National Railway Museum

Today we went to the NRM in York….

When we arrived the Lord Mayor was just arriving and we followed him for a while but then we lost him!  We saw all the different trains in the main room including a replica of The Rocket and The Mallard.  We also saw a train that had been cut open to show all the engine which they all loved, and one you could walk underneath which they loved.  We then went inside a bullet train carriage…..

After the bullet train we went on a simulator ride!!!  It was bizarre!!!  We felt like we had been transported back to the ’80’s!!  Technology has moved on so much but the simulator was way behind the times and felt so dated, but the kids were quite impressed..unlike me and Richard who were just laughing at it!!

They then got to dress up as Paddington…..

….and then they got to meet Paddington!!!!!!!!!

We also went on The Rocket, where they were fascinated to see that years ago you didn’t even get seats on trains!  We were in the back carriage and the guard was really nice and let them all have a go of waving the guards flag……

There were some models to make….

 

…we then finished off the main room and had a quick look in the shop before it was time to go home.  We had planned to go to a Halloween party in the park but it got cancelled at the last-minute due to the rain, so we went on the quickest trick or treat round in the pouring rain…..

and then we met some friends for a pub tea which seemed to do the job of making up for no party.  After tea we paid a speedy visit to mini club but it was already quite late and all 3 of the kids fell asleep so we came home!!!  It was a very long action packed day!!!!

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First day of half term

Finally half term has arrived!!  Lots of schools were off last week so it has felt like half term has been a long time coming!  After a mad dash down south at the weekend we met up locally with friends for a trip to the park.  The weather was looking decidedly dodgy but we still went.  We went to Heaton Park…I haven’t been there for years and never with the kids, but lots of people had really raved about it.  The play area was good, with a really high slide which Noah flew out of the end of and hurt his bum!!  There were a few things not working though, I’m not sure of they switch them off in winter and since the local schools had all gone back to school so maybe the water play was off not broken?

After we’d had a play we went to look for somewhere to eat our picnic and then had a wander….

…We walked around the lake….

…and then we stopped for a hot chocolate!  The rain was holding off for us, although Richard sent us a message saying it was throwing it down at home!  We carried on walking around the house…..

….they found a wall to jump off…

….and then we felt a few rain drops!  We were still quite far from the cars so we decided to call it a day.  It was quite late anyway so we walked back to the car.  We had a great day and we did like Heaton Park but maybe the weather affected us, because none of us could work out what everyone else thinks is so amazing about it……

Nan’s 70th

It was Nan’s 70th birthday and she wanted to celebrate with Richard, his sister and both of their families, so we travelled down to Surrey where Alex lives for a meal.  We set off a bit later than we’d hoped and then we kept running into traffic so it was late afternoon by the time we made it there.  We went to their house first for a very quick play but before we knew it, it was time to go to our hotel to get changed.  Caitlin had requested curly hair so I did that….

I had intended to separate the curls but I’d forgotten to get hairspray so couldn’t mess with it too much as all the curls would fall out!  We were staying near Epsom racecourse and we went for a meal nearby.  The meal was lovely….

…the restaurant was very nice and they even made a special pudding for Austin since he doesn’t like any classic desserts!!  He doesn’t like cake, jelly, icecream….so they made him a little fruit salad and he was very happy.

After the meal we went back to Alex’s for the cake!!!

My friend made the model of Nan out of icing all from photo’s I gave her!  It was amazing and looked just like her!!!  I then made the flowers and vegetables.  They weren’t perfect but I was really pleased with them and when I put them with the tools I bought and the model Emma made the cake looked great and my Mother in Law was very impressed with it.  We stayed at Alex’s for a short while until their kids went to bed then we headed back to our hotel, where they all fell asleep almost straight away…after a photo with Barnaby the school bear!!!!!!

Caitlin, Noah and Austin loved meeting their cousins and we got to go back for a play on Sunday morning….

…..they played with all their toys, games and dressing up outfits!!!

Before we knew it, it was time to go as R had a party to go to…..so we set off home.  Time flew while we were there, and we got away with squeezing too many people into our hotel room!! We had a great weekend, it was lovely to see everyone.

Sewing lessons

I’ve been giving a friend’s daughter sewing lessons,  she’s 10 and it’s been really interesting.  I’ve done bits of sewing with Caitlin and Noah but they are still pretty young and so their capabilities are pretty limited.  A is just that bit older and so can do the things I show her with very little help.  We’ve been concentrating on sewing a tote bag, which is lined so she’s had to tack all of the seams and then machine it all together.  I also let her embroider her name onto a pocket which she was massively impressed with!  She finished the bag just in time for half term and was so proud of herself and rightly so!!

Next half of term we’re going to attempt a beanbag!!  That’s a lot of hand tacking to be done…I hope I don’t put her off!!!

Paper shoes and chillies!

This afternoon we finally had a bit of spare time and so Caitlin made some shoes!!  She had been dying to try paper shoe making since the craft fair and so I drew around her feet for her and she cut them out, made straps and glued them together!!

She initially wanted to make high heels but after a demonstration by Austin on what happens when you stand on a paper heel she agreed to make flats!!

They were very good and she wore them around the house!!

For tea we had fajita’s….whenever we have fajita’s Noah does his chilli trick!!!  He normally has a little piece of chilli in his fajita but today he insisted on having a whole slice…a pretty big one at that!!  And here is the very funny result!!!!!!!

More funny things they say…..

Today was church parade for Caitlin and the rainbows and Caitlin had been entrusted with Olivia the Rainbows doll so we thought we’d best take her along!  I stupidly agreed to let them cycle there…I always forget places are at least twice as far with kids & bikes in tow!!  Austin just about made it there!  Olivia had a lovely time and helped to carry the flag!!!

We set off home and I was convinced Austin would never make it….

…but he did!

Once we got home Caitlin and Noah were discussing the service, namely the part where you offer each other a sign of peace…”peace be with you”.  It went like this….

Noah…”pleased to be with you”

Me…”It’s PEACE not pleased”

Caitlin….”like peace as in catching someone who is naughty”

Noah…”Oh…”

Me…While laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!  “It’s PEACE…not police…they are totally different!!!!!!!!!”

How do their minds work!!!????

Baby shower

Today I went to a baby shower, it’s still not that popular over in the UK so this was the first one I’ve ever been to and we all had a great afternoon.  We played loads of games including the price is right where we guessed the prices of baby equipment.  One girl made some lovely baby cakes….

There were also lots of nappy cakes and I forgot to take a photo of the vests I made!  We know E from mini club and she is having a boy so I made some vests with a mini theme.  More people should have baby showers…they are great, although I did feel a bit weird taking presents for an unborn baby.  I’ve never been superstitious about buying in advance before but I think because it was for someone else I kept worrying we were jinxing it!!

A girly day out

There was a craft fair on in town that I had heard about on a blog I read so I went along with Caitlin.  On the way from the train station we spotted a massive a crane lifting some RSJ’s onto the roof of a building.  We were a bit early so we stopped to watch….

Caitlin was completely fascinated by it!!  Once we got to the craft show we went in for a wander, there was no photography allowed inside but we both saw lots of things we loved.  Caitlin was especially impressed by a stand with lots of things made out of paper, she absolutely loved these paper shoes.  All of her things were amazing!!  I loved this stand with food made out of felt..the detail was amazing!!!  Caitlin also liked this stand which had jewellery made of plastic.  It is a bit similar to gelarti which was already on Caitlin’s Christmas list and the lady overheard me telling Caitlin this….she then had a conversation with Caitlin about what gelarti is and she told Caitlin that she should come back with a stand likes hers next year and so now Caitlin wants to do that.

We went outside and sat in the sun to eat our picnic and Caitlin found a tree she really liked with lovely red leaves….

After we’d eaten we met Cath and went back inside and went around the rest of the stands, where Caitlin bought a Christmas card with a robin on the front…she is refusing to send it to anyone though because she loves it too much!!  We then went for a drink in a nearby pub, where we saw some lovely little huts….

Caitlin loved having a girly drink, I think she felt really grown up!!  After our pub drink, we went for a hot chocolate…

…it was really nice having a day to ourselves, we saw loads of fantastic things and it was very quiet and calm without the boys!!  Caitlin absolutely loved it…she just kept giggling all day and saying what a good time she was having!!  And yes she does have a big cut on her nose where she fell over during PE!!

While we were enjoying the craft fair…the boys went to a party….

…I think I’ll take Caitlin along to the next craft fair too!!

Hama beads

Noah and Caitlin have been busy making things with the Hama beads…they are great, I can’t believe we’ve only just discovered them!  Caitlin has made a few things from the leaflet that came with the beads but has now started just making things up and made a campervan…

Noah decided he was going to make Steven Gerrard!!!!!

…complete with studs on!!!!!!!!