The National Railway Museum York

I have had a lovely day this week at the NRM in York with MadDad and the boys.  We were lucky enough to be able to meet up with Sandy and her boys too.

The NRM in York is a fantastic day out for anyone who has children, especially ones like me who have children that love trains.  As you would expect the museum is jam packed full of trains, but there is so much more to see and do, especially if it is raining.

The museum always make sure that half term and school holidays are jam packed with family events and we had great fun watching the turntable work and also listened to some great story telling too.  The boys and MadDad were looking forward to a ride on the restored replica of the Rocket, but it had broke down to had to settle to a ride on a diesel engine, but boys being boys they still enjoyed that too.

Mini was astounded that the Hogwards Express was at York too and was able to take a look in its cab, which as an avid Harry Potter fan really made his day.

 

Entrance to the Museum is Free and you can park all day in the car park for £7.00.  A road train runs every 30 minutes in to central York, but we spent all day in the museum on Tuesday.

There are plenty of tables for you, if you take a picnic (we always do) and a fine play area for the children outside on dryer days.  Not that the rain mattered to my boys, Mini was coming down the fireman's pole and relishing the puddle at the bottom! 

A great day out with something for everyone.

Wonderful Whitby Abbey

We are lucky enough to live a mere 20 minutes away from Whiby and thankfully the boys love the place as much as MadDad and I do.  We take every opportunity to escape the humdrum and melt in to the old fashioned perfectness of Whitby, but we don't often go to the Abbey, in fact I can not remember the last time we went.

So on Friday as the sun was shining, school had not yet started and MAdDad was off, plus we were looking after my 5 year old niece (as her Nanna is terminally ill), so we decided Whitby was where we were going.

We loved it, yes it is often windy, but it is a fantastic place to explore and allow the children to be free.  I have to say that we have been members on English Heritage since Maxi was born and I love visiting with the boys. 

We took a picnic and some books and had a wonderful relaxing visit.

Stape - Our Secret Place

I have blogged before about our secret favorite place.  Well we have been back and it was magical as always.

The water was lower and my Niece took a tumble, but all we could here were the birds and the slow, slow trickle of water.

We drank tea from the flask and water and I drunk in the boys playing together, imagination running wild and Enid Blyton childhood I want for them.

Long may it continue.

Ambling at Amble

Amble is a real gem, a small fishing village on the Northumberland coast, with a brill rocky area, which is great for playing, rock pooling and jumping on and a small secluded beach too.

We had the whole beach and rock area to ourselves and enjoyed a pleasant morning.  I had a great time taking photo's of the rocks, the wonderful amazing patterns that the sea makes on them.  Next time I will be taking paper and crayons to take rubbings of the rocks.

Bamburgh

Just perfect, made even better by meeting with Crystal Jigsaw and Amy.  Mini has declared his love for Amy to anyone that will listen and is running off with her to some far away place.

Sunderland International Airshow 2010

What a weekend, what a fantastic time we have all had.  This was my first experience of the Sunderland International Airshow and I can safely say we will be there next year.  

We went on Saturday with mum and found a great spot on the promenade grass for us all to sit.  We packed a picnic and flasks and drinks and had a super afternoon watching all the planes.  

Mum took the boys to the beach and they made a volcano and sandcastles and I went down to join them before the tide came in.

Sunderland Airshow i Europe's largest free airshow and all you pay for is parking at the park and ride. Sunderland is such a great place as there are plenty of places to sit and watch and you get great views of the planes pretty much where ever you may be.  The programme only cost £3.00 and you really do need one to find out what is on when and it also tells you all about the aircraft and pilots.

The boys loved it, so much so that the boys begged to go back again on the Sunday.  So we packed up a picnic again and set off.  The weather was colder and more overcast, so I was glad that I packed a blanket for us all to cuddles under.  I also took some colouring for the boys for in between the planes.

The highlights of the weekend for us all were the Hawker Hunter, who was called Miss Demeanour on Saturday, she had such a cool paint job and the boys loved her.  MadDad really loved the Typhoon, which Mini also declared the best as it was the loudest!

On Sunday Team Breitling were something else, we were in awe of the lady wingwalkers and the Red Arrows put on a fantastic 20 minute display to end the show.  They were out of this world and spectacular just doesn't cover it.

The only down side was getting out of the car park and home on Sunday evening.  It took 2 hours to goo 100 yards and by this time the boys were very tetchy and tired.  We didn't get home till 8.30 and then it was straight to bed for them.

Top tips for next year:

• Arrive early to go round the aircraft on the cliff and look round the stalls.
• Take a beach tent to pitch on the grass area in case of rain.
• Get lost children wrist bands for the boys and agree a meeting area if lost.
• Take buckets, spades, swimwear and towels for the boys.
• Take an extra flask.
• Take colouring etc for the boys.
• Take a good picnic.
• Leave 15 mins before the end, so you can get out of the car park!

Legoland July 2010 - Top Tips

A couple of weeks back we took the boys on what appears to be an annual trip to legoland, so here are my top tips:

• Use Tesco vouchers to pay for your entrance tickets, or keep an eye out on the two for one deals.
• Pack hats and sun screen!
• Arrive early, the park opens at 10am, but the shop and entrance open earlier, avoid the queue and turn up early.
• Pick up a lost parent sticker at the guest services area.
• Start a back of the park and work forward, this way you will get on more rides.
• Take a picnic - the food in the park is overpriced and not very nice at all.  We ordered pizza, garlic bread and chips and it was tasteless cardboard and the boys didn't eat it.
• Take swimwear and a towel.  The splash area in Duplo world is great for little ones.  We went at about 3pm for an hour and it was fab, I even managed to drink a cup of tea!
• The Clutch Powers 4D show is a must see, we all loved it.  We went at lunch time when the sun was at it its hottest (join the queue early to get good seats)
• The boys laughed and laughed at the pirate show, a great time and place to eat your picnic!
• The boys are too small for a lot of the bigger rides, which seemed to have the large queues, when they get bigger I may consider the qbot.  Take treats for the queues as it does get a little boring for children waiting.
• We did the water rides just before going to the water area at Duplo World, giving the boys clothes time to dry out whilst they enjoyed the water.
• Remember to get a parking ticket on your way out - yes you now pay £1 for parking.
• Leave 15 mins before the park closes, or you will get stuck in the traffic leaving the park.

Mini Makes Music

As you know the boys stayed at my mothers on Saturday night and when I went to pick them up yesterday we decided to go to the beach and have a picnic in a nearby park with my Niece.

 Little did we realise there was a council run event on at the park and it turned out to be a wonderful afternoon.

There as a wonderful couple who had a load of drums and were showing the children how to play them and Mini had a fab time.

He managed to keep in time (most of the time) and really didn't want to stop.  My niece also loved it.  Maxi decided he would rather play in the park with Grandma!

As we were leaving the chap came up to me and told me that Mini had a real talent.  I was ever so proud of him.

Flamingoland 2010

We all had a fantastic day out at Flamingoland last week for Mini's birthday.  I used my Tesco vouchers, but was really disappointed to discover that this arrangement ends in July, which would mean that it would be £90.00 to get in to.

The beauty of Flamingoland for us, is the variety, there are some wonderful animals.  We had a great time watching the sealion show and I could watch the mearcats all day.  Look at the camels in the photo, I had no idea that they moulted their coats.

As we took the boys out of school for the day (we also took Maxi's best friend), it was pretty quiet, apart from lots of school trips.  This meant the boys got to go on lots of rides and didn't have to queue.  Mini has sprouted and could go on everything that Maxi could, which made for happy families.

There is also a fantastic splash area, so we took the boys UV suits and they had a really good cool down for an hour and half in it.  It was really upsetting to see the number of children who are not allowed to get wet.

The weather was fantastic and we had a great picnic lunch under the shade of some trees, in fact we just had a wonderful time together.

Half Term Highlights

Today is an teacher training day, so we are off to spend the day with Grandma, original plans had to be changed due to the weather, but we have had a fantastic half term break, the weather has been mostly kind and it has been so much fun watching the boys play together.

Our Fab day at Emma Bridgewater

Baking our best in the world oat and raisin cookies

Spending time together just chilling in the garden

Watching our veg plants grow, the warm weather has made a real difference

Having fun in the paddling pool

Good job the neighbours don't mind the boys running around naked

Visiting Whiby with Grandma and having fish and chips from The Magpie and treats from the old fashions sweet shop.

Days out to the beach

We really had great weather for it (no it is not my windbreak)!

The boys spent more time wet than dry.

Lots of fun in the local parks was had too.

Before we had school and preschool I used to dread the half term holidays as all the things we did, the toddler groups would be cancelled, but now it is wonderful to spend quality time all together.  I can not wait for the summer holidays.  I hope you had a great time too.

Emma Bridgewater - Factory Tour, Part One

Part OneWe had a fantastic day out at The Emma Bridgewater Factory on Tuesday to celebrate their 25th Birthday. 

We started the day in the newly refubished cafe area of the factory for a tea and coffee and to meet my fellow bloggers.  Josie at Sleep is for the Weak, Becky at English Mum with her two boys (who were a real pleasure), Racheal from Tales from the  Village and we also made a new friend in Kate from Kitchen Critic.  There was this fantastic Aga, I was salivating!

It is such a lovely relaxing area to meet and have a good old chat with everyone.

We were then taken on a tour of the factory by Jamie, it was amazing and managed to hold the attention of Maxi and Mini most of the way round.  It is wonderful to see so many crafts people at work, showing real skill and dedication.

This is where the slipwear is made - The web site has a great video explaining it all, which we showed the boys before our visit.

There are pots drying everywhere and you can see the difference in the colour.

MadDad had a go at throwing a plate.  One of the best parts of the factory tour for us was the empoyees, they were all really welcoming and freindly.  The didnt mind us taking pictures nad were really happy to chat.

Many had been employed for a long time and they all really enjoyed their jobs.  This lady is finnishing the pots by removing excess clay from seams and edges.

There are two types of decoration, this photo shows the transfer method, which is done on preglazed pot.

The other method is by sponging the pattern.  It was wonderful to watch everyone at work, the photo above shows the personalisation.

It is such a skill and there is one lady who spends all day cutting the sponges for the patterns.  Each sponge only lasts on average 3 days.

Look at all the pottery waiting to go in to the kiln.