How do you solve a problem....?

We left home on time for our train to London. This day out has been in planning since December! Train to London, 3 hours to do what we like and then tickets for Sound of Music at the London Palladium theatre. The big attraction was Connie Fisher - she won her role as Maria in a reality tv show (How do you solve a problem like Maria) on BBC last autumn. Ticket sales exploded and when I tried to book (in December) the earliest I could get decent seats for a Saturday matinee was June 16th.

I was a bit iffy about taking the trip to London - when my Nan was ill I went to London and she died that night. I'm not really that superstitious, but Dad's funny turns on Friday had worried me. But he insisted I go and Mum had promised to tell me if she thought he'd deteriorated on Friday night (which he didn't). So off we went.

Courtesy of Pru (I travelled so much to London with them I had a book of free rail tickets) we went first class on the train. There were some delays around Wakefield due to flooding but all in all not too bad. Fran and Emily were quite impressed - Fran said she felt very posh! There was a bit of drama on the train as there were two drunks in the next carriage (yes, at 7.40am!) causing mayhem. They seemed like young guys, dressed quite smartly. Anyway, a Scottish stewardess and the threat of Transport Police at the next station seemed to sort them out.

We arrived into Kings Cross at 10.30am (half an hour late) and it took until just after 11 to sort out tube tickets! There are some fundamental flaws in the London Underground ticketing options. There were huge queues for the ticket office, and we stood in the queue for the ticket machine instead. When we got to the front, I realised that the machines did not sell child tickets - adults only. So I thought sod it, and paid for adult day travelcards instead. My logic was that it was better than queuing for the ticket office. I had an oyster card (which I'd got when I worked for Pru) and so was expecting to whizz through the barrier. Wrong. It didn't have enough cash on it. Back to the queue for another travelcard for me. What a nightmare - and Saturday is the worst day to be trying to buy tickets as Kings Cross is packed with tourists who don't know how to use the machines properly. This means that transactions which should take 2 minutes can take up to 10!!

We got to Oxford Circus really quickly - it's only 3 stops. The girls did not like the underground (but having had all that fuss getting tickets I was not up for going on a bus or by taxi!!).

Across the road from the tube station is a huge Top Shop. Emily and Fran were excited - they stood and the entrance and bounced up and down hugging each other for about 2 minutes. Then they went beserk... running around the store like possessed people! Reminded me of when you wind up a toy and then let go................

So they had fun trying on wigs and just generally looking at stuff they couldn't afford to buy. Next stop was Jane Norman, where they spent some of their money (they had £30 spends each) on sunglasses. Then to Claire's Accessories for magnetic earrings. And finally, the Disney shop, where Emily bought some cute glasses (drinking glasses) and so did I.

Time for lunch - I'd booked us into Bodeans BBQ Smokehouse. We ate burgers, pulled pork and BBQ chicken, and then it was time to go to the theatre. How excited we all were.... we were in our seats a good half hour before the show started!! (After the girls had purchased their Sound of Music T-shirts.)

The show was great - "brilliant and amazing" was Fran and Em's verdict. Connie was wonderful, as were all the cast, and despite running from 2.30pm until nearly 5.30pm (with a short interval) it seemed to be over far too quickly. We were debating whether to wait at the Stage Door for the cast to come out (we'd exited the theatre at the back) but decided against it, as we could be waiting a while. So we were on our way to find a coffee shop before heading back onto the tube, when Fran announced that she'd left her bag (containing camera and mobile phone!) in the theatre. We ran back round to the door we'd come out of. I told Emily that she might as well stand at the stage door and wait, while Fran and I went in for the bag. After speaking to about 4 members of staff, we finally found somebody who had her bag. Thank goodness, she was starting to get quite upset about it.

When we came back out, Emily said that Connie was about to appear... so we waited. She soon came out and the kids were thrilled to have her autograph, and a photograph with her. So Fran losing the bag turned out to be a stroke of luck.

By this time we needed to head back over to Kings Cross for the train home (at 6.30pm) so we jumped back on the tube. We arrived back really early at the station so stopped in the Lounge for a coffee and biscuits, and then onto the train for home. We were all really tired - I thought the girls would sleep but they didn't. They actually seemed to get a second wind at about 7.30pm and were quite boisterous all the way back! Lucky me.........

Again, we were delayed, and got back to Leeds around 9. Roy picked us up and we were home and having Pizza by half past. Then to bed.... all of us exhausted after an early start and a hectic day. Emily and I ended up having words about her behaviour later on (after she got tired she got stroppy) but that's just par for the course.