Edinburgh and Night Nurse

The lurgy entered our house this week.  First Matt got it, then as he was recovering I got it.  We got different versions: Matt had a sore throat, followed by runny nose etc, whilst I got an achy back, kept going hot and cold, and then coughs, runny nose etc.  Our plan was to go to Edinburgh for the day on Saturday - we had train tickets booked in advance and had made arrangements to meet up with the Blezards at a museum called Dynamic Earth, but on Friday night I had a second night in a row of very little sleep and felt pretty ropey when we got up at 6.45 so the boys decided to go without me, whilst I crawled back into bed again.

Edinburgh by Matt:

Clubbing a dinosaur

Well, Saturday was supposed to be a family trip to Edinburgh, but with Nik feeling very much under the weather, it turned out to be a boys’ day out.

It was actually quite an early start - we left home at around 7:15, drove to Lancaster, and got on the train bang on time at just after 8 o'clock. It was pretty empty, and Tom and I managed to get a set of four seats, plus table, all to ourselves - very handy for doing Tom's homework, which we completed before we passed through Penrith.

It’s only a couple of hours to Edinburgh, and the journey passed very quickly. For some reason, the train sat at Haymarket station for nearly a quarter of an hour before finally limping into Waverley, where we spent about half an hour watching trains, most of which were different shapes and colours from what Tom is used to in Yorkshire. We then toddled off into the nearby shopping centre, mainly to find a little present for Nik in the hope that it would cheer her up. We got slightly waylaid in a whisky shop, but what can you do?

We then got the bus down to Our Dynamic Earth, which was the reason for the trip in the first place. We were the only passengers on the bus, and it didn't stop at a single stop between Princes Street and the Museum, so it was basically just a very large and very inexpensive taxi.

Scary monster

We had arranged to meet up with Neil, Rory and Lewis there, but they were slightly delayed due to Rory playing football in Dollar in the morning. So, Tom and I had a very good and very cheap lunch while we waited for them. They arrived just as we finished eating, very handy, so we got our tickets and headed down to the dome theatre, which is effectively a planetarium that shows films relating to astronomy and outer space. The reclining seats were superbly comfortable, and the visuals in the film were truly stunning - worth the entry fee in themselves. After that, we did the rest of the exhibition, which included an earthquake simulation (rubbish, and I know I'm talking about) and a 4D Cinema. I wondered how Tom would cope with this, so I held his hand as the lights went out. The first section, which was as if we were flying on the back of an eagle, went very well but we then returned to Earth and when a scorpion flexed its sting at us, he nearly jumped out of his skin but remained silent. This is going well I thought, only for a large rhinoceros to turn towards us and then charge out of the screen in terrifying 3-D. This was too much, and there was a brief period of apocalyptic screaming.

Lewis, Rory and Tom

I managed to calm him down fairly quickly though, and we then retired to the soft play area, just what he needed. After buying him a pack of volcano Top Trumps to reward him for being a reasonably brave boy, we were about to leave when we noticed a short queue for the dome theatre. Very kindly, the guide let us in for a second showing (of a different film), which I enjoyed every bit as much as the first.
I think the museum cost £20 for the two of us - good value in my opinion.

Neil gave us a quick left back to Waverley, where we bought our tea for the train, didn't buy any whisky (I was overwhelmed by the choice, and couldn't make a decision). We then watched trains for another 20 minutes or so, including an absolutely beautiful-looking Pullman charter train on its way to Aviemore. We would both have liked to get on and head north, but we needed to get home to a sick Mummy.

Big mouth for a big tea!

As on the way up, we had loads of room and a whole table to ourselves. I think our dinner had been demolished before we even got to Carstairs. We played a bit of Uno, and Tom had a half hearted go at the Virgin trains kids that I picked up in the on board shop.

We got back to Lancaster pretty much on time, drove home, and told Mummy all about our day out. To be honest, she was looking pretty rough, and I could feel a nasty sore throat coming on too, so we both took some Night Nurse. What do they put in that stuff? We both slept about 10 hours straight through, but woke up feeling like dead people, and continued to feel like dead people all day.

Still, it was a nice day out in Scotland, and Tom was excellent company. Now that he's that bit older, is generally a joy to be with when we are out doing things, especially when it involves high-speed train travel.

Skipton Castle courtyard

OMG - I had the best night's sleep in years.  It took me a good hour to come to after Tom woke me up, being barely able to communicate with him.  Matt was the same.  Luckily we didn't have much planned for today.  Skipton Castle had free entrance to locals today but didn't open until noon, so we had plenty of time to drag ourselves out of bed, get dressed and drive over.  We needed it too!  Matt and I stayed in a zombie state for the whole day.  We had lunch in a tea room in Skipton and then looked round the castle (very well preserved old castle) but our hearts weren't really in it.  We came straight home and were back by 3pm.  We then decided to watch Shrek as we were incapable of anything else.  Tom wanted to play football????!!!!!!  He was persuaded Shrek would be better.  Considering his heart wasn't in it he did well, but he did cry at one point (of course - we are talking about Tom after all!)

We were very happy when it was finally time for us to go to bed.