Sorry I haven’t posted for so long, we have been soooooooooo busy! I am going to publish all the photos first, then I will go back and edit the post to fill in all the details…
So firstly, we went to Guildford castle, which was more interesting for the boys than I had expected… AND it only cost about £2.10 to be able to climb to the top and peer out (boys were free).

There were flowers. (This year they are celebrating the 70th anniversary of The Battle of Britain, hence the RAF circles).
There is a cage at the top, to stop people throwing themselves off in disgust at how rich everyone in Guildford is.

The castle was built by William the Conqueror, after the battle of Hastings in 1066, though the keep was build later in the 1130s.


There’s a small pond, with optional floating garbage.

On a different outing, we met up with my friends-since-childhood in Battersea Park. This was a really fantastic day. My friend Helen brought Pimms & Lemonade with loads of fruit and fresh mint, and also loads of food! (beat my marmite sandwiches anyway!)

Battersea Park has loads going on, and because it’s smaller than the big and famous London parks, everything is a short walk away, rather than a long one. There were fountains:

There was a band playing in the bandstand:
(Photo courtesy of Helen’s facebook uploads, without permission. (Shhhh!))
The boys got icecream:

They saw a BIG fish being caught:

Best of all, I got to spend time with friends that I hardly ever see, and who are essential for keeping me young, and up-to-date with all things modern. All for the price of a train ticket (kids still free).
OK, so yet another outing took us to Mizen’s Railway which is actually in Woking. Because Thomas can’t go near a railway line without saying “I _HATE_ trains!” we left him at home for this one.

Ollie, however, was in heaven. There was a lot to see, and a fire-engine to climb into, and of course, trains to ride.

A steam-powered one:

There is quite a lot of track, and they have strategically placed stuffed toys of all types around the route.

My favourite bit was the mini signal lights!

There was even a little bridge to stand on and watch trains. Ollie wanted to stay there all day.

A £3 ticket got each person 2 rides, and as it happened to be grandparent day, (or something like that) Bedstemor got a ride for free!
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Yet another outing took us to the paddling pool in Guildford. I blogged about this when we went last summer. It’s really a great place for kids, and totally free. Here’s last year’s post: Last year’s post about paddling pool

It also has one of the best playgrounds I’ve ever been to, including something where the kids can record and playback their voices, after turning a wheel 6 times to act as a dynamo to generate the electricity needed to power the electronics.

Then of course, while there is a lot of exciting places to go, it’s nice to stay home and enjoy the back garden. We have a smaller scale paddling pool, and Bedstemor and me can enjoy a GnT on the patio without having to worry about getting home!

