Dalby Forest on the mountain bikes

The original plan was to head up to Hamsterley Forest today with Lee and Ed. Thankfully Ed checkout out the website a few days ago and figured that various bits of the trail were closed off. Upon diagnosis, it seems that quit a lot of the trail was closed so we decided upon a last minute diversion to Dalby Forest and my was it the RIGHT decision.

We arrived shortly after 9am and got out soon after – we chose to start in the Low Dalby car park and hence we would have the worst climb FIRST – another great decision πŸ™‚ Just under 3 hours and around 30km later we got back to the car park exhausted but having given it our all. I think it fair to say that we had forgotten how much fun this place was – although Simon just recalls being the most tired EVER – but then the last time was almost 30degrees Celcius so that will have no doubt had a major part to plan in the exhaustion πŸ™‚

Next time we will need to do the full 40km (all the red sections and the black) although clearly we will need to be super fit to do this πŸ™‚

Simon got back, washed the bikes and sorted the CCTV so that all cameras are now ON and adjusted for optimum coverage :-). Just got to figure out how to control and configure stuff remotely if at all possible as then could hide the box away and not think about it again…

Flamingo Land day trip

We set off bright and early to meet Paula, Rich and Cayton at Flamingo Land near Malton for 10am. We were a little early but the sun was shining and the rain stayed away. The zoo and a few of the kids rides were open along with the pub (lunch sorted) and the mega play areas πŸ™‚

The kids all had a great time out in the sunshine and we learned just how many rides that the place has – certainly a summer return may well be necessary to test out all the goodness that was not open today πŸ™‚

A great day – thanks to Paula, Rich and Cayton for joining us – we had a great time.

Home » Flamingo Land day trip » Home » Flamingo Land Feb 2014
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A great day out to Sundown Adventureland with the Drewetts

After our Sunday swimming lesson we got in the car and head out to Sundown Adventureland for a day out with Jessica Drewett and Lee and Caroline. Β It s in Retford so take s little over an hour to get there but what fun is pretty much always had at this place. Β It has been around a year since our last visit (also with the same folks πŸ™‚ ) and the park has had a nice re-paint between our trips.

We have been REALLY lucky in that there was sunshine for most of the day and the really cold air stayed away so we were able to ride on all the outdoor things as well as get time to play in both the indoor play areas (we had at least an hour in them). Β The park was not too busy so we luckily found ourselves waiting no more than 2 to three minutes for a ride on any of the things we were wanting to go on – always a WIN πŸ™‚

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These two clearly having a little fun on the mine train ride πŸ™‚

Will pop more photos from the day into the online gallery soon.

We have three youngsters who are likely to sleep VERY well tonight πŸ™‚

UPDATE: Photos now in the gallery:

Home » A great day out to Sundown Adventureland with the Drewetts » Home » Sundown Adventureland - Feb 2014
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Great day out at Llandegla with the Mountain Bikes

Daddy set off early this morning to meet Uncle Tim, Lee, Ed and Euan for some fun in North Wales on the mountain bikes.

Thankfully the weather stayed good considering the time of year and the boys were all exhausted when they finished. Poor Ed suffered a poor start with a requirement for a 15 minute wait / stop after 20 minutes – in fairness it was the first 3 miles of climb and perhaps we were all eager to get going πŸ™ Once we got over this we cracked on with the fun that is available at the trail centre πŸ™‚

We actually did all of the black runs today so totalled 22km and all had a great time. It is such a shame it takes 2 1/2 hours to get there πŸ™

Great day with a great bunch of guys πŸ™‚

Oh, and to top it all, the cafe had the Yeti burgers back on the menu – apparently by popular demand πŸ™‚ Chicken burger cooked with a nice hot piri piri sauce and server with a nice garlic coleslaw and chips πŸ™‚ awesome

Wet and Cold on New Years Day :-)

We head out early this morning for a family walk with the Drewett’s at the Rother Valley Country Park. Β The roads were really nicely empty but there was a little drizzle in the air. Β We thought nothing of it as it would surely clear up nicely in time for our walk – PLUS we were heading South so it was bound to be better South right?

We got out of the car at 10:30 and popped on our rain coats and wellies – the walk was approximately 5k and at about 2k Lee mentioned that it could be worse, the rain could be harder and the win built up – so guess what….. Β that’s right about 4 minutes later BOTH of the aforementioned conditions occurred πŸ™

By the time we got to marker 4k, we were soaked and very cold – the kids did do well all things considered to make it all the way around without having significant meltdowns πŸ™‚

We had taken a picnic although we all agreed to go get a hot chocolate / tea / coffee to warm through first πŸ™‚

Following a change of clothes (thankfully Daddy had popped the big bag containing a change of clothes for the kids) and the warm drink warm up, we enjoyed our picnic in the car πŸ™‚ The picnic facilities were open air of course and so were somewhat unsuitable for our use today πŸ™‚

Finally we head homeward via Lee and Caroline’s for a brew or two – the kids played on the Wii with Jessica.

Finally, tonight is about our TAX returns – Vicky owes a small fortune and SImon managed to get a Β£3.50 refund – yay – enough for a bottle and a half of San Francisco’s finest Anchor Steam beer πŸ™‚

And relax…… Β work tomorrow….