Tag: activities

Ice Skating in the UK

I know that the English are weird with their pickled eggs, eggy bread and squash but who in their right mind would design an ice skating rink that resembles a giant plastic cutting board and then strap a couple of butter knives on their feet!  We all know that plastic cutting boards can dull knives.

The thing is I can skate, not brilliantly, but I can.    I started when I was 3 and at one point my mother was the President of the Ice Skating Club.  That is me on the left.

However, when I took my daughter skating this morning I could barely stand up let alone do a few strokes and heaven forbid a Camel Spin or a Double Salchow, which at my age would’ve been a bad idea anyhow.  The skates were dull and I looked like a duck walking on a frozen pond.  Luckily, I could feign the doting parent and propped myself (safely) up against the edge to take this video.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Covent Garden

We were invited to Build-A-Bear Workshop in Covent Garden for a tour on Friday. We’d heard good things about it. The night before Madame and I spent some time on YouTube checking it out and to say the least we were both very excited!

We were warmly greeted by Jimmy at the store. He was brilliant with Madame, speaking to her the whole time at her level. He was very knowledgeable about all the bears and the process, even though he’s only been at the store for a couple of months. He guided her through the entire process from choosing a bear, to filling it, to inserting a beating heart, choosing clothes, dressing the bear and creating the Birth Certificate.

Madame normally has the attention span of a goldfish, like most other 3 year olds, but she was absolutely captivated the whole time. See for yourself!

Thanks to everyone, especially Jimmy, at Build A Bear for a brilliant experience.