A Big Bus Adventure to the Library

Monkey loves buses. He seriously LOVES buses. We have loads of toy buses and he gets massively excited whenever he sees a bus. It could be a real bus – which he will shout and point and clap and wave to – or a bus in a book or on the TV, which again he will shout and point and clap and wave to. Bless him it is very cute.

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We don’t go on buses very often mainly because in our area to get anywhere by bus takes at least 3 times as long and is way more expensive than going by car. He has been on buses before – but not since our holiday in the summer. I have been meaning to take him on a bus for a while but we are generally pretty busy and I’ve just not got round to it.

On a no-plans Thursday however I decided it was time for our Big Bus Adventure. I didn’t want to take him too far and the local library is on the bus route, and I vaguely remembered they do a story time on Thursday Mornings so I thought it would be nice to combine the two. The library is actually about 2-3 mins away in the car, maybe 5 mins by bus (plus all the waiting time either end) but it cost us £2.40 to get there and back. At adult walking speed it only takes about 15 mins to walk… so you can see why we don’t get the bus very often!!

But it was a treat for Monkey and he was very excited when the bus came to the stop, and gave a big clap as it came up.

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He sat very seriously all the way there and I was explaining that it stops to let people on/off etc.

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The library wasn’t open when we got there  so even though it was freezing cold we had a little play outside first.

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We had a lovely time at the library – he goes with Nanny and Grandpops to a rhyme time session most weeks but it was the first time we had been to Story Time, and they read one of his favourite Spot books which was lovely and he really enjoyed it. We had a look at some of the many lovely books they have there, but bless him he just kept getting excited to see some of the books we have at home. No matter how I tried to get him interested in other books he was obsessed by Dear Zoo and Dear Santa! Bless him! I did manage to tear him away from his faves though and we checked out a couple of other books on his library card to bring home with us.

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There was more excitement for the bus journey home and it takes a slightly longer loop home so we got a few more pics of him enjoying the ride! 🙂

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And that was the end of our big bus adventure, bye bye bus! 🙂

gingerlillytea

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The Reading Residence

Days Out Scrapbook – Page 1 – Lyveden New Bield

Do you ever find that weekends come and go in a blur of chores, shopping, visiting family, playtime etc. without feeling like you’ve made the most of the time together as a family? We do. So we have decided to make more of an effort this year to visit places. To do something different.

To add a fun side we have also decided to make this into a scrapbook for Monkey. He’s too young to remember these days out so we thought it would be nice to start a scrapbook with pictures, ticket stubs, interesting things we found or did on our day out, so he can look back on them as he gets older. As he gets older putting the scrapbook together will also be a fun thing for him to enjoy.

This is my blogged version of that scrapbook.

I am very lucky in that my lovely aunty bought me a lifetime membership to the National Trust quite a few years ago that gives me +1 entry to all National Trust sites.  I did initially think that this would be purely for National Trust places but I think it’s nicer to widen the scope and encompass all days out.

So Page 1!

Yesterday we went to Lyveden New Bield. A small National Trust site but as it is only about 30 mins from home we decided it was a good place to start.

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It looks like a ruin but it’s actually a house that was never completed as the owner, Sir Thomas Tresham died mid-way through. The building was started in 1595 – if you want more of a history please visit the National Trust page – I’m sure it would be more accurate than me!

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On a grey miserable morning it looks very haunting up on a hill in the middle of the Northamptonshire countryside.

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Monkey had on his wellies and his (slightly too big so they look a little like MCHammer trousers) waterproof trousers and he had a whale of a time exploring.

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There’s names carved into the stone all over the building and as much as I don’t approve of general graffiti, it is kinda cool seeing graffiti from 1790 all the way up to now.

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We had a lovely lunch and some tea in the tea rooms, Monkey enjoyed his lunch and we got some free cress in his lunch platter so will have fun growing that at home 🙂

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After a bit of a play with his ball it was time to head home.

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Great start to our new Days Out Scrapbook, stay tuned for many more

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall