Beningbrough in the cold

February 04, 2019 in Days out with James

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.

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.

A Walk in the Snow

January 28, 2019 in Days out with James

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.

Parrots in the City

January 14, 2019 in Days out with James

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!

The Legend of King Arthur

December 31, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

Climbing and Crawling

December 30, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

Moorlands Again

December 29, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

A Rare Free Day

December 28, 2018 in Street Photography, Other

I had a lovely couple of hours before heading to grab a coffee and look at the images I had taken. Ok, so never going to win any awards but it was a good challenge walking round seeing what I could capture. After my coffee, I headed back into town.

Christmas 2018

December 28, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

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…

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.

Steamy Santa

December 03, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

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.

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.

Museums, Museums and Museums

November 28, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

What to draw on?? The children’s packs here were great

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.

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

Me being told off for standing on the road

Lyns loving the fact that this tram had an enclosed upstairs

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.

Baby Shark

November 25, 2018 in Days out with James

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!!!

Micky and Friends

November 25, 2018 in Days out with James

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

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.

Deer, Deer and Sparklers

November 04, 2018 in Days out with James

Lyns was working nights Friday and Saturday night so James and I took the opportunity to have a sleep over at Nana and Grandads. Cheekily, this also meant that I could go out for a run on Sunday morning. Dad volunteers at Fountains Abbey and he had heard there was a deer walk this weekend.

We headed over for lunchtime on Saturday. The walk seemed really interesting as it tours round the deer park stopping from place to place to give a little talk about the area. Unfortunately, it is not really suitable for very small children as James could not keep up with the pace of the walk. Not that it mattered, as we know the area relatively well and there are so many deer it would be impossible not to find them.

The weather was absolutely stunning and even though we all wrapped up, we did not really need it. We even go some spells of sunshine which was nice. James was in his element, running around and exploring everything. Once off the road James was pretty safe to explore wherever he wanted, as long as he kept away from the deer. It is currently the rutting season and whilst the deer kept their distance, there is a higher than usual chance they could get aggressive.

James had lots of fun spotting all the deer. At first they were all reindeer to him, however we quickly explained that these were red and fallow deer. Once he had worked out the difference between them, he became quite an expert at pointing them out.

There are some lovely properties in the deer park. Some are owned by the national trust and you can rent them out as a holiday home. Others are privately owned. I mean, imagine living in the house pictured below. It would be amazing.

Very quickly we had been left behind by the group on the tour so we made our own little tour for James, shortening it to suit the distance that he could walk. As we were nearing the car on the return leg, we came across some huge piles of fallen leaves. James proceeded to do what all little boys do when confronted with piles of leaves.

After we had got back to the car it was down to the cafe for a cup of coffee and, in James’ case, a hot chocolate. He must have been thirsty after his walk as he demolished his hot chocolate.

After we had got back to nana and grandads it was time for a fire and some sparklers. James loved the sparklers and went through two full packs of them. Grandad had fired up the BBQ and we had a very enjoyable dinner of sausages in buns, a very bonfire night style dinner.

Sunday morning saw me up bright and early and heading back to Fountains Abbey. This time I was on my own for the purpose of going for a run. It was over cast and very warm for this time of year. I had a very pleasurable few hours, running several laps around the deer park as well as exploring some of the footpaths around the area. I had not truly appreciated how hilly the area was. There are very few flat bits.

After getting back to nana and grandads and having a couple of hours playing with James it was back home to wake mummy up. James loves waking mummy and he is so cute doing it with with big kisses and cuddles. He certainly gets a better reception than I do when I wake Lyns up.

We had a party at our nursery in the afternoon, followed by heading to our friends, Lorna and Paul, for some fireworks and dinner. We had a very pleasurable evening with the kids having lots of fun and mostly enjoying the fireworks.

As with always, it was a shame the weekend had to come to an end. James and I had a lot of fun, a testament to which was the speed he fell asleep once his head hit the pillow after we got home.

Kicking Leaves and Climbing Trees

October 28, 2018 in Days out with James

Today saw us have a lazy start to the day. Lyns was on a late shift so I headed out early for a run before heading home and spending a little time with them both. After Lyns had headed to work, I asked James what he would like to do. He decided that he would like to go to a wood to find some conkers. After we had had lunch we headed out to my favourite local woodlands, Moorlands.

We go there quite a bit, but if you have not been, it is perfect for toddlers. It takes an hour or so to slowly wander round, with lots of areas for playing in. James loves it. Today there were lots of people there as the weather was nice and it was relatively dry under foot. We went with the expectation that it would be really muddle and wet but the path was really dry and we both would have been fine in trainers.

As you can see, James took his halloween bucket with him so that he could collect conkers. We did not see a single conker but he had loads of fun seeing what else he could find. We came home with a rare old collection of sticks, stones and leaves. Talking of leaves, James was loving kicking through all of the leaves. He was in his element and leaves were flying everywhere for most of the walk round.

When we had come before we had found a big badgers set, well thats what we came to the conclusion it was, so more than happy to stand corrected if there are no badgers in the area. James remembered this and spent a lot of time going off the path seeing if he could find more badger sets or rabbit holes. He was intrigued by things that live underground and kept telling me to be quiet so we did not wake them up.

For most of the walk round the leaves on the floor were the standard autumn brown. We came round one corner and there was a beautiful tree dropping red leaves everywhere. James was amazed that the leaves were red, not brown, and spent a long time examining them and asking why they were such a nice colour. I was useless as I had no idea at all what type of tree it was, any help gratefully received.

About half way round there is a bird hide tree house. We did not see any birds as there were a lot of children running around making a lot of noise but we had a good play in the tree house. James was up and down the steps hiding from the Gruffalo and the Gruffalo’s Child. He has some imagination that boy.

After we had spent about twenty minutes playing in the tree house James was starting to flag so we headed back to the car. It is roughly twenty minutes walk, at a tired James pace, to get back to the car but he kept is little legs pumping and with a few breaks en route, we made good speed.

We got back to the car and headed home. I was fully expecting the little man to fall asleep however he chatted all the way home. When we got home it was out with the Hot Wheels before he had some home made tomato soup and headed to bed. A lovely little stroll in the woodland that James thoroughly enjoyed.

Trains, Minster and Bendy Buses

October 22, 2018 in Days out with James

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.

Piglets, Boars and Play Areas

October 21, 2018 in Days out with James

This weekend saw Lyns’ little brother and his family come to visit, and where else to go to let the little ones run off some steam than Piglets. During the week it is half price entry so about £6 each which is not too bad. Absolutely loads to do, animals, climbing frames, go carts and so much more. We spent more of less the whole day there and the little ones just went wild for it.

We arrived just in time for feeding the animals. This happens a couple of times each day, along with petting the animals. There are a range of animals from chickens and guinea pigs to massive boars. Alexander was not so keen on the animals but James was mesmerised by feeding the boars and he loved throwing, or at least trying to, the food into their mouths. The boars would stand their and open their mouths presenting a very large target.

After feeding the boars we went for a walk to see the other animals. There is a highland cow, Shetland ponies and a range of other farmyard animals. With the sun shining, it was a lovely walk around. It had been a cold start to the day, but had warmed up quickly. James loved feeding the ponies although every time they came to take the straw out of his hand, he would pull away shrieking, much to everyones amusement. It was a good peaceful start to the day before the chaos of climbing farms and play areas commenced.

After the animals, we wandered back to the main play area to see where Alexander and Elaine were. We found Alexander riding one of the big pigs. James of course jumped straight on as well. It was the perfect place for some amusing photographs, my favourite being the Baker family selfie!

After the pigs it was onto the bouncing pillows. No idea how these are made but the are so much fun for bouncing on, even for the grown ups. One of the advantages of coming mid week is that it was really quiet. We had a lot of the play areas all to ourselves. When we have come on a weekend before it has been heaving, not today! Alexander loved the pillows. As soon as I pulled out the camera the poses he started pulling were hilarious. What a little show off he was, pulling out all the moves.

After the pillows it was on to the bit that Alexander had been looking forward to from the moment we arrived, the tractor ride. If you have not been, there is a tractor and trailer ride that takes you to the play barn. We all climbed aboard and bounced our way along the track to the play barn. Inside the play barn there are ride on tractors, a sand pit, slides and swings. On top of that, there is a cafe which sells pizza, ice cream and coffee, much to our delight. The boys had a wail of a time exploring all the different areas and playing to their heart’s content.

Once the boys, or at least James, had doubled their body weight with sand and straw it was time to head back. Colin and I, sorry I mean James and Alexander, had a date with the go carts. Colin was off like a shot taking several bends on two wheels which is pretty impressive seeing the go carts weigh about ten tonnes! They have some great ones where you can sit side by side which meant that James and Alexander, who are too small really to peddle, can still have a ride around. Cue boys vs girls races!

After the grown ups had exhausted themselves on the go carts it was time to have a play on the climbing frames as a chill out before we headed home. By this time, the late autumn sun was setting, casting a lovely warm glow across the play areas. The boys had lots of fun digging and climbing, finishing the day off perfectly.

We loaded two very tired and filthy boys into the cars to head home. First thing we did when we got home was throw them into the bath, turning the water black. Then it was dinner and bed. A lovely out.

Standing Stones and Peat Smoke

September 28, 2018 in Holiday

I did what any true Brit would do and rushed out into the pouring rain to help everyone back, ok ok no that is a lie and not what a true brit would do. What I actually did was jump in the queue for coffee before the bus load of tourists arrived there so everyone would have a hot drink to enjoy when they dashed back in. Shortly after a bedraggled Lyns, Granny, Grandad and James arrived, soaked through.

Little Legs and a Long Road

September 27, 2018 in Holiday

I headed back to the house just in time for breakfast and what a breakfast it was. It had all come from Macleod’s in Stornoway and boy was it good. I tried white pudding for the first time and whilst it was nice, I will not be swapping my black pudding for it any time soon. I also tried beef sausages and they were amazing. I will be hunting some of these bad boys out when I get home.

As the Sun Bids Farewell

September 26, 2018 in Holiday

By this point the wind was difficult to stand in and the rain was horizontal, but not particularly cold. After lunch I headed out to take a few pictures, but the weather was not helpful and after soaking everything, camera included I gave up.

A Wee Day Out in the City

September 24, 2018 in Holiday

So today saw us head to the hight of civilisation. Travelling across a mountain range and onto a different island, albeit one with a very big land border, we arrived in the huge town of … Stornoway. Ok, so I am exaggerating here as Stornoway is a small town on the Isle of Lewis about fifty miles from where we are staying although, with the roads here, about an hour and a half’s drive. It is, however, the largest, in fact the only, town, on the Isle and home to Lews Castle as well as a Tescos, yes we are talking metropolis by island standards.

We headed to Lews Castle, which is part hotel, part cafe and part museum. The museum was not open today so we made the most of the cafe and had lunch there as it was around midday when we arrived. The food was really good and reasonably priced. I had a pulled pork panini and Lyns had a coronation chicken sandwich which were lovely, however, we both had food envy when a couple at the table next to us had their burger delivered!!

After lunch, with the weather holding up nicely, we headed off into the grounds for a walk. We only explored a very small area but it seemed lovely. It would be nice to go back with a little more time to explore more, however, today was not the day.

We followed the path around until we came to a lovely viewpoint overlooking the harbour. We all took in the view, however James was more excited about climbing on the marble benches.

After taking in the view, we followed the path around to take in some more of the grounds. They are lovely and the view of the castle is very impressive. We found a house in the grounds that had giant wooden toadstools in the garden. We did not know whether it was a private house or not so we kept James away, otherwise we would have let him have a climb over them.

Shortly before Jess took James for a walk

After the castle we headed into the town itself. To be honest, there is not a lot there other than a few tourist shops as well as a couple of super markets.

Please mummy, can we leave daddy here whilst we explore??? If only!

After we had finished in town we headed to Co-op to pick up a few bits for dinner. There is one place in Stornoway that everyone who visits should go to and that is Macleod & Macleod Butcher. This is the home of two of the finest things that money can buy, that is steak pies and Stornoway Black Pudding. If you like either of these, you cannot get better anywhere, the black pudding especially.

I picked up a pie for dinner and some black pudding, sausages and bacon for breakfast one morning. Mmm mmm mmm the pie was so tasty and it was devoured for dinner between us. Just a shame I had to share it!

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