The Bus Ride

Each Thursday after picking Alexander up, for our playday, we head back to Nanny’s house.

The journey now is a lot longer than the ten minutes we used to take, but we manage to fill the time-sharing stories and rhymes along the way.

We make up songs as well as sing a few that Alexander knows from Nursery.

We also look out and spot buses on the way too.

The buses where Alexander now lives are bright red, the buses by Nanny’s are blue.

We like Double-decker buses best.

“You like buses don't you?” said Alexander.

“Well, yes, I had a Playbus once, and Nanny drove it too.”

“Can I go on your bus one day?” he asked.

My bus has gone but Nanny writes stories about bus adventures.

“Have you ever been on a double-decker bus, Alexander?”

“No”

“Well maybe we will have to go on one someday. Would you like that?”

“Yes.”

“Where shall we go?”

“Far away.”

“And back again?”

“yes”

A Wet Thursday Visit

Todays visit would be perfect to go on a real bus ride.

But it will have to be a double-decker bus so we can sit upstairs.

Most of the buses where Nanny lives are single decker buses and there would be no guarantee which one would be a single or a double today.

Alexander and I packed his bus backpack.

* Snack

* Drink

* Toys – Winnie the Pooh; Piglet; Freddy Frog were all small enough for the backpack

* A book – Nanny’s new ‘Bus Rhymes and Playtime’ book.

We were ready.

The Bus Station

Grandad dropped us off at the bus station to see if we could get on a Double-Decker Bus.

But today all of the buses seemed to be single decker buses or buses that were going too far away, out of service or on driver training.

We darted from one side of the road to another to find the right bus.

In the end we went into the information office to ask.

We nearly caught a bus to Bewbush, but it went without us.

The single decker at the next stop waited for us.

“No thank you,” said Nanny and Alexander.

Nanny explained our mission to find a double-decker bus, we didn’t mind where we would go but it had to be a double-decker.

The friendly driver agreed and said Alexander would certainly love going upstairs, it was the best place for a little boy to travel.

As I was telling the driver that I could drive a bus myself he suddenly became very excited. He knew the Playbus. It was a magic place to play.

He told Alexander how much he had loved it.

“A famous bus!”

He asked Alexander if he might like to sit in the driver’s seat.

I’m not sure who was the most excited?!

Alexander, sitting proudly in the driver’s seat, or Nanny hearing about one of the Playbus users now so grown up but full of fond memories.

A double-decker arrived at another stop and we went to see where it was going.

Off to East Grinstead

The number 400 was off to East Grinstead, a bit further than we wanted, 40 minutes there and 40 minutes back again, but it was a double-decker.

Perfect for a wet day.

We got our tickets and found our seats upstairs at the front.

Alexander was so excited and really enjoyed the experience.

He loved looking out at the countryside and houses as we made our way.

Alexander also had his snack and Nanny’s new ‘Bus Rhymes and Playtime’ book.

We saw a traffic jam; went under a low bridge; along a narrow road; and up a steep hill; all problems that the buses encountered on the ‘Five Little Buses’ rhyme, but we didn’t get stuck and we didn’t have a problem.

One of Alexander’s favourite rhymes is ‘The Spooky Bus Ride’, which we read 3 times. He enjoyed it especially as it is about Nanny on a bus.

He used his pretend mobile phone to make a call to daddy telling him about being on a bus.

(Nanny sent the video to Daddy)

It had been a long and exciting journey – we will have to do it again; but next time we will have to find a bus with a stop for us to get off and explore.

Bus Rhymes and Playtime link Here