Traffic Problems & Toddler Tantrums but a Terrific day

On Bank Holiday Monday we met up with our very good friends Chris and Sarah (from Run, Jump, Scrap) and their gorgeous Gremlin. We chose to head back to the wonderful National Trust Stowe to see what it was like there in Spring and on the whole it was such a wonderful day. It was’;t without it’s challenges though as was bookended by some pretty bad traffic and well with 3 under 4s there is bound to be 1 or 2 tantrums during the day isn’t there?

The day started off well and of a couple of different routes, we chose to go via Milton Keynes, as we thought it was the fastest option. Unbeknownst to us at the time however there was a marathon on and loads of road closures. We were making good progress and then, suddenly, boom. Road Closed. No warning, no diversion, not even a reason why. Just got to a roundabout and the A421 was closed. We followed a couple of cars down a different road that seemed to lead to an alternaye route but all roads leading from there were closed too. We ended up down a dead end and waited our turn to do a u-turn. Then a parked car suddenly reversed, crashed into the side of our car – and drove off! We just sat there in shock and disbelief but gathered our wits enough to note down their number plate and take pictures of where we were and what happened.

We carried on and with thanks to google maps on my phone managed to navigate our way out of MK and on to Stowe where we tried to put it behind us for a few hours! We were lucky that despite forecasts for grey clouds we had a lot of sunshine and it was really really mild. The kids had a lovely time exploring and we had a lovely picnic.stowe 1

Monkey and Gremlin also had lots of giggles with bubbles and hiding under a picnic blanket together bless them haha.stowe 3

There was a lot of tree climbing going on which was lovely but also tricky when the kids are so little and there was one or tantrums at this point haha. All good fun though!stowe 2

We then came to a fantastic monument up a hill which the kids adored rolling down, climbing up, running down etc. We spent quite a bit of time here and enjoyed the sunshine and scenery.stowe 4

There was one brilliant moment where Gremlin was trying to roll down the hill but not really pointing in the right direction. Her Daddy tried to help only to be firmly told “no Daddy I can do it” and I have to admit when she hadn’t moved a few minutes later I did think to myself “Hmm are you sure about that??” hehe bless her.20160502_123331

We were having so much fun that I decided to try and get a group shot of us all using the selfie stick and capturing a frame from a video. As you will see in this unedited video, it did not go too well haha.

Three uncooperative kiddies with four desperately encouraging parents! haha love it all the same as just makes me giggle, especially the Gremlin’s face!20160502145349

I also loved trying to get a photo of all 3 of the kiddies smiling sat together on a bench… completely impossible hahastowe 5

a compilation of the best 3 shots however, is gorgeous!PhotoGrid_1462203422602

We had seen on the map that there was a cafe on the far side of the gardens so headed there. It was in one of the monuments which was so cool so we ordered and waited. Never fun keepung the kids entertained in those situations and the order seemed to be taking forever. So with stress levels rising we eventually asked what was going on, only to be told that there had been a power cut and they couldn’t fulfill our orders. Why they couldnt have told us that I have no idea! It didnt really make sense as hot drinks seemed to still be going out to other people so we didnt really get what was going on so eventually just got a refund. Thankfully we all had a few supplies left from the picnic to placate the kids and we started the walk back across to the entrance.

On that walk back it actually started too rain so maybe it all worked out for the best anyway. We eventually got back to the entrance, by which time LM had fallen asleep in the pushchair, and decided to make our way home. Thankfully LM transferred to the car easily and slept for another hour at least as the traffic on the journey home was terrible! A journey that should take a bit over an hour took over two so we were shattered and grumpy by the time we got home!

Still, none of that detracted from the fun we had with our friends. The police and insurers are on the case about the driver who hit us so hopefully we won’t lose out as a result of that either. In the meantime we look forward to catching up with Chris, Sarah and Gremlin again very soon!

And then the fun began...Mummascribbles
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14 thoughts on “Traffic Problems & Toddler Tantrums but a Terrific day

  1. Blogging is such a fantastic community! Lovely to see this in gorgeous colour. Being in Australia, I couldn’t take my eyes off how green it was. Looked like a lovely day. #twinklytuesday

  2. What a great day out (except for the car hitting you). You got some amazing photos – the tree climbing looks like fun and I love how she didn’t budge when she tried to roll down the hill 🙂 #letkidsbekids

  3. Ah, tree climbing is the best. Love the photos…thats the same problem I always have my my three kids!I think your group shots sums up parenting nicely. Looks like a lovely day.
    Thanks for sharing with #LetKidsBeKids

  4. I love all your attempts to get a good photo – hilarious! Never work with children or animals eh? Your little montage of all three at the bottom is ingenious though and really cute. Sorry to hear about the traffic – trying to avoid traffic jams is a major part of my life right now. I’ve become pretty good at it but you can’t always get it right. Glad you all had such a lovely day together Xx #thetruthabout

  5. Great piccys of the gang! We’ve never visited Stowe but it’s on our list! Tree climbing is one of our favourite things to do. You were lucky with the weather! #LetKidsBeKids #TwinklyTuesday xx

  6. Looks like an awesome place to visit! It wouldn’t be a day out with at least a couple of tantrums! My kids still do (and they are 10, 8 and 4) hah ha! Sarah #WhateverTheWeather

  7. Love how blogging brings people together like this! Sounds and looks like a great day. As for the tantrums…..well that’s standard with days out with others isn’t it? Lol #bestandworst

  8. I love Stowe, it’s one of our closest NT places and always good fun to visit. Sorry you had a few setbacks along the way, but it looks like you had plenty of fun! Hope that the law (or karma!) catches up with the driver that hit you! #whatevertheweather

  9. What a fabulous day out! So good to spend it with blogging friends too. I love your group selfie and the picture of all three little ones. So annoying about your car. I hope that all gets sorted out in the end. It’s crazy they just drove off. Thank you so much for sharing with #whatevertheweather x

  10. Ha ha, love the video! Glad it’s not just us that struggle to get kids to look at the camera, or even let us pick them up! Love the compilation of the 3 of them together, you could easily sandwich that into a photo! Looks like you had a wonderful day out with Sarah and her family, despite a few problems. Thanks for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂 x

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