Our MK Adventure

There was a plan.

That’s what I told Chris, it’s what I told Our Sidekick.

And then there wasn’t a plan. It was gone and I was winging it.

So back to the beginning…

With it being the Easter Holidays I’ve been working around looking after Jaxon. Some days he’s been lovely and got on with is own thing. Other times this holiday he’s been really in need of Mummy time. We needed an adventure!

Jaxon being a dude on our adventure

I decided we were going to take the big bus to Milton Keynes and meet Daddy from work on Friday. We’d get the X5 to the shopping centre and potter around the shops. I would also make sure there was time for Jaxon to go on the soft play in the Shopping Centre. We’d then catch the C10 bus to Chris’s work. The bus would get us to the main road outside Chris’s work then we would walk through the estate to the acutal building.

We had our lunch at home before heading across to the bus stop. We were so close to missing the bus. Thankfully it was coming along the road as we got to the bus stop which was good. I think I got extra Mummy Brownie Points too because it was a double decker!

When we got to the bus station we had to change to a different bus for the remainder of the trip to Milton Keynes. This is where I chatted to the gentleman with his runaway scarf.

Coming to the assistance of a fellow bus traveler

Once we changed bus there was a little delay while we waited for other people to get on the bus. Then we were on our way to Milton Keynes for the next part of our adventure.

Getting comfy and heading out of Bedford for our adventure

We got off the bus outside The Point. Now Jaxon asked me like five times what the building was. It’s now a Bingo Hall but I think it was a cinema at one point wasn’t it? Growing up we always went to Cineworld in Bedford rather than going to MK for cinema trips so I don’t think I ever went there.

On our travels around the shopping centre we found this shop. Well it’s a retail unit but it’s not technically a shop at the moment. It’s called the “Electric Vehicle Experience Centre”. You can find out about Electric vehicles, charging at home and charging on the go amongst other things. We already have Zoe the EV so we’re already converts to the cause.

The lady we spoke to was all ready to give the sale spiel but I think was caught off guard when I said we already had Zoe. I guess she’s used to dealing with sceptics or undecideds.

 

I think the last time I visited a Disney store was when Chris and I were in Paris. Jaxon and I popped in to the MK Store as we were passing. Part of me wanted to see if his reaction (especially with our Disneyland Paris trip getting closer).
Spotted this Baymax mug in the Disney Store - another part of our adventure

You’ll notice from here onwards there aren’t any more pictures. This is where the plan fell apart. After heading back to the Intu bit Jaxon was playing on the little free soft play area that’s there and I noticed my battery was really draining a lot quicker than usual. I check our bus times and warned Chris that my battery was dying. I would keep him posted but try and keep my phone on sleep rather than awake to conserve what I could.

We were due to get on the 1611 C10 bus towards Cranfield, this would drop us almost at the end of Chris’s road. Well we got to the stop and no, we’d missed it. My phone said 1612. We must have missed the bus by seconds. I get Google Maps up in my phone and find the next bus time. So the C10 doesn’t run every 30 or 60 minutes. It runs every 1 hour 14ish. So the next bus would be the 1725. Not good. That would be too late. So I look for the next alternative. We can get the bus to Market Hill in Newport Pagnell and walk the rest of the way. No problem.

Is it Still an Adventure if We Get Lost?

My phone was on single digits so I scribbled down what I could of the directions and switched my phone off completely.

As the bus did a U turn round the roundabout I figured we were at Market Hill so we got off the bus. I’d memorised that the stop was outside a pub and I found that okay and then followed my instructions. No problem.

Here’s where it went wrong. I went straight on when I should have turned left. Had we gone left we would have found Chris’s work no problem.

We went straight on and crossed over the river. Where was the turn we needed? We’d gone over the bridge as per my instructions (turns out we’d have gone over the same stretch of river as well if we’d gone be right way!).

I kept telling myself it was fine. It would be okay but I think all the 101 thoughts going through my head were stressing me out more. I’m not really an anxious person but I was getting more and more anxious and couldn’t entirely get my head around a solution.

Having got to the point that the road was de-restricted and the footpath stopped. I decided that I needed to turn back. Either to find a payphone to figure out a new plan with Chris or find somewhere to sit and wait and hope he’d find us. I’d walked past a residential home and figured that they’d either be able to point me in the right direction or could hopefully at least let me use their phone to quickly ring Chris and update him of where I was.

A Carer to the Rescue

Well, rather nervously I rang the bell of the residential home and read all the signs on the window to make sure I was at the right door. In case there was a specific door for the reception. One of the carers came to the door and my heart leapt into my throat. I garbled something about my phone running out of battery, getting lost, my directions not being quite right and where the nearest payphone might be. Well, I guess with the “necessity” that mobile phones have become the idea of a payphone is almost alien. Well, she let me come inside and got Jaxon and me to sit in one of the offices/lounges. Jaxon completely made himself at home and had taken his shoes and coat off. The carer had been to lock up the door again because they have “walkers”. (I guessed by this she meant residents who don’t always remember where they are so they try to wander “home”). She came and asked me again what was happening and I said I just needed to ring Chris if that would be okay.

She got me the phone and dialled the number for an outside line. Well, as soon as I heard Chris’s voice I burst into tears. I felt like such a wally for letting my phone run out of charge because it’s exactly what I tell Our Sidekick off for. While Chris was on the phone, I explained where I was and the carer relayed the postcode so that Chris could look it up. I got off the phone and the carer asked: “Does he [Jaxon] eat doughnuts?”. Well yes, he does. He inhales any form of cake given the chance.

With that, the carer disappeared back into the corridor. Well, it turned out it was Cake Friday or something because moments later, the carer arrived back in the office/lounge with a plate and a doughnut cut into small “Jaxon sized” bits. (She commented by name that someone was 2.5 and about the same size as Jaxon – I presume Grandson but I’m not sure). Then she offered Jaxon a juice and me a cup of tea. Jaxon pretty much downed his squash in one go. Some days I’m not always sure he remembers to ask for drinks and just hopes I will remember (and most of the time I do but with all the thoughts running around my head I just figured I’d get it when we got to Chris).

The carer potters off again and Jaxon and I count lights, chairs, cushions and various other things to pass the time while I calm down and hope that I don’t resemble a strawberry for much longer! About 10-15 minutes later there’s a conversation out in the corridor and the carer appears again. There’s a white car parked on the drive and a young man with glasses just got out. Well, that works for a description of Chris. The carer went back to unlock the door again and then Chris sorted out getting the buggy into the car while I got Jaxon sorted.

Having sorted Jaxon he was too excited that Daddy was here and was running to the door before I could stop him. I said thank you to just about every carer I saw between the lounge and the door – I just hope they realised how genuinely grateful I was.

When we got home I made a thank you card to stick into the post. It’s only little but I really hope they understand how grateful I was for their help.