Days out with James
We all headed out to get there just after opening time, but we arrived a little while before the others. Turns out Gav’s in built sat nav was not quite as effective as the electronic version! Not that it mattered at all as it meant Lyns got to partake in one of her favourite past times, drinking tea.
Read MoreBy the Saturday, the glorious weather from the week before had blown away and we were met with a wall of fog blowing in from the sea. I started the day with a ten mile run, running along the cliff top path to the next bay, Runswick Bay. It was a bitterly cold run but worth while as it was very scenic. Once I had got back and showered we headed off to Whitby.
Read MoreAfter we had had a cup of coffee and our lunch, we explored the play area. It was massive with so many different things for the little man to play on. He was in his element. It culminated in a zip line which he loved, all apart though from dragging it back to the start, this was Daddy’s job.
Read MoreToday 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.
This weekend saw James and I have a day to ourselves. We got up early and headed into York for a boys day out. We had lots planned but first of all we jumped off the bus and headed to the Yorkshire Museum. James was on top form and made sure we went into every room. When we missed one, he would point it out and off he would go. He loves the dinosaurs in there but most of all he loves the skeletons. He is truly fascinated by them.
After we had spent a good hour in the museum, James decided we wanted to go and play in the ruins of the abbey. He loves climbing on the ruins, even more though, he loves jumping off the top of them. If I was lucky I got a bit or warning, if not James just threw himself off, trusting I would catch him. Never have I moved so quickly as he began climbing higher and higher!
After we had walked through the Museum Gardens we grabbed a bite of lunch. We popped into Lucia’s, James choice as apparently mummy and granny take him there, and James enjoyed some fish fingers and chips. All in all a nice meal.
After lunch I asked James what he would like to do. He announced he would like to go to the big church so off to the Minster we headed.
James could not get over how high the ceilings were. He kept staring up in amazement. I promised him that when he was bigger we would climb to the top of the tower. He was really excited by this.
After the Minster, it was time to grab a little food and head home. Apart from a rogue ten minutes where he was naughty, I had to drag him round M&S, he was a star all day. Interested in everything. We got home about six hours after we headed out and settled down to a hot chocolate and some TV. Could not have asked for a nicer and more relaxing day with my little man.
With it being half term there was no swimming so James and I were off to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park with some friends. We were up at 7am and James was raring to go. We packed a small lunch box and jumped into the car getting to the park shortly before it opened. Luckily they were letting people in early, so James and I heading in for a little look round before our friends arrived.
First we went and saw the lions as James had heard them roaring and wanted to see what was making all the noise. The lions were sat on the bank right by the path so James had a really good look, such magnificent animals. After this we went for a stroll round the baboons. Even the local wildlife had turned up to put on a show.
Aftr the lions and baboons it was off to the polar bears. There was no movement here as all the polar bears were lying out, catching some rays. What a lifestyle. After that, it was onto my personal stars of the show, the tigers. Such amazing creatures and I cannot get over their size.
By the time we had finished with the tigers we had two hangry little monsters on our hands so it was most certainly time for lunch. We had a fantastic spread and the weather was perfect for a picnic. The two children had loads of fun running round as well, burning off some energy. After that we were off to the play park. Travel fifty miles and their favourite part of the day is the play park, fancy that.
A quick trip to South America followed after the park and then onto the leopard enclosure. I have been several times now and this was the first time I had seen the leopard close up. Truly beautiful. It was roaming around the enclosure, right up to the glass. Much to the kids delight, we then managed to find another play park. It’s as if the kids can sniff them out.
By now it was starting to get a little cold so we headed out of the park to have a coffee. After one last look at the lions in our way out, we found ourselves in a coffee shop. Drinks all round and biscuits for the kids was just what the doctor ordered. After this though it was time to go home.
We had been in the park for six hours and the time had absolutely flown by. The little man was exhausted and he was asleep by the time the car had left the Wildlife Park, I think that is the sign of a good day.
Wow, what a stunningly beautiful day. Apart from a slightly chilly and misty start to the day, the weather has been better than would be expected later in the year, luckily James and I had plans to make the most of it. Matt and Cat were coming up to Leeds for the weekend for Matt’s birthday and we were off to have a picnic in Roundhay Park. To make the most of the day, James and I got up early and went to Tropical World in the morning as we were not meeting up until lunchtime. Tropical World is ok and James enjoyed it, however, it is not the kind of place you would want to go to on a regular basis. We went round twice in about an hour and a half and James absolutely loved the bats. Fortune had it that we arrived as the bats were being fed and it was amazing to see the all gobbling down their breakfast.
Habitual coffee (me) and milk (James) break in the cafe
After Tropical World we had about half an hour or so to kill so we headed to the Secret Garden for a wander round. This is a lovely self contained garden with several different areas. Very relaxing and James and I had a good look round. James even sat quietly on the bench and took it all in. A very peaceful interlude.
Ok ok - not all so peaceful as James aired his vocal talents
Imitation lock gate that had James puzzled.
“Why is there no water making the wheel turn daddy?”
The moment before the little man tried to reach the centre of the pool, resulting in me throwing myself across to prevent a splash
At this point Matt called so James and I headed off to find everyone. Unfortunately James was getting a little hangry by this point and it took us quite a while to walk the hundred metres of so back out of the garden towards the park. This resulted in everyone else having to walk more or less all the way to us. We settled down to lunch which Matt and Cat had brought and it was a fab spread, I even got a goody bag to go home with! After lunch, it was time to play.
Rik had brought his circus skills set with him which everyone loved playing with
Looks like Matt is a pro here!
Cheerleader keeping score on the sidelines
He shoots, he almost scores! Unlike Cat, who nailed two out of two.
Here comes the ball boy
After the football had been concluded, the most epic game of hide a seek started. There was round after round of it. The kids were all expert hiders, partly as they are so small. However, James was so excited he could not keep hidden and kept running out to see where the person seeking was.
Count to twenty (missing out most of the numbers between ten and twenty)
Definitely no cheating going on here!
Got you uncle Matt
The pace of the day getting to Matt
After three hours of solid running around, it was time to head off. I had one very tired little boy who lasted only one song of Frozen in the car before he was fast asleep. It had been such a lovely day, the weather was fantastic and it was good to catch up with everyone!
After countless times being asked how many sleeps until his birthday, James has turned four. To celebrate, we had a small gathering and a few friends over on the weekend. Our friends Lydia and Nige had come over on the Saturday eve so it was lovely for James to have someone to open his presents with.
The boys were in good form all morning and all the parents even managed to fit a run in before we headed out for a walk in the woods, which is what James had decided he would like to do.
James loving the book that turned into a fire engine!
After we had all showered after our runs and had some breakfast we headed out to Moorlands. We go here a lot as James really loves it. Here we met up with some more of James’ friends and they ran around and had a wail of a time.
We headed to the area with the tree house in it as it has a bit more of an open area for the kids to run around in and let off some steam. At one point, Gav decided that he could take on the children in a stick fight. Lord of the Flies ensued and Gav was left pummelled and bleeding on the floor, ok slight exaggeration, however he was not far off it.
This little man loved the tree house!
Unimpressed faces
After letting off steam we headed back to have some lunch and cake. James had chosen an Iron Man cake as he is his favourite super hero.
The little man had a fantastic day and was truest spoilt rotten. Thank you everyone for coming and also thank you for all those who got him a present, he was truly overwhelmed.
Today saw us off to Ralph’s Superhero themed birthday party, with special guests in the form of Batman, Superwoman and Belle. There must have been 100 children there! Ok ok so maybe like 20 but it certainly seemed like 100. Luckily Wonder Woman has super powers otherwise she would not have kept up. Apparently Heather chose Batman and Wonder Woman, however, we all know that Dan must have had some say in it!
We arrived about an hour late, but there was still lots of fun to have, with dancing and games to be had. James took until almost the end to warm up and join in but he got there eventually.
Getting the little man started early! Definitely not beer, honest!
Out came the bubbles at the end
The face of a boy in love
Certainly takes after his mother - cake and wine
This weekend saw us welcome some visitors in the form or Lydia and Nigel who we had not seen for a good few months. They brought their little man Ted with them who would have lots of fun playing with James and, in fact, it was lovely to see them playing together, especially as they shared very well.
On the Saturday eve, once the boys had gone to bed, we settled in with a few gins, some dinner and good conversation. We had agreed to head over to Beningbrough in the morning.
We arrived at Beningbrough dead on opening time, so much so, we even had to queue to get in. Once in, it was first things first! Cups of hot tea all round as it was quite cold. Once we all had cups of the steaming hot drinks, to the park area we headed. If you have not been, there is a fantastic park there.
Even the big kids got in on the action!
Another big kid!
After we had all had a good play, we decided to go for a walk. More to get into the sun and warm up than anything else. We walked past the fish pond and noticed that their was a thick layer of ice on it. The boys, with some support, had great fun standing on it. This caused all sorts of giggles and squeals to erupt!
After the fun on the ice, we headed back into the warm of the cafe to enjoy another cup of coffee and a cake. That would do for lunch as we had cooked a bacon and blackpudding butty for breakfast. Stornaway blackpudding and homemade bacon none the less.
Lydia, Nigel and Ted headed off to a party and Lyns and I followed suit about ten mins later.
A lovely weekend, made all the better in the fact that it was James’ birthday soon and we would all be getting together again.
With Lyns working on nights, James and I had gone to have a sleep over with Nana and Grandad. The weather had been pretty bad the week before but looked to have cleared up. After a lazy morning, James spent a lot of it playing his favourite game of shops. We headed out for a walk.
We heading up to some woodland not far from Nana and Grandad’s, which is on the Sutton Bank ridge line so fairly high. A lot of the snow that had fallen the week before, and only stayed briefly in the majority of places, was still there. James loved it.
We only had a short walk as it was exceptionally cold with all of us feeling the by the time we were heading home. Just a few pictures below of our walk.
So this weekend saw me having a trip to the big smoke to visit friends from uni. Having left York by 5:30 am I was with them by 9:30, to be greeted by a fry up. Cracking start to the day. Lyns and James were still away so it was just me.
After breakfast, Matt and I heading into the city for a wander. We started by wandering Southbank. I must have been the most infuriating visitor ever as I made no decisions at all as to what to do, rather just following along. We had a trip into the Tate Modern. It was far too ‘modern’ for me and I did not get the art. Maybe not mature enough. The view from the top though is fantastic.
After the Tate we headed across the river up Fleet Street and eventually made our way to Trafalgar Square. After this we walked to Buckingham Palace. Whilst all this was very interesting, it was not the highlight - that came in the form of a pelican! What was that doing in London?
After all our walking we jumped on the tube and headed to Putney where Matt knew of a Wetherspoons on the river where we could get a drink. As the weather was reasonable we sat outside. At £2.15 a pint, yes you did read that right, it would have been rude not to have had a couple.
After that it was back to the house for a lovely curry from the local takeaway. Whilst we were waiting it was time for some cheesey smiles!
Post dinner we settled down for some drinks. I promptly fell asleep during Lock Stock however, managed to pick myself up again afterwards to watch the rugby and have a whisky. In my defence, I was up at 4am to head down!
Sunday morning started with a run around Wimbledon Common, however, I did not manage to see any Wombles. I say run, it was more a slow stagger as I sweated out the alcohol from the previous night.
After a shower and some breakfast, we headed to Richmond Park. The wildlife there is amazing. Not only are there deer, there are parrots. All these splashes of bright green amongst the trees, what a sight
After a whistlestop twenty four hours it was time to head home. A lovely weekend spent with old friends!
Today we had a family day. Lyns had a rare day off but she had left it up to me to plan what to do. Fool! I had them both in the car by 9:30, yes you read that right 9:30, and we headed out. I had kept it as a surprise for both Lyns and James and had even set the sat nav whilst hiding it. Lyns looked truly nervous as we sped down the A64. She knew it was about 30 miles from the house and was in the direction of Leeds so she spent most of the trip trying to guess where we are going. Searching through google, she named almost every toddler suitable activity on our route. It was not until we started following signs for the Royal Armouries that she reaslised where we were going. I had chosen this as there was a Legends of Arthur event on.
We got parked and walked the couple of minutes to the museum. As it is a National Museum, it is free entry which was very welcome. However, before we could go in, there was one important thing we had to do. Luckily for us, there was a cafe located right at the entrance.
Once we had sated our thirsts, we headed into the museum. By chance we found ourselves in the hunting section. James was enthralled by the life size replicas of various different hunting acts from throughout history. The models were amazing to see.
We were due to our first activity at 11am. There were things on evey half hour however, not all were suitable for toddlers. The first one we wanted to do It was the telling of Arthur’s story. It was really well done and the lady telling the story kept the children entertained for the whole half hour. More or less evey child got to act part of it. James’ starring role came about when he got the chance to do some sword fighting, foam swords only. He was very unsure to start with and the little boy he was fighting with was not sure what to do. With a little encouraging, James turned into a cold blooded killer. There was a real look of fear in James’ opponents eyes as James tried to decapitate him! Good lad!
After the story telling, it was time to explore the rest of the museum. There is so much to see there. James loved the interactive displays and the videos. There was also time to grab some lunch. We had picked up a packed lunch for James but bought ourselves some sandwiches which were ok, the tea and coffee however...
Next up was the combat. There was a re-enactment of one to the most famous Arthurian battles, so famous in fact and I paying that much attention, that I have forgotten its name. The re-enactors were really good, even if there ‘battle’ had been choreographed and heavily practiced. Once James had got over his initial reservations, the loud noises scared him a little, he loved it to bits.
After the battle, we headed to the arts and crafts. Here James (daddy) got to paint a shield. Whilst daddy might have done the painting, you would have thought James had done it! We left the shield there to dry and finished our explore of the museum.
After picking up James’ shield and having a quick look around the shop, we headed home about 3pm. By this point, both James and Lyns had had their fill of the museum. If it had not been for the activities it would not have been a great place to take a toddler. That is not a slur on the museum as there is so much there and it is really interesting, but for a toddler, or a long suffering mummy, once you have seen a knight, you have seen a knight. That being said, when James is a little older, he will love it there. What made it good today was all the activities to break up the day.
We got home and had a picnic tea with all the left over nibbly bits we had not eaten at Christmas. After that we all had a boogie in the living room which James found hilarious. He was dancing to everything throwing himself through our legs at any opportunity. A lovely finish to a fab day.
Another day, another adventure. With Lyns still being on nights, I spent the night at Nana and Grandad’s so that I could go for a run in the morning. I arrived back at 11:30 to freshly cooked sausage rolls, thanks Grandad. When we had been at Moorlands yesterday, James had said that he had wanted to climb up some big rocks. The biggest rocks I know are Brimham Rocks so that’s where the four of us, and Jess, headed.
We arrived at about 1:30 and it was heaving, the main car park was full to bursting. Unbeknownst to me before hand, there is a National Trust members car park where there were spaces which was lucky.
After seeing James climb up the trees yesterday I was ready for his antics today. He had a wail of a time, climbing up and over rocks as well as running off down the narrow tunnels where Grandad and I could not follow. He would disappear with a cheeky grin on his face, knowing that we could not follow. I’m glad there was more than just me as he kept us on our toes.
The little man seemed to have bags of energy and for an hour and a half he scrambled and climb over anything in his way. One thing he loved to do was to climb into a rock and throw himself off. Most of the time he would give some advance warning, there were however, times when he just went for it and it was a dive to catch him. Good fun though.
After we had been there for also the two hours the James was flagging so we headed back to the car. We had one tired and dirty little boy. After that, it was back to Nana and Grandad’s for dinner. James and I cannot wait to bring Lyns there so James can show her how good he is at climbing.
Lyns is still on nights so James and I had a lazy day, not even getting out of our pjs until late morning. We spent the morning playing with Lego and watching Despicable Me 3, which is so funny. I had asked a James the day before what we had wanted to do and he had said he wanted to go to the woods. I did think about going to Dalby to do the new Zog trail but we were just not up and ready in time.
We headed out wrapped up for the cold and equipped for really muddy paths, however, it was neither which was nice. James loves this bit of woodland and he knows all the places to explore and where the shortcuts are.
James was full of beans and from the word go he was off. In the teaching area he had great fun running and jumping between the seats. He was so adventurous, he was hauling himself up small trees.
After causing chaos in the teaching area, we were off to explore. James had lots of fun running in and out of all the areas just off the path as well as venturing into areas we had not been in before and I an not completely certain we should have been in.
At one point James declared he wanted to climb a really tall tree and I thought yeah yeah, you’ll get scared once your feet have left the floor, alas no, he was off up the nearest one like greased lightening. With my heart in my mouth I watched him climb, turns out he is actually a monkey as he deftly shot up the tree.
After completing the loop we were back at the entrance. I had one tired little boy on my hands. We had climbed trees, fought pirates and raced our way around the area. What a lovely couple of hours spent out and about.
So, it has been about three weeks since I last wrote anything on my blog. Work has been crazy busy coming up to year end and the last thing I have wanted to do when I get home at eight is to log onto my lap top and write something. However, I have had a lovely break over the Christmas period so I thought I would write a few words about how Christmas has been in the Thomas household.
This year we were having Christmas with just the three of us and seeing family on Boxing day. This is the first Christmas that James has really got it and he has been so excited counting down with his advent calendar as well as seeing what Elfie has been up to every day. We got to Christmas Eve and he was hyper all day. Lyns had been on nights the night before so was up at lunchtime to join the fun. We went to see some friends in the afternoon then came home for a picnic of nibble bits. James loved it and tucked in. After that, it was bath and bed for him.
He was really excited putting out treats for Santa, even Elfie and Nutty got involved, helping to choose what treats Santa got.
Selection of treats for the main man
Family selfie
Excited much?
Will he sleep at all?
Before going to bed, James had cleared a space at the end of his bed for Santa to leave his presents. Being a little super star, he came through at 7am but in a panic. He could not find the presents that Santa had left, even though he had left there in the space James had cleared. I rushed back into James’ bedroom with him to look for the presents and thankfully there they were.
After half an hour of paper flying everywhere and squeals of joy all of Santa’s presents were open. James was all set for running downstairs to open the family presents under the tree. We had, however, agreed that they would be opened after dinner so we sat down to watch Incredibles 2 that Santa had brought.
Lyns was not feeling very well so dinner fell to me. I hate cooking roasts at the best of times but luckily everything came together, admittedly we had bought a lot of things that were ready made and just needed putting in the oven but still, we ate dead on 1pm much to James’ delight.
After dinner, it was time for present opening, James was one very spoilt little boy…
Ooooo the bubbles
Jess loves getting involved
After all the presents were open, we decided to head into York to see the Christmas lights. Two reasons for this, firstly Jess got a walk ad secondarily it got us out of the house for an hour or so, it also meant Lyns and James got dressed.
We were really surprised by how busty York was. We were expecting to be the only people on the streets but there were lots of people walking about.
The face of a little boy who had just dropped his snack
Once we got home, it was time for a bath and bed. Once James had been settled, he was so tired he went to bed relatively easily, Lyns and I were able to get an hour or so of relaxation before we headed to bed, exhausted, ourselves.
We woke to an excited James on Boxing Day. Granny was coming over for breakfast and presents in the morning then we were off to Nana and Grandad’s for dinner and yet more presents. For me though, the day started with a run which was lovely as it really blew the cobwebs away.
Granny and Darren arrived at 10am for Breakfast and I cooked a full fry up, including homemade bacon, cured with cinnamon which gave it a lovely flavour, and Stornoway black pudding. A lovely start to the day. After this, it was time for presents and once again, James was spoilt rotten.
Once Granny had gone, we got ourselves packed for our night away at Nana and Grandad’s. We were there for just after two and it was coffee / hot chocolate liqueurs all round whilst we opened presents. Once again, we were all spoilt.
Once everything was open, it was time to build. James and Grandad had lots of fun building the cars. We spent a very pleasurable few hours building lego and cars and all sorts.
Once again we finished Boxing Day with an extremely tired young man. He had had a wonderful Christmas and we are so thankful for all the people that bought him presents, he received far too much. All his presents will keep him going for weeks. We have had a lovely Christmas.
Thank you for reading my blogs over the past year and I hope you have had as good a Christmas as we have and I wish all the best for the coming year.
With the first of December Xmas starts hotting up. The advent calendars are out, chocolate and Lego in James’ case, and there is talk of getting the tree out already. Last year we had been on the North York Moors Railway to see Santa and we decided to do the same this year. All in all there were twelve us on the train as we were going with our friends Lorna and Paul.
We arrived with plenty of time to spare and headed to get our mince pie and hot drink. Here we discovered a new winter drink, hot chocolate with Baileys. Yum Yum, we will definitely be doing that at home with our proper hot chocolate. As the train pulled into the station the kids got excited, so we headed across the bridge and jumped on.
This year was different, Santa walked along the train rather than being in a grotto and there was an elf per carriage who provided entertainment for the whole of the trip, from songs to games, it was really run, especially the audience participation.
The face when Santa was mentioned
James not so thrilled
Is he here yet?
What about now?
When Santa finally arrived, there was one person more excited than the rest. With children flying in all directions, Barbara moved so fast she was a blur as she threw herself at Santa. Santa greeted her with open arms and I can honestly say sparks flew, as to whether it was from Barbara and Santa or the breaks as he pulled the emergency stop chord, I will never know. Either way, things certainly heated up.
Once Santa had managed to escape it was time for the children to see Santa. They absolutely loved it. He asked them what they wanted for Christmas and then gave them a present. The two of them could not have been more excited.
After Santa’s visit, there was time for one more song. This time it was the Twelve Days of Christmas along with some actions. Our friendly elf had a different action and prop for each line and everyone joined in with good spirits.
HEEEELLLLLLOOOOO
COWABUNGA!!!
With one last wave, Santa was off
Once we got back to Pickering it was time to head back to York and dinner. We all headed to The Nags Head in Askham Bryan for tea. It was a lovely day out and everyone really enjoyed it. Will we do the same next year or will we go somewhere else? Only the magic of Christmas will tell.
This week I am having a cheeky little staycation. Having not really had any time to take my holidays this year, I had a week spare so I decided to take it at the end of November as work is about a quiet as it is going to be.
Lyns had the Monday and Tuesday off and I have always wanted to go to Beamish, the living history museum, so we though we would have night away. Seeing as it was dad’s birthday on the Monday, we invited nana and grandad to come with us. Lyns was working on the Sunday night so we headed up on Monday afternoon after she had got up. It was going to be our first night in a hotel with James, but more on that later.
With Lyns sleeping on Monday morning, James and I headed into York early on so we would not make too much noise around the house. We got into town and first things first, breakfast. Lyns had introduced me to a little independent cafe called Bruks so we headed there for a sausage sandwich for me and a scone for James, as they had no teacakes. The sausage sandwiches are probably the best ones in York, the sausages are amazing, real meaty butchers sausages, definitely recommended.
The face I got when I asked if I could try some of his scone
After we had finished our breakfast we headed off to the Castle Museum as James wanted to explore the Victorian street. However, as we were walking across it started raining. Conveniently we were outside the Jorvik centre. Now, it must be at least ten years since I have been here and certainly not since it was flooded so I decided to take James in. It was £11 for me and James was free. Not too expensive for us two but there is not a lot there and would be pricey for a family.
James loved the ride round. We went round and he was a little apprehensive the first time but by the time we got to the end of the ride he was in full swing and giving me a running commentary of what he could see. As soon as we got off all he kept saying was ‘again, again’. Luckily there was no queue so we headed back and went round on the ride again. In fact, it is the only time I have ever walked past and there has been no queue, I suppose that is the benefit of going mid week on a wet November day.
After the Jorvik centre we were running a little short on time but James still wanted to see the Victorian street at the Castle Museum, or as it turned out, the street toilet, so we headed across. We had about forty five minutes there so we had a quick wander around the street and then headed to the 60s area, so James could play in the space ship, and then through the prison before heading out. After the museum, we jumped straight on the bus and headed home to wake mummy up.
We were staying at the Beamish Hall Hotel, which is about ten minutes from Beamish. It is a grand old country house and whilst it is a little dated it was perfect for our night away. It also had a lovely restaurant, called The Stables, where we went for dinner with mum and dad. Even better, it has its own micro brewery and the beer was great.
Before dinner though, we got settled into our room. We have never stayed in a hotel with James before and he could not quite grasp the concept as we usually stay in cottages where we have the run of the house. It was lovely to see him unpacking and wanted to get himself settled in. After we had all showered and changed we headed out for dinner.
‘Where do my clothes go Mummy?’
What to draw on?? The children’s packs here were great
Grandad with his I’m the boss badge
Not a bad burger really!
The food in the restaurant was lovely. I had a burger and what a burger it was. They did all sorts on the menu and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food. James ate off the children’s menu and I would have been more than happy with the portions. For the five of us, including drinks, it was less than £100 which for the meal it was, was really reasonable.
We were back at the hotel room by 8 and said good night to nana and grandad. At this point, James was hyper active, so we did what any reasonable parents would do and put his earphones and a tv programme on for him to watch. Ok ok, not great but it did settle him down. Once he had settled it was story and bed. With his sleeping right next to our bed, getting him to sleep was interesting. The only way we could think to do it, was to pretend we were asleep and hopefully he would fall asleep. This was about 9 o’clock. Lyns and I promptly fell asleep and when we woke up James was asleep so we called it quits, turned the lights off and got our heads down.
After breakfast in the morning, it was time to head to Beamish. I was really excited, Lyns not so much. We stepped outside and it was cold, very cold. Luckily though, we had all brought our woolies with us. After the short drive to Beamish, we all kitted up and then Lyns announced, ‘I did not realise there would be this much walking’ when she saw how large the site is. Luckily, I had packed her walking shoes which she mocked me for bringing but wasn’t she glad I did. If you have never been, there are trams and buses to take you around the site. With it being this time of year and rain forecast, there were very few people around and a lot of the time, it did feel like we had the site to ourselves. We did not have to wait for anything.
Keenly waiting for the first tram of the day
The first thing we did was to jump on a tram to head to the Edwardian Town. James was in an absolute grump when we got off the tram and Lyns and I both thought, here we go, he is over tired but no, turns out he would have spent the whole day going round on the tram if he had been given the choice. Every time he saw one he squealed and wanted to get on and he was adamant that he had to sit at the top.
Getting off in the town, we headed to the sweet shop where they were making Jam and Creams. It was really interesting to watch the process, and even more enjoyable to try the sweets afterwards. James wanted to try one, so with our hearts in our mouths we let him have one of the hard boiled sweets. For me personally it was terrifying watching him eat it, however, he was very good and stood still until he had sucked it into nothing.
After the sweet shop we had a wander around the other shops in the town. We bought some ginger bread in the bakers for James and when we got to the garage, the gentleman running the shop let James play with some of the old fashioned car horns, much to his delight, James’ that is.
If only this was still the case
After the town we walked down to the fun fair which is there for the Christmas period. James loves a carousel! You have to pay extra for the rides but it was only the carousel that James had eyes for.
After the town, we jumped back on the tram and headed to the colliery and pit village. There is a lovely fish and chip shop here and we treated ourselves to some lunch. Nana and grandad had come earlier in the year and apparently the queue was about an hour long. Today though there was no queue.
After lunch Grandad, James ands I headed down the pit. The gentleman who took us down had worked in the pits for over twenty years before Beamish and his knowledge was outstanding and he clearly had a passion for the mines. It was a really interesting trip and I have no idea how people used to work down the mines. The one we went down was mere metres below the ground and had a working height of over four feet. Some of the mines had a height of eighteen inches. How people worked there in those conditions, I will never know.
Torn between the embarrassment of wearing my hat and the fact it was keeping her warm
Pill box outside the 1940’s farm
Me being told off for standing on the road
Lyns loving the fact that this tram had an enclosed upstairs
Yey!!! The tram is nearly here
The bandstand in the town
The last tram of the day
I could have gone on about all the different places we visited and the experiences we had but that would take all the fun away for anyone who has not already visited. Hopefully though I have given you a flavour of it. Despite the fact is was really cold, the six hours we were there absolutely flew by and with your ticket you can go back anytime for a whole year free of charge. We will definitely be going back. It is absolutely worth a visit and even Lyns who, by her own admission, said it was not her thing, really enjoyed it. As for the little man, who went home with nana and grandad, well he said nothing, as soon as he got it the car he was collecting zzz’s, must be a sign that he enjoyed it.
For Children in Need, the nursery James goes to have asked all their parents to film themselves with their little ones doing the Baby Shark dance.
So… this is what we got up to one evening. Less said about it the better!!!
So where to start? Its been almost three weeks since I last had chance to post anything on here and why is that I hear you shouting? Have you not done anything? Have you been stuck in a black hole? Simple answer is that work has gone crazy and the last thing I have felt like doing in the evening is posting anything to the blog, cue shocked gasps! We have all had lots of fun, I thought I would share with you all though is a bit of baking we did a couple of weekends ago. Lyns was at work so James and I decided to make some biscuits. Cooking I can do, baking not so much. In the end they tasted pretty good but I was outside of my comfort zone, James on the other hand approached it like a pro.
You plug in in dad and leave the rest to me
Hurry up dad, I’m ready to mix
I think Lyns must have done a fair amount of baking with James because he had the whisk out of the draw and the metal attachments plugged in before I had even got my apron on.
After he had mixed the dough, we got to the bit that James was not so keen on, the getting your hands in and kneading. Funnily enough he refused to do that, so I was called upon to roll up my sleeves and dive in. After this, I rolled the dough out and James was in his element cutting out the biscuits. Lyns had some cutters from when we went to Disney World a few years ago and we made some Micky Mouse shaped biscuits.
Also, for Lyns’ birthday, I had bought her a cutter that can be used to make all different designs of sugar icing. James had decided that today we were making ladybirds, so off we went.
A very careful kneading from James to minimise contact with hands.
I did the cutting and James did the sticking. I think they turned out pretty good and they even tasted reasonable as well. Not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon.
