through it. I woke up at half past and shot out of bed.
‘Oh no, we’ve slept in. We’ll miss the eight o’clock coach!’ I said.
‘Oh, Lily, shut it. We’ll get there in time, you’ll see,’ said Mum, staggering out of bed.
She got herself and Pixie dressed, while I chivvied Baxter and Bliss into T-shirts and shorts and got dressed myself. There wasn’t time for breakfast. Mum gave us a piece of bread and jam to eat on the way, and Pixie sucked at her bottle in the buggy. We ran nearly all the way to the bus station – but it was nearly ten past eight now. We saw the coach disappearing in the distance without us!
‘Just my rotten luck!’ said Mum, and she looked like she was going to burst into tears.
‘Where were you lot then?’ said Joan, coming up to us. She was wearing a pink sunhat and a pink flowery dress to match. ‘Oh dear, oh dear, don’t look so downhearted.’
‘But we’ve missed our chance of a free day at the seaside,’ I wailed.
‘No you haven’t, dearie!’ said Joan. ‘You lot will simply have to tag along with us old dears instead. Our coach leaves at half past eight. I’m sure there’ll be room for you. I can always have little Pixie on my lap.’
So we had our free day out after all! Everybody else on the coach was over seventy. There was one little old man who was ninety-two and in a wheelchair, but Mum and the coach driver, Darren, helped haul him up into the coach. Darren wasn’t over seventy – he was about Mum’s age, very smiley and jokey, and he got all the old folks singing songs on the journey.
There were plenty of spare seats but Pixie sat on Joan’s lap anyway, though she started fidgeting ominously when we were halfway there.
‘I think Pixie needs to do a wee!’ I said to Mum. ‘Can you ask Darren to stop the coach?’
It was absolutely fine, because half the pensioners needed a bathroom break too, so we stopped at this roadside café. Then we were off again, and it wasn’t long before we had our first glimpse of the sea. I’d seen it before, of course, but Baxter and Bliss were really thrilled, and Pixie kept yelling, ‘Big bath! Big big big bath!’ which made everyone laugh.
Darren parked the coach on the promenade and helped everyone down onto the sands. He took off his shirt because it was really warm and sunny. All the old ladies gave him funny wolf-whistles. Darren went as pink as Joan’s hat and Mum giggled at him.
I helped Bliss make a great big sandcastle. We decorated it with seaweed and pebbles, and one of the old ladies gave us coloured toffee papers to make stained-glass windows. Baxter kept threatening to jump on it so I made him a separate big castle to demolish. Then he chummed up with an old man and they played football on the beach together. Pixie ran around all the old ladies wearing Joan’s sunhat, and they all chuckled and called her a proper caution.
We all went into the sea together for a paddle. Even Darren rolled up his jeans and joined in. The dear old ninety-two-year-old couldn’t go in the sea, so Baxter filled two buckets with seawater and he splashed his feet in them instead.
We had fish and chips for lunch, with ice cream for pudding. Pixie’s cone fell in the sand, but nearly all the old ladies offered her theirs instead, so she ended up with an
enormous
amount of ice cream for one very small girl. I was in charge of Pixie while Mum went for a stroll on the pier with Darren. I kept a careful eye on her in case she was sick, but she didn’t disgrace us.
Joan took lots of photos of us on our free day out and she sent us some copies as a souvenir. There’s one of Mum, arm in arm with Darren, both of them laughing their heads off. There are heaps of photos of Pixie looking adorable in the pink hat with ice cream all round her face. Baxter and Bliss look great too, playing with their sandcastles. I usually
hate
having my photo taken, but there’s one of me grinning right into the camera, my hair blowing
‘Oh no, we’ve slept in. We’ll miss the eight o’clock coach!’ I said.
‘Oh, Lily, shut it. We’ll get there in time, you’ll see,’ said Mum, staggering out of bed.
She got herself and Pixie dressed, while I chivvied Baxter and Bliss into T-shirts and shorts and got dressed myself. There wasn’t time for breakfast. Mum gave us a piece of bread and jam to eat on the way, and Pixie sucked at her bottle in the buggy. We ran nearly all the way to the bus station – but it was nearly ten past eight now. We saw the coach disappearing in the distance without us!
‘Just my rotten luck!’ said Mum, and she looked like she was going to burst into tears.
‘Where were you lot then?’ said Joan, coming up to us. She was wearing a pink sunhat and a pink flowery dress to match. ‘Oh dear, oh dear, don’t look so downhearted.’
‘But we’ve missed our chance of a free day at the seaside,’ I wailed.
‘No you haven’t, dearie!’ said Joan. ‘You lot will simply have to tag along with us old dears instead. Our coach leaves at half past eight. I’m sure there’ll be room for you. I can always have little Pixie on my lap.’
So we had our free day out after all! Everybody else on the coach was over seventy. There was one little old man who was ninety-two and in a wheelchair, but Mum and the coach driver, Darren, helped haul him up into the coach. Darren wasn’t over seventy – he was about Mum’s age, very smiley and jokey, and he got all the old folks singing songs on the journey.
There were plenty of spare seats but Pixie sat on Joan’s lap anyway, though she started fidgeting ominously when we were halfway there.
‘I think Pixie needs to do a wee!’ I said to Mum. ‘Can you ask Darren to stop the coach?’
It was absolutely fine, because half the pensioners needed a bathroom break too, so we stopped at this roadside café. Then we were off again, and it wasn’t long before we had our first glimpse of the sea. I’d seen it before, of course, but Baxter and Bliss were really thrilled, and Pixie kept yelling, ‘Big bath! Big big big bath!’ which made everyone laugh.
Darren parked the coach on the promenade and helped everyone down onto the sands. He took off his shirt because it was really warm and sunny. All the old ladies gave him funny wolf-whistles. Darren went as pink as Joan’s hat and Mum giggled at him.
I helped Bliss make a great big sandcastle. We decorated it with seaweed and pebbles, and one of the old ladies gave us coloured toffee papers to make stained-glass windows. Baxter kept threatening to jump on it so I made him a separate big castle to demolish. Then he chummed up with an old man and they played football on the beach together. Pixie ran around all the old ladies wearing Joan’s sunhat, and they all chuckled and called her a proper caution.
We all went into the sea together for a paddle. Even Darren rolled up his jeans and joined in. The dear old ninety-two-year-old couldn’t go in the sea, so Baxter filled two buckets with seawater and he splashed his feet in them instead.
We had fish and chips for lunch, with ice cream for pudding. Pixie’s cone fell in the sand, but nearly all the old ladies offered her theirs instead, so she ended up with an
enormous
amount of ice cream for one very small girl. I was in charge of Pixie while Mum went for a stroll on the pier with Darren. I kept a careful eye on her in case she was sick, but she didn’t disgrace us.
Joan took lots of photos of us on our free day out and she sent us some copies as a souvenir. There’s one of Mum, arm in arm with Darren, both of them laughing their heads off. There are heaps of photos of Pixie looking adorable in the pink hat with ice cream all round her face. Baxter and Bliss look great too, playing with their sandcastles. I usually
hate
having my photo taken, but there’s one of me grinning right into the camera, my hair blowing
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