Lots of Fun With Lots of Friends (& Family)

Well, I meant to do a post for every day out we have been on but time kind of got away and since I'm rather far behind I thought I'd just do one big post of fun! Apologies to all the friends who we've had fab days with but will now only get a few lines mention . . . (you'll all have to start your own blogs to finish what I start!).

Two of our days out were with Sarah (friend from school) and her daughter, Abigail (who's the same age as Toby with the same birthday as Beth). Last week they came to visit us and we had a trip to Clumber (Aug 20) and this week (Aug 31) we met them at Belton House. It's been a long, long time since we saw them last, October of 2008, (see post) and Abi had changed almost beyond recognition.

Clumber was lovely as usual and we had lunch before heading to the walled garden. We didn't quite get there as on the way, the tractor and trailer was parked ready to take people for rides around the park. I've seen it before but never had an inclination to go on it. We wandered over so Toby could examine the tractor and the driver, Paul, said it was fine for them to climb into the cab. Abigail wasn't so sure - she doesn't like tractors much (can't voice that opinion around Toby!) but had a look from a distance. I got chatting to Paul and he said he was doing a detour on the next 'round' and going to look at the long-horned cows they keep on the other side of the estate. Well, how could we resist a ride and going to feed them?

After an initial voicing of her displeasure at the prospect of having to ride in a trailer pulled by a tractor, Abigail settled into reluctant acceptance. Our two were perfectly happy though were not impressed that they weren't allowed to ride in or, for that matter, drive the tractor! The cows were pretty impressive and we did get out and have a (very careful) stroke of them before heading back.

I didn't have my camera with me on our visit to Belton though I did take an odd pic on my phone. Probably better that way as it meant I could join in without worrying about wrecking the camera or missing that perfect shot. The majority of the day was spent in the massive play area though after a picnic lunch we did venture into the gardens for an ice cream and lots of hill rolling. Hopefully I'll nick some pics from Sarah of both days out to post since I was so crap with that aspect.

On August 24 the kids and I made an early start and drove down to Ely to visit one of my running pals, Theo, who I've known since I was 11 along with his wife Zoe and son Sebastian who is just a few months older than Toby. It was definitely a day of parks - we started with a wander to their local and had a long play there. Both kids loved the zip wire thing and had fun with their new friend (only new as they couldn't remember meeting him before here).

After lunch we walked into Ely, had a peek into the cathedral (it's very beautiful) before calling by two more parks! The picture is from the second one down by the river. I'm sure Sebastian thought Toby was a little odd (I can see his point . . . ) but he loved Beth and happily followed her around for most of the day. Beth seemed to like this as Toby does not hang on her every word or take any notice of her usually so I think it made a change! The drive home was fine, Beth fell straight asleep and Toby made good use of his time by dismantling his yellow Herbie.

Our next 'reunion' on August 26 was with my school friend Bell (Eleanor) and her two children, Abigail and Matthew, and her godson Jordon. Despite living pretty close to them since moving back, we've been really crap at keeping in touch so it was ace to catch up. The weather wasn't great so we spent the morning mooching round the house. Beth and Abigail had great fun playing, and Jordon was brill and kept them entertained so Bell and I could get caught up.

Toby showed a whole new side with an obsession with baby Matthew who's five months old. He was desperate to hold him and cuddle, kiss him and generally just use him as a doll. It was cute for about 30 seconds then it just got awkward since we had to watch he didn't cause harm! I would have loved some pics of this but unfortunately I spent most of it wrestling with him to prevent him picking Matthew up. Thankfully after an hour or so he did loose interest and went to join Beth and Abigail. In the afternoon we headed to the park for some puddle paddling, flower picking (notice Beth's colour coordination!), and bonfire building involving dried grass and apples. It was fun even though it was a bit damp.

The last few pics are from the bank holiday weekend when Auntie Jane came to stay and then we headed to grandma and grandpa's for our annual Summer Christmas (family gathering like Christmas but minus the presents, tree, total over-eating . . . ). We went to Beacon Hill to the rhododendron labyrinth. I'm sure I've blogged about it before but I can't find the post to reference at the moment. We had coffee/juice and snacks half way round (though we did go round and round and round quite a few times) then went back to g+g's for some raspberry picking and play. Grandpa had outdone himself and acquired two scooters for entertainment. Beth zoomed around on hers but Toby didn't quite get the idea but still had fun.

Hopefully we'll get another few weeks of vague sunshine before Autumn hits so we can have some more fun days out without wellies being mandatory. Lots of firsts coming in the next week or so. Beth's first swimming lesson is on Saturday morning (4th) and on Tuesday Beth starts 'big school' and Toby is starting preschool two mornings a week - what on earth will I do with my five 'child-free' hours a week???