National Trust Stowe Gardens in Winter

We love a good day out, and that is one reason why we love being members of the National Trust. There are so many places to go that are great fun with kids. It is even better when you have friends who are National Trust members too as you can combine a lovely day out with having a good catch up with friends.

Last weekend was one of those days as we met up with our lovely friends Chris (who hubs has known since he was a kid)  and Sarah (who blogs over at runjumpscrap) and their little Gremlin at Stowe Gardens. The weather was thankfully kind to us and we had a really great fun day.

Enjoying the gorgeous sceneryPhotoGrid_1453804146597

Climbing the monumentsPhotoGrid_1453804408566

Puddle splashingPhotoGrid_1453804604030

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Generally having a nice time running about and catching up.PhotoGrid_1453805129858PhotoGrid_1453805260393

Important things to note if you plan on visiting Stowe.

  • There is quite a walk from the entrance and visitors centre to get to the actual gardens. They reckon 10mins at adults pace (if that) but with little legs this can take a lot longer so it may be worth taking a buggy, that way you can conserve their energy for when you are actually in the gardens rather than just getting there and back.
  • The paths are very accessible for buggies which was brilliant.
  • The cafe itself is at the visitors centre so bear that in mind if you are planning on eating lunch there and maybe think about eating at the start or end of your visit. Otherwise you will do as we did and basically get to the gardens then turn back again to get lunch then get down to the gardens again!

I think next time we will actually take a picnic (weather permitting) as there is so many lovely spots to have a picnic throughout the gardens and then we could spend more time exploring.

We really did have such a lovely time and the kids enjoyed having a good run about while we were nattering and it was nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air. It was so peaceful there too and really did me the world of good. I look forward to visiting in the summer as I imagine it will be stunning!

Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Gardens

Regular readers will know that we were on our hols in Yorkshire a few weeks back. We stayed in a lovely barn conversion just outside Thirsk, which was the perfect base to explore lots of wonderful places.

First of all, we headed west to Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Gardens near Ripon. We have some very good friends who live up in Newcastle and we had arranged to meet up with them while we were staying “up north” and Fountains Abbey seemed like the perfect place. It is a National Trust place which is perfect for us as we have membership and it is huge too which means lots to see and do to keep the kiddies entertained!

We started out at the West Gate which is nearest the Abbey itself. It is not the main entrance but friend is heavily pregnant so I wasn’t sure how far she would want to walk, as it was she was fine but it was still a good place to start.

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The Abbey is incredible and ginormous! It is so sad to think that the abbeys are ruined by choice. After being basically bankrupted, monks were forced to leave the abbey, and then the monarchs ordered the roofs to be removed so that they could never return and the abbey fell into ruin.

Fountains Abbey

It was a beautiful sunny day, though pretty freezing at the same time unfortunately. We all had a great time exploring the ruins, then when it was time to feed LM we got out the bubble wands and let the boys run around in the sunshine chasing the bubbles.

bubbles

We then had a lovely wander, following the stream towards the Studley Royal Water Gardens which was created in the 1700s. They really are magnificent and beautiful and a lovely place to explore.

Studley Royal Water Gardens

After a little picnic we carried on all the way to the lake at the opposite end, where we saw a Swan’s nest!

By this point we were all so cold and very happy to see a nice little tearoom where we could go to get warmed up. It was really lovely and I have to say they had the nicest baby change room I have ever been in. Even after a bit of cake both toddlers were getting a little tired by this point from all of the running around and exploring, so we started the long walk back towards the abbey and our cars.

We had a lovely lovely day exploring both the Abbey and the Water Gardens, but there still bits that we didn’t get to see so we will definitely return one day to see more. It was a great place to go and visit with so much to see, and the perfect spot for us to meet our friends.

Have you been?

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Bluebells & Birthday Celebrations

There’s lots of reasons why I love this time of year, the blue skies, warmer days, the bright colours to name but a few.. But there are two particular reasons too. One is because it was my birthday (on St George’s day to be precise) and the other is because of bluebells. This weekend I got to celebrate and enjoy both.

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There is a lovely wood, very aptly named Bluebell Woods, not too far from us. Walking distance in fact, though quite a long walk with a baby and toddler in tow (around 6 miles round trip). I love going there at this time of year but don’t always manage it with one thing or another. This year I was determined so on Saturday we headed over, we could have driven but decided the walk would do us good and we had the buggy board in case Monkey’s legs got tired.

WP_20150502_11_08_14_ProIt was a lovely walk.. although the bad luck I had last week continued somewhat and first of all the buggy board broke. Like I say it’s quite a long walk for a toddler so this wasn’t great. Thankfully I managed to rig up a twig and a hairband to hold it in place!

The bluebells didn’t disappoint and there was a sea of them carpeting the hillside in the woods. Just beautiful and lovely to show Monkey too.

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We carried on our walk until hubs started struggling with the buggy… and we realised we had a puncture. A good 3 miles from home. Joy! The walk abruptly ended and hubs ran/power walked home to get the car while I dragged the buggy to the nearest road (thankfully not that far from where we were) and waited for him to come and collect the kids and I! Hey at least we got to enjoy the bluebells 🙂

Then on Saturday night it was the night I have been looking forward to for some time, my belated birthday night out. I’ve been out for dinner with the girls a few times since LM was born but hubs and I hadn’t been out together since my friend’s wedding in August and for my birthday I wanted us both to enjoy a night out with a group of close friends and family.

WP_20150503_00_33_15_ProMy lovely Mum kindly agreed to babysit and I had been looking forward to it for weeks! I had a lovely new top (in the sale at Oasis) which cunningly cinches in at my thinnest bit then hides my wobbly tum, and all my dieting helped me squeeze into my new skinny jeans. Love this outfit!

I curled my hair with the new curling wand I got at The Gadget Show and though it took me a long time as it was my first go (like an hour and a half, way longer than I normally spend beautifying myself) I was dead chuffed with the results (thanks to the youtube tutorials that showed me how the heck to use the thing!). The curls stayed in all night and it was just lovely to feel like me rather than just Mummy for a few hours.

So many lovely friends and family came and it was lovely to catch up with everyone, have some yummy food, drinks and giggles. I even got to have some yummy cocktails, yay! i’m not sure how we managed it either but miraculously neither hubs or I had particularly sore heads the next day either. We were both a bit tired as we didn’t get homeuntil 1230 ish, which is way past our normal bedtime, but not much worse than normal actually. So hooray to that!

birthday celebrations

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Having some fun

My word of the week this week is a great one. One that I am really happy to talk about. It has been a lovely week, full of fun, so that is my word, fun!

After the past however many months of struggling, first with the difficult newborn days, with colic and reflux thrown into the mix, to just the endless parade of germs, colds and flus keeping us down, it is great to say we have had a fun week for a change!

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Fun with Friends

Last weekend we had a visit from some very lovely friends of ours who live in South London. We last saw them way back in July last year when their newest little one was just 6-7 weeks old so it was lovely to see them now, to catch up with how everything is and see how much both of their girls have grown. Plus of course we have a new arrival of our own that they were keen to meet.

Their little E is still as lovely and chilled as she was when she was younger and she is so cute and diddy. Her and LM are almost the same size – though of course being 5 months older little E is way ahead developmentally. She’s such a happy girl constantly smiling and so content sitting playing with toys and it was lovely to see.

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Monkey loved seeing their oldest, S, again too. He had been a bit poorly and grumpy over the weekend so we weren’t entirely sure how it would go but they arrived and he was so so happy at having a little friend to play with that he seemed to completely forget his grumpiness! S is such a cutie, just a little bit older than Monkey and they are so similar in so many ways. She was great following him around to see what he was up to and he did really well with sharing his toys and playing with her as well as alongside her.

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What was really nice was that they were able to stay for a while, often when we see them it is a bit of a flying visit so it was nice to be able to spend some time together to chat about life with another baby and all the challenges and happiness that brings! There was a really great moment while us Mums were with the babies and having a natter. One Daddy was dozing in the garden and we thought the other was playing play-doh with the older kiddies. In reality this was happening.

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The kids were playing together so well that Hubs had decided to have a rest too hehe. Who can blame him eh? Late in the afternoon we went for a walk so that the youngest 2 could get a nice nap while we all had some fun. It was just lovely and Monkey and S were running around having so much fun together, it really was adorable.

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They even got an ice cream on the way home, lucky kiddies :). They stayed for tea then it was time for them to head home. I’ve said before how much I value their friendship and I really, really look forward to seeing the kids grow and play together over the years to come :).

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A Mystery Illness & A Winter Wedding

This weekend was the wedding of one of my closest friends. I had been looking forward to it for so long and been pretty involved in the planning (and stress) of it as one of the bridesmaids. Suffice to say what we did not need the week before the wedding was the illness and sleepless nights we had last week! I was shattered, spotty with huge bags under my eyes (not an ideal look for wedding photos) and had to pull out of a couple of sessions where I was supposed to help make wedding favours etc 🙁 . Luckily the bride was very understanding and I think she just wanted me to try and rest when I could to eliminate the bags under my eyes!

Monkey slowly started to get better as the week progressed but then LM got a bit more grumpy than usual. Then she developed a weird spot on one hand, followed by one on the opposite hand the following day. Around this time I found out that a friend’s little girl, who we had seen the previous week, had come down with chicken pox. I googled what this looked like and immediately thought this may be it. Not exactly good timing with a wedding to attend at the weekend and Monkey just starting to feel better!

But then nothing happened. She didn’t get any poorlier and no more spots appeared. She had a funny spot on one ear but other than that it was just one on each knuckle. Which is an odd place to get chicken pox as they usually start on your face and torso. With the wedding looming I took her to the Dr on Friday afternoon, mainly so we could know one way or another really. But that didn’t happen as the Dr wasn’t sure what it was either! It could be chicken pox, or it could  be hand foot & mouth, or it could be nothing, We would have to wait a few days and see but it was probably a viral infection of some sort.

She had been so grumpy lately and with the bride being 6 mths pregnant we decided not to risk taking a potentially contagious baby with us to the wedding. Meaning I had to go solo :(. Friday night I made it to the venue with the other bridesmaid and we spent the evening decorating tables and cupcakes and generally getting things ready.

Saturday morning I had my hair done at 8am and then once Monkey had been collected by Nanny & Aunty Maggie (as had always been the plan for the day) I left a grumpy hubs with LM and headed to the venue to meet the bride and other bridesmaid, to get the last few bits ready in the reception room, then get ourselves ready for a beautiful wedding.

It was a hectic morning but was such a beautiful wedding and I love a good wedding, always so nice to see people marry the one they love and even more special when they are good friends of yours. I really missed hubs and would’ve been lovely to spend the day together but it was the right decision not to take the baby. If she had been there it would have been stressful constantly wondering if she was ok and what hubs was doing with her, when what I really needed to do was concentrate on the bride. Luckily I had a lot of friends there too so I never felt alone or anything. The biggest downside was with photos though, I only managed a few snaps throughout the day (mainly just of me and my friends mucking about) and they aren’t exactly brilliant but here they are.

Sarah's wedding

I am looking forward to seeing the professional shots of the day as I am sure they will be better than these! I had a good time with my friends though and it was lovely after such a rough week to really forget about the kiddies for a while (knowing they were being looked after) and just be me for the day. LM seemed to perk up during the day too so Hubs didn’t have a terrible day with her and she has been a bit perkier since. Another couple of spots have appeared on one of her fingers but we still aren’t really sure what is up with her. We may never know 100% whether it is chicken pox…. unless she gets it again I suppose!

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This too shall pass..

My word of the week this week is fortunate. Now for most of the week I actually would not have chosen this word as it has been a bit of a week, but bear with me!

Friday Hubs came down with a flu type bug. It started as a cough and got worse, bringing a nasty fever with it. By Saturday he was extremely poorly, spending a lot of time in bed with a fever and he was a bit delirious. He was a bit of a zombie so he was in bed while I looked after the kiddies.

This will sound selfish but this was rubbish for me, as I rely on his help at the weekends to actually get the house in some semblance of tidiness and stay a bit sane. Worst of all that it was this particular Saturday though as I was due to visit one of my best friends in London for her birthday and I had been looking forward to it for such a long time and it was now in jeopardy. With my pregnancy being a bit rough last year I cancelled plans a few times to go and visit and this was the time that I should have no reason to cancel. Until all of a sudden I did. A really poorly husband. I spent a lot of the day really very unhappy as I felt like an awful person for even considering leaving, or wanting to leave, but I did want to. So so badly. It was a bit of a vicious cycle.

Thankfully hubs’ fever broke in the afternoon and along with reinforcements in the form of his parents he felt able to take care of the kiddies. So it was a very late call but I made it to London and had a really lovely chilled evening with the girls and restored my sanity a little.

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I got home at around 1am to find hubs awake and that Monkey was now not well either. He had had a little cough too but had otherwise been fine in himself all day. The trouble with coughs is always the night time isn’t it? They interrupt his sleep and he gets himself so worked up that he ends up being sick and I hate it. So he was up a couple of times and hubs and I were both on edge all night that the coughing would wake him. LM then woke up at 530am. Hubs got up to feed her and 10 mins later Monkey woke up crying so that was the start of our Sunday.

Sunday wasn’t terrible but it was very chilled and entirely focussed on Monkey and keeping him happy. He was the poorliest he has been in a long time and spent a lot of the day asleep actually and hubs and I tried to chill out as he was still poorly too and I was knackered after the trip to London and lack of sleep. WP_20150224_11_23_51_Pro

Monday Monkey rallied and seemed so much better so he went to Rhyme Time with Nanny & Pops as usual and Playgroup in the afternoon. He was fine until early evening when he suddenly dipped and Monday night was awful again with coughing and getting himself worked up and being a little sick. Tuesday he was not himself and we tried to chill out – though he doesn’t like relaxing our boy and wants to be on the go. His eyes were drooped and he couldn’t stop yawning but no “I ok, I not tired” hmm really.

We watched Winnie the Pooh and managed to get a healthy lunch in him then he went for a rest. LM meanwhile was refusing to sleep for no more than 30 mins at a time for goodness knows what reason. With both of them finally asleep I sat down for 5 mins and then Monkey’s coughing started, and continued. He got upset so I went up and he vomited all over me, himself, his bed, cuddly toys, floor, well everywhere. I tried desperately to keep him calm so that he didn’t wake LM and got him in clean clothes, downstairs and calm in front of the TV while I got myself changed and did the clean up operation upstairs and got the first load of washing ready to go on when LM woke up. I am not joking I washed my hands 4 times and they still smelt of vomit. I was so not happy.

Then LM woke up, less than half an hour after being put down and I was hugely hugely miserable. Luckily hubs was able to come home a bit early that day and help as Monkey was miserable too (understandably bless him) and I was failing to see the sunny side of life after a good few nights of only a few hours kip.

That night, when we had got the kids down and we were listening to Monkey coughing and wondering what the night would hold, I described the situation as being Hell. Then I checked myself.

I looked at hubs and said you know in comparison to cancer or war. What was I talking about? Yes it was a crappy few days, but hell? I mean come on.

Tuesday night was possibly the worst as he was sick a few times but we did manage to keep him a bit calmer with some singing. LM had a feed before midnight and then was up again at 530am. I was still not hugely happy but Monkey was off to Nanny’s for the day and I was determined to get some jobs done and stop wallowing. All week I had been feeling tired, miserable and at mercy of the situation. Feeling really hard done by when the reality is that we are so lucky really.

We have two gorgeous kiddies and Monkey really is very rarely poorly and is such a good boy. He tries so hard even when he is tired and poorly to put a brave face on. I went in to see him when he woke up this morning and when I asked how he was he said “I fine, thank you” I mean what a cutie.

We have a beautiful home. You know when you can’t see the wood for the trees? Well sometimes I feel like I can’t see the house for the mess. A huge thank you to the lovely comments about our home on the post “So, Daddy” as when I look at those photos (aside from Monkey & Daddy sharing a lovely moment) I see the horrible stained tablecloth, the manky changing station off in the corner with bottles of hand sanitiser and piles of nappy bags. The toys and detritus strewn across the table. But what other people saw was the lovely things we have, the dresser, the chairs, and it made me look again and remember how much I love our home.

I have a lovely hubby. Of course he drives me potty sometimes but I am sure I do the same to him, I do think having children can be tough on even the strongest relationships sometimes. But you know what, even though he was poorly, he still wanted me to go to London on Saturday. He totally appreciates how hard I try all week to manage the house and kids and he knew how much getting a little break meant to me.

We have wonderful supportive families who are close by and who love to help. We don’t ever want to be a burden on them but know that when we need them that they will be there.

I have some wonderful friends who understand when I back out on them or delay seeing them that it’s not because I am lazy or I don’t care. They know I would be there if I could and that family has to come first. But they also support me and encourage me to make sure I take some time for myself too.

I said to hubs the other day “This too shall pass” and yeah life is hard at the moment with a 4 mth old and a very poorly toddler and hubs…. but nothing lasts forever and hard days make way for easier ones. We are so so lucky and there are many who are not as fortunate as we are and it is worth remembering that. I think ” this too shall pass” should be our mantra as it is far too easy to get bogged down in negatives and forget how lucky we are.

Blogging has taken a bit of a back seat this week as there has been more than enough other stuff going on, so I apologise for the lack of blogging, sharing, commenting, and replying to comments. My word for this week is fortunate. How has your week been?

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Weight Loss highs and lows

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I haven’t blogged much about my weight loss lately, mainly because I am not sure where to start! It is up and down and all over the place at the moment really. I have periods of time when I am doing really well, and others where I do less well. Like a lot less well.

Starting with the positive, I have lost weight.  In fact at one point I had lost a stone! Wahoo! I got down to 12st 6, it was a very happy day for me, and it meant I managed to get back into my size 14 jeans, which was awesome! But I then piled on a few pounds again, then lost a few and then gained them back again. I am still in my size 14s buuuuut they are extremely snug again now so the 16s are more comfy again. Booo.

So what is going on? Well I can see why people like the 5:2 diet as it limits the amount of time you are actually on a diet. For me the weekends are the hardest times to stick to the WW plan. For the most part I have no problem with it as it is about everything in moderation, and even if I have a bad day and indulge in some chocolate, the weight has been coming off fairly steadily. But at the weekends it all goes to pot. Why? Because of socialising mainly. It has been a busy old year so far with take away evenings, meals out with friends and family, hen dos and meals round grandparent’s houses. I try really hard to check out nutritional info before I go and budget points…. but then I succumb, to peer pressure but mainly to temptation and my own lack of will power!

There is a bit of leniency in the diet, but lately I have been over indulging more and more. Part of the problem actually is that because I know there is a bit of leniency (and if I am a little naughty I should still lose weight – albeit a little more slowly), I take advantage of it. I push it too far. This last week has been especially poor and has very much stalled my efforts. We had a difficult week with a teething LM and as I may have mentioned before, I am a comfort eater, and so is hubs, so we both over-indulge when things are a bit tricky. On Saturday, for Valentine’s Day (we don’t normally celebrate it as we both feel there shouldn’t have to be a set day to do nice things for each other, but while things are a bit tough it was actually a nice excuse for us to make a little effort with each other!) we ordered a take out from one of our favourite restaurants, which was delicious and then on Sunday we went out for lunch with my brother and his wife. Lovely, but not good for the diet in the slightest!

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Exercise really isn’t happening at the moment either. I bought a postnatal yoga DVD on recommendation and have watched it once. I want to do it but there is a bit of a sticking point for me at the moment. My knee. I think I mentioned that it was bugging me a few weeks ago and I assumed it was related to my back being a bit weak. I have been doing little exercises with my back and that is much better, but if anything my knee is a lot worse and is really quite painful.

I have had a couple of physio sessions for it which seem to help on the day but don’t reallyseem to help long term. I know I need to rest it but with crawling round after Monkey, on my knees changing nappies and being ordered to run around the garden, rest isn’t really happening. I have finally bought a decent knee support which definitely helps so hopefully that will help it get better. But at the moment exercise is a little off putting as I don’t want to make it any worse… though it may make it better.. I have no idea really.

After a very naughty weekend food wise I am ready to get back on the diet again which will hopefully help. Although another problem is that my best friend is getting married in a couple of weeks  and I am a bridesmaid. My dress is already feeling a little loose so I really can’t lose any more weight… but staying the same is a bit tricky… Oh I will probably carry on yo-yoing a little with my eating until the big day is over and then I can try and focus a bit more and hopefully finally lose the rest of this baby weight and get into my 14s for good!

Fingers crossed anyway!

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The National Railway Museum in York

Some really good friends of ours live in Newcastle, which is around a 4 hour journey from where we live. In order to see each other a bit more often we are trying to meet in the middle a bit more – making day trips with small children much more manageable. For our first such meet up, my friend suggested the National Railway Museum in York.

We considered going on the train but it was going to be about £100 without a seat for Monkey, plus the added stress of where to put LM and her buggy, so we wimped and out and went in the car. The train would have taken a little over an hour whereas it was nearer 2 hours in the car, but we were comfortable and LM slept both there and back which was brilliant!

The National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in the UK and home to over a million artefacts showing the history of railway. It is free to enter, though you can make a donation ot purchase a guide book if you wish. A must for any train lover and what little boy doesn’t like trains?

Well, ours, apparently! He had been really excited about going, then as soon as we arrived and walked into the museum.

“I don’t like trains” “I don’t like trains” repeated on loop at least 50 times on the way to the cafe where we headed to feed LM and meet our friends. Ever the contrary toddler eh?

In truth though I can understand why. The building itself is vast, and absolutely filled with trains, including the biggest trains I have ever seen! Hubs is 6’2″ and one of the first trains you can see when you arrive is a Chinese train where the wheels are as tall as hubs… and the whole thing about 3 times his height. Understandably daunting to a 2 year old I think bless him! So in saying “I don’t like trains” I think what he was actually saying was “Hey Mummy I am not sure about this, they are a bit scary! I thought trains were smaller than this!”

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Possible the biggest train I have ever seen, difficult to tell scale as hubs is not that close but trust me, it is huge!

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After having a snack and meeting our friends we hoped Monkey would feel more enthusastic about the trains and took him to have a look inside them. But no, he was  having none if it, typical! This was just him you understand, my friend’s little boy was loving looking at all of the trains and there was lots of other children there enjoying themselves,  There was however a model railway which he adored and didn’t want to leave!

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One train we did get him interested in was, unsurprisingly, the post train! He seriously loves anything “post” related. We did also manage to persuade him that some of the big trains he saw were like “The Greendale Rocket” form Postman Pat so he did enjoy those a little more.

the post train

The post train

Both boys thoroughly enjoyed the great little outdoor playarea, even though it was bitterly cold and so windy that day!

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Dining wise, there is a couple of cafes and restaurants to choose from and there is also a lot of benches and picnic tables available to use, both indoors and outdoors. We had a a morning cuppa, and an afternoon break at the cafes but took our own picnic for lunch and there was lots of families who had done the same. It is always nice that there is seating areas provided for this, and that we didn’t have to sit out in the cold to enjoy our picnic.

The museum has great access for pushchairs and wheelchairs and our boys adored running up and down the ramps – it really is the simple things that entertain children isn’t it? The museum is divided across the road and there is a concourse that runs underneath, with lifts at each end.

ramps

Our boys loved the sweet playarea, which of course, had lots of trains to play with and even Chuggington dressing up clothes! Though I believe they are renovating it soon which I am sure will only improve it.

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There is a variety of exhibitions and so much to see and honestly we barely touched the surface and weren’t really able to take much of it in with small children to entertain. They do demonstrations of trains turning on turntables and we did go to see a show, which sounded great and very entertaining, although we realised it was little above our boys’ level when they started discussing Newton’s laws of motion! I am sure older children would have loved it though.

Waiting for the show, with our wriggly boys!

Waiting for the show, with our wriggly boys!

I think the highlight for our little Monkeys was standing out on the viewing platform watching the trains go in and out of York station. They loved waving at them all as they went by and the train drivers were great, waving back and tooting at them – they must see kids there so much but for them to respond to it is very kind and made their day!

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We had a really lovely day out at the National Railway Museum and will defiitely go again when the kids are a little older too and can appreciate it a little more!

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From rain to shine

Last week I had arranged to meet up with one of my lovely mummy friends on her day off work. WIth LM’s lack of routine it is sometimes difficult to plan outings but we decided to go for it and arranged to meet at a local country park where the kids could run around. Unfortunately on the day of the meet up, despite previously sunny forecasts… we woke up to a very grey very wet morning.

We talked about going somewhere else but I had promised Monkey we would go and feed the ducks, so I decided to bundle him up in waterproofs and head off to the country park anyway. My friend decided to join us too, though she definitely thought I was bonkers for still wanting to go (and I suspected she was right, actually). We got there and it really was very  wet. Monkey was loving jumping in the puddles, and so were her kiddies so it didn’t start off terribly.

enjoying the wet

Then we headed to one of the playparks, which, being wet, was incredibly slippy and both our little boys fell off. My friend’s eldest, N, desperately wanted Monkey to play with her and tried to chase him but he was having none of it. He got really stroppy and I got cross. My friend’s little girl then got really upset with him and was sulking. By this point the thought of “what are we doing here?” ver much crossed my mind and we nearly went home.

Instead though we popped to a little cafe for lunch and the kids cheered up immensely. I had taken a postman pat sticker book and the 3 kiddos very much enjoyed paying with them together.

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By the time we had eaten lunch, somehow the sun had miraculously broken through the clouds, and we headed to another playpark, which is predominantly sand.

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The kids cheered up no end and had a whale of a time playing. Monkey is so independent he mainly played in the sand by himself, but they ended up all on the slide together which is where they had the most fun. Because it was just a cold miserable day we were pretty much the only people there so the kids had free run and were going up and down the slide again and again.

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It was just an ordinary outing that got off to a really wet and miserable start, but it ended up being brilliant. LM slept the whole time miraculously, and my friend and I got to have a good catch up while our kids had loads of fun. Lovely day 🙂

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Super Busy Mum