Sunny Spring Days

Posted by Caroline Elliott

This last week has seen some glorious weather hasn’t it? Signs that winter may finally be over, so we did the only thing possible and got put there and enjoyed the lovely sunshine and warmer days.

On Saturday we headed to Sacrewell Farm, which is such a lovely place, not too far from us, and one of our best Christmas presents as a family was a yearly membership for us all there. It is such a lovely place and we all enjoyed seeing all the animals – especially some of the newborn lambs!

We had a good wander round enjoying the signs of spring and threw some pooh sticks in the river. I tried to get some good family shots but sadly they weren’t the best haha. Ah well.

Of course it wasn’t long before the kids found some muddy puddles… and LM once again fell in and needed cleaning up!

We also had a little play in their wonderful soft play barn.

On Sunday we went swimming (more on that to come in another post) and then later that afternoon went for a country walk with my big brother and his lovely wife. It was a glorious day but there was still a definite chill in the air despite the sunshine. It was lovely to get out and enjoy the fesh air though and LM walked for miles, it was amazing! Oh and yes, once again the little ones were drawn towards the muddy puddles.

As the sun started to go down it was getting colder and there was just time for some bubble chasing on our way home in the glorious afternoon sunlight.

Simple pleasures but so lovely to be out enjoying the sunshine – and we are all so so looking forward to spring and summer and many more lovely sunny days to come.

The Stick Man trail at Fineshade Woods

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Last weekend we finally visited somewhere I have wanted to visit for ages, Fineshade Woods, to do the Stick Man trail. Fineshade is about 20 mins from where we live and yet we had never been, bonkers! So with the sun shining we donned our wellies and headed off for a walk through the woods to rectify that.

Stick Man is one of Monkey’s favourite books so he was dead excited to follow the trail. He excitedly ran to each of the signs and was excited by every picture from the book. Hubs also used the opportunity to help with Monkey’s reading by helping him read the signs, which Monkey found great fun.

He also loved doing the activities at each point. I thought they were great too, building nests and towers and dens out of sticks! It was nice seeing those left over by others too and the kids had a fab time playing in a den left behind by previous explorers!

For her part LM adored exploring the woods and yep the mud. She was straight in to any muddy puddle she could find and was so happy! (She got covered though as you can imagine!)

On the whole we had a lovely time and lots of fun as a family. Then when LM’s welly got stuck in the mud and she stepped out of it covering her leg in mud we took as it a good time to end our visit and head to the lovely top lodge cafe for a hot drink and yummy food.

There are some fantastic play areas at Fineshade too and though we had to cut short our visit because of a very muddy LM we look back to returning soon!

What you should know about visiting Fineshade Woods.

Fineshade is easily accessible and well signposted from the A47 between Peterborough and Uppingham.

Pay & Display parking is in operation, £1 for an hour or £3 for the day, coins only at the moment so don’t get caught out!

You don’t need an activity pack to complete the Stick Man trail but it does add to the fun. The pack cost £3 and is available from the cafe where the staff are so friendly and helpful.

National Trust Stowe Gardens in Winter

Posted by Caroline Elliott

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 scenery

Climbing the monuments

Puddle splashing

Chasing bubbles

Generally having a nice time running about and catching up.

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!

A lovely winters day

Posted by Caroline Elliott

I don’t like winter when it is grey, wet and gloomy, but give me clear blue skies and fresh frosty air and I absolutely love it. I love to get bundled up warm and go for a walk in the crisp air before heading somewhere cosy to warm up afterwards. After a wet week last week the forecast for the Saturday was for a perfect winter’s day, so we made plans to walk over to our local country park. It started out just as us then we thought we would see if the in laws fancied a stroll with us, then hubs’ younger brother decided he would like to come for a bit too.

We strolled over then after meeting up with Granny and Granddaddy had a play on one of the playparks.

Uncle Simon arrived shortly after and we headed in to one of the cafes to warm up with a cuppa and cake.

My teacup is empty at thhis point by the way!

Then it was out for another explore. It was interesting making sure LM stayed away from the lakes as she does love water! She enjoyed strolling along with her family though.

There was a really funny moment where another little one of a similar age saw LM and began ecstatically waving and shouting to her. They had a little meeting of minds here I think and then LM wanted to follow him and his mummy instead of coming with us haha!

We continued our walk via the site of roman villa that hubs and I remember playing on when we were kids.

Randomly there was loads of pretty shellfish shells about (assuming they were dropped by birds but did they get them from the lakes?) some had ice in and Monkey very cutely
decided that they were “baby ice” that were missing their mummy. Daft little cutie!

We got the selfie stick out at this point to get a shot of us all and didn’t too badly with hehe.

By now it was getting toward lunchtime so Uncle Simon headed home and we popped into the other cafe for a bite of lunch and to warm up with another cuppa.

Food obviously tastes much nicer from Mummy’s plate

Last stop of the day was feeding the ducks with LM repeatedly shouting “dah” “dah” at every duck she saw haha. She says dah to other things too but will always shout it at any duck picture or duck she sees so I am pretty sure she means duck some of the time.

Then it was time to head home, with a quick stop for a family selfie along the way.

A lovely winters day.

National Trust Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire

Posted by Caroline Elliott

We recently arranged to meet some good friends of ours who live in Newcastle. Being a good 4 hours away from each other we like to pick somewhere halfway to meet up for the day so Yorkshire is usually where we head, and as always we do like our National Trust places for a lovely family day out. This time we chose Beningbrough Hall as it looked like there was lots to do and see with the kids, and indoor spaces as well as outdoor areas if the weather turned on us (it is November after all!) and it did not disappoint.

Although it was lovely and sunny when we left home, it got foggier and foggier the further north we drove which made the journey interesting! It was pretty easy to find but it was really funny as we were driving up the long drive wondering where exactly the house was and it suddenly loomed up out of the fog right in front of us!

We had arrived a little early and it wasn’t open yet so we headed to the little farm shop and cafe a short walk from the car park for a nice cup of tea and cake while we waited for our friends and chatted with some other parents with little ones. Our friends arrived and we headed in to the grounds, which are huge. The gardens were lovely, even on a gloomy day and the kids were loving exploring and basically having a good old run around after a couple of hours in the car!

I believe there are meant to be some gorgeous views….. but on the day we went we could only just make out some cows and trees through the fog! Still it was very atmospheric (Hubs feels that “bleak” is a more appropriate word haha)

It was lovely to catch up with our friends and meet their gorgeous new addition, look at these gorgeous cheeks! LM loved meeting her too and the older boys had a great time together again.

We wandered over to the fantastic outdoor play area for our picnic lunch and to have a play. It really is an amazing lay area with a hige fort, boat, house, loads of swings, a den building area and some trikes and bikes that you can use. The kids had an absolute whale of a time and the fact that it was wet and muddy really did not spoil their fun! I was glad they all had waterproofs on though!!After lunch we went into the hall itself for a look around. They have a lift which is very handy and small stroller buggies you can use as they ask big buggies to be left outside. As well as the more standard rooms and exhibitions they also had some fantastic interactive displays which were perfect for the kids. Because they had an exhibition on loan from the National Portrait Gallery of the Royal Family (which was fab) there was a portrait zone where you could dress up and set the scene to create your own portrait – great fun! There was also a fab playroom which the kids absolutely adored, of course.

When we headed back outside we had some lovely bubble fun and then some family group shots before it was time to head home.

We loved seeing our friends and as always the National Trust delivered a fab place for us to do so. Beningbrough Hall had so much to see and do and I really look forward to going back one day, hopefully when the weather is nice so we can see those gorgeous views!!

Rollercoasters and Fireworks

Posted by Caroline Elliott

It’s been an interesting time here lately, full of ups and downs – which makes talking about rollercoasters very apt in more ways than one. Diving straight in, sadly Hubs’ Grandpa passed away last week which is obviously very sad indeed and Hubs has been helping his parents navigate this difficult time. Add to that both hubs and I were pretty poorly last week and for some reason LM was waking up betweeen 4 and 5am every day leaving us exhausted and in bed not long after the kids.

We were a little better by Friday, still exhausted but my brothers and their lovely ladies came round for a takeaway and catch up. The kids loved seeing them as always and we had a really lovely fun evening too, just what we needed after a tricky week.

Then Saturday morning we woke up to discover my car had been broken into and the kids’ dvd players were stolen. Gutted, horrified, angry are a few words that spring to mind. The car hasn’t a mark on it so at first I wondered if a door maybe hadn’t shut properly and it hadn’t locked when I last used it… but then I remembered getting something from the car the previous afternoon and specifically locking it. So I have no idea how they got in or why they chose my car (has having the extension done made us a target??) espcially as we live in a really nice area. It doesn’t really matter though and what is done is done… It has made me so wary about what is left in the car now and making sure all our doors and windows are always shut and locked in case they decide to come back!

That day we were due to go to Thorpe Park with Hubs’s work friends and after the shock and anger from the theft had abated a bit we decided to still go… even though it was absolutely pouring with rain. The journey there was awful as it was so wet and miserable and I have to admit to wondering whether it was worth going at all. But thankfully when we arrived the weather dried up and we had a wonderful time.

Obviously going to a theme park with small children is a little different to going on your own. It was far more about the kids’ happiness than our own but they were seriously happy. Monkey was just about tall enough to go on a few rides and he had a whale of a time on his first ever rollercoaster! Although he shouted that he didn’t like it on the first loop, by the end he was loving it and he loved a wet ride too. I have to say though it is such a swizz that you are supposed to buy a full price ticket for anyone over a metre tall, but there are barely any rides that kids can go on unless they are 1.25m or 1.4m tall. There is about 4 maybe? Such a con to have to pay full price for a ticket for them! Thankfully hubs’ work paid for the tickets – though don’t even get me started on full price vs online tickets!!

Of the rides Monkey was allowed on, we did go on a couple he was less keen on, one that was in the darkness that was a bit scary for him, and the last one we went on was a spinning one that he hated. He screamed and cried throughout and I have to admit I felt really dizzy and sick when we got off!! Overall though he had a great day though and lots of fun with our friends’ kids. LM wasn’t big enough for any of the rides but she had a fab time too… mainly splashing in as many puddles as she could find, especially muddy ones! Her waterproof trousers are far too big for her but at least they kept her a little dry, I really need to find wellies in her size though as her shoes got soaked.

It was a lovely but really tiring day. Thankfully the journey home was much drier and easier and we made it home just in time to go to a fireworks party at a friend’s house. It was great fun and the first time Monkey had seen any fireworks. He loved the sparklers and enjoyed the firworks though he did find them a bit loud so we went inside to watch from the conservatory after a few minutes.

We had such a lovely time but the day was taking it toll on us and we headed home and the kids had a later than normal bedtime and we crashed straight after them, at about 8pm! Sunday thankfully was a much easier day because the hubs and I were still exhausted, and writing this on Monday, we still are. I think we need a good few more early nights to catch up on our rest and hopefully an easier week as that would be lovely…. though this morning my phone screen has died so I now have no phone while I can send it away to be repaired or replaced. The fun never stops does it??

A day out at NT Canons Ashby

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Last weekend we went out for the day to meet up with the very lovely Sarah from Run Jump Scrap and her family. Our husbands go back a long way and have been good friends since school. Sarah and I have met a few times over the years and went to each other’s weddings but living so far away from each other there wasn’t really a chance to get to know each other very well. Since she started blogging it has been great as I feel I know her so much better now and that we have a lot in common. We decided to meet up and with both being National Trust members chose Canons Ashby near Daventry as it is about an hour away from us both.

It wasn’t the most beautiful of days, being a bit grey and damp but at least it wasn’t raining and the autumn leaves brightened our day.

I always find National Trust places are great for kids and Canons Ashby didn’t disappoint as they provided us with a treasure hunt checklist of things to find. We had a good run around the garden ticking things off the list and it was great as it gave the kids a purpose while we grown ups were catching up!

The gardens were lovely and surprisingly blooming despite the time of year, adding to the gorgeous autumn colours. They were tiered giving gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside.

There was a croquet lawn which was the hit of the day, particularly with Monkey as it was a job to get him away from it! We grown ups had fun on there too of course!

The house itself was very grand though very dark, especially on such a dreary day. One of the favourite rooms was the playroom which had toys that the kids were allowed to play with. They all had great fun on the playhorse and Sarah’s Gremlin loved playing with what we thought was a rather creepy doll – as it had lost its eyes!

Monkey was chomping at the bit to get back to the croquet bless him and he played that some more with the daddies and Gremlin while Sarah and I caught up and I tried to stop LM from eating mud and stones! We eventually tempted Monkey away from the croquet with some running and hiding behind some fab bushes in the next garden. It’s safe to say we all had a lot of fun running around hiding and chasing each other!

Then with tired out children it was time to head home but we all had a very lovely time and will be meeting up again soon.

An Autumnal Week and a visit to NT Box Hill, Surrey

Posted by Caroline Elliott

I love Autumn, I always have. All the gorgeous colours on the trees and the best days are the ones with a clear blue sky and a crisp feeling in the air. We have been really lucky I think with the weather so far this autumn and there has been some really glorious days. We are also really lucky where live as we are surrounded by trees and I love seeing all of the colour when I look outside or go for a walk.

Our week started off with a lovely trip down to London. We started in the east visiting some very good friends of ours in Bromley. Both of their kiddies are almost exactly 6 months older than each of ours so it is lovely watching them all grow up. We wrapped up and went for a play at the local park and the littlies had a lovely time… but unfortunately both the older 2 fell and hurt themselves, which led to Monkey having an epic meltdown which was a real shame.

Then we drove west to stay overnight with my auntie In Raynes Park. From there we went to Box Hill in Surrey to enjoy some gorgeous autumnal scenery. I remember visits to Box Hill as a kid and it was lovely to share it, and the amazing views, with hubs and the kiddies.

It was a glorious day and we had a great time exploring – though it is worth noting that many of the trails, including the Hill Top Stroll, are really NOT suitable for buggies. LM did not enjoy bouncing around all over the place and in some areas we had to carry it anyway as it just couldn’t get over the stones and tree roots so we gave up after a while and just carried her or let her walk. Some of the trees are magnificent though and it was also really fun walking past cattle which grazing on the hillside.

There was lots to do and we enjoyed a gorgeous bit of sloping hillside with magnificent views… though we nearly lost the ball a couple of times and had to run and catch it!

There are a lot of natural play areas to explore and a nature play trail… unfortunately we only just started on this route before Monkey fell and scraped himself on the logs, giving him a huge graze on his side. Bless him this led to another meltdown and in some ways I don’t blame him but he really is a drama queen as his meltdowns are the same for a tiny cut as a nasty one. Anyway he wasn’t much interested in playing any more after that so it was homeward bound.

Monday dawned very wet and miserable and with hubs having a crisis at work and me with PMT it was definitely a gloomy start to the week and I was honestly so grumpy, bored and just fed up. But I have decided to snap out of it and stop being so moany as I am so lucky to have the life that I have and wouldn’t want it any other way.

So the rest of the week has seen some lovely autumnal strolls with the kiddies. Now LM has some proper little boots to walk about in that keep her feet dry in the wet grass we are able to get out and explore a bit more on foot. We don’t get very far as she is fascinated by every blade of grass but still it is lovely to see her wandering about and enjoying the fresh air.

Finally, on Thursday LM and I visited one of our favourite local farms (Sacrewell Farm). A neighbour gave us a voucher that expired this week so though it felt weird to go without Monkey I decided it worked better for the two of us to go alone, and actually, we had such a lovely time! She loved all the animals and really enjoyed wandering about and chasing the pigeons and even though it was a really wet and miserable day it was such a lovely morning. LM went through 3 pairs of trousers though with all her plonking on her bottom – I have ordered her some waterproof trousers and they will come in very handy for the rest of the autumn and winter!

So there we have it, a very autumnal week this week and now I have got over myself and stopped acting like a mardy teenager I have really enjoyed myself. How has your week been?

The Nene Valley Railway and Railworld Peterborough

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Monkey, like many little boys, loves trains and loves taking trips on them. We were lucky recently to win tickets to ride on our nearest steam railway, the Nene Valley Railway, from Monkey’s playgroup fete. The tickets have been on the fridge all summer and he has asked many times when we are going on the train!

Last weekend we decided it was time and thankfully we were blessed with a surprisingly warm and sunny day for it. The railway runs between Wansford and Peterborough, stopping at Ferry Meadows country park and Orton Mere along the way. We chose to get the train from Ferry Meadows into Peterborough. (We have previously ridden the train in the other direction to Wansford but that was on a much wetter day and I never did get round to blogging about it.)

Anyway Monkey loved watcing the train pull into the station, though he really is not a fan of the loud noise! He is always so excited to get on the train and look out the window though. The staff were so friendly and helpful, helping us get the pushchair on, and giving Monkey is own souvenir ticket which looks more authentic.

His Uncle Simon (Hubs’ little brother) came along with us for the ride too and it’s not a particularly long journey but Monkey loved looking out the window and waving to anyone we passed. I’m glad it isn’t a long journey as LM really is not a fan of the noise or movement so she needed a lot of attention the whole way!

When we arrived at Peterborough station it was lunchtime so decided to head to somewhere to eat. We suddenly realised at this point that our favourite restaurant is in fact the nearest, and being attached to a pub/boat it has a lovely beer garden and lunch menu too. So we headed there for some absolutely scrummy thai food. It was lovely and realxed and even better because LM absolutely loved helping herself to my plate of noodles. I have no problem sharing my food with her if it keeps her happy, and it certainly did that! I wish Monkey ate as well as she does.

After lunch we headed to Railworld, which is right by the NVR station and has discounted entry if you have NVR tickets. I will be honest I didn’t know much about what was there but was pleasantly surprised. There is a lovely miniature railway outside which Monkey loved immediately, with Thomas the Tank Engine whizzing round.

You then cross over the river to a nature reserve which has been fantastically done up with lots of railway themed features. I will be honest we had a hot and grumpy toddler on our hands by this point who didn’t like having to leave the miniature railway behind, so we didn’t get to see huge amounts of the reserve and instead rushed to find the promised model railway.

And none of us were disappointed by the fabulous model railway.

There was even another little model railway with more Thomas characters that can be operated with a little button, which of course Monkey loved.

By the time we got out of there it was time to head back to the railway for our journey home, which with 2 tired little ones was ever so slightly challenging with a lot of entertainment required. Thankfully Monkey was entertained for a while by keeping LM entertained and they did have some lovely moments giggling at each other through a pane of glass.

Overall it was a lovely day together 🙂

Highclere Castle – home of Downton Abbey

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Hubs and I both love a bit of Downton Abbey, it is just perfect chilled out Sunday evening viewing. Entertaining without having to use up much brain power, just good fun and I always find myself speaking rather eloquently after watching it. We had been working our way back through all of the series (mainly as we are so knackered in the evenings and need something that is easy viewing) this summer. So when I realised we were driving past Highclere Castle (where Downton is filmed) to get to Dorset for our recent (ish) holiday, I got massively excited and knew I wanted to visit.

Then I realised it wasn’t going to be quite so simple. We were travelling down on a Saturday (and Highclere is closed on a Saturday) and though we were coming back mid-week, we discovered the all of the tickets available for sale in advance had long since sold. The website did say that some tickets are available on the day but obviously it is down to luck whether you get them or not. We decided it was worth it and thought at the evry least we would be able to get into the grounds for a picnic to break up our journey even if we couldn’t get in to see the house.

But as luck would have it there were tickets available when we arrived – hurrah!

The castle is magnificent, even from a distance and it was so cool seeing if in real life. (Could I sound much more geeky right now??) Inside is wonderful too though sadly you are not allowed to take any photographs inside the house. There are no pushchairs allowed inside so we carried LM round and both her and Monkey were very good. It was fab seeing all of the rooms we have watched so many times on the show.

It was quite busy and there was a bit of a bottle neck looking round the upstairs rooms, meaning a lot of standing around and queuing, though I think that was just bad timing as there wasn’t as many people behind us as in front! As mentioned both LM and Monkey did really well and a group of older ladies couldn’t stop cooing over the pair of them which was lovely!

After a good look round the house it was time for a picnic before exploring the grounds. It was really quite blustery but warm enough for our picnic and we chose a bench with a gorgeous view of the house and an area that is also frequently seen on the show when they wander the grounds. So a perfect spot for some family selfies :).

After a windy picnic thankfully the sun made an appearance as we set off to explore the grounds, gardens and the secret garden, which we particularly liked.

Monkey very much enjoyed running around the grounds and exploring the lovely wildflower meadow too.

Then it was time for a quck english cream tea pit stop in one of the various refreshment areas – there was a few including the marquee we visited. All of them were heaving at lunchtime but by the time we visited they were much calmer. We had another little run around in the grounds afterwards, including taking some more silly selfies and just having a giggle with the kiddies…

Then it was time to get back in the car and continue our journey home. Our holiday was over! Our visit to Highclere was a very lovely to end a very lovely week though.

Becoming a Stay at Home Mum

Can I really do this?

Days Out Scrapbook

Sunny Spring Days

The Stick Man trail at Fineshade Woods

National Trust Stowe Gardens in Winter

Important things to note if you plan on visiting Stowe.

A lovely winters day

National Trust Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire

Rollercoasters and Fireworks

A day out at NT Canons Ashby

An Autumnal Week and a visit to NT Box Hill, Surrey

The Nene Valley Railway and Railworld Peterborough

Highclere Castle – home of Downton Abbey