Calling all Brownies

No not the edible ones but the ones that come in and clean your house when you're asleep. I have a very important visitor arriving in two days and have just spent the morning cleaning Mollie's bedroom, although according to Mollie she cleaned it yesterday so I'm wondering how she'll account for the two bags of rubbish and two loads of washing I found up there.

I still have the rest of the house to tackle so if there are any volunteers come on over...and yes I have the edible brownies here for all helpers.

Brithday Greetings...

Friday evening was spent making birthday gifts for a very special lady.

Happy Birthday Mum

While the boys stay home the girls have fun away.

Apparently four of you know me well enough to guess who left the lights on...me! Although I have to admit I'm not sure how but I was the one sorting out the car on Sunday night ready for the early start Monday morning (typical) and somehow must have turned the lights on when moving the seats.

I'm sitting here with the lyrics from The Sound of Music running through my head as we've just returned from a trip to London where we saw the show at The London Palladium. This trip was actually mine and Mollie's Christmas present from last year (only we couldn't get tickets) and mum's present this year. Mollie and I had religiously watched a tv show where a Maria was picked by the audience and we were dying to see the musical in London's West End.

We had to get up early to catch our coach to London then it was time for a quick breakfast before we dumped our bags at our hotel and headed into central London. The last time I was in London was seven and a half years ago, back then both Sam, my sister and Simon, Joules brother lived in London so we visited every year and always had a place to crash. I was five months pregnant and took Dillon and Mollie up for a few days where we visited the London Dome (which I really enjoyed) and the aquarium. All Mollie can remember from this trip was the pokemon lollipop I bought her so it was time to show her the sights. We visted Covent Garden and found a road full of shoe shops (Mollie's weakness, although she resisted making a purchase this time) then walked through Leicester Square, Picadilly and down Regent street keeping our eyes peeled among the throng of shoppers for Hamleys, so say the world's biggest toy shop. It was in Hamleys that Mollie managed to part with some of her money spent on a hospital for My Littlest Pet. By this time the rain was pouring so we hopped into Liberties for a wander before stopping off for a hot chocolate and cake before it was time to see the show.

Connie, the original winner of the tv show, was not on stage that night but another girl from the tv show called Aoife was playing the role of Maria. We had fantastic seats in the middle of the stalls and the whole cast was excellent. I had never seen this musical before and it is slightly different to the film. The set design was brilliant, my favourite had to be the moving mountain. Mollie really enjoyed the show and is busy planning dreaming of her next musical in London!

Yesterday, after a huge breakfast in the hotel, we decided to go on a sightseeing bus tour of London so Mollie could see all the sights in one day. Lucily we got a seat on top under the cover so we did not get too cold as we spent a few hours touring all the sights in London and learning a brief history as well. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to partake in the free river cruise but we managed to squeeze in a walk down Oxford street and a visit to Selfridges where I bought Mollie a skirt reduced to £10 from £88 (who in their right mind would spend £88 on a denim mini) and myself some kitchen tongs. We were rather taken with the jewellery in Tiffany's but knew it was out of our price range.

All in all it was a lovely break and I hope it's not another seven and a half years before I return to London again.