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By Little Mummy, July 21, 2010 1:12 pm

We’re three weeks into the Summer holidays now and I don’t think we’ve had a full sunny day yet. No panic though we’ve had a lot of fun already, one of my favourite days out has also been one of the simplest (and cheapest!)…

First off we headed for the tiny train station in our village, Erin had never been on a train and was beyond excited. She asked loads of questions about the level crossing, the train timetable, and how to embark/disembark the train. Usually her incessant questions can become tiresome but it was refreshing to teach her about something new and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On the train she kneeled up and watched the sheep, ponies and hills roll by occasionally exclaiming ‘yeehaa’ much to the amusement of our fellow passengers. We arrived in Edinburgh a mere 26 minutes after we left and trotted off to the Cath Kidston shop via the bagpiper who was giving it his all outside Waverly Station. Erin of course insisted on covering her ears as we passed and I was glad that none of the male members of the family were there to admonish and then lecture her on the virtues of our national instrument, in her defense the level of playing was around the Grade 2 mark

Onto George Street and we managed to take shelter in the Cath Kidston shop just as a mini monsoon got underway. It was lovely to browse, that is until (and I quote) Erin said “Am I going to spend the rest of my life in here” in earshot of one of the staff. We moved on quickly to McDonalds for a bite to eat and as it was busy we shared a communal dining table with a group of chinese students. Obviously on form and keen to show off her cultural knowledge (they’ve been covering various cultures at nursery), Erin quickly announced that there were two chinese boys and two chinese girls. I nodded and tried to strike up a conversation about Shrek. Unpeturbed she continued, “Oh, look another chinese boy, that’s three now”, me “oh, yes so it is…so how are your chicken nuggets?”, she ignored me and in an ‘Erin whisper’ which is equivalent to a normal speaking voice she said “Mummy, do you think their fed up of eating chinese food and that’s why they’re at McDonalds?”. A fair question but fearing that this conversation was going nowhere I wanted to go we left to catch the number 41 her Daddy was driving, and who’d made the unmissable offer of a free bus ride to the university and back.

Erin shrieked as we got on the bus and saw Daddy driving! We bagged ourselves the upstairs front seat and sat munching parma violets (did I forget to mention that we made a pit stop at ‘I love Candy’?). Erin got the chance to ‘drive’ the bus and even accepted a fare.

A fabulous day which we both thoroughly enjoyed, here’s to many more before school starts

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By Little Mummy, March 29, 2010 2:42 am

Get yourself comfortable this may be a long one with lots of photos!

I’ve had a lovely day today out with the family. I’ve been meaning to visit St Andrews since forever and today we finally got round to doing it. We drove up early this morning and got to St Andrews at about half ten. We parked up and walked to the shoreline where we saw the famous golf course.

We crossed right across the golf course (there’s a public footpath, just mind the golf balls!) and Daisy took Erin for a walk on the beach.

Daisy’s four months now and getting big, she’s a good dog though, well trained and she’s fitted right in.

We saw swans…

and the bluest sky I’ve seen since I was is Santorini.

We walked up to St Andrews high street and found the best sweet shop ever…

it was floor to ceiling and wall to wall covered in sweets of all shapes and sizes, with an old fashioned penny mixture.

Erin was in her element picking sweets for her basket.

We headed back to the car and took the scenic road via Craill, the views were stunning and Alex managed to slow down enough for me to catch this out of the car window, not bad for an iPhone.

Craill village was lovely, just the sort of place I could imagine living when I’m older. We headed on and into Anstruther, which was also surprisingly picturesque.

We ate Fish ‘n’ Chips from the best ‘chippy’ in Scotland. It was amazing, the batter was so crispy. They make everything fresh, there’s nothing under the heat lamps at all.

And after our slap up dinner Erin played on the beach (notice Scottish ‘Spring’ attire) and I sat in the sunshine (there was some if you sat in the right place) thinking what a wonderful day it had been

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By Little Mummy, April 17, 2009 11:56 am

The shock of the trip has settled a little, I can believe it’s happening now. The excitement is still coming in waves, but I’m a worrier so those waves are interspersed with worries, like missing my daughter and husband, I realise this sounds a bit wet but I’ll be away for a week when you include the travelling and I know it’s going to be really HARD. On a less dramatic level there are a number of smaller worries, how much money to take?, what clothes to take, purchasing new clothes, organising childcare or specifically who’ll be dropping who off and when…you know all the little bits. Then there’s the silly worries, my thighs looking big in my cozzy and what if nobody likes me, silly I know, there are seven people going at least one will like me

The plans for the trip have shifted up a gear too, we have an itenerary, which will be followed by a more detailed itenerary shortly (the itenerary looks amazing). The flights are booked and I know that I’m flying to Gatwick a week on Monday, I’ll be catching my zzzz’s at the Gatwick Hilton before flying out to Orlando on Tuesday morning.

With so much going on I figured the best thing to do today was eradicate the smaller worries (no, I haven’t had liposuction on my thighs) I headed for the shops, I’ve managed to get everything I need plus I’ve borrowed some stuff, so I’m more relaxed now. I already have dollars in the house as, by some strange coincidence, we are off on a family holiday to Orlando in June! So my plan is to ‘borrow’ (steal) some of my money for that trip in the hopes of replacing it at a later date.

I’ve begun to prepare Erin for my trip, she’s three and only been away from me for 36 hours before, so it’s a pretty big deal. I’ve basically said that Mickey Mouse has been on the phone and needs to see me before we go on holiday. Mickey needs to find out what things Erin likes and he wants to show me stuff that Erin would like. Oh, and he also has a special gift for Erin that I need to collect

I thought it was pretty ingenious, she nodded and agreed and got excited about the gift but I’m not really sure that it sunk in, I guess the reality won’t kick in until I go. I just keep telling myself that she isn’t going to an orphanage for a week, far from it, she has two days with each of the grannies and three days with Dad, and I know she’ll get spoiled, but she’s still my baby, but at least she’s getting to go in 8 weeks, and it’ll be good for her (to be away from me)….won’t it?

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By Little Mummy, November 29, 2008 6:23 am

I was born, and spent my early childhood in Swansea (South Wales). On a recent visit I visited two places I’ve never been before.

Swansea, Mumbles and the Gower is enjoying huge amounts of regeneration at the moment, the old Morfa Stadiwm (where I use to train) has been replaced by the shiny Liberty Stadium, home to the Ospreys and The Swans. SA1 is a swanky new dockside development akin to our own Leith area in Edinburgh, and the leisure centre which was closed because of asbetos has been replaced by LC2.

The shape and structure of LC2 is much the same as before with, almost complete glass at the pool end displaying the huge flumes and enticing everyone in. Here’s a video of of the building of LC2.

The LC2 has plenty of facilities including an indoor surfing ride, a climbing wall and kids play area. We visited the pool, which was a lot of fun, our favourites were the rubber ring flume and the dark flume which is very slim and pitch black!

Our second never-before-visited-place was the Gower Heritage Centre, it reminded me a lot of East Links which we visited this time last year, and thoroughly enjoyed. Our entrance was free as we went with family who had an annual family pass which was shockingly good value at £25! The centre includes local heritage attractions including a world war exhibit, woolen mill and traditional cider making. There was a picnic area, cafe, toy tractors to play on, an excellent play park, animals (including ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs) as well as a free puppet show. For a small fee there are various craft workshops as well as pottery (which we enjoyed, only £2.50). The heritage centre has a really authentic and friendly feel to it, a real asset to the area. We’ll definitely go back.

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By Little Mummy, November 15, 2008 7:31 am

We’re fortunate to have family that own a caravan near Pitlochry. Tummel Valley is a beautiful place to visit..if you don’t mind rain, it does rain a lot, but the scenery is stunning and more than makes up for the poor weather. So, what is there to do in Pilochry for toddlers?

The Queens View

Stop at The Queen’s View for breathtaking views, homemade cakes and teas and a quaint gift shop in which to spend some pocket money.

Children’s Amusements

The Children’s Amusements are just off the main high street, parking is available close by. There is an outdoor rides based park with the usual merry go rounds. Inside there are some two pence machines and a few old one arm bandits.

The Salmon Ladder

This was a bit under-whelming on the day we visited as we seemed to be out of season. On the right day though this would be a great spectacle for toddlers, the fish (apparently) jump high into the air and during migration around 5000 salmon use the ladder.

Victoria’s

We headed to this place for lunch and found it to be very child friendly. The coronation sandwich was really tasty and the children’s chicken goujons were homemade. Will definitely go back.

The Park

There is a huge park just off the main street which has a children’s play area and a very large football field, great for a kickabout.

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By Little Mummy, October 5, 2008 5:57 am

The title of this post should have read Loudon Castle. Let me start at the beginning…

Once upon a time there was a sunny day, in Scotland this is a rare occurrence. Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear decided it would be nice to take advantage of the fine weather and jumped in the car and headed for Loudon Castle for a day of fun and frolics. Baby Bear was potty training and it wasn’t long before the call of nature, well, called. It called a lot during the (supposedly) one hour journey, in fact it was nearly into double figures! Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear remained patient and tried to support Baby bear as much as possible, unfortunately the road they were driving on (the A71) was also causing delays. There were a lot of temporary traffic lights, which made Daddy Bear angry. Eventually Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear got wise to the double stopping and combined toilet breaks with temporary traffic lights, much to the amusement of two old ladies at the bus stop. Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear were a little embarassed but decided that all Mummy Bears and Daddy Bears must allow Baby bears to relieve themselves at the side of the road when they are potty training (?).

The journey stretched on for almost two hours, and so did the toilet breaks and temporary traffic lights…

[much later]

Finally Mummy Bear spotted the sign (Daddy bear wears glasses and didn’t see the sign, it’s just as well Mummy bear was there!). Mummy Bear was worried when she read the sign ‘Open Every Weekend in September’, and was on the verge of saying some very naughty words when Daddy Bear pulled up outside the CLOSED gates and began to laugh hysterically, Mummy Bear didn’t think this was very funny at all…

[5 minutes later]

Mummy bear and Daddy bear decided to try and save the day and took a 45 minute detour and headed for Glasgow Science Centre, home of Nina and the Neurons. Mummy bear was happy that the entry fee was less than 16 gold pieces (please don’t turn up with gold pieces, this is for the benefit of the story, the actual price is £7.95 per adult, kids under three are free, thank you)for the whole family. By this time (12.30pm!! we left the house at 10am!!)Mummy bear was very hungry so they all headed for the cafe. Mummy bear, expecting to be ripped off, rummaged around for more gold coins…Daddy bear ordered the lunch. Daddy bear chose baked potato with meatballs, Mummy bear had baked potato and chicken curry, and Baby bear had a packed lunch. Mummy bear was astonished to find that the lunch only cost 11 gold pieces, this made Mummy bear very very happy.

After lunch they all went to explore the Science Centre, Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear enjoyed the experiments and exhibits and said they would like to return one day, when Baby Bear was a bit older (and not potty training, so that then they might actually spend longer than two and a half minutes away from the toilets).

Mummy Bear and Baby Bear fell asleep in the car on the way home. It had been a very very long day. Daddy Bear took them both home and they all lived happilyish ever after.

The End

Photo by flickr user raymccrae

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By Little Mummy, October 2, 2008 8:53 am

I recently suggested a budget conscious day out in the centre of Edinburgh, today I have another value combo once again right in the centre of Edinburgh (around two minutes walk from the Royal Mile).
The National Museum of Scotland is on Chambers Street, unfortunately we visited with only an hour or so to spare. Even so we visited the bottom floor which houses interactive displays such as a reaction board thingy, em, you know, you hit the buttons as they light up and see how slow/fast your reactions are. Other highlights included a full size F1 car which simulated a race and Dolly the Sheep (stuffed and encased). Other floors travel through time with various Scottish artefacts, we definitely need to make a return visit to explore the rest of the floors.

We found the National Museum child friendly but not particularly pram friendly, leave the pram if possible. There is a cafe and gift shop. Admission to the museum is FREE.

Cross the road and you’ll find Vittoria’s, a smart affordable italian restaurant with a good reputation. The decor was really stylish, airy and child friendly (crayons and paper provided!) we all felt immediately relaxed. The lunch menu offers pasta dishes at £5.50 and other options range from £5-£7. We enjoyed spaghetti carbonara and burger & chips, both very tasty but the highlight was the £2.95 portion of garlic bread, unlike the usual 2/3 piece portion you usually receive we were wide eyed as a basket of what looked like a loaf’s worth arrived, a nice touch which costs the restaurant very little but left us with a generous impression. As an extra special treat we enjoyed some real italian ice-cream and coffee. The green apple sorbet and pistachio ice cream are worth a try, perhaps not together though!

Photo by flickr user hapticflapjack

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By Little Mummy, September 27, 2008 1:11 am

Visiting Edinburgh with a preschooler? The Museum of Childhood is a FREE (please consider making a small donation if possible) attraction on Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile, easy to overlook it’s placed about half way down. Spread over several floors the glass cases house antique toys, teddies and dolls. There are toys that young children will enjoy playing with including a dolls house and homemade fishing game along with several interactive exhibits. There is a small gift shop at the entrance/exit.

Enjoy a couple of hours here before heading to Monster Mash (5 minutes walk) for old-fashioned meals in an authentic setting. Served on your granny’s old dinner plates the speciality is sausages, mash and gravy served in several different flavours. Also on the menu, various pies, fish and haggis. Most main courses come in at under £6.

For a budget conscious day out in the heart of Edinburgh this combo is difficult to beat!

Photo by flickr user notcub

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By Little Mummy, September 1, 2008 1:21 am

We took Erin to Dynamic Earth a couple of weeks ago.  Dynamic Earth is an education based attraction in the heart of Edinburgh, close to the Parliament building and Holyrood Palace.

Price

£9.50 for adults, £5.95 for children and free for under three’s.  Clearly I was pleased with not having to pay for Erin although I felt £9.50 was a little steep.  However, if you make a donation (about £1) you get a voucher back to use in the cafe worth a few pounds.  I think an entry fee of £7-£7.50 would be a fairer price.

What’s involved

You ‘travel’ through a time machine, and discover what the world was like 15,000 million years ago! You ‘move’ through time, experiencing an earthquake, ‘flying’ over ice-capped mountains and feeling a real iceberg.  There are plenty of interactive features throughout which Erin really enjoyed.  Towards the end you move through a rainforest before entering the futuredome, which reminded me a lot of the atttractions in Orlando, Florida.

Facilities

As you’d expect Dynamic Earth is fully set up for babies and children of all ages.  The cafe was a bit of an unexpected surprise, we only had a few slush puppies, however I did take it upon myself to check out the food which looked very good – curry, chilli, baked potatoes etc, main courses seemed to be quite good value with everything I saw under £6.

Overall

A nice afternoon out but entry was a bit expensive.

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By Little Mummy, March 30, 2008 10:06 am

We’ve been busy enjoying a nine day break from work. We’ve been out on a few days out, a weekend to a caravan near pitlochry and I’ve had some mixed results on the poker table (more on that later).

Last week we decided to head to the Time Capsule in Coatbridge. I’d been there a few times when I was younger and remembered it being a lot of fun. Erin has only recently begun showing an interest in ‘splashies’ aka swimming, so we thought it would be a good idea to go and check it out.

The prices were really reasonable, under £5 for us all to swim (I really mean bob and splash), and an extra £1.80 for soft play. Unfortunately the flumes were closed which was a little disappointing, although Erin proved herself to be a daredevil on the rather large (and steep) children’s slide, or perhaps is was an over protective parents view that the slide was “large” and “steep”.

It was a cheap day out, after stopping for lunch the whole day cost under £20.