It’s been a long, exhausting, but fantastic weekend.  We’ve got so much more from this weekend than we had expected or even hoped we might.

Saturday was a busy day at the Allergy and Free from Show and I really wish we’d had the 2 day visit we’d originally planned.  Just to give you an idea, the photo below is a small part of the hoard of M-friendly goodies we came back with:

We managed to pick up some of our family favourites at “show” prices, which meant that lots of the products were at half price or less, but also found some new things too, which were either new to the market by some familiar names or simply new products to us.  Amongst the new treats we discovered were

• Bfree Gluten and wheat free tortilla wraps – perfect for M and G’s lunchboxes
• Gluten, wheat and egg free spaghetti – the manufacturer assures me it won’t go sticky during cooking like so many other brands do.  This is one that we’ll have to try and see
• MozzaRisella – a mozzarella-type cheese made from rice and containing no dairy or soya
• KoKo Strawberry flavoured coconut milk –  not just a new flavour, but now also available as a pack of 3 250ml cartons, perfect for a treat on a day trip

We found that all the stall holders were knowledgeable, informed and friendly.  Nothing was too much trouble for them and they all took their time to talk with not only Mike and me, but M and G also.  We were also lucky enough to meet the wonderful folks of both Fabed and Parentsown and discovered them to be even more delightful and helpful than they are on their respective web forums.  Finally, the children were collared by well-known TV weather girl, Sian Lloyd who had her very own weather map on hand to show the pollen count and problems experienced by hayfever sufferers in the UK.  She spent a long time teaching both G and M how to present the weather, had photos taken with them and chatted to us about M’s condition and why we were visiting the show.

My round-up of the show has to be M’s quote on whether he enjoyed our visit:

“It’s the best show we’ve ever been to, Mummy.  Can we come again?”

Sunday was another great day, although the sunshine we had been hoping for didn’t materialise and the morning was overcast and grey.  We made our way across London and eventually reached Battersea Park to join around 3,996 other people in the 5K RBC Race for the Kids raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.  It may have been a less than sun-filled day, but the number of people taking part was amazing to see and I can’t wait to hear the final figure for the amount of money raised.  We didn’t rush to get to the start early after a late night at Matilda on Saturday – and before I forget, I highly recommend a visit to the Cambridge Theatre to see this awesome show – but we felt the camaraderie and excitement of the walk nevertheless.  As requested by M and G, we had taken along the scooters and they happily led our way as Mike and I followed, alternating between a walk and a gentle jog.

We had some highs and lows along the way with M as expected as he took the occasional tumble from his scooter (we’re still working on the balance issue as he struggles because of the dyspraxia) and minor tantrums as it appeared that G might beat him across the finish line.  However, finish it we did and we collected our medals and goodie bags, completed a quick tour of the entertainment provided for those who took part and even fitted in a play at the fantastic park in Battersea, before heading back across London for lunch and our train back home.

I’m still waiting for a final couple of donations to be made before I can update you on our personal family fundraising total, but, for the interim, here’s a photo of M in his race t-shirt, RBC lion and medal.