Day 650: King Lachlan’s coronation

06/05/2023

Sunday morning the kids were in great spirits. Supposedly they had slept well and Mum Extraordinaire had even managed to find a few hours herself. They had a fun morning, Eloise even had her first experience of Sunday morning church.

In London, it was a quick breakfast #kidfree and then back on the train to collect the kids. Super Mum is getting good at the London dash.

As we switched trains at Edinburgh there were backpackers galore, the tourists have definitely returned. It was fairly quiet trains through Glasgow as the Old Firm was on. Have a look at the broadcast below, Jeebus, that is Scottish Football for you. I mean there is rain and then there is Scottish rain. “A first-half header from Jota was enough to settle a tense Old Firm encounter at Hampden, sending Celtic into a Scottish Cup final against Inverness Caley Thistle”.

When we arrived at Juju’s, Eloise had Mum Extraordinaire working hard on the origami. The kids had a great time. Lachlan was showing off the toys he had been playing with and there were small pieces of paper cut up everywhere from you know who.

A massive thank you again for looking after Eloise and Lachlan, they did not want to leave. When we got home the kids were still going on about how much fun they had and how many books that Molly had read them. They had not forgotten their presents and were jumping up and down. Lachlan was absolutely thrilled with his wee King, probably his most treasured possession now. Eloise on the other hand just got Dad’s hat and well, yeah, she was not thrilled. It should have been illegal the price they were selling King merch for and she is usually the spoiled one.

Dinner became a series of jumping on Dad. It was good to see them again.

The rain on Sunday did not stop the Glaswegians though as “thousands of people braved the rain in tartan to take part in the Glasgow Kiltwalk, raising money for 856 charities. A record number of 14,000 walkers joined three different routes across Glasgow, Clydebank and Loch Lomond, raising thousands of pounds. The event has raised and distributed £37m to more than 3,000 charities in the past seven years”. Sadly we missed it for a second year.

Monday morning, all of a sudden everything went quiet and then we could hear giggling, never a good sign. We went on the hunt for the kids just in time to see Lachlan push his Big Sister over the stairgate, Eloise then impressively hoisted Lachlan up over her head and they were away laughing their heads off. Oh no!

Monday was May Day in Scotland so Dad and Eloise both had the day off. At the shops, Eloise and Lachlan were both excited to see King merch had reached Scotland and helped themselves. Lachlan was quick to pick up a king gnome.

When we got home, we all headed to the backyard for the King’s coronation rehearsal. Eloise delicately carried His Royal Highness across our back pavers and handed him to Lachlan making sure to tell Lachlan “here you go Lachlan, here you go, King, put in garden, careful”. It all then rapidly went downhill from here. Lachlan was not a fan of king gnome, perhaps it is the fact the King is stealing Lachlan’s thunder on Saturday, he bailed and “uh oh”…

… Mr King was down an arm, “uh oh”, Eloise sprang to action picking up the King and rushing him to her ‘Baby Hospital’. When we all got inside, Eloise told Lachlan “now be careful Lachlan, don’t break other King, it would be really sad if we break two kings, okay Lachlan? Okay?” Historically Scotland has always had quite polarising views of the British Monarch as “Scottish support for monarchy falls to 45%, poll reveals”. “He is the kilted king, a monarch with his heart in the Highlands, but is Scotland ready to claim Charles as its own?”

After lunch, all the kids wanted to do was head to the playground. Lachlan was happy that his Big Sister had the day off as they held hands singing.

There was shocking news across Scotland and Australia that “MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo has died in Melbourne aged 46”. “How could a bloke born in Glasgow know so much about our native ingredients?” In other terrible news, “Donald Trump has said “it is great to be home” as he arrived in Aberdeen on a visit to his Scottish golf properties”. An interesting article on Trump and Aberdeen.

Tuesday morning, Lachlan rushed downstairs bright and early to check in on his King mate, they had made up.

We all know how much Lachlan loves dinosaurs, however, recently there has been a lot of Lachlan wondering around the house screaming “let it gooooo, letttttt ittttt gooooooo”, which is usually followed up by a “MUMMMM, MUMMMMM WHERE AREEEE YAAAAA?” Always funny. He cannot get enough of Frozen at the moment and Eloise generously lent him her Elsa dress.

Singing all morning is hard work though.

Eloise had her second day off nursery and was enjoying her four-day weekend. She was happy that she still had dance and another chance to see “Ella Bella”. Lachlan had a cheeky peek to see what they were all up to.

As we made our way home, Lachlan was only getting started.

There are big plans this weekend for Lachlan’s coronation. Eloise set to work in the backyard before dinner.

Wednesday morning, by the time Dad had made it downstairs the kids had already reorganised the living room. Lachlan was chuckling his head off.

Eloise’s four day weekend had come to an end as she returned to nursery in the afternoon for her half day, there was plenty of art outside in the sun.

Meanwhile, Lachlan spent the afternoon with waterplay and darting about the backyard, lucky we did not get an apartment in the end.

A couple of days later the King had made a miraculous recovery and this time Lachlan was in the mood to find him a home as he wandered around the backyard.

It was another dinner outside, Lachlan was back to tearing around on his bike, pretending the table was takeaway dinner and eating on the go.

The Aussie PM was not far away today after touring through Barrow Shipyard as Australia push on with ambitious AUKUS plans. “Until you actually go and have a look first-hand, I think it is easy to underestimate the scale of what’s happened here. The other thing that is clear about coming here is the impact that this has on this local community”.

Thursday was a special start to the day as Lachlan was eager to try his dinosaur crumpets. He struggled to contain his excitement as they were being cooked, turns out he is not that into crumpets and preferred playing with them.

With Great Nanny on the phone, Lachlan was quick off the mark to show her his new King.

In the afternoon Lachlan’s coronation stepped up another gear inside and out.

With some parts a surprise, the boys hit the PG and decided to check out more of Bearsden.

We made our way up the other side of the Loch for the first time to check out the “gracious A-listed Georgian mansion” Kilmardinny House.

Friday started at Milngavie Library followed by Hoolies with Emma, a great session now Lachlan is that little bit older.

In the afternoon Super Mum and Eloise were doing a terrific job in the cake department, Dad’s one task was to keep Lachlan out of the kitchen.

“Ta-da”, never in doubt, they had nailed the cake.

They had seriously overachieved, there were matching dino cupcakes and a spare cake too, because you can never have too much cake, right?

This morning the birthday boy was raring to go, the two-year-old was not mucking about. It was 05:30 PARTAY TIME!

Eloise let Lachlan know he should make his way downstairs because there may be some things he might like. The kids burst into the living room, throwing balloons all over the place. It was lovely to see how much fun Lachlan was having.

Eloise started handing presents to Lachlan. There was no need to help him unwrap them this year.

The dino car track was a big hit.

Of course, it was another international affair with wishes coming from afar.

After a call with his favourite pirate it was time to set up the dino track. To be honest, it was pretty mesmerising, even therapeutic.

After throwing on his birthday Bluey outfit and dino Crocs, we dashed off to get the last things for Lachlan’s coronation. Seeing it was Lachlan’s special day he cheekily snuck into Eloise’s seat.

It was a rapid out and back as some other bloke also had a coronation down south. “King Charles and Queen Camilla have been crowned on a historic day of pageantry, capped by cheering from crowds in front of Buckingham Palace”, even “Celebrations are taking place across Scotland to mark the Coronation of King Charles III”, although “thousands of Scottish independence campaigners marched through the streets of Glasgow during the Coronation”.

Super Mum put on the finishing touches, Eloise licked the final beaters and the stage was set for Lachlan’s dino coronation.

Ohhhh, quick, Lachlan wanted his hair spiked up as he follows in his Dad’s footsteps of being a kool dude.

Lachlan’s dino coronation kicked off with a bang, disappointingly the weather was not the best so we were all crammed into the living room like sardines, it was cozy. Lachlan got absolutely spoilt with everyone bringing him dino presents. There were dinos everywhere. The big ASDA truck was also a big hit so Lachlan could plow through all his dinos.

The weather marginally improved, that was enough for the kids, “BUBBBBLLEEEEEE TIMEEEEE DAD!” Thankfully the rain held off long enough so we could enjoy outside dino cake. It was delicious.

With the kids full of sugar, the backyard turned into a mini Olympics arena and all the games came out.

Lachlan had such a fantastic day, thank you all for coming and showering him in dinos, his dream came true. Turns out the boy can have too much sugar and too many dinos, he ended the day in a happy dino crash.