a trip into town

Things have picked up slightly here, nearly two weeks into our summer holiday. We now have an additional young adult in the family, a 16 year old girl from Switzerland. She is lovely. James and Alistair have taken to her like fish to water. Sam and Annie are a little more shy but thawing by the minute. There was some dessert preparation with girlie chit chat today and a plan to go shopping next week. Our mornings are still slow but we now try to do something in the afternoons. Today we went into town. That was me with two teenagers and three children. It was fun. We took a train into Glasgow Queen Street (£4.50 return for all six of us, a bargain trip) and meandered our way first down then up Buchanan Street, popping into a shop or two or three. Crabtree & Evelyn for a bit of lotion testing, Forbidden Planet for a bit of superhero admiration, Remnant Kings in the House of Fraser for a fabric, Whittard's for a bit of coffee sniffing and free hot chocolate testing (and spilling), Paperchase for a colour experience and Poundland because you just got to visit Poundland if you are a teenager. The main reason for a trip into town was a visit to Hamleys. James and Alistair had some money to spend and I had promised them for about two years to take them to the big toyshop in town. It is quite an experience, even for an adult. James got really stressed because he didn't know what to get. Poor we mite. The shop seems to be run by cheerful students who play with kids and help them find their parents when lost. Sam is convinced they are all on speed or stoned. I wonder how he could tell. In any case, a job at Hamleys beats stacking shelves at Tesco's or collecting and washing the dishes in a self serve restaurant. I did the latter once, it was not fun. It was even less fun than picking up dog poop at the Swiss International Dog Exhibition. For that job, I had a small trolley with a bin, a bucket of sawdust, brush, broom and shovel. It was quite an entertaining summer job, and well paid, too. But I digress. James and Alistair both bought remote controlled hexbugs despite my gentle reminder that these would be broken within a day. I really wanted them to buy  a gross science kit to make slime and stuff like that. Or maybe an anatomical model of a body with removable organs. You know, something mildly educational. Alas, it was their money to spend, not mine. As James was pacing through the shop frantically, all of use managed to pick up a small birthday present for James without him noticing. He will be eight this Saturday. We are all tired after this trip into town. Tomorrow we'll be going to the movies. On Wednesday we'll be heading up North to spend a couple of days with a friend in a lochside cottage. It is good to be on holiday. 

I have no photos to illustrate our trip into town but I am sure you like the completely unrelated photos of roses. There is a rose garden in the Botanics that I like to visit in summer. It is well worth a stop should you ever make it to Glasgow in early summer. 

Have a lovely Tuesday! Cxx