#SilentSunday

Oakwood Theme Park, Pembrokeshire

On the second day of our holiday the group all headed to Oakwood Theme Park which a popular destination for thrill seekers. We were a mixed group and most of the families found something to suit them. My son had paired up with a boy a similar age and my daughter vanished off with her new chum and his mum. Our day started fairly sedately with the bob sleigh:

I love these rides having been on the one in Robin Hill Country Park but it was my son's first ever. He got a bit more than he bargained for as the ride was paused when he was nearly at the top as the next sled hadn't engaged on the chain.. 

#CountryKids Broad Haven beach Pembrokeshire

One of best things about our holiday was the beach at Broad Haven itself. It was just 100 metres from our hostel:

As soon as we reached the village the first thing my children wanted to do was head straight to the beach:

A lack of swimming gear and towels was not a deterrent to my son heading into the surf:

Reasons to be Cheerful Back from our Hols! #R2BC

This month the linky is being hosted over at Ojo's World and next week it will come back to me! I may need poking to remind me... Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Back from a super holiday

I have briefly mentioned our holiday last week. There were so many reasons to cheerful about with a fab bunch of families in a beautiful location:

Lots more to come later this week!

Single with Kids in Broad Haven

I got back last night from co-ordinating a Single With Kids in Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire. Having been on a variety of their trips to hotels and camping it was exciting to be left in charge for a week! We were staying at the Youth Hostel and had exclusive use of it for 6 nights.

It took me back to have to make my own bed in the room! We were in a 7 bunk room with just the 3 of us an en suite wet room/toilet. The hostel was really close to the beach:

We had so much fun including a sunset walk on the beach:

#CountryKids at Chirk Castle

I never realised that Chirk Castle was only just over 2 hours drive from our home. It is one of the National Trust properties I have wanted to go to for years:

It's a magnificent example of the castles ordered by Edward I to defend against the Welsh.

#SilentSunday

Eureka The National Children's Museum with Little Live Pet

Sponsored Post

The children and I were invited along to Eureka! in Halifax today as part of a weekend promoting Little Live Pets. We each had a free entry into the museum which would normally have cost £11.95 each. I am sure I went to the museum when it first opened in 1992 but hadn't had an excuse to return until now... Before we even got into the museum the children found loads to do:

After I had persuaded them off the musical instruments and play equipment we headed for the museum itself:

#CountryKids in Hawkshead and Wray Castle

It's only just a week since we went to Wray Castle but having a family friend needing entertaining today we headed back over to the far side of Windermere via the car ferry:

First of all we drove to Hawkshead and had a hot drink and a cake in a cafe before heading into the village for a wander. I spotted the Beatrix Potter gallery so we all dug out the National Trust cards and popped in:

Friday Book Review: Colin the Crab

Sponsored Post

We were sent a copy of Colin the Crab pop up book to review:

With World Oceans Day on June 8^th, Colin The Crab, leading light of Norfolk-based Gone Crabbing, has launched a new book about him and his shoal of seaside sole mates – Sally the Starfish and Mike the Mussel with the help of Mr Pop-up, Robert Crowther www.robertcrowtherpopsupco.uk.

Life goes swimmingly for the three friends living happily in their remote rock pool. Then, one summer’s day, Sally and Mike are swept up into a bucket by a couple of children who are exploring the beach. After a bit of a lie down to recover from the shock, Colin is just about to set off to find his friends when, miraculously, they’re returned to their home at the end of the day.

Beautifully illustrated and brought to life by a series of delightful pop-ups, the underlying message in the book is a serious one. Thousands of families enjoy crabbing and rock pooling up-and-down the UK during the summer. However, it’s important to limit the number of sea creatures collected at any one time and to ensure the water is kept cool. And, just as the children in the story do, they should be returned as close to where they were found as possible.

Reasons to be Cheerful: Friends and Fun #R2BC

The blog hop is still being hosted over at Ojo's World this month so please go and say hello! I am glad she is in charge as I am rushing around like a mad thing at the moment.. and this is why:

1) Seeing friends

It is nearly 31 years since I started at school with my best friends! That is quite scary to contemplate but we all still get on so well when we gather with our many children. This weekend it was our summer gathering so we headed on down to Ascot (via Sudbury Hall). What is so great is that all 9 of our children seem to get on like a house on fire too:

2) Legoland

We hadn't been to Legoland since moving up to Cumbria 4 years ago so made the most of being close by to visit on Monday. There were plenty of smiles like these:

3) New neighbours

It was such a delight to see that a little hedgehog seems to have moved into the street. Let's hope he/she survives all the cats:

Hope lots of you join in and link up with Jo! 

#CountryKids at Legoland Windsor with our top tips!

As we had been staying in Ascot at the weekend we finally had a chance to use the half price Happy Meal vouchers for entry to Legoland Windsor on Monday. There are so many ways to get discounted entry into the park I am surprised any one pays full price (unless like me on a previous visit you didn't read the small print...):

• Kellogs cereal packets and Wotsits have buy one get one free
• Tesco and Sainsbury's reward points can get you in free
• Buy in advance from the web site and get reduced prices

Based upon previous experience we got to the park at just after 9 and so were able to get parked up easily. You can get your entry tickets at this time without a long queue but then have to wait to be allowed in through the barriers at 9:30. Once through the barriers we headed to the top of the path down to the side of the park we wanted to go to first. They don't let you past this point until 10 but if you are near the front then you are in a prime spot!

Whilst waiting we discussed which were the must do rides that we wanted to do first. Being organised and prioritising is the best way forward. As soon as the lady let us through my kids (despite me telling them no to!) ran down the hill to the first ride Viking River Rapids. We were the first people on the ride so had to wriggle aimless through the queuing system and duck under barriers to get there!

By the time we got off the ride we were pretty damp despite having taken waterproof coats to wear on the wet rides. So as a family we decided we might as well do another wet ride straight away! Therefore the Pirate Falls Treasure Quest was ride number 2. This time we had to wait a little while but the queues still hadn't built up. As per usual on this ride the grown up at the back gets the wettest...

Once off the ride we headed to the nearby Dragon and my son went on for the first time ever (he was 3 last time we went). I think the fact he hadn't seen the ride first meant he wasn't scared! After that we encountered our first slightly longer wait for the Dragon's Apprentice but I opened up the cool bag to give everyone a snack whilst we were waiting for our turn:

#CountryKids at Sudbury Hall and National Trust Museum of Childhood

I had a twitter conversation with the National Trust the other day and they suggested stopping at Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood next time I was heading down south.  So this Saturday I plumbed the address into the sat nav and off we set... My son was pretty good at helping me follow the directions and it only took just over 2 hours to reach the car park. After a little walk along a path we soon came to the actual hall itself:

As the hall was not yet open to general visitors we went into the Museum of Childhood first. It is very much a hands on museum with plenty of toys from the past to look at and play with. There was also a section showing how hard life was for children in previous centuries. My daughter was happy to crawl up a replica chimney as sweep:

It was dark and pretty cramped though a light was half way around:

#SilentSunday

 

 

Kendal Museum

We hadn't been to our local museum for over a year but as a way of enticing children to walk into town whilst the car was being MoT'd then it worked wonders:

As soon as we walked through the door my children were commenting on the changes! It was a lot more open and seemed lighter and more airy. All the favourite exhibits were still there but also more things were on display. 

Then we went into the basement to see the Seen Through Glass, Darkly art exhibition by David Blyth. It is all based upon taxidermy so not for the fainthearted but there are some beautiful items too:

#CountryKids A sunny afternoon at Wray Castle

It was a nice day yesterday so we decided to head up the shores of Windermere and go to Wray Castle. Lots of other people had the same idea so we had to go to the overflow car park and came at the castle from a different angle:

We quickly grabbed a picnic from the cafe and I spotted this cheeky little addition to a hole in the servery:

Well supplied we took the wiggly path down to the lake shore:

A picnic rug was established in a combined shady/sunny spot and the children very quickly changed into swim wear and were into the water:

The water wasn't was very warm but they were happy enough paddling, my daughter wasn't too happy when she slipped and fell right in:

The local swans didn't seem to mind either the cold water or the noisy children:

After recovering from her impromptu dip my daughter attempted to catch some of the other local fauna:

Her little brother did what little brothers do best, cause as much disruption as possible too stop her succeeding:

I then persuaded him to have a go at swimming despite the coldness of the water. He didn't do too badly:

Big sister had given up on  catching anything and instead had fun skimming stones:

After a while they both needed to get out and warm up whilst they ate their picnic:

Once they had warmed up and got dressed my son was keen to get into the castle as on his last visit he had discovered a new table tennis table in one of the old servant's rooms:

My daughter made butterfly feeders in a free crafting session whilst I had a wander around. I love that they have dressed one room to look like another of our local properties Allan Bank

You can see why the original owners had chose to site their castle in this beautiful spot when you look through the windows:

The castle is geared up to entertaining lots of different ages including a full sized billiard table:

Even away from the adventure playground there was plenty for the children to do including croquet:

On our way back to the car I couldn't resist taking a shot through this strategically placed picture frame:

My children were much more interested in the volleyball net:

I am planning on going back next week just with my son and to hopefully spend time in the new adventure playground!