Big fun with little trains - halfterm fun at the NRM

For the start of the half term, we took a little holiday. We went to Yorkshire to revisit two museums we have visited before. As we were going on consecutive days, we took the opportunity to stay over in Yorkshire - actually in Bradford, the location of our second museum.

On Saturday, however, we returned to a place we have been to several times, the National Railway Museum in York. This time, we had been invited back to their "Big fun for little trains" event they are running over half term.

As usual, entry is free with some activities attracting a small charge - although fewer activities than usual seemed to cost. The children now know the place well and have favourite things we have to go and visit - the pinball game in the Flying Scotsman section, the viewing platform to see the "real trains" arriving at and leaving York station, the bullet train. Everything has to fit around those things and this time there was certainly a lot to see and do - a garden railway display, a miniature diesel ride and a model tramway too. There was also a Chuggington play area and a StackTrack challenge but Monkey now believes he is too old for Chuggington, although it doesn't stop him playing with the diecast models when he feels like it!

Monkey's favourite activities was the Scalextric racing (although he now wants a 6 car track for his birthday!), and the Lego workshop where children build a 4 wheeled Lego vehicle to try and make it go down a slope. He loves Lego so he was in his element. Missy found all the pink Lego bricks and joined in. Strangely, he wouldn't for some reason go near the Meccano workshop - I think he views it as too difficult for him still. But the unexpected hit with him was the pedal train - he pulled a face like it was all too babyish for him, until he suddenly joined the queue, grabbed the next available vehicle and pedalled round madly with a broad grin on his face for a few minutes. He's definitely still a little boy at heart.

We certainly picked a lovely day to go, with the sun shining and the temperature rising to a surprisingly pleasant level. This made the outdoor activities surprisingly pleasant for the time of year - we took a ride on both miniature and full sized steam trains and the children had a quick go in the park, although again, Monkey is just reaching that stage where he is a little too big for the play area.

As usual, we ran out of time and energy to do all the activities on offer so if you are after a day out and your children love trains (Monkey still wants to be a train driver when he grows up), this would be perfect. Most people are fascinated by trains anyway and little ones in particular are enthralled. Even if you've been recently, there's always something new to see as they move the stock around a lot, and you always find something that's a bit different. We never manage to cram it all in so you definitely will fill a whole day and if you like to take your time, maybe two.

Big fun with little trains event runs until Sunday 24 February. The NRM invited us to try out this event  and gave us vouchers to try some of the chargeable events for free and free parking. They also kindly provided lunch. 

Paddington half term fun at the National Railway Museum

Last Saturday, I took the children back to the National Railway Museum in York to road test their Fun with Paddington Bear event that is running over this half term. We've been a few times now, most recently to their Harry Potter event back in February. However, this time, we decided to try going on the train. It took me a while to realise I could go directly to York by train from here - if I try to search for journeys from my local station, it tells me that it takes 3 hours and requires 2 changes. What it didn't tell me was that there is a direct service from Blackpool to York that passes very nearby and the journey takes a couple of hours. More importantly, with a railcard, it's cheaper than driving.

It was a very cold day in York when we arrived so we were grateful to reach the museum and get inside. Unfortunately, this time, it seemed like all the Paddington related activities were taking place in the Station Hall, with nothing in the Great Hall, a place my two like to inhabit so that we can make our regular pilgrimage to the Bullet Train.

Activities on offer this week include welly wanging, after which you may make a medal to take home. Make is probably an overstatement, as the children chose their medal and someone put it together in a press. You could also meet Paddington himself, something we failed at because when we first passed, Missy Woo didn't want to go near him, then we missed his next appearance, and then it was too late because we needed to get our train back home. This made Missy Woo upset but that was rectified by the purchase of a Paddington bear to accompany us on our train home, and accompanying purchase of model Japanese high speed train for Monkey.

Other activities on offer include dressing like Paddington (although most clothes are smaller sizes, mine just about fitted into everything) and ride on a steam train - this time, Puffing Billy who unfortunately had open carriages which made for a Very Cold Ride. We also had fun trying to spot the teddy bears hidden around the trains, each with a letter to make up the word.

Over lunchtime, we met up with some other bloggers to have a special teddy bears' picnic lunch, including Paddington's favourite, marmalade sandwiches. Missy Woo refused to eat them, saying that she didn't "like the carrot" in them. She's not lived that down since, changing her story to the fact that she doesn't eat oranges, only drink them, even though she does. 

Once again, we ran out of time to do all the things we wanted to do and had to head back to the station to catch our train home, which was enjoyable because we could watch the world pass by and I could keep the children amused. As ever, entry to the NRM is free but some of the activities mentioned do attract a small charge, although across the whole day, it's still much cheaper than other family days out. Although my two are probably towards the higher end of the age bracket at which it is aimed, they still enjoyed the day, and Missy Woo now wants to collect all things Paddington. 

You can see Paddington Bear at the NRM until Sunday 4th November. Get your wellies out, and don't forget your marmalade sandwiches. 

(NRM invited us to the above event and gave us vouchers for lunch and to try some of the activities for free. All opinions are our own.)

Meal Planning Monday - the autumn half term edition!

Yes, it's that time again. Half term in our house and not before time. It's been a long few weeks for the children and they need that time to let off steam and not worry about anything for a few days. Husband working evenings means he can spend some time with us during the day without having to take time off.

My meal plan is going to be as little fuss as possible, although I have one dish that I am finally going to make, having finally acquired ham hocks! It's going to be mostly using up freezer things.

Here we go then.

Monday - Sausage and bean cobbler (from the freezer)
Tuesday - Mushroom stroganoff
Wednesday - butties / keeping free
Thursday- Ham hock with pinto beans
Friday - Slow cooker chickpea and potato soup with pesto
Saturday - Thai spiced fish pie
Sunday - keeping free

And yes, all warming things - am sat here on a cold, wet day when it's got dark early for the first time feeling very cold.

What's on your menu this week? Happy half term if you are off too this week! Oh, and Mrs M hosts the MPM linky so don't forget to check her out!

Wizardly good half term fun

We've been to the National Railway Museum a couple of times recently, and the last time we were there, the children noticed a poster for Wizard Week, which is running from 11 - 19 February. Monkey, being a big Harry Potter fan, expressed an interest in going along to see it. So, when they invited us back to this particular event, I knew I would have no choice but to say yes. I thought the weather might get the better of us as York had loads of snow on Thursday, whereas we have had none of late, but the roads seemed clear enough so we set off on Saturday morning to check out the first day of the 9 day event.

Flying broomsticks

Missy Woo was concerned before we went that we'd have to dress up as wizards but I told her it wasn't necessary. There were, however, children there in wizardly fancy dress - I even saw one little boy with huge round specs, a black gown and wand, thoroughly putting us to shame. Missy wanted to buy a wizard's hat and a wand to compensate for this, but I disallowed it on the basis she has plenty of similar items at home that barely get touched. I am a cruel, cruel mother. There is actually a Best Dressed Wizard competition, where you upload a photo of yourself in wizardly costume at the museum to their Facebook page and the winner will win a wizard-themed experience, including magic lessons and an owl experience. Oops. They're too young for the owl experience anyway!

Of trains and racing cars

We were very excited when we were invited to an event organised by Scalextric last Friday. The timing was perfect - just at the end of half term when you're running out of things to do. The trip to London meant a trip on the train - and although the children have been on trains before, they have never been on the fast trains that run down to London from here. When I told them where we were going, they were giddy with the anticipation of it all.

And who doesn't love Scalextric? As a girl from a family of girls, I was always a tad jealous of friends who had brothers as they would have some Scalextric to play with. Husband was pretty happy too, as he loved Scalextric as a child and more to the point, he'd got holiday booked which meant he could come along to his first blogger event.

A day trip to London means an early start from here so we were all up for 6. Actually, Monkey wasn't so my husband took great delight in waking him up - a small revenge for some of the early starts he's put him through! The sun rose as we reached Preston station and waited for our "London train" to arrive. We got on and found our seats - thankfully, a table of 4 to one end of a carriage. Monkey's eyes were wide as he took it all in and noticed how fast the train was going, even as we left the station. However, the novelty soon wore off, he got into playing on his DS and barely noticed a thing the rest of the way! Typical.

One down, five to go - stumbling over the finish line

Twitter this week has been awash with parents tearing their hair out. Home life can best be described as "tears and tantrums" with a bit of hyperactive giddiness thrown in. Their children have been veering wildly between joy and sorrow, one minute laughing manically, the next in floods of tears over the slightest thing. The dawdlers of the world are dawdling more than ever, and even the placid even-tempered types are awkward and difficult to the point of driving their parents to near insanity. Sibling rivalry has descended into all-out war.

Parents in Scotland will recognise this episode in their lives from a week or two ago. Because the reason for all this is tiredness - half term starts tomorrow for most of the country and the children have had enough. They've been back in school for around 7 weeks now, with maybe some time off for good behaviour for the reception class newbies. Brains are overloaded with lots of new information, experiences and routines. We're all there, stumbling over the finish line, even though it's only the first leg of six.

Butter wouldn't melt, would it?

To top it all in our house, this week has been a busy one. Monday has so far been the only day where nothing was going on after school. On Tuesday, Monkey had golf after school - something he asked to do. On Wednesday, they both had swimming lessons and then went back to school. The school ran a workshop for parents about supporting your children with their reading. It was run by the county adviser on literacy and it was excellent, but it was on from 6.30 to 8.30. Both of us wanted to go so Monkey and Missy Woo went to the creche they put on, meaning they went to bed nearer to 9pm. And Thursday? Well, that was the Halloween Disco (you can tell it's not a church school) which they have been looking forward to for weeks. When I say "disco", I actually mean about an hour of them manically running around a darkened school hall with flashing lights and maybe a few games. Dancing has little to do with it, judging by the reports from the parents overseeing the event. After school tonight, I swear we are going nowhere. I may even suggest pyjamas are put on when they come home. I might join them.

They are shattered. Missy Woo is one of life's dawdlers and has perfected her dawdling skills this week. We're up to 5 mins per sock. Monkey is more highly strung and everything is a drama for him. He blows up at the smallest imagined slight - like asking him to eat his food. We've eased off on thins like reading this week, after we could see that Missy Woo just hadn't got the concentration for her new book. We've been letting them off if they say they don't want to.

And what is it with tired children that makes them wake up so early? They have often been awake an hour earlier than normal, sneaking in and out of each other's rooms, sometimes waking each other up and causing mischief. Don't they know that more sleep is good?!

Of course, coming to an end of the first half term where they are both in school is a time for reflection too.  We're enormously proud of both of them. Missy Woo has taken to school like the proverbial duck to water and has come on in leaps and bounds. She loves it all and has made some good friends already.

Monkey has also progressed really fast this term. In fact, it's been amazing. This has been because he's been part of a group working daily with the deputy headteacher on reading and writing for the last few weeks. If ever there was someone who you would want to teach your children to write, it is him - he has the most beautiful handwriting. Monkey has gained so much from this; his writing in particular has been transformed, but his reading has progressed quickly too. He worships the deputy head and it's a shame that this time is coming to an end, as he'll be working with another group after the holiday.

In addition, they have both been recognised for their efforts at school. Missy Woo came out of celebration assembly after a couple of weeks clutching a class award certificate for "super letter sounds and word building." Then, last week, Monkey ran out of school with the "Star Pupil" trophy in his hands, which was given for "good manners at all times, and for tackling tasks and challenges with enthusiasm". Perhaps not the child we know out of school sometimes but we were so pleased that he behaves so well at school. He was very proud and put the trophy in his bedroom. He earned himself a new kit for that - but unfortunately, it's a Blackpool one. I fear I have definitely lost him to the PNE cause for good now.

But for now, they need to have a well-earned break. Maybe they will get that sleep they need, to process all that extra stuff crammed into their brains these last few weeks. Maybe just having a different routine is going to be enough of a break. I hope so, because it is just going to be a family week at home. Missy Woo has some extra swimming lessons arranged and Monkey a couple of football sessions. We have some friends coming round to test some toys. And that's it.

We're almost there, mums and dads. We've survived the first half term. Hope your little devils turn back into little angels soon and don't drive you all to distraction over the next week.