Garden Fun

We had a busy day at home today with some things we'd been putting off around the house, so to keep the children busy we got them both to make some treasure maps and bury something in the garden so me and my husband could find them.

It was lots of fun and proved we don't need to drive anywhere to have outdoor fun, our garden is a bit of a messy jungle at the moment whilst we attempt to renovate it so please excuse the mess.

First of all checking out the map...

Hmm, looking here and there, my sons map skills leave a little to be desired as there were about 3 xs marking the spot...

Dino spotting and also we love these big castor oil leaves, they look so prehistoric...

The previous owners of the house made these fab fern prints in concrete, we call them our fossils and the kids love looking at them...

Getting outside needn't be about being far away from home, you can have just as much fun and fresh air in the garden and we did and loved it.

Linking up to Country Kids on Coombe Mill

Newstead Abbey - History and Exploring

This last few weeks have seen illness in The Mummy Diary house so I haven't been up to writing much.

So with the sun shining and the family together (hubby has been away for a week) we decided to head out to the Car Boot followed by a trip to Newstead Abbey, we haven't been here with the kids before so it was a lovely place to take them.

I love the imposing facade of the Abbey (which wasn't actually ever an Abbey apparently) it was simply stunning against the blue skies.

First we walked down to the waterfall, you can walk behind it and it is a lovely experience for the children.

View out from behind the waterfall, I like to wonder who might have stood looking out from here.

Lots of space to run....and run!

The back of the house, beautiful with the blue backdrop.

Lots of lovely peacocks, loved this one walking up the stairs

The gorgeous walled garden, stunning blossoms and hedges

I love finding out brickwork and gates, so beautiful.

Looking into the pond, no fish just pond skaters...

The rose garden was beautiful...

Next, to the Japanese Gardens, these stunning gardens are all laid out presumably to make for wonderful features to paint, images to think and write about, you can see how this would have been  inspiration.

Next, to the rock garden, up and down the rockery

And finally into the woods to do a bit of exploring and bug finding...

We only found a few woodlice...

Finally a quick walk along the path ledge and off take part in the easter activities, my son decorated a cake and my daughter made an easter themed plate.

We had a wonderful few hours at Newstead, it is a wonderful place steeped in history and magnificent  decoration and architecture.

Linking up to Country Kids over on Coombe Mill

Winter Walks and Scooter Rides

This weekend was lovely, bright blue skies and lots to do at the moment. Saturday saw me take my son to the Lakeside to see A Christmas Carol so I wanted to make sure we took them out for some fresh air on the Sunday.

As it was my dad's birthday we went to Wollaton Hall and Park as they had a Christmas Fair on, the Hall is always a treat for the kids to walk around and see the stuffed animals and the park is always lovely too.

Beautiful wreaths around the entrance to the courtyard

Inside the Hall, loved the feel of it all Christmassy

Looking at the Albatross, they are huge!!!

Dental check for the Hippo

Daddy pointing out the different skulls.

Looking at the snake skeleton

Dino fossils.

George, the well known Gorilla. Scary, but everyone remembers him.

Time for a scoot...

Poor tree blown down in the wind. 

Looking out over the lovely lake

Wollaton Hall is a fantastic place, full of history and is a place for the children to see animals up close, it is also Batman's House so that makes it super special ;)

This week we are linking up to Country Kids over at Coombe Mill.

French Farm Visiting

On our recent holiday in France we mostly had good weather, on the one day it was a little overcast we decided to visit an Ostrich farm.

Whilst there we were not only presented with lots of animals but a sensory trail which was absolutely fabulous.

As you walked through the trees you got to try out your five senses, this first area was for sight.

There were several viewing stations where you could look through the trees, second was this tube filled with hama beads and then lots of smaller objects that you could see as you rolled it back and fourth.

Next was sound, several wooden objects made up the area,the children really loved it and had fun being part of a woodland band.

Next was smell, each tree trunk was hollowed out and then herbs and spices were placed in them and you had to guess what they were.

 Taste were different herbs but we just guessed them from looking at them and smelling.

Next was touch, you had to put your hand in each box and feel what was in there, a very weird sesation not knowing what was in them. The worst was probably the coal as we all ended up with rather dirty hands.

Finally and although this sounded great, with two small children we decided against it, A path where you took your shoes off and walked over different things, coal, bark being just a few of them.

This was a great addition to the farm which we had a lovely time walking round with the children, they were particularly drawn to the Ostriches which were really endearing .

I am linking up to Country Kids over on Coombe Mill