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Makka Pakka Washes Faces In the Night Garden... Live!

Saturday, 6 June 2015

A couple of weeks ago Mummy, Daddy, Grandma and Aurora got up bright and early, had breakfast, hopped in the car and headed off towards London. Aurora was as excited as she normally is when we head somewhere new, but little did she know what awaited.

It's a good job we left early because we got caught up in the usually awful London traffic, but before too long we arrived at our destination—The O2.

The O2.

Since we'd arrived early—for a change—we stepped into Garfunkels for a spot of lunch. Then it was time to head for the main event. We stopped outside for a moment to marvel at the Haahoos towering above us, and then we were inside and lining up for the show.

Aurora was rather too fascinated by her Spinny Lighty Uppy Thing™ to pay much attention to the decor.

Before too long—except for Aurora for whom thirty seconds would have been far too long—it was time to head in.

Here we go!

We were seated with a minimum of fuss except that Aurora immediately wanted to go and run around on the stage. Well, I could see her point - nobody else was using it, right? And that giant book looked awfully tempting. Still, we just about managed to restrain her.

The stage was set.

We did still have a little time to wait, though, so eventually I relented and let he go and see the stage up close. Climbing up was strictly curtailed, however.

Keeping small minds occupied - and it stopped Aurora getting bored as well.

While we waited Derek Jacobi kept coming onto the speakers to keep the little ones entertained with some tidbits. Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy were rushing to get ready and the Tombliboos were causing mischief as usual. But eventually it was ready for the curtain to rise!

Curtain's up!
Iggle Piggle in his boat on the way to The Night Garden.

First we met Makka Pakka, the leading man in this compelling tale—he wheeled his Og-Pog on to squeals of delight from the children. After that we met Iggle Piggle.

Seeing Makka Pakka come on stage was nail-biting stuff!
Iggle Piggle near and far.

Makka Pakka, it transpires, loves washing faces—and boy did he have a lot of faces to wash.

Iggle Piggle and the Pontypines getting facials from Makka Pakka.

There was one point where I heard Aurora say in a sad voice "but I wanted Makka Pakka to wash my face"—if only she was quite as keen for Daddy to wash her face when it's bath time!

Next up were the Tombliboos and Upsy Daisy, who were all also lucky enough to get their faces washed.

Hello Tombliboos! Hello Upsy Daisy!

Still, all good things must come to an end and after all that face washing it was time for a little dance and then bed.

Time for bed.

Aurora thoroughly enjoyed the show and was rather disappointed when it finished. Straight afterwards, however, it was time to meet Upsy Daisy and Iggle Piggle in person!

We waited around in the crowded area just outside, but fortunately we were quite high on the list and it wasn't long at all before our names were called to see Upsy Daisy.

Aurora loves Upsy Daisy.

As soon as the curtain was pulled aside, Aurora rushed in and immediately gave Upsy Daisy a big cuddle. In fact she was attached so tightly I was a little concerned that we might not be able to get her to leave. She turned around and posed nicely for her photo, though. Then there was time for one more long cuddle and then it was time for someone else to meet Upsy Daisy.

As we walked out she was saying "but I wanted to see Upsy Daisy!" in a somewhat disconsolate tone. She soon cheered up when she realised it was now time to see Iggle Piggle.

Aurora loves Iggle Piggle.

As we stepped into Iggle Piggle's little grotto, Aurora immediately spotted his stepping stone path on the floor, and it wouldn't do but to hop along it. It wouldn't be proper to go and greet Iggle Piggle without first walking along his path, after all.

After she'd got that bit of essential etiquette out of the way she lept straight into another big hug, then a photo, then a hug, maybe some photos, hugs... But all too soon it was time to say goodbye again. Another hug and a wave, and she hopped back along the stepping stones with Iggle Piggle hopping alongside.

After the meetings Mummy and Grandma queued up to get some momentos, so Daddy and Aurora trundled off to amuse themselves for a little while—there was drawing, sitting in a little ride, buying a balloon, Daddy tying a small weight to the balloon, Daddy trying to extricate his finger from a knot trying a small weight to the balloon, playing with the balloon, visiting the Haahoos, extended philosphical discussion on the nature of balloons and some more visiting the Haahoos. That occupied about three minutes all told.

Aurora and Daddy waited with assorted degrees of patience.

Eventually, however, Mummy and Grandma had what they needed and they even returned with reinforcements—an assortment of cuddly characters with which Aurora was extremely pleased.

Aurora loves her cuddlies.

After that we headed over to Byrons for a spot of ice cream and then it was time to head home.

Along the way we headed on a slight detour and stopped off at a shopping centre just off the M25 in Grays—we didn't want to shop, but Michelle had spotted there was a Taco Bell there and she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see if the UK branches compared favourably with those in the US.

The verdict? Well, it seemed to go down well. Personally I was rather underwhelmed by the tacos, but he quesadillas were good. I wouldn't have any problem getting food from there again, but I don't think I'd make the hour-long journey down from Cambridge to do so.

Wait a moment—someone's not in bed! Who's not in bed? Aurora's not in bed! Don't worry, Aurora, it's time to go. And she did go to bed, after a fun-filled day.

Created By
Andy Pearce
Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by Aitor Escauriaza - "O2"

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