Wimpole Den Building

Today we went to Wimpole for their 50 things wild Den Building.  The girls enjoyed collecting firewood, lighting a fire, building dens and then roasting marshmallows.

We then went to the walled garden and then the farm where we ate lunch, played in the adventure playground and saw the animals. 

Blickling hall

Today we visited Blickling hall which is just over an hour and half from Cambridge.  This year it is celebrating 75 years of being in the care of the National Trust and so as we went went round the house we read the former owner Lord Lothian’s letters, saw his clothes, looked at his photos, studied his dinner party menus etc.  One of the highlights was the ladies in the kitchen cooking apple scones which we could try.  We then had a look round their gardens and enjoyed playing croquet and tree climbing.
Then we went for a walk around the estate which covers 5,000 acres including 950 acres of woodland and parkland, and 3,500 acres of farmland. There was a  Mausoleum built in 1794 in the shape of a large pyramid to house the remains of the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire and his two wives which was very strange.  We also enjoyed some ripe blackberries!  

London visit

Today we had a fab day out in glorious sunshine.  First we went to the Sky Garden which offers 360 degree views across the City of London in London’s highest public garden. I thought it was fab especially because it is free!  We wondered round for about 40 minutes (before the girls got bored) with me pointing out London landmarks and then left (there is an expensive cafe which we didn't bother with).

Then we enjoyed an amazing immersive theatre adventure inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.   We experienced Wonderland (wondering around under Waterloo) as a fully formed world where we had to find a missing Alice  through a gigantic zoetrope (the rabbit hole) to meet the White Rabbit, who offered shrinking potions, and sweets to make us change size; then into a psychedelic maze and finally, into the Mad Hatter's tea party.   The actors were fab - Tweedledum and Tweedledee recited The carpenter and the Walrus whilst blowing raspberries and spraying the audience with a plant spray; Humpty Dumpty invited us to tell him nonsense words, so he could give the meaning; the Queen of Hearts was pantomime Dame; and the white rabbit appeared at various points as we wondered round.   I could not have imagined a more fantastic adaptation of the story - i just want to go back and see the adult version. (pictures from inside the play stolen/borrowed from goggle)

 

Next we went to the Serpentine Pavilion (a temporary structure made of Iridescent plastic fabric and coloured webbing  - could we be back in Wonderland?) where we had a quick look before buying yummy ice-creams.

Lastly we spent a happy (and hot) 2 hours playing the Diana Memorial playground.  The highlight for the girls was the pirate ship and sand, where as I loved the musical instruments.

Fitzwilliam Musuem sketch books

Today we the last day of the Fitzwilliam Museum Family art week which had three days of drop-in workshops. Today we enjoyed making sketch books and filling in them with drawings inspired the collection. There were various printed sheets such as draw using these lines, fill in boxes with different patterns, or draw what you can in 10 seconds.

Bewilderwood

Today we went to Bewilderwood which is an hour and half from Cambridge.  It is one of the biggest adventure playgrounds you’ve ever seen. It’s set amongst 50 acres of woodland with a series of treehouses, slides, zipwires, mazes, wobbly bridges, cargo nets. a boat ride and lots more.  I love it because there is NO smell of greasy food frying, no noisy rides, no electronics, no litter or dirt.  It was busy which meant there was some queueing but by the last hour most people seemed to gone.

Bug hunting at Wimpole.

Today we went bug hunting at Wimpole for P's 5th birthday.  We had a fab time in their newly developed nature hub, but I do wish we had worn wellies as there were lots of nettles and thistles about.  We caught lots of different things - woodlice, ants, beetles, weevils, butterflies, caterpillars and grasshoppers etc. 

Houghton Mill

 Today we visited the watermill in Houghton. It is owned by the National Trust and on Sundays  (see NT website) is still a working mill. We enjoyed looking round the mill where there are lots of interactive exhibits which are good for kids. We enjoyed the working model of the mill, located on an upper level of the building where the girls enjoyed the opportunity to turn a crank which would spill water onto a small millwheel, as well as playing with a model working lock. There was also a place where they could turn a child-sized set of mill stones to grind some flour.  We also enjoyed watching real boats using the lock, sampling the cafe's cakes and playing in the river.