Pickering Traction Engine Rally

Yesterday we had a good Northern day out and went to the Pickering Traction Engine Rally. Initially we thought we'd go mainly for Toby but it turned out to be a really fun day for us all. We met gran and grandad up there and thankfully the weather was great - it's less than 70 miles away from home but it had rained all night here.

We started by looking at the big agricultural engines; we arrived just at the right time as they were all chugging around and getting in line in one of the arenas. It was pretty smoky but I rather liked the smell - reminded me of the coal fires we had when I was young, before we were forced to use smokeless fuel! They were asking for 'ladies' to drive the engines around the arena and although I'm not sure I quite qualify as a lady, Steve bullied me into have a go. Beth was allowed to come up for a photo but not for the circuit. It was harder than it looked but I reckon given a bit longer I might have become a dab hand at it!

After a bit of nosh we headed over to the tractor pulling. Toby was mesmerised and just stood there with his nose pushed through the railings staring. I think that intense concentration must have worn him out as he literally just passed out after that and had a good nap in the pushchair. We wandered back towards the car, stopping briefly at the Punch and Judy show and the other stage shows on the way. We went to gran and grandads for tea and the gps system took us a rather round about way and we came back across the moors.

Cleethorpes

After mooching round the house for a couple of hours wondering what to do with our Sunday, we decided to go to the seaside. The nearest seaside 'resort' to us is Cleethorpes, about an hour away, so we headed there.

Well, we came to the conclusion that it isn't quite Belmont Shore . . . However, it's certainly a fantastic place to people watch and there were definitely some sights to see (though perhaps it would spare a few nightmares not to have seen them!).

After fish and chips at the Mermaid cafe, we had a walk along the pier then got the bucket and spades and headed on to the beach. It was a pretty warm day despite threats of rain and we spent quite a while fashioning sandcastles and collecting shells from around the beach. While Beth was happiest with the shells, decorating her castles, Toby enjoyed sprinting towards the water - a race to see if we could catch him in time.

To finish the afternoon we had the obligatory ice cream and headed home with two tired kids (and two even sleepier parents!).

An Afternoon With Sebastian

Today Sebastian and his mum and dad came to play. It was the first time we have met Sebastian (he is six months older than Toby), and ages since we've seen his mum and dad so we had a lovely time catching up. Thankfully the weather was great and it felt almost Californian being out in the garden barbecuing and enjoying the sunshine. The bouncy castle came out along with every piece of outdoor play equipment and I think all three kids would happily have played into the night.

Yesterday Beth, Toby and I went for a picnic and play at Brodsworth. I love both these photos - I have no idea what Toby could see in the picture with Beth as his eyes are nearly popping out! The other pic cracks me up as for some reason it just reminds me of pictures of Daniel Lambert (I won't go into who he was, you'll just have to look him up!).

Cousin William's Christening and Garden Fun

On Sunday Steve and I had the honour of becoming William's godparents at his christening. Everyone got dressed up - this was the only photo of both Beth and Toby in their glad-rags as Toby was not in the mood to pose. I was dreading the service as the thought of keeping the kids relatively quiet and under control for 75 minutes was rather daunting. However, it was a lovely service involving the children and the church had an area especially for children with books, toys and colouring.

After the service there was a party at the local cricket club with a magician (much to Beth's bewilderment!) who also made balloon shapes. Adam and William's other cousin, Lydia, was wonderful and looked after Beth for much of the afternoon leaving Steve and I free to chase after Toby. I feel rather ashamed to say that I did not manage to get a single photo of William on his special day.

School finished last week for the summer so we now have no classes or anything much going on . . . (ahh, six weeks of endless days). So yesterday we headed off to see grandma and grandpa. The weather wasn't great so we spent the morning in the swimming pool. We haven't been for ages but it didn't take Beth long to get over her fear and she was soon swimming back and forth between grandma and grandpa. Toby wasn't so sure and wasn't too keen at all. I suspect his skin was a little sensitive to the chlorine and he's been rather clingy recently due to lots of teeth popping through.

After lunch we went out in the garden for an explore. I say that as their garden has really shot up since we were last there. Beth helped to dig potatoes and pull carrots and kale for dinner along with scoffing raspberries straight off the bush. She also had a great time cutting a bunch of flowers, something she doesn't get chance to do in our garden since we only have a few flowers.

Toby, when not diving for the pond, enjoyed pottering around playing with puddles, the wooden wind chimes (that he loved) and the wheelbarrow - obviously taking after his gran who I've been told had a love of wheelbarrows as a child! We all spend quite a bit of time looking at the frog in the pond who despite a lot of encouragement, refused to move.

Some Birthday Fun

Sorry for the lack of entries recently, we seem to be visiting all the same places and I took a break from photographing everything. We'll have to find some new attractions to explore so as not to bore you all!

Anyway, today Steve took the day off so we could go out and have some fun for my birthday (32nd since you ask). Toby hasn't been that well, a temperature, but we decided to head out anyway as he normally enjoys seeing new stuff. We went over to Clumber Park despite a poor weather forecast. With Toby dosed up on Calpol and fairly happy we began by breaking out the new toys - a bubble rocket, an enormous tennis ball (bigger than a basketball) and a little plane. Beth loved the rocket and spent a good 20 minutes setting it off. Toby was more interested in the plane but in general wasn't too bothered and prefered to totter around with the bottle of bubbles and his binky firmly in.

After we had exhausted those toys, we headed over to an open area by the lake and had a go at flying the kite. We were rather unsuccessful and it started to rain so we headed for a coffee. Once the rain went off we had a wander around the Walled Garden. It was beautiful, all the flowers were out and there was every sort of fruit and vegetable growing - very inspiring if I had the time to spend in the garden!

This evening, with two grumpy kids, Steve found a keyboard that hasn't seen the light of day for a couple of years. It was quite a hit, Beth and Toby played together well to create a delightful few tunes. :)

Fountains Abbey (Again)

We had a great day today at Fountains Abbey with cousin Adam and family. It was sunny and lovely and so we took a picnic. It was a lot busier than the last few times we've been (damn these fair weather visitors!) but still not too crowded. We wandered down the hill and had our rather large picnic sat in the ruins of the Abbey. I think we then could all have happily taken long naps but since Beth and Adam were bouncing (literally) off the crumbling walls, we decided to go for a walk.

We wandered to a part that we haven't explored before - up a big hill of course. It was worth the walk as the views were lovely and there were lots of interesting things to mooch around up there. First was Surprise View (where the first photo was taken), next we found the Temple of Fame, after that we came across the Octagon Tower (the building behind Toby) and finally, on the way down the hill, we went through Serpentine Tunnel (a 1730's tunnel cut through the hillside). They all kept the kids occupied and diverted then from realising how far they were walking. They also had a game of trains, half a game of hide-and-seek and a game of peek-a-boo.

During the day we were treated to the Adam Makepeace Spectacular - Adam performing Mama Mia on top of the wall with Beth looking on in something nearing confusion. Beth thought she might have a go but suffered from stage fright on the way up. There of course is the obligatory photo of Toby asleep in the pushchair but now he's got the use of his hind legs, there are more photo opps. William can begin to take his place - here's one to start.

Here And There

Just a quick update to let you know we're all alive and well. :) Since the last post we've done lots of bits of things and visited both sets of grandparents.

When we went to see gran and grandad we spent part of the afternoon at the new RSPB place, Saltholme, close to their house. We went with cousin Adam and family and had a good explore. Unfortunately the playground wasn't open yet - the whole place is newly opened so they are putting the finishing touches to everything. We all, Toby included, walked around the lake disturbing any birds that happened to come close (I'm sure much to the disgust of the serious birdwatchers).

We saw auntie Jane for the first time since Christmas when we visited grandma and grandpa, unfortunately it's rather a long trek to visit her so we'll have to wait till we're more mobile to descend on her! It was a lovely day and so we decided to test out our new English Heritage memberships and go to Kirby Muxloe Castle for an explore. I really enjoyed this as we use to go a lot as children and play hide-and-seek and I haven't been for years.

I think Beth really enjoyed it too. As you may have guessed, she's very into princesses and castles so it was right up her street. She would have spent the entire time running up and down the steps to the top but we have visions of her tumbling all the way down so put a stop to that (well, we did let her go up/down, up/down, up/down a few times but mainly because we were too slow to stop her!).

The rest of the day was spent in the sandpit, watering the plants or trying to catch/poke the tiny frogs in the pond.