If we wanted to, L-Plate Grandad and I could spend all day ferrying Small and Little G from one organised activity to another, such is the wide and varied choice available locally. Playgroup might morph into Baby Sensory Club, then on to Music Time, Baby Yoga, Rhythm Time, Mini Mindfulness and so on. However, as these all cost money, and we are on a pension and mean, we refuse to pay out for stuff when we can amuse us and them for free.
One of our favourite free haunts is the local playground, recently refurbished. Little G is an experienced playgrounder, and can be safely left to work her way round the various things on offer, with only the occasional encouraging remark. Small, however, needs constant supervision as he has no fear, less sense and is reluctant to do any serious risk analysis before launching himself off the end of things he has clambered up.
Once we are all playgrounded out, we often drive to another favourite location: the end of the runway at Luton Airport. There, ensconced behind a mesh fence, we can watch the planes arriving and taking off. Little G and Small bring their two toy planes, and wave them in the air enthusiastically, making plane noises. Little G is now quite expert with the vocab, and can talk about 'control towers' and 'wheels down'. She can identify a Whizz plane from an EasyJet one, and a few weeks ago, we managed to see the last few scheduled Monarch flights going out.
Watching the planes is not just popular with us. Whatever time of day we turn up, and whatever the weather, there is always a line of cars parked by the fence, with men (mainly) with binoculars, flasks and sandwiches sitting in folding chairs along the perimeter. Some even have step-ladders and perch on the top step, like umpires at Wimbledon. It is clear that when it comes to watching planes take off and land, we are all just small kids at heart. Though two of us actually are.
My parents used to take me and my brother to watch the planes when we were kids, and I remember taking my eldest to the old observation area at Birmingham airport when he was little. Free can be more fun than any paid activity- and often more memorable!
ReplyDeleteOh there's no age limit on playing! (though there's many and old fart will claim that there is).
ReplyDeleteI think I remember doing this when I was a child, some of those planes are huge when you get this close.
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to take us to London airport..where the HUGE planes were! Luton has the smaller ones..and you can't get as close to the runway any more...shame! When D was young, you could stand so close, the pilots would wave!
DeleteWhat wonderful fun you all have. By the way, there are equal numbers of mainly men who do the same with boats!
ReplyDeleteReally? I never knew that!
DeleteAnd you've got Old Warden and Duxford not far away, too - although presumably they have entrance fees. Oh - and am thinking of buying all your Victorians in p/back just for the beauty of the covers!
ReplyDeletethis is true...and the covers are gorgeous, I agree...tho you might enjoy the contents also!
DeleteI have! Got them all, and loved them. Rarely buy both e and real book, but I'm going to make an exception...
ReplyDeleteSO kind..if you PM/DM me your address, I can send you signatures to stick in them! Like what I do for other readers.
DeleteWe used to take our children to the airport to watch the planes. That was back in the day when you could go into the airport and onto a viewing platform. All changed now and you can't do that. We even took thirty nursery children there on a trip.
ReplyDelete