Aug

423. Hamleys Opening

We have been well into the holidays, and despite my Mom trying to get me to be technology free except for practicing school work, I have still managed to get in some Pacman on the Xbox.

While lying on the on the bed before bedtime (I should note I have moved back to my parents room, I really don’t think they can cope without me) we were listening to different kinds of music and dad told me it was flamenco. I got my guitar and announced to the folks. “I actually speak Flamenco. While listening to Mariachi music”. Silence from the folks, mom leaves the room laughing and comes back and kisses me to within an inch of my life.

In the meantime I lay on the bed, eyes closed like the tortured musician I am.

Mom and I have been cleaning out my room and selling some things as Mom says to make space for more. I am really enjoying this process and am playing in my room more. In actual fact there have been some days where this is all I have done.

Joseph and I had a play date at our place. We had lots of fun, and even more when Liya from next door arrived and I was able to lead her on the secret mission Joe and I had embarked upon. We annihilated a number of aliens in our wake (you can thank us for that another time as they didn’t arrive in America for a change).

Our retail visits consisted of a visit to The Crazy Store to replace a toy of Joe’s that I broke. A ton of Pick ‘n Pay visits to acquire Stikeez, regardless of the milk bread or other food. We don’t need to eat just Stikeez. Joe and I swapped some with the help of our Moms and I am now 2 away from my goal of 24.

This does of course mean that I have photos taken with all the soft Stikeez in store. A lady at Pick ‘n Pay Woodmead was so kind and gave me 5. I ran around the shop telling all the staff.

Of course we went to the opening of Hamleys. There was a great character parade. Jadon and I played on the jungle gyms a bit then watched the parade and took photos. Then I made my Mom stand in queues till 7pm to buy me stuff. I got some Paw Patrol characters. Awesome. For those wanting to know Mom thought the retail strategy was very South African with the Hamleys experience. We were lucky we got things that we haven’t found in other stores.

We went to Michelle for dinner and I had 3 helpings of pea and mint soup. Michelle is the other domestic goddess in my life. I was the oldest so my good example showed well as Neil decided my oxtail was good so we shared a plate. Dad joined us after poker, he was funny. It was a late night but I held on, I couldn’t let the old folks win.

I took Granny and Rebecca and Mom to shop for some sewing supplies and managed to get some for myself as well!

We went to a scratch patch in Bluehills; we thought there might be a little underground tour but that is only on the weekends. We loved playing in all the stones cold, and hard. We ate and played on the jungle gym and we let our Moms shop a little. I then had a great session with Braam and Lauren later in the day.

Saturday while mom was on conference, I decided to get her flowers. Dad tried to help me but I announced ‘Dad you stay outside I just need your card’. I got behind the counter, chose the ribbon, the flowers, and helped the sales assistant, who was really patient. Dad was so proud of me – I’m getting fully independent at shops and restaurants. During the course of the morning Daddy thought he found our old PO Box key from when before we moved house. We schlepped across the city and voila, it fitted. We emptied two years of mail out the box, and needless to say, after sorting it, we threw 95% of it away, Napoleon style (those of you that know your history will understand this).

As spring is on our doorstep, we readied the pool by doing a long backwash, dosing up on chemicals and making sure it is sparkly clean. Tuesday Dad and I have to do our obligatory spring swim.

Sunday was a very lazy day; I started by playing cars in my bedroom on my ‘road floor’, played lots of Playdoh, jumped on the trampoline for hours and pretended to be a dinosaur from Jurassic World, escaping to the lab. In the evening Dad and I succumbed to the call of technology and played Lego Jurassic World on the Xbox. We’ve almost finished the game already!

That’s all folks!

Jay-Bee