One of the things I wanted to bring Isabelle to was to visit Santa's Grotto and see Father Christmas. Of course I know the real reason for the season, which is the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, but like every (new) parent who wants a bit of festive novelty, I started looking into where I could bring Isabelle to. Hever Castle kept popping up in the mummy forum I'm part of, and since I am an annual member, I thought I'll book her a ticket and bravely drive us there. It is extremely popular, plus weekends would be really busy, and hence I opted for a weekday ticket. Daddy Ong wasn't too interested either, so I thought I'll keep it as one of the last few adventures Isabelle and I could do together before I start work full time.
Like every driving journey, I always check the route and choose the most straightforward one, as opposed to the fastest route. Typically the different choices are merely minutes apart anyway. For my drive to Hever Castle I had to make sure I connect correctly to M25 (towards Gatwick), and from there it should be relatively easy. Navigating B roads on countryside lanes makes me nervous because of how narrow such roads can be, and sometimes it can narrow into a single lane (why??) and so you got to really slow down and give way if necessary. I always say my prayers under such circumstances, "Please Jesus, let there be no cars in the opposite direction.." lol and of course, I always whisper a parking prayer "Dear Jesus, let there be two or more free adjacent lots for me." You see I am not a very confident driver, but I am getting there. A few months ago, I would never have imagined driving 45min each way to a far enough destination without K's supervision. Not to mention with Isabelle in the back seat.
The drive there was pretty smooth and our little passenger actually fell asleep in her car seat (aka throne) shortly after we set off. She missed her morning nap and was very tired, which wasn't a bad thing for me. I had the radio on, which was playing non-stop Christmas songs. The weather was cold, at 3deg. Everything painted a very Christmassy scene. The motorway was pretty empty which was good. We arrived at Hever Castle after 45min. Whew! Wasn't that bad!
When we arrived, the castle was not busy, although there were steady stream of young visitors with their family, all there to see Santa Claus. We followed the directions and came to a tent. We parked our buggy outside and the lady at the door welcomed us in. She noted that Isabelle had been good this year, and is on Santa's Good List. We waited in the waiting area which had little tables and chairs and colouring materials. Isabelle was given a name sticker.
Soon an elf came to bring us in to see Santa. We lingered outside Santa's hut for a couple of minutes while the elf tried his best to be.. well an elf. It was awkward to hold a conversation with an elf. Soon we were ushered in and that was the moment when Isabelle saw Santa and let out this wail. She screamed and cried even louder when I passed her to Father Santa. Even Santa was scared lol he kept saying "oh maybe mummy should hold Isabelle". But I was keen on photos haha
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| Priceless photo |
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| Poor Santa |
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| Needed the elf to help us take a pic |
Santa gave Isabelle her present (a Jellycat soft toy! Not bad eh?), and said he will bid us goodbye and do his Ho Ho Ho! at his window. That was it. Our few minutes in the grotto. And the moment we came out, Isabelle was all smiles. Oh baby!
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| Happy again cos no more Santa |
And that was our little adventure. Now another 45min way home.
Like every driving journey, I always check the route and choose the most straightforward one, as opposed to the fastest route. Typically the different choices are merely minutes apart anyway. For my drive to Hever Castle I had to make sure I connect correctly to M25 (towards Gatwick), and from there it should be relatively easy. Navigating B roads on countryside lanes makes me nervous because of how narrow such roads can be, and sometimes it can narrow into a single lane (why??) and so you got to really slow down and give way if necessary. I always say my prayers under such circumstances, "Please Jesus, let there be no cars in the opposite direction.." lol and of course, I always whisper a parking prayer "Dear Jesus, let there be two or more free adjacent lots for me." You see I am not a very confident driver, but I am getting there. A few months ago, I would never have imagined driving 45min each way to a far enough destination without K's supervision. Not to mention with Isabelle in the back seat.
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