I’ve had lots of adventures since I last wrote on my first Birthday, but the adventure I had this month was quite different. We left our house in Kasese on a hot, dusty and sunny day and drove the usual long journey to Kampala in the car and on down to Entebbe in a taxi. Then we got on a big aeroplane in the middle of the night, slept well, and arrived in England early in the morning of the next day. Granny and Grandpop were there to meet us at the airport and took us to their house in their smooth and quiet car on a fast and flat road with no bumps or potholes. No-one beeped their horns at us and we didn’t see any cows or goats in the road, which was strange. After all that time sitting in cars and an aeroplane I wanted to run around in Granny and Grandpop’s garden but first I had to wear a vest, t-shirt and jumper and then a big bulky thing called a coat. This didn’t impress me much, as I like running around freely in just a vest and some shorts – or usually nothing at all!
The reason we travelled all the way back to England was because I had the Very Important Job of being a page-boy for Uncle Adrian and Aunty Melissa’s wedding. Mummy also had to play the piano in church for them. The wedding was quite exciting, everyone looked very smart and I got to wear a special waist-coat and big-boy trousers. All of Mummy’s family were there and so I got lots of cuddles and had a go at my moves on the dance floor. It was so cold though that there was ice in the puddles in the carpark, so then I understood why I needed to wear that big bulky coat. Aunty Vyna, Aunty Lally and Uncle Nigel gave me toy Thomas-the-tank engines and a Great Granny gave me a clockwork James which we played with on the big breakfast table in the hotel the following day, which was fun. That weekend it snowed and everywhere was covered in beautiful white shiny stuff. Mummy couldn’t get the English push-chair thingy to work in the snow and we were both wearing so many clothes that she couldn’t carry me like she does at home so she bought a plastic sledge to take me to church on Sunday and dragged me there across the snow. It took a long-time so we thought maybe we’d get there with two or three hours still left of church, but when we got there it had actually finished! Wow! I loved staying with Granny and Grandpop and playing on the nice soft rug in their house. It was so clean and there weren’t any ants anywhere. We drank water straight from the tap and the electricity was on all the time. They also had a big screen where I could watch C-Beebies whenever I wanted, which was much nicer than having to see it on a jumpy-disc in Daddy’s computer like we do at home.
For the second week we went to Grandpa and Mamam’s house, which was also covered in snow. The best thing about Grandpa’s house was that he has trains everywhere – some in the garden, some in the attic, and even some special plastic track for visitors to make up which I could drive my clockwork James on! I love trains because they say “toot toot!”
On the final weekend of our winter adventure we went on a little holiday to a place called Centre-Parcs in a big forest with all of Daddy’s family. I had so much fun playing with all five of my cousins and going in the big swimming pool with swirling rapids. The forest outside our little villa was covered in snow and there were deer and rabbits and all sorts of ducks outside the window; it looked really beautiful. The lake was frozen so all the ducks were walking across it which was funny, but I still didn’t see any goats or cows anywhere which was strange. It was so cold that I had to sleep in Mummy and Daddy’s bed as I kept waking up cold; I’ve never been so cold before.
The aeroplane journey back to Uganda was in the daytime, which seemed a bit silly as there isn’t anywhere for little children to play or run around on an aeroplane and I couldn’t just nap or watch cartoons all day so I got quite annoyed – especially when I had to be strapped to Mummy’s lap in the bumpy bits. We arrived back in Uganda in the middle of the night but it was still really warm. We spent the following day in Kampala so Mummy could see the midwife to check that my little brother or sister is still growing well. I’m not sure yet whether I want a brother or sister so I got annoyed again and made Daddy miss most of the scan by screaming a lot. We spent so long waiting at the doctor’s and queuing in Kampala traffic to get there and back that the whole day went by. The following day we drove back to Kasese and I was glad to get home after having been to so many different places. It’s still very hot, dusty and dry here and I’ve now got a streaming cold, but I don’t know if that’s from the cold in England or from the heat here, it’s all a bit confusing. But now, thanks to Grandpa, I’ve got new bigger wheels for my toddle-truck (the “Samitruck”) I can push it off-road around the garden! Time to go now, I need to eat my tea then clean up before the ants get in my pants!
