticed that it was only a couple of weeks away. Thanks to everyone who sent the Fuzzy household Easter cards and chocolate – we really appreciated you all thinking of us and can’t wait to start munching our way through our stash  🙂

As an added Easter treat we had a visit from my parents who were very happy to see Sam again. Sam as always enjoyed having guests and was as talkative as ever – I keep thinking he is going to start talking soon…

Sam with GrandmaMy parents also came with Easter presents, a lovely looking egg for Rich & me and some very cute Easter decorations for Sam.

After we had all had a few cups of tea and Sam had been cuddled by his Grand parents it was pretty much time for dinner – roast beef with all the trimmings! Yummmm! Sam was good enough to sit and watch us eat our food before deciding that he needed to go and have a nap. So while he was napping we all tucked into some of Rich’s delicious chocolate brownies with ice cream and then declared ourselves full to the brim.

We hope you’ve all had a great Easter too and that you also got pleanty of chocolately goodness.

Visiting work

Sam's the bossToday Sam and I made the journey into work as I needed to speak to my manager about what flexible working options were available to me if I decided to come back to work at the end of my maternity leave. If I did return to work it would have to be on very different terms as I would only do it if I could work from home part time. So my manager will try to find out if anything can be arranged to make this possible – but I won’t know for sure for a good while.

Sam was very well behaved and charmed everyone that he met – especially all the ladies 🙂 He was also very good for my meeting and occasionally piped up with a comment that he felt needed making.

After catching up with my work colleagues we then went in search of Rich who seemed to think that Sam may make a pretty good boss… hence the photo on the left of Sam taking up position at Rich’s manager’s desk. Rich changed his mind about this though as he didn’t fancy spending all his time trying to stop Sam falling off the office chair.