ThinkTank

Woooof, it's been a busy day.  We went to the amazing ThinkTank, Birmingham's science museum.  Our friend has membership and could get us in for free.  I felt it would be rude not to go!

Our journey was very smooth- no snarl ups on the M40, so it was an hour and 40 minutes each way.  Rob sweetly let the kids use his Nexus for the day, so they had that to play with in the car.

We arrived pretty much the same time as our friends, which was serendipitous.  Once inside there was so much to see and do.  We started with a mechanical digger, and a recycling exhibit.

Next we headed to the water area, with lots of different ways to move water and boats.  They all loved this, and we came back to it a couple of time over the day.

We played in the 'town' area, with a doctors surgery, cafe and petrol pump.  Then we went into the 'body' area.  It was amazing!  You could follow the transit of food along the digestive tract ( a big hit with my poo-loving kids), play with balls to show how the kidneys clean your blood, see a model heart beat at the same rate as your own (Betsy was grossed out by this), and much more.  Totally fascinating and very hands on.

We saw car-building robots in action, messed about with a heat sensing camera and checked out some trains, planes and automobiles.  We saw that crude oil makes so much of what we use every day. 

We finished off with the science garden.  There were air pressure rockets, pulleys that lift you up, a canal boat and lock system, all sorts.

An excellent day.  I'm exhausted!

Winter Wonderland

We visited the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park yesterday.  We set off on the first leg of our journey, to mum's local station. It was a beautiful morning.  It was bright and sunny, and there had been a sprinkling of snow in the night.

Mum met us off the train, and we got the tube to Green Park.  It was one of the new Metropolitan Line trains, where the carriages are open all the way down.  Much niced to travel in than normal tubes.

It was a bit of a walk from the station, and it was freezing.  The kids aren't that keen on walking.  They cheered up when we arrived though.

There was a lot to see and do.  I spent more than I planned buying tickets for the rides, and the rides cost more tickets than I had hoped.  For example, the kids wanted to go on the helter skelter.  Of course, I say.  3 tickets each, i.e £3 each.  How many slides can they have, I ask the man running the helter skelter.  One, he says.  My jaw drops.  One?  Yes, he says.  One.  Oh. £6 for approximately one minute.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.  Mum bought some tickets too!
They went on a reindeer kids roller coaster, in a fun house (4 tickets each, ouch), on a huge inflatable slide, and on my favourite ride: a swing chair carousel.  I love that ride, and went on with them.  Betsy loved it too, and cried when it was over.
Poor Betsy really suffered in the cold.  I hadn't really acknowledged how cold she gets.  She was in tights and leggings and extra socks, two tops and a coat, and was freezing.  She *desperately* needed the loo 3 times, simply because of the cold.  I've now ordered her some merino base layer leggings and long sleeved vests, and wool socks to wear with her wellies.  I'd hate for her to feel so cold and miserable again.

I'd also booked tickets to see the Magical Ice Kingdom, which is lots of ice sculptures.  The sculptures were beautiful.  Betsy loved this, despite the cold.  Freddie did not, as there was a soundtrack and it was loud.  If I'd realised I would have brought the ear defenders.  So very frustrating.  

We headed off, with three tired and chilly children, looking forward to getting home.  We got out of London ok, but then there was a problem further down the line and our train (and all the other trains) terminated early.  Disaster!  We were one stop away from mum's station, so we took our chances in the queue for a taxi with all the commuters.  The taxi company were amazing,and rustled up an 8 seater to fit the kids in.  We took refuge at mum's, who luckily had food in the the kids like, and my step dad drove us home once he got back from work.  It had been a loonnnnnng day!
Despite the problems (the cold, the noise, the trains) Freddie and Betsy said they'd had a good time.  Thank goodness!

Talons and beaks and feathers

We went to the Birds of Prey Centre in Bedfordshire today.  My mum got bargain tickets on groupon for her, Chris and Freddie to do a half day hawk experience.  Me and the girls went along to watch.  We had to fit Meg's GP appointment in first, so we were in a bit of a hurry.  It poured down on the way there, plus we got lost, so we were a little late.  Unfortunately Freddie missed out on flying the small birds - he had a go with one but it didn't really land on him.

The rain had stopped by now so we went back outside for the next few birds.  Freddie loved watching them, and didn't mind that he couldn't handle these ones (you have to be 14+ to fly the big ones).

After a cup of tea, the group had a chance to handle an eagle.  Freddie held a beautiful Chilean Blue eagle.  He so so enjoyed it.  I loved watching him with this amazing bird.

He chatted to the handler for ages, talking about the shape of the beak, how they hunt, the Deadly 60 programmes.  Betsy, Meg and I went for a walk as they were getting restless, but mum told me afterwards that Freddie asked lots of interesting questions.
Betsy really enjoyed walking around looking at the birds, especially the different types of owls.  She was also interested by the many mole hills dotted around the place.

Mum and Chris treated us to lunch afterwards, and got the kids some toys from the gift shop. It was a real treat!
It's Betsy's birthday tomorrow.  The bunting is up.  The balloons would be too, but one burst as I was blowing it up.  Bloody hell it hurt my eye!  The quilt is wrapped.  I'm very happy with it and took a quick photo after I finished it the other day.....

A London expedition

A replica of an ancient Phoenician ship is in St Katherine's Dock in London at the moment.  I hadn't heard of the Phoenicians before, despite studying ancient history at university.  We took a trip to London to visit it.  It's quite a large undertaking, me with the three kids.  Freddie and Meg especially get restless quite quickly on the train.  I brought a picnic, some colouring, a Skylanders book and our story cubes to help pass the time.  

We got to Tower Hill tube and walked to St Katherine's Dock.  Along the way, we passed an enormous suit of armour.

Amongst the amazing, expensive beautiful boats, we caught our first glimpse of the Phoenicia.

The kids also spotted the royal barge.  Betsy was very impressed that it was covered in gold.

The ship is moored outside Starbucks, so I got myself a hot chocolate and the kids a giant chocolate coin to have while we waited for our friends.  

Aboard, the guide told us about the ship's travels (ably assisted by one of our friends).  It had taken the modern Phoenicia 2 years and 2 months to sail around Africa.

We looked around the ship.  The kids had a go at moving the tiller and adjusting the sail.

This is the loo - a wooden box with a hole at the bottom, attached to the side of the ship.  I love this!

I chatted to Laurence, the captain of the ship.  He's hoping to sail to the Americas in 2014.  He said that he's been trying to get school trips to come and visit the ship, but as the Phoenician civilisation isn't in the National Curriculum only one school has visited in the whole month.  What a wasted opportunity.
We headed off shortly after, I didn't want to travel at rush hour (tired commuters and noisy children are not a good mix!).
On the way back to Tower Hill tube we wandered past big guns, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London.  We saw some very cool sculptures of lions made from what looked like chicken wire.  As we walked past Traitors Gate I told the kids about Anne Boleyn, and others who entered the tower destined to be beheaded.  Gruesome!  We saw the Shard for the first time, it's beautiful.

I was totally exhausted when we got home, but it was worth it.