Easter Bunny Drive

Term finished on Thursday for Tom.  The evening was spent at school doing the Easter Bunny Drive (me and my big mouth suggested a Beetle Drive having been to one once at the first PTA meeting so my name was put down to do it for Easter!)  Although I have arranged big events for Compass etc in the past - this was a very different kettle of fish - working to a budget of £0 and trying to get people who are famously stingy to open their wallets and spend!

We ran a non-uniform day last Friday in exchange for Easter treats, and then bundled these into lots of hampers for prizes and the grand raffle.  They looked amazing.  I spent this week constantly advertising it on Facebook, hoping that some people would turn up.

A lot more people turned up than we thought - over 150 and we made £478 on the night, so it was a success, although there was a LOT of cheating going on.  Not sure how to stop that from happening?  I'm not sure that any winner did actually win fair and square.  Oh hum.

We will see whether people think this was a good idea and do it again next year.  Apparently nothing like it had been done at the school before and everyone, even the head teachers were amazed with the organisation and turn out, so I guess I did ok.

Parent's Evening

On Tuesday we had parent's evening.  It was very enjoyable, full of positives rather than the negatives of last year.  What a big difference a teacher can make.  Apparently his mental arithmetic is way above the standard for his age, he keeps astounding her with it - but other areas of his maths aren't as good eg solving worded problems - eg "How many legs will you find on 2 cows and 3 chickens" meaning overall he is on the expected line, but she thinks this is his definite strength - we would agree too.  His writing is fine, but he has to be cajoled, as he doesn't see the point of it - we would agree here too.

His negatives would be: having too much energy in the classroom leading to some unsuitable behaviour and constant fidgeting.  Even she is at a loss as to what to do about the fidgeting, so he's back on the front line during carpet time to try to stop him looking around etc.  Apparently he plays very well with his friends and is kind and empathetic.  She told us a story about a time when one of his friends, Evie, fell over and gashed herself in the cloakroom.  He saw it happen, but had just been told to sit down and do some work, apparently he had a look of horror on his face and was unable to talk as he was so conflicted - he didn't know whether to go to her help or stay where he had been told to stay.  I think he ended up needing more comforting than her!!!!

We had a look through his work so could see what he's been getting up to, his writing is a lot worse at school than it is at home, however, I basically stand over him at home to make him do it correctly!  We came out feeling very pleased.  Let's hope parent's evenings stay like this from now on.

Big City and Big CountryMe

Last Saturday we had a day on the train to Leeds as it was the last weekend when we could get our big discounts on train tickets.  The main reason for this was to go to Miller & Carter for a steak dinner - we haven't been to one since living in Telford. 

Tom, of course was very pleased - he always likes a day out on the train.  We got the late train in, so on arrival to Leeds went straight to the restaurant.  The food was as good as we remember, but the service was better.  I was 'Madam', Matt 'Sir' and Tom 'Young Master'.  The waiter got down on his knees to speak to Tom and made him feel very special. 

It wasn't the cheapest meal we've ever had (mainly because Tom is such a dustbin - he had a child's macaroni cheese and half an adult's portion of ribs) but it was very lovely, and anyway we won on the lottery this weekend which exactly paid for it - so you could say it was free.  Certainly a good fooding experience.

We spent the rest of the day looking round shops, I got myself a swimsuit from Bravissimo which fits me perfectly (a first), and Tom was treated to a pot of pick and mix lego for a good school report.  We then went to Wasabi and bought ourselves some sushi to take home for tea.  A good day.

Chocolate from the magic tree

Cuddles

Sunday morning we went round to the Atkinsons for a play. We then headed over to Barbon for lunch in the cafe and then to Blindbeck Bridge for a play and a little walk.  This is the walk with the magic chocolate tree - there is always chocolate waiting for him in a particular tree on the path, so we had to go and find it.  

Playing trolls

We then strolled back, played trolls on the bridge, and then went the scenic way back to Ingleton along the road with the many bridges that need to be manually opened.  We then had a lazy afternoon at home.

School Report

We got Tom's school report today, it was a huge improvement on last year's one.  Phew!  He's doing well, is at the expected level for everything and is kind and fun.  Can't really ask for more.  We were very pleased and relieved.

Swimming

Tom has had a pretty bad cold all week (think maybe we overdid it at the weekend).  Even though he was ill he still went to school and insisted on football and swimming.  In fact when I suggested he didn't go swimming we had complete meltdown!  We relented after he ate a good dinner and to be fair to him he was really good during the lesson - so much so that he has now been moved up a class. He is now wearing googles and spends most of his lessons under the water - a whole new world has opened up to him!!!

School trip

New bus driver

Tom's class had a school trip this week, and Miss Swindlehurst asked if I (Matt) would go along as a responsible adult. I was quite flattered.

Class 2's topic for this half term is transport, and one of Ingleton's main employers is Bibby's of Ingleton - a bus and coach company. There are two Bibby children in Tom's class, and their parents organised a trip to the depot.

After the obligatory health and safety briefing, we set off, with everyone wearing hi-vis jackets. I was a designated lollipop man, and had to stand in the middle of the A65, praying the trucks would stop, rather than flattening me.

Bibby's allowed the kids to clamber all over a modern coach and truck as well as a beautiful vintage example of each. Nothing got broken, but one of the girls tripped and smashed her nose - blood everywhere. Fortunately, her mum was another of the responsible adults, and was very calm about it - she's a nurse.

Old bus driver

Tom was partnered with his friend Caitlin (a lovely lass), and they were both clearly delighted with the arrangement, hugging each other every couple of minutes - very sweet.

Anyway, apart from the bleeding nose, nothing else untoward happened, and it was a joy to spend a couple of hours with Tom and his pals. It was another reminder of just what a great bunch of kids they are.  He couldn't be in a nicer group.

Busy Weekend

Near Ewloe Castle

It was a busy weekend this weekend.  We got Tom from school and popped him in the car and drove to Longlands in Carnforth where I delivered a wedding cake.  We then headed down the M6 towards Chester.  Now this is when living as far north as we do works out, the motorway was jammed heading north, but we happily drove down an empty road, only slowing down when we joined the M56.  We got to Saughall and the Watsons in just an hour and a half, which on a Friday evening is remarkable.  Great for Tom - meant he had more playing time.  True to form, Cameron wasn't at home (he was in China) but that didn't matter.  After a good nosh and more play, the children went to sleep and we drank wine and chatted.  All the way to midnight - how very naughty of us!

Beachcombing

In the morning we had breakfast, visited the local farmer's market and were then on our way to Mold to visit Auntie Jude and Craig.  After an explore around Craig's house, we headed out to Wepre Park where there was a play area and a very reasonably priced cafe.  So after a play on all the equipment, we headed to the cafe for lunch.  As seems to be usual, the smallest person got the biggest lunch - Tom opted for omelette, which is quite strange for him and unbeknown to us, it came with chips - so he had a huge plate of food whilst the rest of us had a sandwich each!  To be fair to him he ate most of what was on his plate.  We then headed off through the woods to Ewloe Castle - a tumble down castle on top of a hill in the woods.  We clambered around and then headed back.  After a cup of tea for the adults at Craig's place we then headed into Mold to visit a rather good sweet shop to find a treat for the lad.  It was a busy place with a mind boggling number of sweets on offer - too much for Tom to compute so he ended up getting a lucky dip bag (as did Matt - he's a child at heart!)  We then returned to Craig's house and were treated to wonderful smells of dinner being made whilst we watched the rugby (Tom really got into the rugby).  Dinner was pot roast pig with huge Yorkshire puddings, roast spuds and parsnips and carrots, followed by a very good apple, pear and blackberry crumble.  It warmed us up and gave us happy bellies - thanks Craig.  Tom went to bed around 8pm and we tried to stay up, but with the fire burning bright and a glass of wine in us, we struggled and all ended up going to bed around 10 - rock n roll!

Running the dunes

On Sunday, Craig gave Tom a choice of things to do, and he decided on a visit to the beach so after a hearty breakfast we headed off to Talacre.  Considering I had never heard of it, it was a really nice place.  A big sandy beach with dunes behind.  We walked down to the shore, paddled in the water and collected lots of shells.  After playing on the dunes, we explored around an old lighthouse before returning to the car.  It was a lovely day with blue skies, was lovely to stroll in the sea air, in fact we felt quite windswept by the time we returned to the cars.  We then headed off to Abakhan - a textile and craft shop with a cafe and play area - oh and a huge ferry which has been beached and is slowly rotting away.  It was a night club for a while, but the owners ran out of money and it is now derelict and rusting in the sea air - a strange sight.  We had lunch, I went ribbon shopping and then we said our goodbyes and headed home.  Even though Tom had heavy eyes he refused to sleep so it was a quick dinner and straight to bed for him!

Football

Tom did much much better at football this week - he was a star - tackling, scoring goals and generally being a star.  I was really proud of him.

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.

Sports

Tom started with his football with Jordan on Tuesday.  Unfortunately he didn't do great - ie he danced around the ball rather than trying to get in and tackle for it.  That age old problem of bravery again!  He is scared of getting kicked and hurt, so when we got home, Matt and I kicked him in the shins to prove to him it doesn't hurt (he's got shin pads).  To be fair to him most of his friends were the same, although Blaise (Ruth's little one) who is in Reception was straight in - and showed everyone up.

On Wednesday Tom had his swimming lesson and did really well - including 2 whole lengths without stopping.  He's certainly 'getting it' with his swimming, just need to get him to go under water a bit more and there will be no stopping him.

Quiet Weekend

We had a very quiet weekend this weekend.  I started off going out on Friday night to The Old Post Office, I had a bottle of wine, and although not hungover on Saturday, I wasn't particularly bright.  After deliberating what to do, we decided on a trip to Skipton.  I opened up Tom's first savings account last week at the Skipton Building Society so we raided his money boxes and pulled out all the notes - he had £110!  He took them to desk and put them into his account.  Trying to teach him about saving.

We also wanted to have lunch at The Woolly Sheep which won best pub of the year last year.  We weren't disappointed.  Cosy pub, roaring fire, interesting beer, good service and interesting menu.  We then did a bit more exploring, found the canal some more interesting shops (Skipton doesn't believe in chain stores, meaning there is a real good mix of shops in town).

The rain appeared so we decided to call it a day and head home.  It was Ingleton Pantomine in the evening.  This year it was Sleeping Beauty.  The seating is done so that children sit at the front and adults at the back.  Tom took his place, and guess who was next to him - only Isabella - perfect!

The panto was fab.  Considering it was a small village production I thought it was brilliant.  Lots of local 'in jokes' mostly jibes at Bentham.  The Dame was brilliant, dance sequences good, children enthusiastic.  Tom was one of the first children up on the stage and the first one in the queue for sweets!  Oh and Matt won a box of 3 bottles of Hawkshead beers in the raffle, so all in all it was a great evening and very cheap at only £12 for all of us.

Sunday we had a very quiet day.  In the morning we went to visit the Atkinsons in their new house (well extended house).  It wasn't very recognisable, but lovely.  It's going to be fantastic when finished.  The kids all played nicely together and we were able to sit down and chat which was nice.

We then went to Ireby for lunch and headed home as it was very cold and windy.  We spent the afternoon watching Jungle Book.  Tom enjoyed it - especially The Bare Necessities but he did get upset when Shere Khan appeared but he didn't cry for long and on the whole gave it a good review.   We then had a very decadent tea of roast duck.

Silly Tom!

So Tom came home with a soft toy bear from school on Friday called 'Helpful Harry'.  Matt asked Miss Swindlehurst why.  Her response: "Tom hasn't been making the right choices for the last couple of weeks, but has shown improvement this week"!  Hummm, on further questioning, Matt found out that he had been running into the classroom and sliding on his knees - his behaviour was described as 'silly'.

I was quite pleased really - shows that he can rebel against the rules and isn't squeaky clean.  Although I can't really admit that to him.  We will see if we find out more at parent's evening.

Half Term

So, we have had a good half term.  It went too quickly of course, and we were all disappointed when Tom returned to school, but we made the most of it.

It all kicked off on Friday when Neil, Sharon, Rory and Lewis rocked up just as I collected Tom.  They had been at Center Parcs for the week (being Scottish they got cheap price as it was still term time here)  They dropped in for the night, so Tom immediately had two playmates (Rory and Lewis do tend to scrap so both want to play with Tom)  It was very noisy and manic for a while - all good stuff.  (We had hidden Tom's birthday presents for safe keeping).  They all hoovered up my bbq ribs for tea and then more playing before sleeping together in Tom's room.  It was very exciting, we gave them many chances to behave, but it was just too exciting so in the end Rory got removed from the room and it all settled down.

They were up early though (6am) and once up, that was it.  We put Star Wars on for Rory and Lewis and Tom played Lego until we were ready to get going (much later!).  They had to leave early as Sharon was meeting up with a family friend in Glasgow centre later that day.  (Sorry, forgot to take any photos!)

The new steed

We were left with a lovely day so decided to go for a bike ride - to try out the new bike carrier and the new bike.  It took a while to work out the new carrier (had to take a seat off and Tom's new mudguard off for it to work) but we got there in the end.  We headed to Bull Beck just outside of Caton, unloaded and cycled.  Wow!  The boy has speed!!!!!  I was quite worried to start with as he was going quite fast, but the distractions of his gears and his new speedo slowed him down (phew!).  He looked really good on the bike and under the tuition of his father, began to get to grips with his gears. He did really well.  We asked him where he wanted to go and he suggested Hest Bank, so we got ourselves onto the canal bank and cycled there.  It was a lovely day, not too cold, clear with not too many people cycling so we had the place to ourselves.  After only 2 rests we arrived at Hest Bank and a certain someone chose to have lunch at the Shore Cafe by the train line (surprise surprise!)  After an outdoor lunch (yes - in February!), a spot of trainspotting (slim pickings due to the main line being closed between Lancaster and Preston), and the compulsory throwing of stones into the sea, we headed back.  Tom, once again did very well, but he did begin to tire.  However, he never moaned once - determined to get to the end.  What a trooper.

An exhausting half term

We drove home, on arrival to the house, Tom collapsed in a heap on the stairs and requested an afternoon nap in his bed.  He was asleep in seconds.  He stayed in a deep sleep for over an hour.  When we woke him at 4.30 he was soaked - he was sooooo asleep he wet the bed and didn't even realise when he woke up as he was so zonked, poor thing!  We got him up, he had a bath, had dinner and then went straight back to bed.  I think maybe we over-did it with the sleep over and bike ride.  Oops.

Sunday dawned a lovely day - clear blue skies.  We decided to head to Hesketh Farm Park at Bolton Abbey.  Unfortunately the sky clouded over as we passed Settle and it didn't clear for the rest of the day.  Oh well never mind.  We arrived at the park and immediately made friends with some furry creatures.  Tom decided to cuddle a guinea pig, but the one he choose was a bit of a scamp and ran off, with the farm workers chasing him.  Oops.  Not to worry, he got another one who was more placid and had a stroke and fed him a carrot.  Then we had a look at the new arrivals to the farm - lots of calves and piglets.  Tom even got to feed a calf some milk out of a super sized bottle.

Handsome donkey

After a look around the hatching room, we found the John Deere pedal tractors and lost him in there for a while.  We managed to persuade him away from them with the promise of seeing a real John Deere, so headed outside where there were some sheep, donkeys and chickens.  Tom got the opportunity to collect chickens eggs which he did very carefully.  He also got to clamber on a monster sized John Deere tractor.  We then headed inside for lunch before going round the farm another time.  I tried to convince Tom to feed one of the donkeys but he wouldn't do it, too scared he would get bitten.  Ho hum....

Monday - we had a 'useful' day.  Tom's grown out of his school trousers, so we needed to get some new ones and we needed to buy some bits and pieces (cards to make thank you cards etc) so off to Kendal we went.  It was a miserable day, so I guess it was put to good use.

Tuesday we headed to Shildon Railway Museum for the day.  This meant a lovely trip through the Dales passing through lovely looking towns such as Leyburn, Richmond etc.  This museum is part of the NRM but very much its lesser known cousin.  We thought it would be packed with children, but it was eerily quiet.  There were some children around but most of them were pre-schoolers.  Oh well, meant we were able to amble around at our pace and play with all the bits and bobs.

Huge wheel

Patriotic Tom

The museum had made a number of hunts for the children - object hunts, word hunts, and proper comprehension hunts.  Tom did the first two types, which made the museum a whole lot more interesting for him.  The whole place was really well set up for children - with lots of activities for them to play with.  Tom was in his element as was I (I do love a hunt).  There were a good number of trains - from the Royal Train from Queen Vic's era, to the APT, a snow plough and a lot of others - mainly steam trains.  There was a huge shop (Matt got excited) and a cafe for lunch.  After lunch we explored the rest of the museum - it covers quite a big area and includes various buildings.  All in all it was a good museum and a lovely day out.  We drove back a different way through Barnard Castle which looked like another lovely Dales town to revisit at some stage.

Engine Driver

Wednesday we were up early to catch the train to Birmingham.  We were meeting up with Granma and Pop Pop for a couple of days - Birmingham is sort of half way and we could both get there by train rather than flog along on the motorway.  I had sorted out hotel and a visit to a new museum - the Wonderful World of Planes and Trains which holds a number of model railway layouts, and some plane simulators and a big Scalextric track.

Canadian Layout

It was unfinished but that didn't matter to Master Tom who was immediately in his element.  I'm sure if it was up to him, he would have stayed all day!  As it was we did stay for 3 hours and were the last ones there.  Once again it was quite surprisingly empty.  Tom got to play on all the things he wanted and didn't have to queue for anything (except the Scalextric which had been hijacked by some older kids who were not going to let anyone else have a go - however, they went home eventually - so we had a go - but most of the cars didn't work - they basically burnt it out!)

Pop Pop flying

Tom had a go on the aeroplane simulator - he got to fly a water plane - with myself helping.  We did quite well, managing to take off and land without incident (it was a proper adult simulator so unforgiving)  Pop Pop had a go too.  Mum watched a child who was about 10 have a go on a proper civilian aircraft circling a city etc - apparently she was very very good - maybe a pilot in the making - all it takes to create an interest is access to a simulator.  I'm sure if somewhere near us had a Shinkansen simulator we would be bringing up a train driver here!

Luckily the cafe in the museum was near to the biggest layout so we all had a sit down and a drink whilst Tom watching the trains, running round the front and back to see the trains do their circuits.  His interest didn't wain - in fact he needed encouragement to eat cake and then stuffed the whole piece in his mouth in one go in an attempt to eat it as quickly as possible.  We then had to do one more lap of the museum before finally leaving after a quick chat with the owner who suggested we should revisit twice a year to see progress.

Pop Pop playing with the Scalextric

We walked back to the hotel and went to Granma and Pop Pop's room to exchange birthday presents: Dad is 70 this month as well as Tom having his birthday.  Both boys were well behaved and said nice thank yous for their gifts.  We then had a rest before heading out for dinner.  We were in the posh end of town so struggled to find something close that was reasonable.  In the end we plumped for a Nepalese restaurant which wasn't as expensive as the others (although still pretty pricey!).  Tom fell upon the poppadoms and ate the rest (but a little under duress - by this time he was getting tired and a little bit naughty)

Anyway I think everyone had a good dinner and then we walked back to the hotel.  We all got ready for bed, Tom was asleep within 10 minutes so he must have been tired as having us in the room with him is a huge distraction.  Unfortunately he didn't sleep that well - he kept waking up with growing pains and shifting around which disturbed us.  Oh and my he can snore!!!!!!  Matt kept having to turn him over!

We met up for breakfast and then said our goodbyes.  Unfortunately it was a grim day - rain, rain rain!  Tom and I headed for the new library whilst Matt went shopping (he had his sights set on the Apple Store and other electrical stores that hold little interest for me or Tom).  The new library was pretty impressive, Tom immediately got into books so we read quite a bit - in the end we didn't have time for a look around, there is a view point, roof top garden, cafe and restaurant in it.

Three generations

We met up with Matt in town and had lunch at Yo Sushi!  Wow!!!!!  It was mega expensive!  In the end we had a snack rather than lunch as we couldn't bring ourselves to pay the price for the food.  They were wanting to charge £5 for 3 gyoza - wow that is double what they would charge in central Tokyo!  Judging by the amount of plates some people had - they were about to take out a second mortgage to pay for it!

Tom didn't mind though - he had been intently watching the Krispy Kreme machine making all the donuts earlier and had been given a free doughnut - so he wasn't hungry.

We then bought ourselves a new case (our previous overnight case died on the way back from Japan last year) then went back to the hotel and repacked everything into it and walked along the canals to the Mailbox.  Dipped into the BBC for half an hour and then back to New Street and home.  A quick, useful break. Tom said the best thing about Birmingham was seeing Granma and Pop Pop and the model railways.

Free Krispy Kreme Donut!

On Friday we decided to head back into the Dales to explore Leyburn.  We found ourselves a lovely farm shop cafe just outside where we had lunch (lowering the average age by quite some way) and then headed into the town.  We found a wonderful hardware / kitchenware shop - one of those shops that goes back and back and back.  We were both happy - Matt got lost in the hardware and I got lost in the kitchenware.  I could happily have spent a LOT of money there, but managed to restrain myself limiting myself to some plain cupcake cases which I've been unable to get from Asda.  We then walked about looking for a butcher and couldn't find one which we thought was strange.  After asking a few people we stumbled across a shop called Campbells.  It didn't look much from the outside, but what a shop!!!!!!  Another one that goes back and back and back, with a huge butchers at the back selling lots of things we haven't seen elsewhere (we bought two huge trays of lamb ribs for £3 each).  It had loads of different things in it - finally found some giant couscous (Mum and Dad - how do you cook yours again?)  Upstairs we found the most amazing wine merchants and a wall of single malt whiskies: the best selection we have seen out of Scotland.  I think we were in there over an hour.  I'm pretty sure we will now be unable to pass through Leyburn without stopping to shop.

Hornby Castle snowdrops

On Saturday we headed to Hornby Castle for their snowdrop walk.  This is a private castle that opens its grounds every now and again. It was a very pleasant morning.  Lots of snowdrops, a pond to explore, a river walk.  We wanted to go in the castle but there was a formal presentation going on about the history of the castle and we didn't think taking a 6 year old into it would be a good idea!  We then headed to Carnforth Station for lunch and Aldi for another quick shop - get this they were selling a whole goose for £10.  I have always been curious but they are normally so expensive, we picked one up.  Our chest freezer is now officially full - we need to invite people to stay as we now have a duck, a goose, a leg of lamb and a huge lump of gammon in it as well as plenty of cakes, fruit for making into jam and lots of others things.  Anyone fancy a good roast and crumble at ours?

Sunday was a dull day.  Stuart came over in the afternoon to see if he could mend our rainwater collection pump so Tom and I headed to Lancaster with the Atkinsons to see Shaun the Sheep.  Now you would think Shaun the Sheep would be a safe bet for Tom as it is aimed at pre-schoolers.  We gave him a good talking to before we headed out about trying not to cry during any sad bits because everyone will be happy at the end.  We did well.  He even leant over to me at one point and said, this isn't scary at all.  However, at the end it looked like Shaun and his friends were going to be dumped into a quarry and Tom went off!!!!  It is almost like torture for him as I made him carry on watching when he didn't want so he could see the happy ending.  He was OK in the end, but really crying at Shaun the Sheep?  He was the only one to cry!  We really do have the most sensitive boy in the world!

Second tooth out

Oh, Tom's second bottom tooth fell out in the middle of the night two days after his birthday.  His adult teeth are now pushing through at a fast paste meaning he isn't gappy at all.

SIX

Big box!

So, at last the big day arrived.  Tom has been counting down for a while and was very very excited.  He didn't know what he was getting, however, he is way overdue a new bike - he has to work really hard with his current one to get anywhere on it as it has small wheels and no gears.  Matt did some research and spoke to our bikey friends for recommendations and got one at a reduced price from Evans.  It arrived in a huge cardboard box, which we wrapped up in brown paper and painted.  We have discovered in the past that Tom thinks if a present isn't wrapped then it isn't a present (ie his model railway wasn't in his mind a present because he didn't unwrap it - lesson learnt!).

We set our alarms for a full hour earlier than usual to give Tom enough time to open all his presents.  It wasn't quite as mad as last year as the mums at school now work together to buy presents between them, meaning the children get fewer presents of more worth rather than lots of scrappy presents.  I still don't like the expectation that is put on parents to provide a present if you get invited to a party - but it is something you can't avoid, luckily around here the mums spend roughly £5 per child which is sensible.  I think it would be worse down south.

Smart bike

Peeping in the box

Anyway, Tom went straight to the big box and ripped off the paper and was delighted to find a new bike in it.  What a smart bike too.

He was completely spoiled.  Uncle Martin from Australia did it again - he got him a Scaletrix!  He got a huge lego police truck and Mousetrap from the parents at school and then loads of bits and pieces from everyone else.  It was a good haul, plenty to keep him occupied, so thank you to everyone.  

Thanks Martin.  (Notice his new slippers)

Not a bad haul

He is obviously well known in his class for liking trains as he received 2 mini lego steam engines.  He already has one - so he has 3 now.  Not a problem though, you can never have too many trains in Tom's world and we might be able to find a way to link them all together.

Tom went happily to school, he took a huge tupperware full of fairy cakes for everyone, he demanded I made enough for all his class for snack time - which I did.  I made him decorate them which he happily did.

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He had a good day at school - he got to wear the birthday hat all day and came home with a Happy Birthday sticker.  He came home with Fred and Finn for a play for an hour.  It all went well until Finn and Tom decided to play football and Fred decided he didn't want to, and then got upset that the others weren't playing with him.  Oh hum.

When they left, Tom quickly spoke to his grandparents and then we went on our way to Gargrave, which is our new favourite Indian restaurant.  As you know it is tradition that we have a curry on Tom's birthday - this year was no exception, when we asked Tom want he wanted to do he said go for a curry with not a second's hesitation.  He demanded butter chicken which he got and my, did he eat it quickly.  He ate it so quickly at one stage, I was worried he wasn't able to breathe properly!  As you can see he was able to wash it all down with a pint!

It was a good day, he certainly enjoyed himself.

Gappy smile

Gappy mouth

I was hoping that Tom would reach his 6th birthday with all his teeth intact, but no - his first tooth came out at lunch time the day before his birthday!  Poo, I wasn't there to see it.  Apparently it came out whilst eating a carrot.  No blood and no tears.  He was very excited when he saw us.

So, here's his mouth now - the tooth in the middle is also very very wobbly - it won't be long before that one is out too.

Birthday party in the woods

So Saturday was the big day - the day of Tom's party.  Not being particularly great with other people's children, I once again opted to pay someone to do it for me.  Being an outdoors family, I decided to risk the weather and organise an outdoor treasure hunt in the woods. I had found someone on Facebook who arranges them and thought they looked fun and a great idea, so I took the plunge and just hoped that the weather would be kind to us.  First of all it was going to be boys only, but Tom being Tom, he wanted to invite some girls, although he couldn't tell us which girls.  In the end we went to see Miss Swindlehurst to ask her who he plays with, with surprising results.  Apparently his 'best' girl friend is Annabel - a girl he has never ever mentioned at home before! So we invited her, another girl we don't really know, Leah and then 3 friends: Evie, Caitlin and Freya.  However, both Freya and Leah pulled out at the last minute, so we had 7 boys and 3 girls - which gave a very different dynamic to their class at school.

The lady I had employed is a German lady who is into fell running etc but has children one of whom is the same age as Tom and has devised these outdoor 'healthy' birthday parties for them.  She did her job really well - she devised a treasure hunt - she had clues telling the children which paths to take to find the next clue.  Sometimes they had to find things, other times they were given things to do and other times things to find.  First of all though they had to learn to read a map and understand North, South, East and West.  This they did well.  When we arrived it was quite frosty and cold (we had to drive through snowy roads in thick fog) but as the hunt got underway it cleared and it actually ended up quite warm, with the adults having to carry lots of stripped off clothing.

Den Building

Charlie, Matthew and Tom

The first clue was at the junction of 2 streams.  This was found and they were challenged to build a den and have a photo with Tom in the middle of it.  They did well and nobody got poked in the eyes! They were then all given compasses and had to navigate to find a chocolate tree.  I think at this point the adults realised that they had forgotten how to use one (including me) so most the children went in completely the wrong direction.  Luckily Jo was on hand to put us right and the chocolate tree was found and chocolates consumed.  

Serious looking Tom

Hot chocolate and oreos

Next the children had to navigate to an orienteering post and sing happy birthday to Tom when they found it.  They all ran ahead and we were treated to a very loud chorus of 'Happy Birthday'.  Here they also found a tree hiding some oreo cookies - obviously a magic forest!  They carried on finding clues here and there and had a game of 'hot' and 'cold' to find 3 flasks of hot chocolate hidden in a wall, so everyone had a rest and re-energised themselves with oreos dipped in hot chocolate.   They then had to make arrows on the path to show us the way to another clue.  This is where the difference between girls and boys became apparent.  The boys just dived into a bush looking for it, whilst the girls actually listened and realised that the boys were looking in the wrong place and found it themselves - well done girls!  

They then found a tree hiding some jelly tots and then spent some time in a bird hide.  At this point they had found all the letters in the treasure hunt.  These were re-arranged to make the word 'Picnic Area' so they all ran to the picnic area to find the treasure chest.  It took some time for the clue to be found but once it was, there was some scrabbling around in another bush and the treasure chest was found.  They surrounded Tom as he opened it - it was full of compasses (I refuse to do party bags), they dived in.  It was a great morning - took us 2 hours, the kids enjoyed it (apart from Harrison who insisted on being carried on his Dad's shoulders because he had a stingy tongue!) It certainly was different.

Treasure chest has been found

They all dive in.

The kids then played together very very well whilst I got lunch ready.  I had made a huge pot of curry and bought poppadoms and naan bread with all the sauces for dipping.  I know from speaking to Tom and others that curry day at school is really popular so I thought I would be ok with curry - especially as it was cold and they had all been walking / running for 2 hours.  Not so, Tom and Finn ate up - the others pretty much ignored it.  Not a problem though, as the adults were hungry and ate it all up.  There was non left at the end - I had made a huge stock pot full!

Finn, Lucas and Fred

Al fresco lunch in the sun in February!

The party was rounded off with cake (of course!).  This year it was a Super Komachi Shinkansen.  Knowing the actual vehicle would be lost to everyone there, I made his name and age from lego - this was appreciated by everyone.  The cameras came out en masse when the cake arrived - I was surprised because most of the parents were male as this was an outdoor event - I didn't think guys would be so interested by it - but they were and after that I was quizzed big time on how, why, what etc.  This time most of the children and all the adults ate the cake - just as well as it was quite big.

Blowing out the candles

The children then went to play whilst we cleared up.  It was a brilliant morning - the weather as you can see from this last photo was fantastic - who thought we would be wearing just T-shirts outside in February?!  One by one the children disappeared off back home, we were sad to leave.

Not to worry, most of us met up again at the playground in Ingleton in the afternoon for a play and Matt ended up going out for the night in The Old Post Office with one of the Dads.  A good day.

Pub night

Rosy Cheeked Friends

Friday night we had a meet up at the Game Cock with Rachael, Graham and Isabella.  These are always good nights out - good food in a good pub with good friends.  Tom and Isabella are funny to watch and always get on without a cross word.

We were in a different room to usual this week which meant that Tom and Isabella had a 'window' to watch the bar from.  They weren't running around, but both got quite red cheeks as the evening drew on.  Isabella got Tom a massive Train noticeboard and then spent the end of the evening trying to kiss him - he allowed one but then ran away from her!  So cute to watch and a good evening out as always.

Hang overs all round

On Friday night Rachael and Janine came over for tea and a drink whilst Matt went over to Craig's for beer and crisps.  We all ended up quite tipsy - it was nice - a good happy evening in, been needing one of those for a while.  We woke up in good spirits, but with a terrible thirst and hunger which didn't go away all day.  We had to hang around for a while in the morning for a cake to be collected.  We thought we would go to Blackpool to the circus for the afternoon, but discovered it was closed.  Instead we headed to the Lake District for a walk around Tarn Hows - which is always pleasant.  We stopped off at Wilf's Cafe in Staveley and bumped into the family who used to live in our house, so spent a good half hour catching up - mostly them asking about local gossip.  We then headed to Tarn Hows, and did the walk around the lake which was very lovely as always.  We stopped off at Coniston for tea and a bun before heading back home.  Matt had a hankering for fish and chips, so much so that he offered to go and get them.  I wasn't as keen but as soon as I had one mouthful I was hooked and ate it all up.  It sorted out the hangover once and for all.

Beautiful British Dinner

Sunday we asked Tom what he wanted to do, his answer: "a train ride" - surprise surprise.  We decided on Bradford - for two reasons: to visit the National Media Museum and to have a curry (of course!).  On arrival we looked around the city centre, but it was quite dire, there was nothing of interest to keep us there at all.  In fact it was quite empty which for a Sunday lunchtime in a city centre is quite unusual.  We gave up and went in search of curry.  Matt knew of a good place he had been to before, The Kashmir, so we headed to it.   We got there to find it was looking very closed but a man inside beckoned us and we found the door open we went down into the basement and found a waiter - hurray.  We ordered popadoms, onion bhajis,  a lamb coconut dish and a chicken curry, with some rice and chapatis. It was very rough and ready - no plates, no cutlery, just the food.  Wow!  It was great - completely different to the usual Indian curry, and cheap - it cost us only £14.50 including drinks.  How do they do it?  Anyway a great fooding experience.  We then headed to the museum, which was fun.  There were some good displays for Tom, a gaming room full of computer games from our past - so much more basic than I remember, some displays including an original Wallace and Gromit set from The Wrong Trousers and much more that we didn't get to read or see properly as is the case when visiting a museum with a 5 year old.  Not to worry, we had fun.

Quiet Weekends

Swimming this week - Tom managed 2 whole widths of swimming on his back without any help.  It's amazing what a good teacher and some peer pressure can do...!  Well done Tom.

Lion (s?)

Grey Crested Crane

So, after a busy couple of weeks, we have had a couple of quiet weekends.  Last weekend we spent Saturday at Dalton Zoo.  Matt wanted to visit before the entrance fee went up, especially because the new areas have opened, meaning taking photos of the big cats are much easier.  We had yet another good day out there and the jaguar cubs came out again for a play which was good.  We even bumped into one of Tom's classmates there.  Anyway, a good day was had by all.  Here are a couple of photos Matt took.

Marmot

Jaguar and 2 cubs

A winter's threesome

On Sunday we asked Tom what he wanted to do - the answer as usual was 'Train Ride' so we decided to head to Carlisle, especially as it was raining quite hard - not a day for going out.

The journey was as lovely as always and the weather better in Carlisle than Ingleton.  We tried out the third restaurant in the funky chain that we have found in Carlisle - called 'The Last Zebra' - it was fab - the best of the three I think with lots of imaginative dishes on the menu.  My sweet potato and pulled pork hash with coriander and chilli being a case in point of being really rather yummy.

We had a quick look around the shops and then headed back home on the train.  Tom and I played Uno - he thrashed me big time - humpfh - think it ended up 354 vs 56 - bit embarrassing.  Oh well, it is good for his maths.