After a lovely leisurely lie-in (ahhh – I do love Saturdays!) we all set off on the bus to explore Crystal palace. We stopped off first at a market that included craft stalls, but were rather surprised by just how small it was with only a handful of stalls including one very determined lady trying to sell her cards. We did buy a few things including some second hand baby clothes for Sam which he’ll need for winter.

Once we had exhausted the little market we wandered back towards Crystal palace park to have an explore. We started at the main entrance and followed the central path through the park which seemed to be all steps going downwards. Most of the top half of the park seemed to be deserted and we even came across a slightly eerie empty fun fair.

Because we had to find somewhere to stop to give Sam his lunch we went into the Sports centre and sat (all alone) in the little cafe there with a cup of tea while trying to persuade Sam to eat his food. Thankfully once we had continued past the Sports centre and down some more steps we came into a more foresty part of the park which was much more popular. Sam then had his nap while Rich and I pushed him round the Victorian model dinosaurs which were tucked among the trees as part of a display that was 150 years old. We really enjoyed spending some time with these odd looking creatures, especially Rich who even went so far as to name the dinosaur in the above photo “Toothy Bill”. More photos can be found in the improved photo gallery.

Sam and I decided that it was high time to visit Cheam again and have another look around the lovely Nonsuch park. After much dashing to get there on time (I ended up walking quite some way to pick up the tram as this week it wasn’t running on our part of the line) we turned up early but luckily Cheam station has a great little waiting area (nice sofas and even a selection of books from the local library that you are welcome to borrow!).

Once Joh turned up with baby Eleanor we all head off back to her house for some lunch and a chat before heading out to Nonsuch park. I ended up being very thankful for the hearty chicken and stuffing sandwiches that Joh made as she hiked across the park with little Eleanor strapped to her front and me huffing along behind trying to keep up.

We sat for a while admiring some of the flower beds while I gave Sam his 3pm bottle and then before we knew it I had to head back to the station to catch the train home. Thanks for having us Joh and hopefully we’ll be round to visit again soon!