More Holidays

So on Thursday we had a useful day.  First of all we found ourselves in the Clarks outlet in Kendal replacing Tom's school shoes (he's managed to scuff a hole into his current pair through using his shoes as a brake when scooting to school - bad boy!).  I found a pair with a thick 'front bumper' on them and got those - one day I will find a pair that are indestructible!

We then went to Booths for lunch - can't help ourselves if we are in / near Kendal at lunch time - their restaurant is so good.  We then headed to Asda before returning home.  As I said a useful day.

Friday was a horrible day weather wise.  Tom requested a swim so we went to Stacksteads for a dip.  At first he was pretty rubbish - he seemed to have forgotten everything he's learnt during swimming lessons, refusing to swim very far, not swimming under water, not jumping in etc etc.  I was beginning to get quite exasperated, when Lynne and Matthew turned up.  Then everything changed, it seems if Tom has a friend in the pool, suddenly he gets better at swimming.  Suddenly he was laughing and larking about. Jumping in madly, swimming between my legs, not needing his woggle but just swimming naturally.  He won't swim for me but he will for a friend.  Oh well, at least he ended up having fun - in the end he spent over 2 hours in the water and still moaned when we got out!  Not to worry, though Lynne and Matthew invited us round to theirs for lunch and a play.  He had a ball, other people's houses are always more interesting than your own - with lots of toys to explore. Before we knew it, it was 3.30 and I had a text from Matt saying he was finishing work, so we said our goodbyes and returned home.

Muddy front...

Saturday was a nice day, we decided to go for a bike ride, so loaded up the car and headed to Halton where we parked up.  The plan was to ride to Glasson Dock - south of Lancaster.  We hopped on our bikes and headed along the cycle path towards Lancaster.  We were hoping for clear signage in Lancaster to get us to Glasson Dock, but unfortunately it wasn't and we sort of went the wrong way.

Not badly wrong, more we went a dull way rather than a nice way.  Oh well, never mind.  We found the right way out of Lancaster alongside the Lune and cycled past lots of fields towards Glasson Docks.  It was a nice day and the cycle path easy (ie flat).  Tom was a little glum to start with, but said he wanted to do it so we carried on.  Just before we got to Glasson Dock, we came across a nice looking cafe, and as it was lunch time we decided that we would stop there, sit down in the sun and have lunch.  Tom had an evil looking chocolate milkshake and big toasted tea cake which seemed to revive him.

and muddy back

Once restored we headed back, this time with a much happier Tom.  It was the same way back, but this time we found the right route in Lancaster and cycled along the Lune all the way back to Halton.  All in all we did 16 miles.  It took 1.5 hours to get to the cafe and an hour to get back - the difference being a happier Tom on the way back.  You would think he would be tired after all that?  Oh no!!!!!!  We went to the Wheatsheaf for tea as it was their music festival which is organised by the cricket club.  Tom spent his time in the pub garden running round and round and round!  Sometimes I just don't know what will tire him out!

Train spotting!

Sunday it was very foggy.  Matt had done some homework around heritage railways and had found another one to try out.  This time it was the East Lancashire Railway which goes from Rawtenstall to Heywood via Bury.  We drove out of the fog and into sunshine as we headed south and made good time meaning we got the first train of the day from Rawtenstall which was a small green steam engine called Sapper.  It is a nice journey - a good 12 miles from one end to the other.

Two solemn Victorian gentlemen!

We got off at Bury where there was a transport museum for us to look round.  It was small but very good.  Lots of buses, coaches and other vehicles, but more importantly lots of really good activities for children.  Tom built a bridge, learnt how the inside of a steam engine works, was a manager in the freight office, driver of a modern bus and dressed up as a Victorian boy.  We spent a good hour in there, but came out needing food.

We found it in the rather good pub, The Trackside on the platform in Bury. They serve real ale and were very efficient in providing us with lunch.  Being Bury, black pudding was prominent on the menu:  Matt had a black pudding and cheese toastie (probably the only place in the country that serves something like that) whilst Tom and I went for something a little more normal and healthier!  We then got a diesel train back to Rawtenstall, then the same train all the way to Heywood and again the same train back to Rawtenstall.

Tom was the driver!

At Bury we had a long wait.  Tom and Matt went to investigate and were invited into the cab.  Tom sat on the driver's seat and was told not to press the horn.  He was good!  Anyway, you can say we got value from our tickets!  Oh, did I mention the weather was amazing?  Deep blue skies and sunshine.  We spent the day lugging our coats around with us as it was too hot to wear them!  Is Spring in the air?

In the circus

Monday we had thick thick fog again.  We consulted the weather charts on the Internet and couldn't find anywhere local that said the sun would be out, so we decided to do an indoor activity and go to the circus in Blackpool as we had tickets for it.  We headed out in the fog which got thicker and thicker.  Found ourselves a cheap (but slightly dodgy looking car park) near the front and headed to the tower.  We got our tickets and then did a spot of shopping - both Matt and I got some new trainers without really trying which is almost unheard of.  We then bought ourselves some sandwiches from Boots and headed in to the tower in an attempt to get some good seats.  It worked, we got ourselves some seats on the second row so we settled in and ate our lunch whilst we waited for the show to start.  We weren't the only food smugglers there, pretty much everyone was doing the same.

A rather nice looking vintage tram

The show, once again was amazing.  There were tumblers, cowboys and girls doing tricks with whips and lassos (the whips made Tom jump - thought there would be tears for a moment), clowns, tight rope walkers (one almost fell off, but managed to grab the rope in the nick of time), a unicyclist.  An amazing magic act, where a couple kept changing clothes.  They were so quick and the new clothes just kept coming - we were very close to them and couldn't work out how they were doing it.  A cage of death which motorbikes zoomed around in, and the most amazing contraption, known as the wheel of death which involves two giant hamster wheels suspended above the ring which acrobats run round in with no harnesses.  At one point they do it blindfold which is scary as you can see they are on the edge - there were a lot of wobbles going on.  It was 2 hours of very good entertainment.  Tom sat still - that means it must have been good!!!!!

View of Blackpool Tower from the pier!

We came out of the circus and found the fog was even thicker - we couldn't see the tower at all!  We decided to go for a play on the North Pier.  Tom had a go on the helter skelter and double decker carousel (an improvement to 2 years ago when he wouldn't entertain the thought of having a go on either!) and then we went to the arcade to see how long it would take to loose £1 changed into 2 pence pieces.  It took longer than we thought as we all managed to win quite a bit before loosing it all!!!!  We then decided to head back home as the weather was very miserable and we were cold even though we were in jumpers and coats.  We got back to sunny Ingleton (poo!) and had tea at the Masons Arms.  We then got home to see lots of photos from friends around the area in the beautiful sunshine - seems that the only place where the fog didn't lift was Blackpool.  Oh well, we had fun so it didn't really matter.

Tuesday and Wednesday were beautiful days, Tom played football for 5 hours with Jordan.  Came home on both occasions covered in mud and with some scratches and bruises which means he must have been trying hard which was good.

Lollies on the wall

Thursday Tom spent the morning with Enjoy-a-Ball Paul.  He was there with quite a few of his friends: Isabella, Lucas, Evie & Issac.  I then picked him up with Isabella and had them for the afternoon.  Tom and Isabella get on really well.  Mainly because Tom is happy to be bossed about and will do anything he's told! However, Isabella is a lovely girl and they do have fun together.  As it was a lovely day we decided to go down to the park where we bumped into some more friends.  We then returned home and did some skipping, football, tennis, science experiments.  you name it, we did it.  Isabella was fine until her mum appeared and then she went all grumpy and teary!  A mixture of tiredness and putting on your 'best' behaviour for your mum!  She went home and we continued to enjoy the good weather.  We had an early tea, then went for a walk around Storr's Common and then popped into The Old Post Office on the way back.  a very lovely day.

Packhorse bridge near Hawes

Friday we all took the day off.  We decided to go to Hawes and do a circular walk taking in Hardraw Force.  It was another gorgeous day, but a lot hazier than recent days, meaning that although it was a lovely day with good views, they weren't as good as recent days.  Oh hum, never mind.  The walk took us up into the hills and past Simonstone Hotel (the location of the 'famous' fracas between Jeremy Clarkson and his producer) looked a nice place, but we didn't stop.  We got to the village of Hardraw and went looking for the waterfalls.  It was a strange set up, to get to the waterfalls you have to go through the local pub (they own the land it's on) and you have to pay £2.50 each.  We turned up - but they didn't seem to know what they were doing and there was a bit of hanging around whilst they got themselves sorted and took us to the turnstile to let us in.  The waterfall was quite impressive considering it hasn't rained for ages.  It was very tall, and the path took you right behind which is always a good novelty factor.

Swaledale lambs

We hung around for a while and then headed back on the path to Hawes.  We got there at lunchtime - our tummies were rumbling, so we headed into a cafe for a cake each - leaving room for some cheese later on.  We then did a little shopping.  High on our list was a flat cap for Tom.  Since Matt got one, Tom has really really wanted one, and we've noticed a number of boys at the school do have them.  We have looked around for one for him, but not had any luck.  So, we decided to go to the same place Matt got his to see if they do smaller ones.  They did.  There were 2 which fitted Tom - he was so excited (as was his Dad!)  I left them to it and a cap was bought. Tom put it on immediately and had a huge grin for the rest of the day.

We then headed up to the creamery for our second lunch: a cheese platter and cheese on toast shared between the 3 of us.  Tom ran around with his flat cap on.  After a tiny spot of cheese shopping we returned home.

Hardraw Force

Saturday the weather turned - boo, hiss!  It was clear enough but cold, very cold.  There was snow on the hills again.  We debated for a while on what to do and ended up deciding to visit Rheged in Penrith.  Is is a place built by the co-op that run the Tebay Services.  We didn't really know what to expect, it was much much bigger than we thought - an eco-friendly grass roofed building that just seems to go on and on.  The main attraction is a very big screen cinema that has lots of 3d films on it.  On a Saturday morning they have a family friendly film at £2 per person.  Today it was Ice Age 4, we thought it would be perfect for us, but Tom now has a slight fear of cinemas as he does tend to get upset at films - he's cried at the last couple.  Nothing we could say would change his mind so we didn't go - shame!  So we had an explore.  This place is a quality place, all the shops sell good quality gifts, clothes etc, so it was nice to wonder around.  It is also child friendly with soft play, a pottery workshop, and a lovely children's shop.  At the top of the building was a gallery with prints by Ian Lawson who is well known for taking amazing photos of Herdwick Sheep in the Lake District.  I got a book by him for Christmas which is full of the most wonderful photos.  We all enjoyed the gallery - could easily have bought many of them!

Reet Yorkshire

We then had a sit down, drink and shared a cheese scone in one of the 3 cafes, (Matt was hungover from a heavy night in The Old Post Office), we then looked around the shops and had lunch.  Matt went to look at another gallery with photos from Wildlife Photographer of the Year whilst Tom and I went outside and to play in the Turrets and Tunnels playground.  This was small but packed with great features, it kept Tom occupied for a good hour.  He did some great climbing up a wall and came down a huge long slide many many times.  After another drink we headed back home.  We all had showers, and then headed to Austwick as we had been invited to Rachael and Graham's for tea.  Wow!  What a spread. Rachael had obviously been listening to Matt over our dinners at the Game Cock and put together his all time favourite: beef stew with dumplings, Yorkshire puddings and the best dauphinoise I have ever had.  We were all in heaven, plus it all kicked off with some amazing crisps we have never seen before - they were so good, that we went through 3 whole big packets between us all - they are Masa crisps with Mexican flavours - so so good!  Pudding was chocolate brownie and pavlova.  We were all very stuffed but very very happy.  We didn't have to entertain or even talk to Isabella and Tom.  They disappeared when we arrived, appeared for tea and then disappeared again.  Once again Isabella led the play and Tom joined in and did what he was told.  It was harmonious which meant that we were able to relax and enjoy adult chat.  Rachael did ply me with quite a bit of red wine, secretly filling up my glass again and again, so I was a little worse for wear at the end of the evening, but it was a good night, fun was had by all.

Sunday was a horrible, horrible day.  Cold and heavy rain.  There was nothing we could do with it so we had a useful day.  We went down the tip, popped into Booths (seemed to buy a trolley full of crisps we discovered last night - as they were half price!) returned home.  We then had a clear out - Matt in the garage and me and Tom went through his toys in the kitchen which were separated into tat, baby toys for jumbling / raffle etc and keepers.  We got rid of quite a bit.  Next stop was lunch at Inglesport (it's just been sold to a local - one of Matt's cricket team mates so he was keen to go along and show his support).  When we got back home we decided to give in for the day and put the telly on.  We watched a Thomas Tank Engine film (yep - you guessed it - Tom cried at the end, it wasn't even sad?!!!!!!), then some motorbike racing, football etc etc.  Not a great last day to the holidays, but it was revolting weather.