Week at home

Monday

Tom and Harrison

Tom has been missing his friend Harrison, so I contacted his mum to arrange a day out.  It turns out that they (all 6 of them) have been staying with Harrison's Dad's parents in their 3 bed house in Lytham since holidays started.  They were planning to go into Blackpool today for the second day of airshow so invited us along.

We thought it a good idea so headed in.  We parked up at Bispham so we could get the tram down to the centre of Blackpool (very important!)  I went laden with all types of clothes as it wasn't looking good: grey skies, rain and wind.  We got on the tram in rain and got off it 10 minutes later in bright sunshine - it was going to be that type of day.  I was worried that the airshow wouldn't happen as there was a lot of low, thick cloud.

Love heart left by one of the planes

Anyhow, we got to the main drag and went to M&S for lunch (the healthiest option I could find), a quick dash into Primark to get Tom some jumpers (all his are getting short on him) and then headed to the Central Pier.  We went into the amusement arcade, changed £1 into 2ps and spent a good 15 minutes loosing it!  Although we did have some luck - I won a charm which says 'teacher'? and Tom got a plane kit after collecting what we thought were lots of tokens (we took our tickets to the kiosk - the lady looked at me with disbelief that I had dared to come to the window with just 20 tickets - I realised afterwards that the others in the queue had hundreds!!!!!)

Tom on the beach

We then met the Ward family - complete with Aunt and 2 grandparents and found ourselves a space on the prom to watch the airshow from.  At this point the sky cleared and the wind dropped.  Perfect conditions for an airshow.  Not so great for us as we had no suncream (we weren't expecting sun).  The Wards didn't have any either!  Luckily Tom had his sunhat so he was ok - but I came home looking a little red in the face.

The airshow was great.  Yesterday was all the fighter jets, today was all the vintage planes.  All the action took place between the Central and Northern piers.  We had a Spitfire, Hurricane, Messerschmitt, a number of helicpoters, bi-planes, stunt planes etc etc.  The red devils did a parachute drop and there were wing walkers.  A great show - it went on for 3 hours and it was free!!!!!!  The boys ended up on the sand making sandcastles and playing cricket (well one boy played cricket - guess who?!)  A good day was had by all!

I unfortunately forgot to put my card back in my camera - so was unable to take any good pics of the planes, just these I took with my phone.  The sea air certainly had an effect on Tom - he slept the whole way home!!!!!!!

Tuesday

Today was the Lunesdale Show which is held in Kirkby Lonsdale.  We haven't been to an agricultural show since we moved here, so I thought it would be a good idea.  I don't think I chose well.  The whole show was badly badly organised - I spent the whole day frustrated.

First of all I stupidly decided to follow the signs to the show which took you past Kirkby Lonsdale, though a whole load of back roads and back into the town.  There I hit a traffic jam and had to wait 45 minutes to get into the show ground.  There was not one person on the road managing the queue!  When I got to the top of the queue, I noticed that the queue of cars coming from Kirkby Lonsdale town centre was 3!  I drove further for no reason.  That put me in a bad mood to start with, although I was slightly cheered by the fact the ancient person on the gate got confused with the entrance fee, meaning Tom got in free.  Normally I would point out a mistake like that and pay up - but I figured it was pay back for the long queue!

We went to look around the animals in the show - but as a visitor it was pretty much impossible to get to them.  There were show rings, but once again as a visitor it was really hard to get to see what was going on in them as there were cars parked all around and all the action took place where you couldn't see very well!  More frustration.

There were a lot of stalls, so we spent a while looking round them, bumped into some people we knew etc.  Then Tom said he was hungry.  Now I hadn't taken any food - hoping to get some farm produce here, and also wanting to contribute to the local economy.  Oh no!  There were only 2 catering vans, and both had huge long queues!  We ended up having cake for lunch from one of the stalls, sat by a show ring were we could see horses in the distance!  Humpfh!

The afternoon faired a little better - we managed to find ourselves some space squeezed between some tent pegs to watch some Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling.  Quite good fun and bizarre outfits.  In the end Tom was too hungry to concentrate on anything, so we left very disappointed by the whole thing.  I'm sure if you are a farmer showing your animals it is a great show because you are in with the animals but as a visitor it was really bad.

We went to Booths, got ourselves the last sandwich on the shelf and gobbled it up before heading home.  Luckily Dad had finished work so we had a fun afternoon - I was baking and Tom and Daddy playing football.

Wednesday

On Wednesday Katherine, an old school friend of mine who I got re-aquainted through via FB and one of Matt's friends (long story full of coincidence) and her family came for the day.  They were renting a cottage in Ambleside and thought it a good idea to meet up for the day.  I gave her the choice of a Lake District or Yorkshire Dales day - they wanted to come here so we brought them here for the day.

Before photo

Wow, they chose a good day!  It was hot, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and no wind either AND it was clear.  This happens about 5 days a year!!!!!!!  They arrived around 11am with picnic already packed, so we gave them a choice of the waterfalls trail or climb Ingleborough - leaning towards the Ingleborough climb because it was such a perfect day for it.  They submitted so off to Ingleborough we went.  We did our classic climb - so parked at the Hill Inn and climbed up and over, ending at our house.  We slapped on the sun cream and strode off.  Having 3 children helped - they egged each other on.  When we got to the really steep bit - Edward and Lily zoomed off up - they were both like monkeys scaling the wall - whilst Tom's legs are still a little bit short so he still needed help up.  We made it in good time and the view was absolutely glorious - we could see for miles and miles - the coast was clearly visible and the Lake District mountains.  We had a picnic on the top and then headed back down.  There was a little moaning from Lily - but we got home in good time and in good spirits.

We all made it to the top!

The children wanted to have a splash in the swimming pool, so after a brew and some cake we headed off.  The pool was full.  It has never been full.  Not a problem though - the children went off to play in the stream.  After half an hour I asked again and we were allowed in.  The children jumped in immediately, whilst Katherine, Pete and I sat sunning ourselves on the terraces.  Pete got made to go in by the children and spent the best part of an hour being strangled by them - with very good humour.  Katherine and I chatted and drank cold drinks whilst enjoying the last of the sunshine.

We eventually headed back - the BBQ was out - at last.  We spent all evening outside - the children playing with water balloons and the adults sitting and drinking wine / beer etc.  It was a lovely evening and once the BBQ was ready everyone ate up well.

3 icons of Yorkshire

It really was a lovely day out - the children got on really well - like old friends, which was great because they had only met once before for dinner, Pete, Katherine's husband was incredibly easy to get to know and chat with - feel like I've known him all my life - although he is remarkably similar to Tim Milburn in looks and manner (a bit taller though) which is slightly eerie.  It was a warm day - from both sunshine and friendship - one to remember, don't think it could have been any more perfect.  They eventually left around 9pm - a bit late but we were having such a lovely evening I don't think any of us wanted it to stop!



Thursday

Prairie dog

Loopy giraffe

Thursday was Tom's treat day.  We said he could choose a day out for getting a good school report.  He said he wanted to go to the zoo.  He was a little tired from yesterday - but today was the only day we could fit it in.  We negotiated 2 traffic jams to get there so were a little frustrated on arrival - especially as we thought we were being clever by going the back way to the car park, only to find they had moved the car park!  We knew they were changing the layout of the zoo, but we were completely astounded by how much it had changed since last time we were there.  Not only had the entrance moved, but most of the animals had moved.  In fact at the beginning we were a bit lost and it took us quite a while to get our bearings.

It's all been done well though and the zoo is way way bigger than it was back in Easter.  In fact even though it was a lovely sunny day, the place didn't feel packed (although that might be because some people gave up in the road works).  We happily walked around saying hello to the animals.  The big cats didn't give us much of a show (the snow leopards, I think had melted as we couldn't find them anywhere!), the lions were crouched with their backs to us, the Sri Lankan Leopards were no where to be seen, the jaguars were up and out though and came over to say hello to us - but even they were melting in the sun and looked quite gormless.

American vulture

The best animals by far were the giraffes!  They were out with the rhinos in a huge field.  A group of them were up by the restaurant, so we decided to stop for tea and bun and had them outside where we could watch them.  The dominant male was doing a weird thing with his tongue, slapping it about from side to side.  It was almost as if he had had a dental injection in it and was trying to get it back in his mouth but failing, it was all over the place and quite comical to watch.  There were also some baby giraffes to watch - always a bonus.

After tea and a bun we explored the rest of the zoo and Tom had a ride on the much extended zoo train.  It was a lovely day, so sunny too - that's two sunny days in a row - almost a record!

Parrot

We were all quite tired from being out in the sunshine and also as a result of a very busy Wednesday so we made our escape back home.  Tom slept in the car which meant that he was refreshed enough to play football with the village children in the evening (they meet every Thursday evening).  Matt and I took him down and settled down to watch.  It was so much fun.  Tom did really well, being one of the highest scorers and showing some great skills.  He still doesn't like tackling much - but he did do some and certainly didn't disgrace himself - quite the contrary.  Everyone knows his name now.

Friday

Well I said we aren't allowed more than two glorious days in a row - this morning it was chucking it down.  Thick grey, angry clouds and rain, rain, rain.  Of course it is Friday swimming lessons.  We went down to the pool and found very few people down there!  It always surprises me when this happens, because you are going to get wet in the pool anyway aren't you, so why worry about a little bit of rain on the way down to the pool?  Also when it is cold and rainy, the pool water feels lovely and warm.  However, it was to our advantage because it meant Tom's lesson only had 3 children in it rather than 8.  (One lesson went ahead with only one child!).  They did some serious swimming bits and then the teacher showed them how to do underwater somersaults and handstands - fab, Tom lapped it up.  The teacher helped him with the handstands and got kicked in the stomach as a reward - oops.  He came out shivering but happy.

When we got home we headed over to Ireby Cafe for a big hot lunch.  There we bumped into our old next door neighbours which was a lovely surprise.  We then had a lazy afternoon.  Tom went to bed for a nap without a protest and slept for over an hour and a half.  There was a reason - we have tickets to see the outdoor theatre production of Oliver Twist at Williamson Park.  It doesn't start until 7.15 and finishes around 10.30 - another very late night.

Two flat capped boys waiting for Oliver Twist.

Luckily the rain stopped.  We headed to Williamson Park with chairs, blankets and a picnic and made ourselves comfortable for scene 1.  We were very very glad to have brought chairs, as the ground was soggy and wet - we would have suffered from numb bums on picnic blankets.  The production was very adult and not a musical, and set in the woods, but apart from that more or less stuck to the original story.  The fact that we moved from place to place within the park with every scene and that they had dressed up the woods to look really pretty, meant that Tom didn't get bored - plus there were actors doing things all over the place all the time - so there was plenty to look for.  He said he didn't understand much but enjoyed it never the less.  We did get cold when the production was right at the top of Williamson Park (it is on top of a hill) and the wind whipped around us - but with blankets over us we were fine and it was quite novel sitting out in the dark with blankets wrapped around us.

Note for next time - take a BIG picnic - a usual picnic isn't enough - we were all still hungry after eating it, and if it has been raining or might be cold - go for the chair and blanket option: a lot to carry, but definitely worth it.

Weekend

On the tractor

Friday - we had bright sunshine.  It was so lovely that I even put on a dress!!!!  Tom had his swimming lesson down at the pool, which is also a sun trap, so we headed over quite early and enjoyed basking in the sun and catching up with all the other parents.

After the baling

The afternoon was spent at the Atkinsons.  Now we were incredibly lucky here as the fields directly behind their barn had just been mown, and the baling tractors arrived.  Caroline has a good relationship with the tractor drivers which meant that the children were allowed in the tractors whilst the grass got collected up and turned into bales.  How cool is that?  The children were overjoyed and sat in the tractors as good as gold.

Sinker success!

Saturday, Tom wanted to go to Ingleton pool again so he went to the morning session as it was sunny again and the afternoon sessions get rammed.  He had a great time by himself - I daren't go in the pool with him now after my last session with him.

In the afternoon we spent some time watching Matt play cricket and some time having water fights and making jelly and chocolate cornflake cakes.

Distant Vulcan

Sunday Tom played cricket in the morning, we then found out that a Vulcan was going to fly overhead a couple of villages away so we went in search of it, unfortunately there was low cloud so it flew a couple of miles away from the flight path, meaning we saw it in the distance, but we didn't get a very good look at it and we didn't hear it.  Oh hum.

I'm either suffering badly from hay fever, or have a bad cold, so am feeling sorry for myself, so we came home and I soaked in the bath.

Trip to Telford

3 normal children...

On Tuesday Tom and I headed south again.  This time to Telford for a couple of nights so we could catch up with everyone.

My memory of Telford roads has now officially gone!  I got lost trying to find Sammie's house and the town centre roads have changed so much now that I don't have a chance finding anything!

First stop was Sammie, Jen and Sophie.  Of course they hadn't changed at all, other than they were older (not even sure Sophie was taller - she's such a dot of a thing!)  Sammie got a massive hug as soon as Tom saw her and the children were playing instantly.  If I talk about the children in Telford, Tom normally looks at me blank (except Mae who he still adores) but as soon as he sees any of them, they slip straight back into being friends again - they obviously remember each other in some way (they were very young - only just 3 when we left Telford)

...oh dear!

We were fed very well - a picnic lunch with every type of picnic food you can think of.  Tom was straight into it all and ate well.  The children then played whilst Sammie and I caught up.  Sammie had a new job as Teaching Assistant in the same school as Jen and Sophie (also where Michelle from NCT works and is now Deputy Head Mistress).  I am so so glad we moved away from Telford as every school conversation filled me with shock.  It seems that all Tom's friends in Telford schools are being tested and doing way more homework than him.  The school where Jen and Sophie are try to make sure the children are a year ahead of where they should be - so there is a lot of cramming to be done (really, is there really a need for that - what happened about a 5/6 year old being just that - not a cramming machine?!)  They have spellings to learn, as does Mae - she has to do 15 a week and is tested every week?!  Tom's never done a spelling test in his life.  Also children are put in groups according to ability for phonics, reading and maths.  The children therefore know where they are in the class as do the parents.  Tom is in groups for the same subjects, but they aren't according to ability, or if they are, I'm not aware of it.  I certainly don't know what level Tom is in reading - the Telford mums knew exactly what level (ie level 9, 10 etc).  I think that is best or the inevitable competition would happen (between children and parents) which can only be counter productive.  Sammie was telling me stories of children in the class she teaches (year 2) being grounded if they don't get 100% in their spelling tests every week!  These children will be burnt out before they reach high school.  I am very glad Tom is in a nice sensible school.   There will be plenty of time in his teens to work hard.  Rant over (sorry!)

There were 3 in a bed...

Anyway we both had a lovely time at Sammie's but too soon it was time to say goodbye.  I headed over to the MacConnachie's.  Now they live in a field in the middle of no-where.  Not a chance I would find their place without sat nav.  I'm still not sure where they actually are.  The sat nav got me there without a wrong turning - phew.  I found them all in good spirit - of course.  Rachel and the girls had just returned from a mini break in Wales, but they weren't in too much disarray.  We fed the children pizza, Phil returned, the wine got opened and we all relaxed.  The children all wanted to sleep together so Rachel pulled out Mae's bed to make a large double and all 3 children slept in it.  I thought it would be a no-goer with them all being soooooo excited about it.  Also Mae is well known for not wanting to go to sleep, but it only took an hour before they were all spark out.  A success, and it meant we got some adult time.

Rachel, Mae & Tom in the maze

Wednesday was a day with Rachel and the girls.  She was also minding 2 boys for the day and had decided to head to Weston Park with a picnic for the day.  Perfect.  We had a fab time there.  There was a lot of running around, boisterous play, shouting, giggling, climbing of trees, rolling down banks etc etc.  I saw Tom in a new light as he took it upon himself to look after the smaller children (the two boys were younger than him) and made sure they were all ok, didn't run across roads etc etc. He does have a leader / caring side to him which is great to see.

We got to a maze and the children had a wonderful time shouting at the top of their voices trying to find the way to the middle and then out again.  Tom was in and out and in and out, loving it.  Even Lucy who is normally shy of the maze joined in with the fun, stomping around it.  They were having a ball.

Zonked!

We had a picnic and then headed to the play park which was very very well set up: it was big with lots of things to play on - all well built and thought out.  I think we were there over an hour and the children didn't get bored once.  Tom spent some time playing with the other children and some time playing by himself, he was very content.  Rachel and I were able to chat and chat and chat which was fantastic.  It was a good day.  By the time the mum of the other boys turned up, everyone was tired.  We returned back to Rachel's. The rest of the afternoon the children were zonked out in front of the telly watching films.

3 children sound asleep

Tom and Mae

They had an early dinner, showers and went to bed with no complaint very early (well for them anyway - still late for Tom).  They were shattered!  This meant that Rachel, Phil and I had a lovely undisturbed dinner - so a bit too much alcohol was consumed.  Oh well, they are good hosts and the conversation flowed too easily.  Had a really good night's sleep.



The next morning we had breakfast together and Rachel made Tom and me a picnic ready for our meet up with Helen, Jake and Thomas.  Tom and Mae played computer games - not sure Tom knew what he was supposed to do, but he was more than happy to tinker around.  This was the best photo I managed of them together.  They are still very good friends, but I think Tom sticks up for himself against Mae a bit more now.

Jake climbing

Trashing a log!

We drove over to Attingham Park where we met up with Helen, Jake and Thomas for a romp around the park.  First we did a walk around the grounds before hitting the play ground.  This was a good ole boys day.  The three of them were straight into boys play without any encouragement from us: throwing stones, finding sticks, climbing trees, discovering dens and running, running, running.  I just love watching Tom and his friends play and this was proper playing.

Tom and Thomas got on really well.  Tom doesn't really know Thomas that well as he was literally born about 2 weeks before we moved to Lupton.  It didn't matter though, Tom took on his big brother role and made sure he was fine.  Thomas is just old enough now to join in big boy fun so they all had a fab time together.

Three friends

Jake and Tom (he was having fun - honest!)  

We got to the play park in time for lunch.  Wow!  They have changed the play park big time.  When we lived in Telford the park was quite small and confined within a walled garden. Now it is in a huge big field and there are loads more things to play with - huge logs, tunnels in the ground, but mainly loads of space to run, run, run.  They had a great time.

They all ate up, looked after each other and played.  This, once again meant that Helen and I could chat, it is so good to meet up with old friends. Especially when we can chat about them as toddlers and babies and all the challenges they brought us.  Now, of course there is a lot of school talk, but I've already ranted about that!

Being silly

With the lovely Helen

It was another lovely day,
but at 2pm we had to call it a day and start our trip back home.  Tom was asleep almost immediately and was out cold for a good hour.  Not surprising!  The trip home was fine, just boring - the A49 and M6 are dull.  We got home for 5pm, had a burger each and then Tom was down at school playing football with all his friends (just as well he had a sleep in the car!)  This boy doesn't stop.

Anyway, thank you to our friends in Telford, we had a fab time.

Monday

Bubble boy

Monday was another useful day.  It was grey and raining, we didn't have any plans so we decided to into Kendal to do the school uniform run.  First stop Asda for T-shirts and P.E kit and then to the Clarks Outlet for trainers.  I was also on the look out for skinny trunks for Matt and Tom as apparently in France they don't allow men or boys in the swimming pools unless they are wearing skinny trunks.  I can't imagine either of them in speedos, so was on the hunt for skinny short type trunks.  They didn't have them in Asda, so we headed into Kendal town.  First stop was lunch (not Booths this time as they have closed their restaurant and opened up a half hearted cafe in its place) which we had at an average cafe.  Tom choose Prawn Cocktail from the starters and wolfed it down in no time at all.  The waitress was shocked and stunned and said as much!!!!  We then headed to M&S - I found Matt some skinny trunks but non for Tom.  By then I was bored as was Tom so we decided to call it a day and head home.  I got Tom some trunks on-line.

Beautiful bubble

When he came home Tom asked to get his big bubble wand out - the one he picked up from Deer Shed Festival.  He got some great bubbles on the go.

Weekend

Collecting stones on the beach

Choosing the best fruit

Saturday, Matt was playing cricket in Bolton-le-Sands so we decided to head over there together for a play on the beach and lunch before saying good luck to Matt.  Tom and I then headed over to Hest Bank for a play (relocating stones on the beach) and watch the trains.  We then stopped by Aldi to pick up yet more smoked salmon for his nibs and then to the PYO farm to do some raspberry picking ready for another jam production run and then headed home to make Matt an Ecclefechan Tart for his birthday cake - only just made it in time as unfortunately Ingleton Cricket team got hammered again.  A quite but useful day.

Birthday Tart

Wet boys on a walk

Sunday Tom played cricket in the morning, we then went to Inglesport for lunch and then over to Gearstones (on the way to Hawes for a walk).  The weather man said that it was going to rain in the morning and cheer up in the afternoon.  He got it wrong.  It rained during the walk, well actually for most of the walk.  In fact we missed the main features on the walk because we had our heads down trying to keep the rain out of our eyes.  Not the best walk we have ever done, but Tom didn't complain once, in fact I'm not even sure he noticed the rain?!!!  What a trooper!

Matt's Birthday

Happy Birthday Matt.

The day started off with Tom walking into our room at 7am - a time we told him with his present - chosen and (sort of) wrapped by him.  He opened that (a Gromit mug) and all other pressies and then he got breakfast in bed (bacon and egg on bread).  We then headed off to Lancaster train station.  Matt had chosen to spend the whole day in Liverpool - mainly so he could go to Etsu and order all the starters in order to have as close to an Izakaya meal as possible.

We had an uneventful train journey and did a little bit of shopping (mainly a new sim card for me so I could use my new phone) and then headed to Etsu.  We did order almost one of everything and I took a photo of Matt with all his food for the blog - but when I synced my phone it got wiped, so I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of the birthday boy.

Tom and Tots!

Once we had eaten up, I did a spot of shopping in Pepperbury, and we picked up a camping cook set for next time we head off with the tent and then we headed to the World Museum.  This is a little museum which has exhibit on the Natural World and World Culture.  All exhibits were quite small - so perfect for a little one with limited concentration.  We found they were doing a special feature on Japanese culture including workshops for children.  We walked in to find someone dressed up as Totoro - how cool!  Tom did some origami and Matt spoke to people about mutual acquaintances -  a nice little interlude.  We then had tea and bun and headed back home on the train.  Everyone happy.

Friday Tom started his Ingleton Pool swimming lessons (great social for me and Tom - catching up with all the mums and kids).  Tom did well - he's in the class below his ability, meaning he's the best in it which he prefers, although they do use swim aids - which of course he doesn't need.  The afternoon saw us around Matthew's house having a catch up with Lynne.

Trip to Manchester

On Tuesday we headed down South to Manchester to visit Karen, Leia and Rosa.  First stop was Ikea in Warrington as we need another shelving unit.  I treated Tom to meatballs, chips and jam as you have to when visiting and then we headed into the shop.  It was a bit of a trauma for Tom "Mummy we are never going to leave", "Mummy I need fresh air", "Mummy I think we are going around again!".  He wasn't impressed but I did try to go round as quickly as I could.  Typical, when we finally got to the place to pick up our shelves they were out of stock!  Not great, but Tom was happy to see the sky again!

In bed with a girl!

We then headed to Karen's and as usual when I drive to her, we got lost.  Not once, but twice, with the sat nav!  In the end she had to talk me in.  There are just too many roads in Manchester!!!!!  Anyway, we got there in one piece.  It was lovely to see them all - Rosa is as cute as ever, Leia has grown up loads and Karen was Karen - straight talking funny girl.

It took the children a little while to warm up to each other but within an hour they were playing together.  Karen had a roast dinner on so we were very well looked after.  Leia got a double bed for her birthday this year and asked if Tom could sleep with her.  We said yes as long as he was asleep within an hour (it was 8pm).  We sneaked up at 8.30 - both of them were pretending to be asleep.  At 9pm Tom was fast asleep and Leia pretending.  We left them to it.  So Tom has had his first night in bed with a girl!!!!!

Nurse singing to a soldier

On Wednesday we decided to go to Dunham Massey - a National Trust property just south of Manchester.  I followed Karen, so didn't get lost - hurray!  Dunham Massey was turned into a hospital during the first world war, and as it was the centenary last year, they have set it up again.

Solemn children

2 x broken arms!

Wow!  It was brilliant.  One of the rooms was a ward full of beds and quotes from soldiers diaries written on pillows, pyjamas, ties etc.  Each bed had a patient card at the end of it - telling you who the patient was and treatment he needed.

AND there were actors walking around.  When we walked in a nurse was singing Keep the Home Fires burning to a patient to help him sleep.

Then we saw two nurses talking about politics of the day - one used to be a maid in the big house, the other a lady of the big house, now both were nurses.  Then we saw two soldiers talking about how scared they were about going back to the front whilst playing chess.  It was really really well done.  I would happily have stayed there a couple of hours reading everything and enjoying the acting, but children don't allow you to do that!  However, to be fair Tom did understand quite a bit and he was very serious whilst in the ward - he knew it was a significant place and had a serious face on the whole time.

Rolling up the bandages

There was also a room set up with the nurses uniform to try on, bandages to wear and roll back up (did you know there was a machine that did that in 1917?).  Anyway we had fun and I think the children learnt something.

Running children

We had a quick look around the rest of the house, which was your usual National Trust house - full of four poster beds, paintings, silverware etc.  There was a room with records of all the soldiers that had passed through and made interesting reading - but once again the children only had limited concentration spans here.

Pregnant children?

We had a quick look around the kitchens which were huge and then gave in to the children and went to the restaurant for food.  The afternoon was then spent outside - the children running around.  In the grounds they had an area called the log pile which was full of things to play with, dens to find, trails to follow, trees to climb etc.  It was ace.  With Leia now being 8, we could let her and Tom run off to play.  Rosa decided to stay with us which was great and the sun came out.  We were in heaven.  Non stressful parenting where everyone is happy.  It was a shame when we finally had to return to the cars so we could head home.

I think it is the best National Trust place I've been to and hope to get there again before the WWI re-enactment ends in November this year.

Festival Family

Boys working hard

On Friday we picked Tom up from football and headed straight over to Battersby Park near Thirsk for our first festival.  We finally had run out of excuses not to use our tent - it was to be done, we were going to camp.  We got over there in good time, got ourselves a festival trolley and loaded it up with as much gear as possible.  We then walked to the campsite (about a mile away - no exaggeration) to find a pitch, then we panicked.  The campsite looked full.  We asked a lady where would be best to find a pitch and followed her suggestion.  We were just about to give up when we found a thin sliver of land which we thought might fit our tent.  It did - phew!  We unloaded the trolley and then I sprinted back with it (we were on a time limit), headed back to the car to pick up all the bits that didn't originally fit in the trolley and walked back to the site.  We then put the tent up - it went up pretty easily (we did a trial run in the field last week).  We then pumped up the air beds, got the sleeping bags out and made the tent feel homely.

Happy campers

By this time we were starving so we headed into the festival - the first thing we saw were a big collection of catering trucks making food from all around the world.  We were to discover that the food was exceedingly good and very reasonably priced, meaning we ate very very well (some might say too well) over the weekend.  We started off with half a roast chicken with chips which we all shared and which hardly touched the sides!

Once we finished the meal we went for a look around the festival site.  We didn't get too far as there was a small fun fair and a certain little boy wanted a go on the helter skelter.  We then found the bar (very important find), we were just about to indulge ourselves, when Tom piped up that his tummy was feeling funny!  It transpired that he was still very hungry and needed more food - so we got a bag of mini donuts.  Just as we were tucking in we heard from our friends (Rachael, Graham and Isabella) who had got there in the morning - they directed us towards them and we ended up spending the evening with them.  It was fantastic for Tom as he and Isabella get on very well with each other.  They spent the evening running, running and running - playing chase and other games.  Also in the crowd were another family Yvonne, Sam and Ciara - Ciara is 10 - a little older, but not too old to not to play.  They also got some fantastic bubble wands that make huge bubbles and spent a lot of time making them and chasing them.  It was a good night.

Eye on the ball?

Can't say we had a good night's sleep!  The music on the stage didn't finish until 1.30am, then there were lots of drunk people walking past not being quiet, and then - and this was the biggest problem, there was getting used to sleeping in a sleeping bag again!  You are so constricted - no where for arms or legs to go.  As we usually sleep in a king size bed, it was very difficult to get used to.  I was also overheating as I was in the sleeping bag I used in the Himalayas that goes down to -20 degrees.  Matt was having similar problems (but not overheating as he was in my sleeping bag from India - much thinner), however, Tom was fine.  He went happily to bed and straight to sleep!  We were pleased but jealous.  However, he woke up at 2.30 needing a wee, so we had to go for a long walk - toilets were miles away (we found closer ones the following morning)  I was quite pleased, gave me something to do!

Samsam Bubbleman

We did finally get to sleep, but I was awake by 6am and Matt and Tom were awake at 7, as was everyone around us.  The sun was shining, so we got up, queued to go to the toilet, had breakfast and then headed back to the festival (Matt needed his coffee fix and we didn't take any cooking equipment with us knowing everything we needed would be in the festival).  First stop was a story telling tent with an author explaining about life in Georgian times, then a quick game or two of swingball before heading to the Big Top to see a show by SamSam BubbleMan who is a whizz with bubbles - a great show, lots of fun, plus Tom managed to squeeze his way to the top which meant he had the best view.

The axeman

By then we were in need of sustenance so we stopped off at a crepe van and got ourselves one.

We then headed to the science tent where we (Tom) made a paperclip helicopter which was partially successful.  We then went to the paper aeroplane making area which was run by a world champion paper aeroplane maker.  Tom (and Matt) made one to his specifications and then climbed up a stage to fly it - it was amazing - flew straight and strong.  Think they must have flown it about 20 times as it was so good.  In fact I could collect it and fly it back to them with minimal problems.  Matt was so impressed he took a photo of the instructions so he could remake it at home.

We then headed to the children's workshops where Tom decided to make a guitar - this involved painting and gluing - neither or which are his fortes, but he concentrated and saw it through!  I was amazed but pleased.  He decided on making a yellow guitar because he wanted to play yellow submarine on it.  He finished it off with some sparkle - I was impressed.

The arena

By now we were hungry again, so we looked in search of lunch and had some stuffed flat breads.   We then decided to head back to the tent for an afternoon nap as Tom was looking tired and both Matt and I were tired.  It was lovely to lie down, but Tom was too excited to nap.  We told him to read a book - so he read it out loud (very cute) and then he was fidgeting, fidgeting, fidgeting!  In the end the sun put an end to it as it came out and the tent heated up so hot that we couldn't stay inside it any longer.

Best of friends

We went back to the festival and had a second lunch - churros and chocolate for Matt and Tom and chickpea curry for me.  It then started to rain so we headed back to the tent for shelter.  At about 7pm we headed out with our chairs ready for dinner and to listen to the music and catch up with the others.  It wasn't the best time to head out as when I was queueing up for my rather lovely Thai Chicken Curry the heavens opened and we got more than damp.  Oops.  Once it was lovely and sunny again the others caught up with us and we had the evening together.  Once again Tom and Isabella had a great time, there were lots of bubbles, I took them both on the swings ride, there was a lot running a giggling, it was a joy to see.

After the rain it was very cold and by the time we got back to the tent we were shivering.  We were so cold that I couldn't stop shivering, even in my sleeping bag which goes down to -20 degrees!  I ended up having to get up for a walk to warm up and then get back into my sleeping bag.

Spark out!

I was fine after that and got to sleep as did Matt, but Tom woke up needing a wee!  He couldn't wait a moment so we had a fountain go off in his part of the tent and then an argument about wet socks.  His socks were soaking wet, but he wouldn't take them off as he thought they were dry!  I had to negotiate for a good 20 minutes to get them off him, get him changed into dry warm clothes and back into bed and asleep again.  He of course went straight back to sleep, but of course I was freezing cold again!  Oh hum.  I did get back to sleep eventually.  Need to work out what to do when we go to France to avoid that again.

Daddy's not a natural camper!

Sunday morning dawned lovely and sunny.  Tom didn't wake up until after 9am - that was because once again the tent heated up big time.  The forecast was for a lovely morning and rainy afternoon so we decided to have a lazy morning and then pack up the tent whilst it was still dry.  So it was malt loaf for breakfast and then we packed up, got a trolley and packed up the car (the car was miles away of course - a result of being so late to get there).

Playing Yellow Submarine on his new guitar

The only way to travel

We then headed to the festival for lunch (fish finger sandwiches for Tom and I and Thai curry for Matt).  I was made to go on the big wheel with Tom which gave a great view.  At 2pm just as the weather men said the rain came,  and it was going to stay with us, so we decided to head home.

Must say we thought the festival was very well arranged, lots of happy people everywhere.  So much for children to do, even the toilets stayed clean and in toilet roll for the whole weekend!


It was a great weekend.  Notes for next time:

+ Arrive as early as possible
+ Ignore marshalls and park in the glamping bit - their car park is much nearer
+ Take potty / other toilet thing for Tom to use in an emergency
+ Don't need to take any food - everything is available on site
+ Take a blanket each for the evenings outside
+ Take plenty of cash
+ Tom's bedding was a sleeping bag and duvet - that was just right.
+ Don't bother with towels - there were only 4 showers for 1,000s of people!  Just have to go greasy!