#SilentSunday: 3rd June 2012

Jubilee Fun: Sizergh Castle

We kicked off our Jubilee weekend proper with a family trip to Sizergh Castle. I had bought in plenty of picnic supplies so I flung a lunch together and we jumped in the car. Only the gardens were open as it was a Saturday but there were plenty of activities with a Jubilee theme to do:


Jousting


The children had a hobby horse jousting session trying to catch the hoop on their lances:

Royalty


Her Majesty was there to greet all the visitors wanting to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee:

Owls


A local Owl group was there with a variety of owls including this 9 week old Eagle Owl:

Jubilee School Walk

A slightly more unusual way to celebrate the Jubilee today, my children's entire school plus staff, plenty of parents and some younger siblings headed out on a 3 mile hike.


The school has around 150 children and they have a family system where each child is assigned to a school family which has children from all school years in it. If a sibling starts at the school they join the same group. For this hike the children were arranged into these families so that each group of around 12 had one member of staff and 1 or more parent helper.


After our safety briefing we set off on the walk in a very long crocodile through the lanes around the village. We had a teacher in a car in front as an outrider to slow down oncoming cars plus signs in the road to warn drivers. It was quite an impressive sight when you could see us all spaced out along the lane:

About half way round teachers dispensed water and biscuits to restore energy and then we descended back down the hill to the village. It was great to see how the older children in each family helped to stop the younger ones (aged 4 and up) from flagging.


All the parents that went on the walk were really glad they had gone. It was such a lovely experience. Here is hoping that they do it again! For more photographs please check out my Smilebox:

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Reasons to be cheerful XXXXIII ( #R2BC )

The weather may have taken a turn for the worse but I'm still smiling and here's why:

1) winning things!

Recently I have won tickets to the Blackpool attractions and a second set of Legoland Discovery tickets! Lots of family fun to look forward to :-)

2) Country Fest

We spent a big chunk of the weekend at Country Fest. It may have been a little too hot for my liking but we had a marvellous time:

3) Jubilee

My family are really getting into the spirit of the celebrations now. Today the school had a whole day of fun activities (somewhat curtailed by the first rain for 2 weeks!). It ended with a school fair where we had a chance to purchase some of the cake competition winners:

4) Holidays

I finished work today so I can go on the children's school hike tomorrow and then look forward to half term with my children and my parents :-)

 

Wednesday book review: Out of Time - Gill Jepson

This is Gill's debut novel and it's based around her love of her local area and especially Furness abbey. It may be a book aimed at teens but it had me hooked! I love the fact that it's based in the nearby Furness peninsula.

The book combines a mystery and time travel as Rebecca and her friends race against evil forces to find the hidden treasure. The action takes place in Tudor times, the 1930s and modern day. It includes ghosts and monsters too.

If you love Cumbria and enjoy a historical mystery with a bit of fantasy then I recommend this book. The sequel is due out soon so I will add that to my reading list...

I really need to drive along and visit the abbey this holiday and put the places in the book into context.