Out and About

I know I've been very remiss, I've done lots of things and not written about them.

Went away for a couple of days to Yorkshire. Stopped off first at Lightwater Valley. Felt so good to walk past the mile long queue and walk straight into the Birds of Prey centre (yep we are all cowardly custards so fair rides and theme parks are just not our style at all). We were about the only ones looking at the Birds. We had our picnic there, an ice-cream, watched the display (which was really good and the baby vultures were so funny) and then paid extra for the kids to have their photos taken holding the birds. Josh held Wingnut the Eagle Owl and Chiara and Mia both held Poppet the Kestrel.

PICTURES TO BE INSERTED, BLIDDY BLOGGER AGAIN!

I got piccies from there (you had to pay £3.85 each for the privilege of holding the bird and you got a piccie in with it) I took more piccies myself obviously but the ones from the centre are actually quite good (will have to scan them in another time).

Then it was onto Harrogate where we had tea then met up with Clare, Pete and Tom, they had been exploring earlier and took us to the fabulous valley gardens. The light was quite poor by then so no photos.

Next day we went to Art from the Heart (yum yum yum) and I spent too much money. But seeing all that lush stuff it is so hard to resist. Then into Ripon for Fish and Chips, onto Brymor Ice Cream Farm and finally Forbidden Corner. I took quite a few piccies but no-one really stood still long enough so most came out too blurred :( Josh enjoyed it more than I expected, Chiara got soaked by an unexpected water spray (drama queen moment) and Mia was spooked silly by the underground section so we had to miss some bits of the exploration out. We said goodbye much too soon to Clare et al. Mia was mightily taken with Tom btw!

We drove onto Brighouse were we spent the night then on to Eureka science museum for kids in Halifax the next day. This is a great place to spend the day. However Josh (11) was really a bit old for the displays and the adult - child ratio really could have done with upping a bit as I kept losing one or the other as they dashed around in between all the interactive displays. I would say this is a great place to go for younger children, Mia and Chiara thought it was fab (5 and 7).

Whilst there I picked up some discount vouchers for 2 for 1 entries to some of Yorkshire's main attractions. Magna in Rotherham looks fantastic and we will definitely be going there. The others included in the offer are The Deep, XScape, Jorvik, National Museum of Photography, Thackray Museum, Royal Armouries, Herriott centre, Harewood House and Magna. I have some of these vouchers spare. If you want a couple posting out just let me know! (details of these places can be found on www.yorkshireatrractions.org)