The Big Egg Hunt (Part Two)

So this weekend saw us resuming our search for the Faberge eggs.  I apologise to those of you who may now have tired of posts concerning this event, but our family is obsessed with this thing; I'm dreaming about eggs, the children are designing their own eggs, my husband is trawling the internet for clues on 'difficult' eggs and the baby is screaming 'egg' at anything that is slightly spherical in shape.  It's an addiction, I tell you.

Anyhow, back to this weekend.  Sunday was a gloriously sunny day and we decided that we were going to tackle the Mayfair zone as it has a whopping 47 eggs up for grabs.  Mayfair is not really an area that we're familiar with so it was quite nice to discover a district of London that is quite new for us.  The sheer amount of eggs to be found meant that the children were in a constant state of hysteria.  Unlike previous hunts, this weekend we encountered lots of fellow egg hunters and we discovered that there is a term to describe this egg lust.  "Are you egging?" Asked one softly spoken American woman.  What gave us away?  The zone maps clutched tightly in our hands, the screaming of 'egg' every few moments from our children, the feverish way we scanned the streets? Yes indeedy, we were egging, that described it perfectly.  Pulling us aside, conspiratorially, she proceeded to direct us to a 'hidden' egg in a small courtyard and then gave us directions for some further eggs in the area.  Hurrah!  Thank you American lady.

That is one of the best bits about the egg hunt, meeting fellow 'eggers'.  As I've mentioned in a previous post, we love London.  We love its variety, its energy and its vibrancy but it's never really struck us as a friendly place.  After all it is a capital city; people are busy working, travelling, touristing (yes I believe that is a word).  There's no time for small talk and general chit chat.  But with the event of the Big Egg Hunt that seems to have changed.  Random strangers approach you and offer tips or ask for your egg count so far; Big Issue sellers call out directions; Saville Row tailors invite you in; shop assistants offer to take your photograph with 'their' egg .  It's unusual, it's initially a little unnerving but mostly it's lovely.  So thank you The Big Egg Hunt for providing that little bit of personalism in what can sometimes be a rather anonymous city.

 As per our other hunt, the day proved to be another fantastic day out.  We wandered around Mayfair before crossing into Picadilly and finally Selfridges, finding an impressive 66 eggs.  The children were once again enthralled with the experience and very  proud of their egg count.  This time round it was quite a different experience for us all, which is part of the beauty of having different zones. We don't usually visit the shopping areas of London, but the children enjoyed marvelling at the different wares in places like Selfridges and Fortnum Mason, Ferrari counting in Mayfair and picnicking in Hanover Square.  Admittedly, the zones we travelled through on this occasion were not as child-friendly as on the previous egg hunt, but the children didn't complain once and enjoyed discovering a part of London that they don't usually get to see.

We are now half-way through The Big Egg Hunt, the eggs are on the streets on London until the beginning of April, so if you haven't done so already there's still time to print out your maps and get egging.  Go on, you'll love it.


To obtain maps of the different zones and for all other information regarding The Big Egg Hunt then go to http://thebigegghunt.co.uk/

And so it begins...

This is me and my family.  A motley crew.  My name is Sara.  I'm 33 (on the cusp of 34) and I live in Canvey Island with my husband and our three adorable, but very loud, children.  My husband will hate me for using this photo; trying to balance a fidgety 7 year old on your lap, whilst rubbing knees with a man in a fake beard who is well known for his large sack and being asked to smile, makes for a less than flattering picture.  But this is us, in all our glory.

I've been wanting to write a blog for a fairly long time but have never seemed to be able to find the time.  But I'm going to try to remedy that.  I'm going be a good girl and actually try to stick to one of my New Year's resolutions (let's see if I last until February!)

My husband is a workaholic.  I don't mind the fact that his phone is permanently attached to his ear, or that he is always talking about work or even the fact that he strokes my face like an IPad when he talks to me, as long as he sticks to one rule: he cannot work on Sundays.  Sundays are our family day and we like to make the most of them.  I'm not the 'stay in and have a roast' type of girl, I like to get out of the house and do things and so most of our Sundays are spent dotted around the various attractions of the South East in the pursuit of entertaining and educating the children, whilst perhaps even enjoying ourselves.

I know from experience that it can be difficult to find places to go online.  Most websites feature only the main, and often most expensive, attractions in the area or worse are woefully sparse of ideas or just have the same old suspects.  In the last 7 years (since the small people arrived) we have visited lots of places, some of which we have vowed never to return to again and some which have become firm favourites and warrant a return trip on an annual basis.  In this blog I want to try to faithfully recount the trials and tribulations of our family days out in the hope that some of you may find it useful as ideas for your own family ventures.

I  hope you enjoy it!