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.

Add caption

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.

Snow, snow, snow

Matt and Tom sledging

On Thursday it snowed.  On Friday it snowed.  Not too much here in Ingleton, but a couple of miles up the Hawes road it was thick.  We went for a trial sledge on Friday evening after school which ended in tears because the snow was hitting his face!  On Saturday morning the snow was still there and Tom said he wanted to go sledging again so we headed back to the Old Hill Inn again.  There were a few people there when we arrived including Kiera from Tom's class which helped.  We joined in and before too long Tom was enjoying himself on the sledge whizzing down the mountain side.  Matt and I also got plenty of turns on the sledge.

Tom going over the jump sledging (not sure how he stayed on it?!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwbD6SRH3Es

We spent 2 hours whizzing up and down the slopes and then headed back to Ingleton in search of lunch (soup at Inglesport).  We then headed to Ulverston for a walk up to the lighthouse there.  The further West we went the lighter the covering of snow, until there was nothing at all.  In Ulverston it was hailing.  We thought Tom wouldn't want to walk up to the lighthouse in this weather, but he was a true soldier and made it up to the top without a hint of complaint.  It was a good view.  We descended, had tea and a bun in Booths, a look around Mountain Warehouse and then headed to a good pub we know for dinner.

On Hoad Hill

Sunday morning, Tom wanted to go sledging again - so we headed back and once again had lots of fun, although Tom kept bailing out of the sledge on purpose each time he went by himself?  Oh hum. We met up with the Bickerstaffs there and somehow ended up in the Station Inn for lunch and a pint.  We had an easy afternoon of homework, baths and dinner of pancakes.

Matt sledging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo-OckhZFkU

Matt crashing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFTqP3rymns

Visitor from Japan

Junko, Dr Yellow and Tom

On Tuesday, we had a Japanese visitor come to stay.  Junko is the daughter of the lady who used to rent the top floor of Pat and Bob's place in Ealing.  She came over for a visit last year and stayed with Pat and Bob, this time she requested a visit to see us, so she got the train to Oxenholme and Matt picked her up in our BRAND NEW CAR - yes we said goodbye to the Lancer and bought a new Civic - Honda had the best deals on and this time Matt was able to control himself and went for gadgets rather than performance.  I had a Civic with Baxter Storey so we know the car well - it was very reliable then so we hope it will be again now.

They arrived whilst I was at school picking up Tom.  She and Tom bonded immediately (she's Japanese isn't she and he likes everything and anyone who is Japanese).  I made a proper traditional English roast - introduced her to Yorkshire Puddings and parsnips.  It all went down well.  She was very easy to talk to - her English was very good, but her manner made her easy company which is always good.

On Wednesday we took Junko out for the day.  We were going to take her to Hawes, but it had snowed overnight (typical as our new car is 2 wheel drive - the Lancer was 4wd!)  The road was icy and covered in snow so we decided it was safer to head elsewhere.  We drove to Settle for a look around and then Grassington for lunch and a shop.  We weren't sure how many shops would be open but we were quite lucky, although Junko didn't find anything she was interested in.  Not to worry she saw lots of Yorkshire countryside - very very different to Japanese scenery.

We got back just in time to pick up Tom.  Then after a play, we headed to Casterton - Tom went swimming whilst Matt and Junko went to the pub.  Tom and I caught up with them after swimming, we had a meal and then came back home.

On Thursday, Matt took Junko to Hawes, then Sedburgh before returning her to Oxenholme.  Apparently she had a great time in Hawes, buying a £210 Barber jacket, several oven gloves, a flat cap for her brother and some cheese (of course)  It was a happy day for Hawes!

Anyway, it was lovely to have her: happy, easy company.  We hope she comes back to visit again.

Center Parcs

Last Friday we took the car to school and picked up Tom.  We were off to Center Parcs - there is one near Penrith, just an hour's drive from here.  I did some research last year and found that in January a visit is £100 cheaper than any other time of the year, so I booked us in as everyone had told us how good it is.

Timber Lodge

We drove up the M6 in the howling wind and rain, fully laden with bikes on the back of the car, (you can't drive once you are settled into Center Parcs, you cycle or walk everywhere.  We stopped off at Tebay Services to buy some food - we picked up some good looking burgers, bacon, haggis and chicken fillets and then headed onwards.  We got there in good time and had to queue for about 30 mins to get checked in.  We then had to find our lodge in the pitch dark (very few street lights) and got a little bit stressed (something to do with having to go the wrong way up a one way street to get to it in order to avoid having to do a massive circuit of the campus again).  Anyhow, we found it and unloaded.  We booked the cheapest lodge and were expecting to be located right on the periphery of the village as we didn't pay any extra to be near the centre, but as it was 5 minutes walk from the centre, so we did ok (I had a look when we got back, we should have paid an extra £50 to be located where we were - just goes to show it pays not to pay if you know what I mean).  The lodge is very comfortable: 2 bed rooms, open plan kitchen, dining room and lounge.  Everything you need is provided (towels etc), even has a bike stand at the front and a patio and bbq at the back.

View of the Village Centre

Although we arrived in the pitch black and it was raining, we decided on arrival to have a walk around to find our bearings, so we studied a map and went in a rather round about way to the village centre.  This is a huge, huge building which houses the huge tropical swimming pool area, a good selection of shops, including a supermarket and cafes, a bar, a bowling alley etc etc.  It was much bigger than I expected.

Strawberry Tom with a Strawberry Cocktail

We ended up in the bar and had a celebratory holiday drink.  Tom chose a strawberry cocktail whilst we went for the boring usual pints.  We then headed home to cook our burgers and put the boy to bed, it was almost 9pm by the time he was under the covers, but then we are on holiday!

Inside the oasis

Waterslides - Tom loved these

We didn't sleep too well in the night - something to do with howling wind and noisy sheets.  Yes noisy sheets - every time we moved we would wake up because the sheets would crinkle and crack.  The duvet was also very very thick meaning we were very very hot.  Oh hum, never mind, time to do some proper exploring.  We knew the swimming pool opened at 10am so we had a lazy breakfast and then got our stuff together and waked to the pool.  It was big, very big.  They provide swim vests free of charge for children, we put one on Tom which gave both him and us added confidence in the water.  We started off in the children's pool where Tom showed himself to be willing to try new things, and went down the two slides.  Ah ha, we then moved into the main pool, did some swimming, found a waterfall, swam under the waterfall, then found some adult slides.  Tom wanted a go, and he went down by himself and didn't cry when he went under water.  We did them again and again.  We then found some flumes (curly tubes).  He was just about tall enough to have a go, so we climbed the stairs and to our surprise he had a go (he had to go by himself) and he shot out the bottom with a smile on his face and asked to do them again.  Wow, wow, wow!

The next thing we discovered was the wave machine which was active every half hour.  We went to the main pool and Tom spent a happy 15 minutes jumping into the waves.  He was under the water, knocked off his feet, eyes and mouth full of water, and only a smile on his face.  He LOVED it.

Last we discovered the rapids - a section of fast moving water where you float and you are whizzed along around a circle.  Tom thought it was great, when we were spat out the end, I would have to grab him and fight the current to get him to go around again, it became quite a game where he would try to get away and I would have to swim hard to catch him.  Yet another swimming activity he LOVED.

We spent over 2 hours swimming, sliding, floating, jumping in waves and generally having a great time.  The pool did start to get very very busy and our stomachs began to rumble, so we decided to call it a day and go in search for lunch.  We ended up in a pancake house and had savoury pancakes all round - well deserved I would say.

We then went back to the lodge and then decided to go for a bike ride.  We couldn't have timed it any worse as literally 2 minutes after setting off on the bikes, snow came down.  It came down quite thick.  Tom had a melt down, he didn't like the feel of it on his cheeks, his melt down meant he wouldn't move, which of course just made it worse!  In the end he managed to pull himself together and carried on towards the Sports Plaza after another melt down we eventually rode up and headed inside.  We headed straight to the bar which had a soft play area.  Tom hasn't been to a soft play area for a long while and he loved it.  In fact we didn't see him for over an hour and it was only a small one.  In this time the weather had cleared and the sun was out, melting the snow.  The Sports Plaza was another massive building.  In it is nearly every indoor sport you can think of: badminton, tennis, squash, tennis, archery, climbing wall, etc etc.  They have a massive sports itinerary - both indoors and outdoors, all of which are pretty expensive - you could easily spend £100's without realising it.  However, we had resolved not to do any of the extra activities this time, just swimming and cycling - both of which are free. Once we were all dry and recovered we headed back on our bikes to the lodge for an early tea, and then we went back to the swimming pool for another session when we found another pool - the outdoor pool.  It was heated but you had to run across very cold flagstones in the cold to get to it.  We were brave.

Tom went to bed very tired, so tired that he fell out of bed and didn't wake up.  We heard a big crash and then 'ouch'.  We went into his room to find him sitting cross legged on the floor.  We put him back in bed and when we told him about it in the morning he didn't believe us!

Sunday morning we did pretty much the same: so were in the oasis when it opened at 10 and played and played and played.  Tom wanted to do everything again and again and again.  There was no stopping him, he loved it.  At the end we asked him what he liked the best and he said the flumes.  There was one ride he couldn't do - the Canyon which was an open air flume (he as 5cm too short) and he can't wait to come back to have a go at that. We were there for 2.5 hours until our stomachs told us it was time to leave. We found lunch in an American diner type place where we had nachos, chicken wings and sweet potato chips.

Wet, soggy Matt

Wet, soggy Tom

We then went back to the lodge and decided to go on a proper ride around the village.  It was still raining (it hadn't stopped all weekend) but it wasn't too bad and Tom said he wanted to do it.  It didn't stop raining, but we had fun.  There were lots of wooden owls on the roads so we spotted them, and enjoyed being outside.  We decided to try out the village pub.  We were quite soggy by the time we got there, so we derobed and put all our gear on radiators.  There was another soft play area in the pub, so Tom disappeared off and we relaxed and had a drink.

Our evening was spent at the Indian restaurant in the village.  We had pre-booked this, hoping to go on Friday evening on arrival, but it wasn't open on the Friday?!  It was ok, but quite overpriced.  In fact all eating out here is very over priced.

Thumbs up for Center Parcs

We stayed Sunday night but were up at 6.30 on Monday morning to go and collect the car and pack it, attach the bikes and hit the M6 back.  It was wild weather: very strong winds and rain, so strong that the wind actually lifted one of the bikes off the bike carrier and we had to stop on the hard shoulder and put it back on again.  Great fun in the lashing rain with trucks shooting past us at 60mph spraying us as they went.  We certainly weren't going to fall asleep at the wheel!  We had to stop 2 more times to check the bikes - it really was horrible, horrible weather.

We arrived back in Ingleton with 15 minutes to spare before school, so we parked at the house and walked Tom down.

It was a great weekend. We didn't get to explore the whole place, mainly because the weather was atrocious, there were loads of outdoor play areas, walks in the forest etc etc that we didn't even contemplate.

Hints for next time:

+ Take more food to cover lunches in the lodge - eating out is very expensive.
+ Get to the pool as it opens (10am) then again at tea time (5pm) it is less busy then.
+ Take our own sheets - the sheets they use are noisy - we (Matt and I) really didn't sleep well at all.
+ Take torches
+ Don't need shampoo, conditioner, soap etc

Is Paddington Bear scary?

On Saturday we decided to treat Tom by taking him to the cinema to watch Paddington.  Instead of going to the modern Vue in Lancaster we decided to go to the cinema in Skipton.  This gave us a chance to look round Skipton, believe it or not since we moved up here we haven't been.  We were pleasantly surprised, it is a nice place.  The high street is full of independent shops not chain stores, meaning window browsing was interesting.  I even found a fully stocked cake craft shop which was a bonus - just wish I knew what I was running out of - oh hum!  There were lots of interesting looking tea rooms and pubs with interesting names such as The Woolly Sheep.  We stopped in one for soup and a scone and then carried on around the town.  The town has a shopping mall - which is in a converted mill building and has been done very sympathetically - plus once again it didn't have any chain stores.

We found the cinema - it was a really old, traditional cinema - complete with dress circle which of course Tom wanted to sit in but it was already full and downstairs was empty, plus the screen was quite a way away from the upstairs seats.

We settled down and awaited the start, it took a while as we had to watch loads of trailers and then there was an interval for ice creams etc before the main presentation, just like in 'the olden days'.  Paddington Bear then started.  It didn't go well.  It started off with Paddington in Darkest Peru with his aunt and uncle, there was an earthquake, his house collapsed and his uncle didn't make it.  We had tears.  It took a while for him to get over it.  Then he wouldn't look at the screen and he refused to laugh at the funny bits (there were loads of funny bits!).  He said he needed the toilet, I took him, he cried in the toilet.  I tried to explain to him it would be fine, he wasn't so sure.  We went back in, he cried 2 more times!  He was the only child in a full cinema to cry at all.  I wouldn't say it was a success or that he enjoyed it - he really is a sensitive soul.  I enjoyed it, Matt enjoyed it, we liked the cinema, we'll be back but will have to find a even more child friendly show!

Boys' day out

Boys day out today. I asked Tom what he would like to do and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he said he would like to have a train ride to Leeds. That suited me just fine, but this time we decided to get the train from Wennington rather than Ribblehead as the times worked out better that way.

At Wennington

After procuring an enormous baguette from Seasons Bakery, we parked at the station (a pretty Hornby-like affair) and prayed that the train would turn up. It did, bang on time, and to make things better it wasn't a "rubbish train" (Pacer), and even featured 21st century technology, such as heating and toilets.
It's an extremely pleasant ride along this line towards Skipton, and we saw two herds of Highland cattle and the field of Herdwick sheep, both among our favourite animals. The train really filled up beyond Skipton, but we arrived at Leeds exactly on time, under a cloudless blue sky. We'd already eaten our lunch on the train, so it was time to watch a few trains at Leeds station - one of the busiest in the country.

On the platform next to ours was a High Speed Train bound for London. Tom raced up the platform to have a look at the cab, and luckily for us, an exceptionally friendly driver arrived within a couple of minutes and invited us into the cab. I don't think Tom could quite believe he was allowed to do this, but in we went, where he was allowed to turn the key to start the engines, switch the headlights on, have a look in the (extremely noisy) engine compartment and even log the driver in on his iPad for the journey to London.

In the cab!

I strongly suspect that in this health and safety-obsessed age, train drivers aren't allowed to let five-year-old boys loose on the controls of a 125 mph, but these few minutes absolutely made Tom's day, and we were both extremely grateful to him. Absolutely smashing bloke.
After this, we (I) needed to get a bit of shopping done, so I had to drag Tom around a fairly busy shopping centre running a few errands, but he didn't complain once, and I did intersperse the boring shops with short interludes in The Entertainer, The Lego Store etc., which seemed to meet with his approval.

We had Japanese style tea and a bun to rest our weary feet, after which we headed back to the station to watch a few more trains before heading back to the Dales. It got very cold very quickly once the sun had gone down, but Tom, being the worrier that he is, insisted that we wait by the Morecambe train a good 30 minutes before it was due to leave. This meant that we (a) couldn't see the variety of other interesting trains coming and going through the station and (b) got very cold, but he wouldn't be persuaded to go up to the end of the platform.

Driver Tom

Sadly, the train home was a "rubbish train", which was already packed to bursting point before it left Leeds. However, most of these got off at the larger towns en route (Shipley, Keighley, Skipton etc.), and by the time we left the main line near Settle, they were probably only about a dozen people left on the train. Needless to say, no one else got off at Wennington, where I asked the driver if that stretch of line was always so bumpy that it felt as if you are on a kangaroo rather than a train. Apparently so.

Tom with William Wilberforce

Tom was an absolute star again today - I can't remember a cross word between us. As Nik mentioned in an earlier post, he's an absolute delight when he's on good form like this. A really lovely day out.

Oh yes, tea tonight was three Japanese bentos that we bought at Wasabi in Leeds and managed to get all the way home without succumbing to temptation. I think Mummy was quite pleased.