holidaydaysix

I fitted a walk in – just a wee one around the neighbourhood.  I’ve already managed three so far this holiday – this can only be a good thing.

Then the day began properly with an epic game of Monopoly played by Chris, Jerry and I.  What huge fun.  Chris plays like a master with many years’ experience and pretty soon I was out on my bumterara.  As the banker, though, I was still involved at a certain level and got to watch Chris slowly annihilate the small nine-year-old girl to whom said Monopoly was given by Father Christmas.  She didn’t complain, mind you, we just had such fun.

The weather was cool (wonderful relief) and so I told Jerry that an “inside” adventure would be on the cards.  This saw us heading off to Canal Walk.  Now I’m not very fond of malls .......... actually, I loathe malls with every fibre of my being, so I put on my octopus hat, I mean my optimist hat off we went.

The first order of the day was lunch.  With some rather grotty KFC under the belt we left the bad service behind us to purchase tickets for the “Ice World”.  This consists of a triple story fridge erected in the middle of a shopping centre where the kidlets can toboggan, build snowmen and throw snow at each other, while their frozen parents stand around trying to make as if the snot frozen to their top lips is quite natural.

Said torture chamber appears to be very popular and we had an hour and a half wait for our exciting episode.  We popped into Woolies to swap an incorrectly labelled shirt Séan had bought a coupla weeks back and then ..........

.......... I undertook every mother’s worst nightmare: I spent half an hour tending to my daughter whilst she flitted around gleefully throwing tokens into brightly lit machinery that beeps, rings and plays “music” at decibels hitherto undiscovered.  I was in a video arcade! **sweat**

Finally the last of the tokens had been eagerly gobbled up and we were able to depart with a few meagre “prizes” as our only proof of the horror we had endured.  Sjoe!

We then headed off to the Ice World where a poster of a smiling penguin warns that “it’s very cold in here ... -5 degrees”.  Efficient teenagers hand out fleecy ponchos to the kidlets and windbreakers to the parents who are soon to discover that there’s a very fine line between brave and stupid.  The little smiling penguin doesn’t have a #*@&ing clue!!! It’s chucking filly in there.  Within about four minutes your fingers are no longer able to function and it’s advisable to put your camera/cell phone away smartly before you’re unable to.  Children scream about having a total jol while their very friendly parents stand around watching.  It was only a little later than I realised that I, too, was a very friendly parent.  My smile had frozen on my face and I would have been unable to remove it even had my life depended on it.

Approximately four and a half hours later you register some teenager calling attention to the fact that “Ladies, Gentlemen and Children playing on the inside of Ice World please note that your 20 minutes is now over.  Please make your way to the exit in someorother corner”.  Summoning every ounce of whatever energy I still had available I grabbed Jerry’s hand and fled.  Out into the most welcome brick wall of heat I had ever had the pleasure of slamming into.

She wants to go again.  Next time her father can take her.

Happy Day!!! J

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