A Visit to White Post Farm

As a last day of the holidays treat for my son I asked him where he wanted to go and his answer was White Post Farm, so with the weather being nice I packed a picnic and off we went.

White Post Farm is quite the institution around Nottinghamshire, having been around for the last 20 years it was somewhere I visited when I was younger.

First thing to do when we got there was feed the ducks, they were certainly rather hungry...

Lots of animals to see, it's great having chickens roaming round the farm as it allows you to get up close and personal.

The incubation room is a really great way to show children about how life starts, here we are watching to see if any chicks were hatching, there were quite a few babies about including some lambs which were a few days old.

In the barn there is a an indoor play area, slides, sheds with toys and a home corner, this makes a great place for mum and dad to take five. Here you also get the opportunity to hold some of the baby animals, we held a guinea pig and a mouse.

The huge outdoor park is the perfect place for warmer weather, with climbing frames, go-karts and trampolines it's a great way to break up the day and with picnic benches a good place to break for lunch.

We had fun spotting the piggies, they are so big and my son was telling us about their wallowing hole and how they use the mud as suncream, he had learnt about this on his day trip here earlier in the year...

There were plenty of different animals to look at including some rather enchanting deer, I loved the way this fella was just resting his head on the floor, so handsome!

There is plenty of space to run around and more animals to spot, we found this cheeky sheep looking at us through the fence and then two llamas eating the berries off a tree!

There are tractors and combine harvesters to climb aboard to see what it would be life to be a farmer and cows to have a go at 'milking', there is lots to keep them entertained and now they have a crazy golf course too which looked amazing although we didn't have the time to go on it.

We loved this cheeky llama, he stood waiting for us to feed him but we didn't have any four legged animal food so couldn't give him anything, sorry Mr Llama!

And finally onto the these playful little characters! I love meerkats, so inquisitive and very cute and I managed to capture this one just as he looked up at me!

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Château De Coucy

France is steeped in history, from châteaus to world war one battlefields, there are some beautiful places to visit and whilst on holiday, we stopped at the charming Château De Coucy.

Once upon a time, this magnificent castle was the 3rd most visited monument in France, after Versailles and Mont St-Michel. At that time, a 54 meter keep stood over the landscape, this magnificent and gigantic architectural masterpiece was wiped off the face of the earth by German Soldiers toward the end of WW1.

The whole town was once within the walls of the castle and even today you have to drive through the gates to get in and out of the town.

Looking over the walls to see how far we can see, the views from up here were stunning.

The kids were absolutely historical seeing this goat looking out through the wall, there were lots of them about but this one did make us chuckle.

It is sad to see it as ruins but it is still a beautiful place and so much history to absorb, around the site, there were lots of models, pictures and information showing out how it would have looked at different points in time.

Here is the keep as it looked prior to the war and here it is after, very sad but it is a price that was paid.

The view was stunning from every angle of the castle and the brick work was beautiful.

I loved these flowers within the wall, like natures own picture frame.

Down in the caves it was very cold and you can see where they store all of the bits of castle that have yet to be displayed.

The castle was huge and it certainly gave us lots to talk about and run around and see, amazing to think about all the people that have lived and visited here.

It really was a beautiful castle and well worth the five euros entry fee!

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.

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Scooting at Lakeside

We headed out last weekend with the intention of visiting the new park at Wollaton Hall but there was an event on so instead we ended up going to Lakeside at University Park in Nottingham.

It's a favourite for us, a nice flat path to scoot on, lots of wildlife, a park and cafe too, so it's a great place to spend a few hours.

The rather friendly squirrels followed us for a few hundred yards and were kind enough to let me photograph them. There is a pretty waterfall at one end and stepping stones which me and my son stopped on to take some photographs.

You can boat on the lake too, there were lots of baby ducks to spot and the tree's were all so fabulous and green, it was nice to be out in the fresh air.

We had a great few hours before being rained on and had to run back to the car, not the best end to the trip but we live in England so it's expected right. Since I didn't get to take many pictures of the children on the park, I shall leave you with another picture of a friendly squirrel.

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A Visit to Peveril Castle

Whilst in the Peak District the other week we also visited Peveril Castle, well the ruins of the castle anyway.

High upon a hill overlooking Castleton the steep hill was well worth a climb for the stunning views that we got.

The hills also meant the children could spend some time rolling down them, we pretty much had the castle grounds to ourselves so we took the time to embrace a great childhood activity.

Climbing the very, very steep hill to the castle...

Looking out over the beautiful peak district...

Reading about the castle and the gorgeous view...

Rolling down the hill and looking out over the hills...

The beautiful castle ruins...

We had a fabulous time at the top of the hill looking out over the beautiful peak district, the colours were gorgeous and we were so high up.

We had a lovely time at Peveril, it's a wonderful view from up there and Castleton is a beautiful little village with lots of pubs, shops and cafes.

We will definitely be back to this beautiful part of the world, helpfully for a weekend.

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