The stuck-at-home Mum

Slightly geeky history day.
The whole property is a big site and we started at the mill. We were expecting a museum with maybe a few dressed up, life sized models. Instead we walked down some steps into a complete, working cotton mill and the girls were totally awe-struck. The machinery was huge and the noise deafening. We went down to the mule moving back and forwards, the giant waterwheel and the various different engines bubbling and whirring. The guides were great at explaining the engineering and brought it all to life.
There was lots more to see, including a whole workers' village, for another day.

There was a massive cafe, indoor picnic area, and a small outside cafe. Also, family toilets with one for the little one!

Top marks to the RHS again for some great (and free) family craft activities: ribbon wishes, lantern making (which even the little one managed) and ink blowing.
The blow painting was so simple we'll definitely try it at home. Just a drop of ink on parchment paper with a straw, and the results were so effective.

The woodland play was great, with a mud kitchen that the little one loved and a secret doorway that apparently I wasn't allowed through. The gardens were also beautiful, and I think would be stunning in summer.

And most importantly, I think their cafes do the best cake offering. Pricey, but actually worth it.

Heading off on a road trip, solo, seemed like no big deal until I was reminded that some two year olds don't do a bloody thing you tell them to, and shriek randomly as you drive along the motorway. And I have one of those two year olds.
I'd decided not to stop at a service station, but instead take a detour to blow off some steam at an outdoor play area (Calke Explore National Trust ). It had seemed like a good idea which I then regretted the instant I realised this involved spending more time in the car with a two year old.🤦🏼

But.... when we got there it was worth it. There was a woodland play area with tunnels and hollowed out logs to crawl through, and lots of other log constructions to climb up, over and under. Definitely a much better leg stretch than a service station.
There were picnic benches, several undercover, and toilets.
The food cabin only opens at weekends which was a shame because I was in need of a cup of tea.
There was also really good value bike hire which we would do another time to explore the family friendly trails. There were deer, sheep, cows and longhorns in the grounds, as well as a massive stately home which we have left for another day.
Definitely better than a service station, and I did get a bit more quiet on the second leg.

Day two: Battle Abbey and Hastings

I had to really wrack my brain to remember the history leading up to the Battle of Hastings but it was interesting learning about it again and trying to put it into perspective for Niamh. The exhibition was really good with lots of interactives. It turns out we weren't supposed to be touching the weapons but we couldn't keep the little one away from the chain mail.

We didn't do the full battlefield walk to see the carvings which was a shame, but you definitely have to pick your battles. The girls were very happy exploring the abbey, climbing up spiral staircases and in cellars, and Orla decorated the point where Harold Godwinson was killed with sprinklings of gravel 🙈.
The play area was really great, not your average slide and climbing frame. It turns out all you need to wear them out is a child sized hamster wheel!

Mini-adventure to Kent part one: Ightham Mote and Whitstable

We loved Ightham Mote. A really unusual house, the room guides were great with the girls, and the natural play area with mini-waterfall was brilliant.

We went on to Whitstable for a wander around. The fishing views and pebbled beach would make for a lovely day's painting, but I'm not sure it appealed so much to the kids. There were families crabbing, but the height of the drop down the harbour wall didn't pass my risk assessment with an uncontrollable 2 year old! So we had fish and chips for dinner and let them potter on the beach for a bit, throwing stones. Occasionally at each other.

An RHS garden wouldn't have been my first thought for somewhere child friendly, but Hyde Hall have worked really hard on their children's activities. There was an Alice in Wonderland trail and really good arts and crafts activities.
The girls loved exploring the trails through all of the different areas and we got to see what our vegetables are supposed to be looking like.
We were booked in for family garden yoga, but rain stopped play at that point, so I was allowed a sit down with some tea and cake 😊. RHS - Royal Horticultural Society

Castle play in a real castle.
Who knew that giving a two year old a wooden sword wasn't a good idea?! My knee found out the hard way.
We were there for more than two hours playing and exploring; best of all, completely free.
English Heritage

The beach is probably the only place where my two can occupy themselves totally by themselves.

So the only thing that could top the beach is not having to drive for 2 hours. The new park on Hartham Common in Hertford is my new favourite place. It was a year late in opening, then closed for maintenance on my first attempted trip, but it was worth the wait.

We've been twice now so each of the girls could try it out, and it's a hit with them both. They were so delighted and engrossed with the sand, river, dinosaur dig and dry river bed that we haven't even made it to the pirate ship.

Tip: bring spare clothes, towels and buckets and spades!

In true Covid style, our group outing got hit by the dreaded burst bubble. Two families down, and in need of some shade after the heatwave, we opted for something less intrepid and closer to home than originally planned, but the kids loved our impromptu bear hunt/gruffalo trail in the woods.

We picniced in a clearing, balanced across bridges, clambered on log pile houses, threw stones in a swamp, ripped the bum off of half of their shorts sliding down a hill and paddled in a stream. For me, damming streams is what summer is all about.
A great woodland option!

Too late!
Mr Williamson said: "I do not think it is acceptable that children should face greater restrictions over and above those of wider society."
Can this man hear what he is saying?!
He put the restrictions in place!
Ask any teacher and they will tell you this system has been chaos for weeks now. It is not unusual to hear of students who have done 5, maybe even 6 or 7, periods of isolation. All because they are in the same bubble. I'm fairly certain that quite often they don't even like the person who has tested positive.
We've had to teach a constantly changing list of students and they are all now genuinely scared about being plucked from the middle of lessons. And it's not about missing lessons anymore; we are effectively imprisoning children for having done nothing wrong.
This system should have been reviewed as a priority months ago, but once again, all the focus has been on 'more important things', ie, football crowds.
And what has it been replaced with? Basically nothing. Even if my daughter went on a school trip to the moon I wouldn't hear about it until a week later. I think if I get a call from the NHS tracing team, I might just wish them luck and hand the phone over.

Covid bubbles to be axed in England's schools Restrictions in England's schools are axed, as 641,000 pupils miss school due to Covid regulations.

Really nice to get back to a museum again, but our 'day out' stamina is really lacking. It makes me amazed at how much we used to cram in - too much!
The little one still has no idea how to behave indoors and thinks nothing of running up and down screeching at eardrum pain volumes. The rest of the normal public are going to have to be more patient with toddlers than usual while they figure out this going out thing.
The museum was great, loads to see, touch and climb on (as you can see from the photos), but it was so quiet. Hardly anyone there in fact, so definitely a good bet for a day out.

Another day and another big hill. I do think I should probably analyse this desire to walk up any hill I come across, but so far no one has refused to come up with me, so we'll just keep climbing.
Today's was Cley Hill, after stopping en route at King Alfred's tower .
It got pretty steep in places; Niamh slipped quite a way at one point and has grazed elbows and knees to show for it. I was very proud of her because she got back up and got on with it, but said later that she thought she might cry.
We found a less dangerous way up, and the view was amazing.
Niamh then made up for her bravery by trying to draw on her sister's face with a rock of chalk; she got told off, had a crying tantrum and in the hoo-hah my phone got left on the beacon.
Thankfully a lovely family rescued it (along with my credit card 🙈) and I've just got back from an hour round trip to collect it.