Castlewellan, Arboretum

Saturday and Sunday were flat out ~ Auntie Julie came home, the girls went riding, Chloe stayed at the stables to help, Cole played outside, Carys went to a birthday party, and we all went to see Toy Story 3. The action packed weekend ended with a trip to George Best to drop Auntie Julie off for her flight back to London.

On Monday we headed to Castlewellan Forest Park with Auntie Joy, Uncle Ken, Granny G and Sooty.

Uncle Ken lit the bbq, and the kids and I ran round the maze.  It was cut throat to the finish line. 

I threaten to take away Cole's ds if he doesn't look normal in the next photograph. 

Close enough.

After we were (very well) fed, we walked around the lake. 

I had a deathwish to go to the Arboretum.  Ken brought the car up to the disabled car park and granny G issued instructions that we weren't to be long in case someone attacked her. 

Somehow, beside the almost 200 year old trees, they found this baby monkey puzzle. 

We finished up with a trip into Castlewellan for ice-cream. 

Picnic

Making a cup of tea on Newcastle promenade.  This is like something from 1978.  (Though the people at the next table were real townies with a loaf of bread, a pound of butter, chips, and a bottle of coke.) 

Scrabo Tower

When I was in P2, someone came into school one day and said they'd gone to Scrabo Tower over the weekend and they got to climb up inside it and see the rooms.  I was instantly struck by the green eyed monster and I remember that I used to whine about going to Scrabo on a semi regular basis.  Then, one time we went and hiked up to it and of course it was closed.  This year, it was on The List. 
Of course, it was not a beautiful sunny day when we got there.  It was drizzly and windy.

So drizzly, that when we got out of the car, we could hardly see Strangford Lough.  Neither could we see much of the tower.  Can you find it?

How about now?

We made our way up (no photos, Carys was throwing a fit) and finally, finally, I got inside Scrabo.  Yay! 

Look, a stone staircase, all worn in the middle.  The tower was built in 1857.  There's more info on the tower and the park here.

We made it up to the top! 

I bet the views can be fantastic, but we hit it on a typical NI day. 

This one is looking towards Belfast. 

There are some good information panels in one of the rooms as you climb up, with the history of the tower, and the geography and flora and fauna of the area.  We learned a lot about the Scrabosaurus. 

Cole's face in this photo just makes me laugh.

This photo was Cole's idea and he staged it.  I was merely in charge of pressing the button.  He wanted it to look like they were standing on the edge of a cliff (they were).   The town of Newtownards is behind them.

And I know this one is out of focus, but on our way down the hill, the mist had lifted and we were able to at least see the tower from the car park. 

So, there you have it.  The realisation of my childhood dream.  LOL. 

After all that nature and history, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the play park in Bangor, and then stopped at Marks and Spencer on the way home for retail therapy. 

Streamvale

The lovely Claire and Jason offered to take the children somewhere for the day, and the children chose to go to Streamvale.  Streamvale is an open farm, near Belfast.  We go here every year and it's one of our "favourite things to do". 

One of the best things to do at the farm?  Bottle feed sheep and goats.  Contrary to appearances, Jason is not picking his nose and Claire is not cross eyed. 

Carys can feed the kid and pet it at the same time :)

Cuddle time, supervised by Jason.  Those rabbits with pink eyes look like they are possessed. 

Not sure which one is cuter.

LOL. 

Cole with a chick.  The first time we went here and he held a chick, he almost squished it.  He had a good laugh when I told him that story.

Fun times!

Tullymore

On Sunday, we trekked to Tullymore for a bbq with Neil, one of the kids' favourite cousins (I hope he read this), and Gwyneth, Larry and Ewen. When we got to the park, it was raining.  We sat in the car for a while (I read my book) and waited for the rain to stop.  It didn't.  We sat for a while longer (I started another chapter, Justin Cronin, The Passage, v good) and it still didn't stop.  We climbed out of the car, put our coats on, paused for photos, then set off in the rain.

Cole actually said he'd wear his jacket (but he wouldn't zip it up, so after 10 mins he was soaked through.  Natural consequences, kiddo!).  Carys was lucky enough (lazy enough?) to find her riding boots in the car.  Score!

I realized I could be in the photo, too.

Isn't that lovely and scenic with the yellow car and the toilet block in the background.  Why did we not stand the other way, in front of the mountains??

When we got to the river, the water was well up over the stepping stones.  Gwyneth nearly had kittens watching the kids jump over the river.  They all managed not to fall in. 

Still raining, so we set up the bbq in the only bit of shelter we could find. 

Good thing nobody's too fussy :)  Look at Neil's wee portable grill.  Ha!

Some people sat in the car and read.  And read.  And read. 

Occasionally looking out for another sausage or a jaffa cake or something.

And some people played in the rain.   (picking grass for Sammy and Elvis). 

Weekend with Auntie Julie

Auntie Julie came from London on Thursday night.  We'd spent Thursday at Lindy's, having lunch and dinner ~ and we left with 2 extra passangers, Sammy and Elvis, David and Catrina's guinea pigs.  Granny is not a fan of guinea pigs so it's a testament to how much she likes Lindy that she managed to drive the whole way home from Holywood with 2 rodents in the back of the car. 

On Friday, we went to Castlewellan forest park. 

Quick shot of the castle, in case you haven't been to Castlewellan with us before ;)

The girls found a huge mushroom and Cole thought it would be really funny to be in the background of the photo.

There was a lot of tree climbing.

Here's Cole going to "rescue" Carys.  She was shouting "he'll push me in!".   I tended to agree with her that given the chance ....

On Saturday  morning, the girls went horseriding.  Chloe wanted to stay at the stables all day, so we left her to her own devices and went to get Granny G to bring her up for lunch.  We took her down home and then ran over to Delamont with the 2 littles ones and Alex, Carys's friend. When we got there, there was a reptile exhibition on.  Carys was thrilled!

They had good fun playing in the playground and Chloe managed to stay long enough at the stables that she actually was happy when she left. That? is saying something. 

13th July

We headed over to Hillsborough for a walk. It's a pretty village with a lot of old Georgian buildings. This is an old post from a few years back, revamped to bring it up to date.


This is the main street, with a younger version of my children. 

There's a fort in the village, and also the Castle. We set off for the park where the lake is.

They fed the ducks, and the ducklings. 

We set off to walk around the lake.  I think I was wearing 2 coats and the girls are in t-shirts.  Why do these children not notice the cold??

 Here are a few more photos from the town of Hillsborough. 

This is St. Malachy's, at the bottom of the main street.
Little hall/houses off to the side

This is a gorgeous church and is considered to be one of the finest 18th Century churches in Ireland. It's built in a Gothic Revival style.