For quite some time we have been wondering how we can keep up with the kids when they are ahead of us on their scooters. After a while, we finally got to the point; ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’.
In January I purchased an adult push scooter for Rob after thinking about it for around nine months, we never had the money to dive into getting them. It was Rob’s birthday so it was a perfect excuse, Decathlon is reasonable on price and the quality is great. We had bought the kid’s first scooters from there around three years ago. It was quite funny because Rob had thought I had bought him some furniture because the box was huge, he was like a kid on Christmas Day when all was revealed.
It was so popular that we decided to upgrade Riley’s and Sophie’s scooters as they have Birthdays in Jan and Feb, Robyn had her first scooter already from Christmas. It was just myself left without, but we had agreed that my Birthday present would be a scooter and there wasn’t that long to wait, Rob couldn’t wait until March and wanted to get it as soon as he could.
There we have it, a family gliding together into the distance.
The perfect place to go Geocaching on scooters with children is the old railway lines. We have been watching the new series of Walking Britains Lost Railway Lines for inspiration, starting close to home and we will strive a little further in the future. Planning on investing in camping equipment for our adventures.
We will keep you in the loop.
Enjoy this short clip of us scooting about whilst Geocaching.
When we found out there were souvenirs to be claimed on the last day of 2019 and the first day of 2020; we couldn’t avoid the urge.
Souvenirs in the Geocaching world are like digital badges on your profile and throughout your Geocaching adventures, sometimes there will be a challenge set to achieve them and sometimes it will because you found a cache in a different country.
To claim the individual souvenirs we had to find one cache on each day and I am glad to say that we DIT IT! We actually did it in 2018 as well but in 2017 we only managed to claim one as we were away.
New Year’s Eve and we managed to find a Geocache very local to us, we like to keep a few for emergency caching. Thankfully we can find micro’s nice and easy now. Our last cache of 2019 was Priory Road Cache and Dash (GC676GF).
Our caching year totals so far:
2017- 191
2018- 134
2019- 102
Despite the decline in finds we absolutely love Geocaching and 2020 we are going to aim to increase our finds. Things are a little different as we are now a family that works from home full time. We are looking forward to 2020.
2020 arrived and Rob is going to remind us all of this moment, the first find of the new year. A quick magnetic find and not that far from us, we were near Riplingham. 100 yards (GC6RKAD).
We didn’t stop there, we went on to find three more and had a lovely fresh New Years Day walk. We would have done more but it was a bitter cold despite the sun shining bright on us.
You can see they were all excited to be back out caching again but it can get competitive. Your dog will like this one (GC6RK9R).
Two new badges and an exciting caching year ahead planned.
I was gifted a night out at my friends newly opened Cocktail Bar- Bambino’s. So excited for her new venture and I’m glad to be able to celebrate and share it with you.
First of all, I have to say I don’t go out that often because of the three kids. When I say out, I mean ‘out out’. To be able to enjoy a night out and let my hair down was going to be a treat.
Bambino’s is located on Princess Avenue in Hull, East Yorkshire. It’s next to a restaurant called Luccas.
Going into the bar it has a classy feel with the stylish interior and furniture. I particularly loved the copper look woven in subtly. Cage like shelving above the bar for the glasses and cocktail making bits with the hanging lighting really gives the place an atmosphere.
There’s a flower wall and selfie board with lots of photo opportunities, what’s not to like?
The cocktail menu is in Italian, for me I am ordering blind but I don’t mind that at because I’ve always stuck with the usual favourite cocktails before heading into Bambino’s and trying something different.
We went on their Halloween night and there was a special cocktail menu just for the weekend. I had a poison apple cocktail and it was delicious, fruity with a big enough kick for me. I’m always wary about ordering from special menus but you can tell they have been carefully created.
Giant cocktails anyone?
I don’t think I’ve seen cocktails this big before!! Wow, for £21.95 they are a bargain price with plenty to share with your friends.
DJ Darren Williams was playing as it was a Friday evening, Daz is the resident DJ for Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed the music and once the night got going a little there was time for a boogie with just enough dance floor space.
I had the pleasure of meeting Tilly Sparks who is now their resident Queen for Wicked Wednesdays, there will be 241 cocktails on top of the 10% student discount as well as free entry and optional free transport from the University. I will be going along to see Tilly in action sometime in the near future.
I had a lovely night with some of my blogger friends, add in some drinks and theres a little room for selfies, boogieing and some facepaint. In the photo at the top is myself, Rachael and Kat. Below photo’s of Ed, Lizzie and I.
I would like to congratulate Zoe, Callum, Luke and all staff on providing a great night out with a cocktail menu I want to work my way through. I’ll definitely be returning and cannot wait for a Wicked Wednesday and also Lazy Sundays.
On November the 2nd I will be doing a Firewalk in aid of Abbie’s Fund. Each year around our angel babies Birthday we try to do something in his memory and even though this is a little early I felt called to taking up the firewalk in November.
My story:
When Rob and I found out we had lost our baby we were devastated. Someone connected me with Katy Cowell who runs Abbie’s Fund and she supported me personally through the whole process and right on top of Christmas. We had gone into the hospital on Christmas Day for the first part of the process. It didn’t matter to Katy, she wanted to be there for me in virtual form as she messaged me throughout the days waiting to give birth to our angel baby- Harrison James Gilmour.
We were presented with a memory box, which we still have and go through, the memory box was something to take away from such a sad time in our lives. The box gave us comfort as we left a teddy with Harrison but had one to keep, a blanket, forget me not seeds, a candle, a poem, some support information and more.
If it wasn’t for Abbie’s Fund we would have found our time a lot more difficult and not knowing what was happening when. Abbie’s Fund has provided us comfort as a family and this is imperative to those who have been given the news.
Harrison James Gilmour born on the 28th December 2014 at 1:37am weighing 250g.
I have paid for the Firewalk myself so all donations will go towards Abbie’s Fund.
We have been to paint some pottery and it’s not something I have done since I was a child myself. Our eldest (Sophie) had been as part of a party and so we decided we should take Robyn and Riley on separate dates and enjoy some time. We usually do things together as a family and sometimes we forget to have that quality time together.
We went along to Tea & Bisque-it which is in Willerby and not that far from us.
Robyn was very excited at the thought and had no trouble in picking what she wanted to paint, Ariel. I chose a tealight holder and Rob chose a small gnome. Robyn was the first to get stuck in with her painting.
We enjoyed some light lunch whilst we were there and had a pleasant time. The food was delicious and we can recommend trying their desserts, especially the bonoffee cookie chessecake.
We were worried at thinking Robyn may not understand that we have to leave her Ariel to be finished but she absolutely fine and couldn’t wait to see what it would look like.
A week later and we went to pick up our pottery, it was actually ready way before then but we didn’t have the time to collect.
Here were the results:
We were so pleased with the outcome and will certainly be going back again. We found the pottery painting relaxing and it was in a nice environment with good food and friendly staff.
A trip to Retford for some Geocaching and adventures at Sundown. We couldn’t believe it when we woke up to find it was pouring down with rain. We did check the weather at Retford and it said it was cloudy with a small chance of rain, so we braved the idea and prepared just in case.
Thank goodness it cleared up and to the point of sunny and hot by the afternoon. It was the best outcome in a way because it did put some of the public off going along to Sundown Adventureland which became our first part of the day.
Thank you to Sundown Adventureland for gifting us the tickets.
We thoroughly enjoyed the rides, we felt Robyn was a perfect starting age at three years old, she didn’t want the rides to end. Riley enjoyed the storytelling of the rides and it certainly helped his imagination and role play throughout the day.
Sophie enjoyed the play areas and making games up to involve Riley and Robyn in play. They were happily playing in these areas and we found that we could have a short break as mum and dad.
Be careful though because your children might end up wanted. There was so much for them to do, interactive games, walls, buttons, rooms, acitvities, areas. The wild west themed part of Sundown was our favourite but it was a hard pick.
To describe the park is in its title Sundown Adventureland, the three children certainly had their own adventures and came together as a trio as well. They were all tuckered out by the end of Sundown but we did have some time for Geocaching.
We were especially excited to meet Honey and Sunny themselves at the summertime fun activities, the children enjoyed a boogie with them and joined in the conga line. Robyn didn’t want Honey and Sunny to go, this made her day even more special.
We think our video speaks for itself, you can also watch us Geocaching in action. Have you found the church micro in Bole?
Jen says “What a fantastic day out for young families, it has everything you could want. Make sure you explore the whole park though as there is plenty to discover”
Rob says “Fabulous family entertainment. A fair entry price and we look forward to seeing what the Christmas season is like at Sundown”
Sophie says “I think that you should go to Sundown because you get to have lots of fun with your family and make memories like I did”
Riley says “I liked Sundown because the rides are very cool and the water ride was the best”
Robyn says “Can we go again?”
Further information about the Summertime Fun…
“Summertime Fun” activities will run between 12pm and 6pm on the picnic field until Sunday 1 September.
Every day from 12pm, the park will be hosting children’s party games such as school disco classic ‘four corners’ and the limbo, giving every child the chance to win their very own bear. Visitors can meet Honey, Sunny, Kiki and Koko and pose for photos from 2pm, before they get the party started with conga lines, agadoo and the macarena on the picnic field until 6pm.
The park’s usual attractions, shops and restaurants will all be open until 6pm including a four-storey indoor play area Crash Landings, liquorice and sweet-smelling fairy-tale Lollipoppet Castle complete with its very own sleeping dragon, the Wild Ostrich Safari Ride which takes you through the African Savannah on the back of an ostrich, yodelling goats and talking potatoes at Sundown Market, and many more interactive rides and play areas.
A couple of month’s ago we had a local adventure in discovering the Fish Trail in Hull City Centre. I had completed this as a child but despite living back here for over five years, I hadn’t taken my three children to discover the 41 different spots.
Our adventure was a part of The Hull Hub Issue 7 which is currently available to pick up at different locations in and around the city. You can also read online.
The other week we received an email providing us some statistics on the caches we have hidden.
I have to admit I was impressed with the total amount of times our caches have been found. We love reading the logs and finding out what others think of our hides.
If you haven’t found any of our cache’s yet here is a list of them available in East Yorkshire. We have plans for more and we hope to build a trail in the future.
Travel Bug B&B is our most favourited cache, we did love placing this one out there to be found. All of them are child friendly, Carlton Micro and Amy Johnson are micro caches but the rest are big enough for some swag.
Today we let the kids rule the day, that’s right! Yesterday Sophie and Riley received their school reports and because they were excellent we decided to let them take over what we do for the day.
We had four categories with three choices in each and they had to choose which one they wanted to do.
Outing
Strawberry picking
Ellerker Village summer fayre including duck race
Geocaching
The kids unanimously chose Strawberry picking, it’s something we haven’t done as a family before so we were all excited and drove out to Eastfield Farm Strawberries.
What a fantastic time we had and yes they had to have their own punnet each, we will be eating strawberries all week. It is well worth the visit, the staff were friendly and the cheesecake was delicious (mummy and daddy needed encouragement since the kids were in charge for the day).
Lunch
Picnic
McDonalds
Trinity Market
The kids chose McDonalds and they ate the lot, although this wasn’t the easiest out of the three choices they didn’t mind the little wait in the car on the way back from Hollym.
Activity
Biking
Scootering
Park (with hope the splash section is running)
The kids chose the park but it wasn’t warm enough for the splash section to run so we went from West Park in Hull to the Peter Pan Park for a change. They loved every moment and especially because they were in charge.
Pudding
Popcorn
Pick n Mix
Magnum Ice Cream
The kids chose the Pick n Mix and this was the last part of the kids rule the day although they did come home and choose a movie as well as tea (they still had some room from the strawberries).
All in all the day was a success and we will be doing this again next year (if not before) for the weekend of the kids getting their report.
Sophie says “I think we should do it again and other parents should try it with their children”
Riley says “It was a good idea I have been waiting all week so we can rule the day”
