It’s been another busy week for us all!
Sally and Kate are both of on their UK bound holidays – we’ll let you know what they got up to next week!
Evie and her family have had a fab week. When the weather wasn’t great they stayed in and Eddie knocked up a few masterpieces. A great activity for a rainy day is to get your art and crafts on! From painting, to the dreaded play doh – it can keep kids quiet for AGES!
All in the name of work – a tough job, but someone’s got to do it – Evie took her family along to Portofino restaurant this week to give it the good old Mumbler Review treatment. Portofino is a gorgeous family run Italian restaurant on Albert Street. To find out exactly what she thought, read our latest review here. Portofino are taking part in the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme so why not book a table and give them a try!
On one of the sunnier days the whole family took a trip to Fraisthorpe beach. The whole family includes their beloved dog, Bear. The beach was lovely – proper golden sand which was great for sandcastles! The tide came in rather close, but when it’s out there is loads of beach. It took about 1.5 hours to get there from Harrogate. Parking is £3. The access is right by a farm, there is also The Cow Shed Tea Shop doing take away drinks and snacks. There are toilets at tea shop and also Portaloos on the beach. The beach is huge so very easy to socially distance!
They also took a trip to the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington. I told you they’d had a busy week! It’s all mainly outside so really good for social distancing. You pre-book your tickets online. There is a one way system in the hangers so you shouldn’t be bumping into people. There are screens in the shop and you have to wear a mask when you go in. Lots of hand santiser and plenty of places to eat your picnics. The cafe was closed but there is take away coffee and ice cream available to buy! Your ticket is then valid for 12 months! Local Mum Jen also took a trip here this week and her little boy absolutely loved it! She said it was a fabulous place and all the COVID measures were in place – it was so easy to socially distance! The planes on display are in super condition and have lots of information on each of them and how the RAF base was used during WW2. It’s also doggie friendly!
We’ve had a busy week in our household too! We took a trip to Stockeld Park. This is my first ever visit here and I think I might have been more excited than my 3 year old! It did not disappoint one bit! It was brilliant! You are required to book your tickets online and book an allotted time slot to enter. It mean’t no queuing at all for us – and this was on one of the hottest days of the years! The shops and restaurants are closed – but the there are still plenty of take away places still open to buy food and drink from, and of course you can bring a picnic. There are plenty of places to sit and eat your picnic, with plenty of socially distanced tables – in the shade or out in the glorious sunshine! The play areas are brilliant and all still open – go carts, slides, bouncing pillow to name a few. They restrict the number of people on them at one time and they regularly close them all to give them a deep clean. They’re not all closed at the same time, so if the play park is being cleaned, there is plenty of other activities to keep the kids amused. Toilets are excellent too – regularly cleaned and manned to make sure entry is limited.
The Enchanted Forest is all shaded which means it’s great for any kind of weather. They’ve set up plenty of cleaning stations – places to wash your hand as well as hand sanitiser dispensers. Some of the smaller attractions they only allow one family on at a time, with lots of signs everywhere to remind you to keep your distance! With plenty of space and so much to do, we never felt anywhere was overly busy. A really brilliant day out. My top tip – advised by my sister in law whose a regular here – is to take enough food to have lunch and tea there! We arrived at 11.30am and didn’t leave till nearly 6pm! Thoroughly recommend here for a great family day out. The measures they have taken to keep us safe are first class! My little girl already wants to go back, and so do I!
We also took a trip to the new kid on the block when it comes to cool eateries – Gron. Gron is a great brunch spot, with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options run by Matt Healy (former Masterchef Professional finalist). Its taken over the Cold Bath Clubhouse on Kings Road. I can confirm it does the BEST coffee. They’re also taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme so definitely worth a visit this August!
We also took at advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme and enjoyed a fabulous meal at our all time favourite spot – Farmhouse! It was lovely to be back here! The food was brilliant, the service excellent. There are less tables to help with socially distancing, hand sanitisers dotted about the place, menus all disposable and all staff are wearing face masks. They still have the kids menu – which have some colouring in to do on the back. But you need to take your own colouring pencils! We thought this might be the case – so took a quick trip to the pound shop round the corner first!
Finally, me and my side kick went camping for two nights at the wonderful Kettlewell Campsite. We’ve got a whole blog on Camping in Yorkshire if you’re interested! This was a Mum trip taken with some local Mums and their little ones. Its a great way for more than one family to spend time together whilst still maintaining a safe social distance! The campsite make sure all tents are pitched away from each other, their toilets and communal areas are regularly cleaned, they ask people not to queue for the shower – just to come back later! This was such a brilliant mini break. Don’t get me wrong, its hard work, especially being outnumbered by little ones! But it was totally worth it – even the torrential rain on the first night didn’t dampen our spirits! Having time with great friends and playing outside was fantastic. If you’re thinking of doing something similar I really recommend it. Remember it’ll be tough, there will be little sleep, lots of junk food and plenty of tantrums, but in the midst of that they’ll be moments when you look about at a group of kids living their best lives and it’ll all be worth it!
Hope you all have a fab week, whatever you get up to – can you believe we’re into week 4 already!?
