Park and Ride

We headed over to Oxford this morning to meet Miss K, Miss M and Miss A for a trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum.
One of the highlights of any trip to Oxford for the Little Misses is the chance to go on a bus. A double decker bus. At the top!
Bless them, all the things I think of to keep them occupied and interested and all they really want to do is go on public transport!
Miraculously we were a little bit early and while we were waiting for the others the Little Misses had fun on the bus shelter assault course.
Until other people arrived and I thought I'd better pretend that I didn't think it was funny and tell the Little Misses that people didn't want to sit where their dirty feet had been and that they should stop immediately.
Once I'd taken a photo.
Hee hee!
We had fun at the museum looking at dinosaurs, dodos, stuffed animals and birds, skeletons, bones, fossils and lots of other weird and wonderful items. When we got to the anthropology section (the actual Pitt Rivers Museum rather than the Natural History Musem!) Miss L declared that she didn't want to look at any more. When I asked her why not she said it was because it was "silly and dirty".
It's the bit I want to go back to without them!
We had a browse in the shop and a mini-meltdown from Miss E because I stuck to my new rule that they can only spend their marble money on Saturdays.
I feel a bit mean but we go to lots of places with gift shops and they're obsessed with buying things. Often when we're walking around they're whinging all the time about going to the shop.
So I've put my foot down. Saturdays only from now on.
Miss E actually calmed down pretty quickly once she realised I wasn't going to change my mind.
From the museum we headed into town. Miss K wanted to go Primark and we had plenty of time before we had to head back to Miss E's swimming.
After walking up the road 100 yards behind everyone else with Miss L dawdling and faffing I decided I couldn't face the long walk to Primark and back so we said our goodbyes at the top of Broad Street and jumped back on the bus to the Park and Ride.
As we were early back to Buckingham we popped into the shop to see my dad for a while and then went to Padbury park for an hour. The Little Misses made friends with a couple of sisters and they all had a lovely time playing leaving me free to enjoy sitting in sun.
Swimming was ace. Not so many people as usual are doing it in the holidays so the class is smaller and they are getting on really well.
There were only three of them today - two nine year olds and Miss E!
They dived in to collect the brick for the first time (which took me back to my school days!) and the sight of Miss E's arm rising out of the water in slow motion holding the brick aloft is something I will never forget.
It was like watching the Lady of the Lake!
A better day today. She's been trying hard to be nice!