Nojomo 7. Girly fun in The season for arachnids. Autumn 2016

I wrote this on Sunday night to post on monday morning so it’s written about Sunday morning 😀

R is spending the week at his mum’s house; she’s just come out of hospital following the second part of a knee replacement. He took the train from Oxford this morning and we dropped him at the station. His train was early enough for me to make an excuse for breakfast out with the girls, and there’s a Wetherspoons just around the corner from the station in Oxford! It must be kismet 😉😉 the tv was silently showing Sky News behind my head, subtitles flowing stutteringly and incorrectly below the reporter. The girls were watching the debate about the U.S. election above my head and asking questions, we had a really good chat about what was going on… And we didn’t even make any fart jokes!

We don’t often visit Oxford, I was quite gob smacked by the small, non central car park demanding £5.50 for two hours. I had joked with R about my £6 cash being enough… not a joke after all!

That was compensated by spotting Decathlon on the way into Oxford. Decathlon was originally a Sports shop in France, opened in 1976, and it has been growing since then. The first and (until today) last time I went in was 2007 in El Puerto de Santa Maria in Andalucía after watching advert after advert after advert on Spanish telly. I bought a couple of running tops which I wore for several years.

Seeing a store in Oxford got me very excited! While on the loo I worked out how to get into the car park (which wasn’t obvious from the road I was on) using Google Maps and we went.

By this time the girls had consumed food, and with my girls it doesn’t just take sugar for post food hyperness!! We had a lot of fun at Decathlon - I chose a new arm band for my phone, the current one has been held together by a hair band for several months! I also got some calf compression sleeves since I run early in the morning, compression socks keep my muscles warmer in winter while the world sparkles in frosty moonlight. The girls spent the time testing out treadmills (without switching them on!) and playing It. We went to the climbing section, T still doesn’t have her own belay device but they only had one and I wasn’t impressed with the way it felt. A belay device has to be strong and secure in case the climber slips, the belayer and the belay device work together to keep the climber safe. I think we need to do a lot of research rather than just buying the last one in the shop! L wanted to go to the football section although she doesn’t need anything - over the summer I got her some boots, socks and shin pads, she bought her own kit, but when you love something it’s fun to look at the stuff that goes with it (hey, I didn’t really need the running stuff I got 🏃).

But guess what? Next door was Sports Direct! Now, I know that there are some ethical issues with Sports Direct but when my kids grow so fast and are sporty it fits the budget. I also love their home brand running gear: USA PRO. They have such fabulous, bright patterns. We didn’t buy anything there but had lots of fun - we played Find the Display Item on the Shelf, the girls tried out weights. T (obviously) didn’t have any problems with them (💪) but L reached her limit at the 2.5kg hand weights, she just couldn’t get them above her shoulders 🔩🔩. The girls loved pointing out the little running bra tops they thought I should wear… Yeah right!

Further along in the shop the girls found hats, we had a photo session with them wearing the hats, then L turned around, saw a rack of bras, picked one up and yelled ”Booby traps!!” snorts. She has a wicked sense of humour!

And that was our morning out… Oh, and telling L to put every football back that we saw. She’s obsessed! ⚽ ⚽ ⚽