PLAYING WELL

Turbo Drops, Trampolines and Lego

Sunday, 19^th July

Brought Hebden Bridge granddaughter, Edie, down to London for a performance ‘camp’ week with another granddaughter, Stella, who lives here. They greet each other with huge hugs and disappear to do who knows what but whatever it was entailed frequent gusts of laughter, and several keep out signs going up on the bedroom door.

Catch up with my grandson, Jacob, who is almost as excited as me. Why excited? When I hit 70, I decided to take each of my 6 grandchildren on a trip - just me and them - and this year it is the turn of Jacob, at thirteen, the eldest of the six. When I invited him, he asked if he could go with one of the others...”who would you like to take” I asked. To my surprise the answer was ‘Ezra’. Surprise because Ezra is only six - the youngest grandchild. Ezra worships Jake, and I always feel Jake just kind of puts up with him, hence my surprise at Jake’s choice.

We discussed where might be fun to go for both boys and settled on Legoland In Denmark. Jake has always been a Lego fan, Ezra less so, but was just so over-the-moon at Jake wanting him to go. he would have gone anywhere!

Monday, 20^th July

Day in the garden after yet another week away during a heat wave. Most of it looks okay thanks to wonderful upstairs neighbours – so far no hosepipe ban but it’s coming for sure. And whilst I don’t mind ferrying water from my bath, shower and washing up bowl it’s not something I can ask helpers to do. I know I have to have a serious re-think of my planting, more Mediterranean, more drought proof. I have a fancy for rampant bougainvilleas.

Tuesday, 21^st July

Prep my apartment for the Home exchangers who arrive at 5:00pm. A Swiss woman and her seventeen year old daughter both super excited at their planned week in London. The mother hasn’t been since she was seventeen and the daughter has a list of Instagram recommendations she wants to follow. Not all are along the lines of Camden Market – she is keen to see the Freda Kahla exhibition at the Tate. They present me with a huge bar of Lindt chocolate, I present them with a bottle of Prosecco, the front door keys, do a tour of the garden - showing them which plants really can’t be ignored - and leave them to it. Staying the night with son as we have to leave at 5:30 in the morning for our Billund flight.

Wednesday, 22^nd July

A lot of anxiety checking in with two young boys with different surnames to me – I have letters from parents giving me permission but still worried that for some reason we might be turned back and how would I ever make it up to them...but all was well. Flight left on time, the baggage claim area at Billund offering up a tantalizing Lego taster in the baggage claim area:

Car hire process was smooth and we arrived at our Home Exchange house which I surveyed with delight. Large, light, contemporary and very Scandie. Boys not that interested in discussing home décor but delighted by trampoline in garden. Accommodation sorted, we dumped our stuff and headed off for Lalandia – the largest indoor water park in Scandinavia.

Which is where the real test of my mettle began. Friends and family had all commented on my bravery and stoicism in taking the boys away but deep down I knew the truth. The real test of my bravery kicked in now. The rides at the water park. The clue is in the names: Tornado; Twister; Turbo Drop – I had been quietly dreading this moment and now I could put it off no longer.

I had thought I would escape by telling Ezra he wasn’t tall enough to do the really evil rides so I would have to stay with him but I was thwarted - every single ride had a measuring pole and, to my dismay, he was tall enough for all of them except ‘Turbo Drop’. I had no choice.

I started with the Twister. My two boys talked to me soothingly as Jake and I carried the (surprisingly heavy and awkward) rubber raft all the way up the 40 foot staircase (I hate heights), Ezra patted my back reassuringly as I climbed into aforementioned raft, and then we pushed off and...and...it was AMAZING. It swirled, it twirled, it splashed – went forwards, backwards – but not, thank God, upside down – it was fantastic. I think the boys were more excited that I loved it than they were at loving it themselves.

We were in the water park for FIVE hours. And isn’t it strange how fear works?

Ultimately, The scariest thing about the water park was letting the boys go into the men’s changing room together and waiting outside for half an hour convinced they had been abducted. I can report that the Danes all speak english – I know this as I asked every other man that exited the changing room if they spoke English and at their nods asked them to go and check on the two boys. Who were fine.

Thursday, 23^rd July

It is Legoland today. Won’t give you a blow by blow account except that my mettle was up for further testing. I have to admit that when I suggested Legoland the image in my head was of the miniature Copenhagen made from Lego (which is, in fact, how the whole thing originated), not of the reality which is lethally, death defying rollercoasters...I have a policy of not putting photos of the kids online, but this picture illustrates my relationship with roller coasters so well that I got their permission...Guess which one is me. (Clue: eyes shut, white knuckles).

TEN hours later (Jacob is a completist and we had to do every ride) we crawled home – well, I say ‘we crawled home’ – I crawled home, the boys spent another hour on the trampoline playing Renaldo versus Messe (or something like that) – I lay down with a cold cloth pressed to my head. (figuratively speaking).

Friday, 24^th July

Lego House day. And it really is the cherry on the cake of the trip. Billund, which is where Legoland, Lego House and Lalandia are all situated is a town built, if not of Lego then on Lego. Founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in the 1930’s, a carpenter who started making toys and the word Lego comes from the Danish words ‘leg godt’ meaning ‘play well’. Lego House is a huge, beautifully designed building stuffed full ‘zones’ in turn stuffed full of ...Lego. Big Lego, tiny Lego, Lego vegetation, Lego to animate, the history of Lego, Lego food and build your own minifigure Lego.

My minifigure (FYI the kids call me ‘Bubba’…I look like I’m about to hit someone with the hairbrush, but there wasn’t really any grandma appropriate accessories (mostly sabres)

Ezra is not, in truth, the biggest maker of Lego – although he loves playing with the figures. Jake, on the other hand, loves making Lego. I think Jake loved showing Ezra how to do it as much as he enjoyed the making itself although you would have to be a very hard hearted, dreary human being not to revel in the literally millions of pieces of every shape Lego on offer to play and create with. We were in the first ‘zone’ for nearly two hours, Ezra loyally assisting Jake building a pyramid and me trying, and failing, to build a model of my garden.

IT’S HARD….who knew!!!!

I am toying with the idea of buying enough Lego to have another go. It could be a project for Jake and me to work on together...

EIGHT hours later we – I – crawled home. The boys hit the trampoline.

Saturday, 25^th July

Back to England. Quite a long wait at the airport and I attempt a de-brief. It was hard for them to pick a favourite – the 15 metre high, 6,000,000 brick Lego tree in the Lego House, the pyramid Jake had built, the Polar X-plorer rollercoaster that I was too scared to go on so Ezra had to go with a ‘colleague’ who was “really, really friendly”, the trampoline....my favourite? Watching Jake take care of Ezra, watching Ezra learning from Jake, knowing my children trusted me with their children – and just, I guess, playing well.