For the second time in two weeks, James decided he wanted to go to the railway museum, albeit, this time with mummy as well.
Read MoreThe Mallard
National Railway Museum
Trains and Chocolate Cake
Today was the first day in a while that we were all at home as a family as Lyns was not working, however, she was also poorly so stayed at home. I had a few ideas of what to do but the weather conspired against me, so James and I headed to the Railway Museum and then on into town for a bite of lunch.
James finds the railway museum really interesting, primarily though, I think this is due to the sheer amount of buttons there are to press. He ran around more interested in the buttons than the actual trains.
What can I see from here
Look Daddy, look
We had a first today. James has been becoming more interested in the photos that I take and today saw him running up to various things, posing and then demanding that I take a photo. Afterwards he has looked at them on the camera and then given me ‘helpful’ hints to make the photos better. What a little star.
Other than the buttons, there were two parts that James really enjoyed today. The first was the bullet train. He got a row of seats to himself and proceeded to make himself comfortable. Ten minutes he sat there pretending he was on a train, he had his tickets inspected as well as enjoyed a tasty treat from the trolly. What an imagination.
The other area that he enjoyed was the model railway. He ran up and down following the various trains and when he saw a new one, his little face lit up. His only disappointment was that we could not get any more out of the cabinets and put them on the tracks.
Another button
After the Railway Museum, it was off into town for lunch. We walked past a bar called Joe’s Kitchen and James demanded to go in as he was hungry. As it turned out, it was a good choice. The food was very nice and there were a host of toys for James to play with. He kept disappearing to the shelves and swapping the toys over. We played with all sorts. The only failure was that the matching game only had about three complete pairs which took us about ten minutes of frustration to realise. Next time I’ll check before I lay them all out.
After we had finished lunch, we had a quick wander then headed back home. Before we got home, James wanted to go to the toy shop to spend his birthday money. With that spent, we headed home to see how mummy was feeling.
Trains, Minster and Bendy Buses
So today was the penultimate full day of Colin, Elaine and Alexander’s flying visit to York. Alexander was really looking forward to going to the railway museum, but, more importantly, he wanted to go on a bendy bus. He has a toy model of one but had never been on one so was really excited when he found out they were in York. I’m not sure if he was more excited about the bus or the museum.
We were a little late heading out and it showed when we got to the park and ride. The queue for the bus was huge. If you get there at 10 you get straight on a bus, get there at 11 and the queue is massive! Not that it mattered as we were in no rush. We jumped on the bus, making sure to sit near the bend and headed off. We jumped off and headed into the National Railway Museum. The boys were in their element, running around an exploring all of the trains. That was, until, they saw the Thomas ride. Could we get them off? No way, not until they had had their fill anyway.
After playing inside, we headed out to see the trains come into York station. If you have not been before, there is a viewing platform you can stand outside on and watch the trains pass. For some reason, there were a lot of miserable people on the trains this Saturday as not one person waved back, much to James’ consternation. That being said, the boys enjoyed watching the trains pass and it was nice to be outside getting some fresh air.
After the museum, it was onto the bus and into York to get some lunch. I had a super hangry wife who got ever more so as I forced everyone to walk across town to get to the bakers near to the minster so we could have warm pasties for lunch. Unbeknown to me, it had closed down! I could feel the looks of hatred without the need to turn round. By this point there were two hangry wives. Luckily there was another bakers near by so we hot footed it across and bought some sandwiches for lunch.
We headed to the Minster Gardens for our lunch. It was a beautiful day and it meant that the boys could run around to their hearts content and there was a lot of room for them to do it in. Alexander managed to flirt with two young ladies who were instagramming in the park and had them beaming at him. A little heart breaker in the making. I wonder where he gets that from … any ideas Colin??
After the having a good run round, burning off all their energy, we headed into York itself. The boys had a little pocket money to spend so it was off to the Disney shop. James treated himself to a Jack Jack cuddly toy and Alexander a Buzz Lightyear. It was just a quick trip into town as the boys were getting tired and Colin and I needed to get back to cook dinner.
After getting the bus home, the girls put the boys to bed whilst Colin and I cracked on with dinner. Two curries, one starter and a desert later we had a house of satisfied people and we opened a few bottle of wine and gin and settled in for a few drinks.