David Currie

We arrived back from Dorset with a week still to go before returning to work. We made a few trips out when the weather was kind to us, otherwise trying to get a few jobs done at home (including getting this blog back online). The day after we got back we didn’t go far – just a trip up to Farley Mount where the children’s favourite activity (after the play equipment) is building dens. It’s also an excuse for Christine and I to take turns at having a run.

After a day spent on back-to-school shopping, we decided to get out the National Trust cards one more time. This time it was for a trip to Mottisfont Abbey. The children enjoyed the Wind in the Willows Quest which meant that, when we had to retire to the house to avoid the downpour, we could play weasel spotting rather than admiring “Rex Whistler’s trompe l’oeil design in the drawing room”!

By now we were sufficiently rested for a trip to the Science Museum in London. It was a close run thing as the children’s favourite – the train/underground ride there or the museum itself! We started with all of the hands on exhibits which the children thoroughly enjoyed. I suspect Duncan could have played all day with the water in “the Garden”. We went to see the free “Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles” show where, as you can see, Emma go to be encased in a bubble.

The Google Web Lab was a bit disappointing: five exhibits of which two were broken, one had a long queue (the virtual visitors had half of the robots drawing in the and), and one just told you what you had (failed) to do in the others. When asked for his favourite bit of the museum, Duncan replied ‘the steam engine’. Let’s hope he doesn’t turn out to be a complete Luddite!

We spent the bank holiday recovering from our trip to the big smoke. Emma and Duncan even got to watch Emma’s Tangled DVD end-to-end in one sitting. (Duncan just about stayed awake for the whole thing although is breathing slowed considerably!) The forecast was set fair again the next day so we cycled over to Fleming Park to make the most of the paddling pool before it closes for the winter. With the sandpit and playground the kids could easily have stayed there for the whole day.

After a trip to my parents, it was time for Christine to return to work and Duncan to go back to nursery. Emma and I went to Manor Farm Country Park where she particularly enjoyed feeding the calves. I had to milk the cow though when they brought out the one that had given her a (friendly) head butt earlier in the day! Back to work for me on the Friday. Even that wasn’t too bad: 500+ emails reduced to three, setting me up for the next week.

One day in and the weather forecast was set to be dry for at least the next few days: staycation over! The first campsite Christine phoned in Dorset had space and we started packing the car! Travelling down to Dorset on a Friday in summer is never the best of ideas and we had to sit in a few queues on the way down. The campsite (Norden Farm) on the outskirts of Corfe was much as we’d expected – lots and lots of caravans and tents but you did get a small playground and some scraggy looking farm animals to amuse the children. On our first full day we headed down to the beach on the Swanage Railway. I’m not sure the children were too fussed with the steam engine but they enjoyed the pirates (local Lions club members) on board handing out chocolate money. It was a bit overcast but warm enough to make the most of the beach and we ticked lots of boxes with sandcastles, ice cream, Punch and Judy and a tea cup ride!

On the next full day we walked along the ridge from the campsite to Corfe Castle (my Dad had recently purchased National Trust membership for us which we used to the full on this holiday!). The children enjoyed the quest, learning about castle life and answering questions to earn their ‘gold medal’ on the way out. The sun was in evidence and, with the children feeling a bit frazzled, I walked back to pick up the car so that we could head down to Middle Beach on Studland Bay for a couple of hours (also National Trust owned).

The National Trust card was also burning the next day. We parked at their Shell Beach car park and took the chain ferry over to Sandbanks. From there, we took the ferry across to Brownsea Island. We didn’t managed to walk round the whole island but we did manage to tick off all of the items on Emma’s latest trail including the peacocks and, more illusive, a red squirrel.

As the weather was still set to stay fair, we extended our stay by one more night and headed back to Studland Bay, spending our last day at Knoll Beach. We must have spent about five hours just playing in the sand with the occasional foray in to the water. We didn’t even have to resort to the rather swish looking NT cafe.

All good things must come to an end and, with rain forecast, we packed up the tent the next morning whilst it was still dry and headed for home. The journey home took a good hour less than that on the way there, reminding us of just how close this beautiful part of the country is if you travel at the right time! I think the best part of the holiday though had to be the fact that we left the pushchair at home. Duncan walked everywhere and with little complaining. Long may it continue!

1040At the start of the school holidays I accompanied Christine and the children up to her parents’ where they were going to stay for the week. We left the children in their care on Saturday and headed off for a long walk in the Black Mountains. We parked up at Llanbedr and followed the start of the Black Mountains fell race up Table Mountain and north along the ridge to Waun Fach. We decided just to head back south from there along what would have been the edge of the forest had most of it not been felled. That did at least mean we had 360 degrees view along what is otherwise a rather long and dull ridge. The weather held up whilst we were out and it was just nice to be able to walk a decent distance (probably around 15 miles) at something more than a snails pace!

On the Sunday, we headed back to the Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo. Emma lasted considerably longer than on our previous visit. After waiting for a downpour to pass, we also tried out the Hedge Puzzle. Duncan chose the wrong parent as Emma and I exited the maze and made it under cover before the next shower. Emma and I then completed the trio with a round of mini golf. We also had a short walk along the river to the scene of our wedding reception (which looked even more like a shed than I remembered!).

At the end of the weekend I headed home for five days as a single child-free man!

1010For the first half of the Easter half-term holiday we booked a last minute break at a cottage on the north edge of the Brecon Beacons near Llanfrynach. We arrived on the Saturday and the next day enjoyed a fantastic cycle ride along the east edge of Talybont reservoir up to the waterfalls where we had lunch. Duncan got a bit cold during the shady ride there (he doesn’t put any effort in when sat in the child seat) but the falls were in the sunshine and he seemed to have warmed up enough by the end of the trip to enjoy an ice cream!

The next day, after much indecision we decided to take a crack at climbing a hill and if you’re going to climb a hill it might as well by the highest: Pen y Fan. We spurned the motorway footpath up from the Storey Arms, instead using the car parks on the north side near the cottage. This gave us a nice gentle climb up past Pen Milan, stopping near Llyn Cwm Llwch for lunch before the final steep climb up past the obelisk and to Corn Du. Emma was starting to flag a little bit on this final ascent but she and Duncan enjoyed playing with the stones on the flat summit. From there, it’s a short hop to the marginally higher Pen y Fan. We descended north from there and I abandoned Christine and the children and ran off to bring the car round. It may have only been about five miles in total but it was still a fun day out in the hills and we were pleased that Emma made it round without too much grumbling. Even Duncan walked more than we expected!

The weather began to turn at this point and we spent the next day at Dan-yr-Ogof caves. I was actually quite impressed by the caves but for the children I think the Dinosaur Park was the real winner. By the time we reached the Shire Horse Centre, the rain had set in and sadly the indoor play area didn’t appear to have much for young children (a tricycle race track which isn’t much fun on your own) so we set off back to the cottage. The Wednesday was pretty much a write off as we watched the thick snow cover first the hills and eventually the fields surrounding the cottage. We managed a twenty minute walk in the morning and then went to the swimming pool in Brecon after lunch.

The cottage was booked for the Easter weekend so we packed the car on Thursday and went for a short walk along the Brecon and Monmouthshire canal before heading off to stay at Christine’s parents’ for a couple of days to make a week of the holiday.

950I took the Bank Holiday week off work and, having not booked to go away anywhere, we spent an extended weekend at my parents’. On the Monday, we took advantage of the increased proximity to London and had a family trip (my brother included) to visit the Tower of London as known to Emma through “Katie in London” and “Paddington at the Tower”. The highlight of the trip was probably not the Crown Jewels (for which there was a mercifully short queue). I’m not easily impressed – from a distance, it could easily all be cubic zirconia! The battle between knights that took place in the grounds shortly after we arrived seemed to be Emma’s favourite.

We didn’t take a guided tour from one of the Beefeaters. Whilst I was minding a sleeping Duncan in the pushchair, I did follow one tour to get a look in the chapel. After being regaled with gruesome tales for 5 minutes (the guide also does Jack the Ripper on Wednesday evenings!) I was rather glad that I didn’t have Emma with me. Having visited almost every corner of the castle, there was only time for a fleeting trip to Tower Bridge before it was time to return home (leaving Michael to enjoy his evening Prom in peace!).