Friday 4 September 2015

A brilliant day out in Falkirk

Our school holidays are coming to a close, are over as it has taken me weeks to get this post written, Fifi goes went back on Wednesday, but earlier in the holidays my daughter had decided to take the four children to The Kelpies in Falkirk.  So rather than have her try and manage the gruesome twosome by herself as they are at an age it cannot be done I volunteered to go with them.

It took use just over an hour to get there with the twins sleeping most of the way. We decided to eat in the car before we let them loose. At this point my ex husband (M) and his other half (Y) had come to join us.

We were quite lucky they had a barge in the lock system when we got there so we watched the lock fill and the boat rise, then Bob and a few other boys helped to open the lock gates to allow the barge through to moor.








So with this excitement over we headed towards the Kelpies themselves. I got slightly delayed when they all walked away as there was a kestrel hovering I tried to get a picture off but did not manage.




So we wandered around them, the children were not overly impressed and the twins were wanting out of the pram so we headed away to the play area.





They were having fun going over each of these bars, though I had to yell to Fifi not to do the one Bob is on as they were getting lower and her head did bot miss the ground by much on the one she is on, had visions of a visit to A&E.



 Bob spotted this trench that ran for quite away along the grass and decded to run up one side and back down the other zig zagging his way along - so Fifi decided to do it as well. This led to an argument as it was Bob's idea and she wasn't to do it, so being the loving siblings she is she carried on and he decided to go into a strop.



So we carried on and by this the sun had gone a wind had sprung up and it started to rain.
This is like something out of The Wizard of Oz as these wooden walkways go over the marsh land to create pathways.  Here M is looking for Bob who is still in a strop and behind us.



So we got to the play park and let them all loose.

they played on the swing

even my daughter had fun

Minky got on and got off and flitted from thing to thing

they had fun with the bark

Y spent time chasing across the park as well

how cute is she?



they had fun with the peep hole



Fifi was spinning upside down




Minky and I went over to see the swans

Bob pushed them on the swing


So the wind and rain picked up and we headed back to the car to have some lunch and then we headed for The Falkirk Wheel.


Not quite sure what these statues are all about but there were plenty of them.


So when we arrived daughter took the older children into the toilet and M and I put waterproof suits and reigns onto the gruesome twosome ready for them to have fun. I tried to get a photo of the four of them in font of the mini kelpie but this was the best I got.


These little figures stand at the base of the mini kelpies and the twins tried to pick them up. 



I managed to get the good deal here I think, I got Dinky and she spends more  time calm and doing less active things then Minky does. Poor M was quite worn out by the end of the afternoon, I think we tend to forget we our getting old. 



The was a new water play area opened here earlier in the year. So the older two decided they wanted to play here. Now they had on jackets because it was cold, but they ended up bare foot, jumper and jacket less, soaked to the skin and in the end frozen, but they had a ball. This bike tells you women in Africa cycle like this to pump water to the surface for their every day use, beats walking miles with a bucket on your head.



This was a great park, cooperation needed to move the water up and down, filling locks and moving boats up. Fifi was pumping the water up and it was spraying up under the foot of the boy in the back of the picture.


Various ideas were used here, both of them had a go on the Archimedes screw.



As you can see the layers of clothes are coming off and they both had bare feet. 



Bob helps the water over the end, sending it down to Fifi who is operating the locks. 




Minky was kept a tight hold of on his reigns so as not to end up in the pools of water, next year probably. 



Fifi opens one of the lock gates, which Bob helped to fill up from further up the line.



Dinky spent ages peeking through here and hiding again.




Granddad M still has a good grip of Minky, he was rather soggy by the end of the day regardless.


and again, he was having a lot of fun


There was a sandpit at the top of the water area, and M and I and the twins went up the for a while, think Minky stayed for less than two minutes.







I got the easier job and Dinky and I were up here for over half an hour, she is a lot more laid back than her brother and quite happy to sit.



She was fascinated by the texture of the sand and really enjoyed her time up here. 

By now the bigger two are soaked to the skin. There are boats you can hire on this pond, they were just shutting when we got there, and these water cannons are used to soak the people in the boats. 


Bob was having lots of fun putting his hand in front and getting himself soaking.


Then they decided that they would go and play in the paddling pool as well. By this time they were cold and the babies were getting fed up, so I went to the car and brought their change of clothes over for them. They had both remembered clothes but not a towel. 




While they were getting changed we hung around outside and let the twins wander about. 



Minky was fascinated with the plants and was "sniffing" them - by blowing as they do at that age. It was quite funny.


So we left Granddad M and Y, headed back to the car and off home.

Was a great day out and apart from petrol money nothing else was spent.



Linking up with Magic Moments which you can find over on The Madhouse Family blog which you can find here













as well as
Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall 

14 comments:

  1. That water park looks amazing, would love to see the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel too one day.

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    1. they had a lot of fun and I would recommend it

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  2. I would love to visit the Kelpies one day. There looksike so much to do there #CountryKids

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    1. there is a huge amount to do there for all age groups.

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  3. What a wonderful visit, I love how much there is to do there and Bob and Fi Fi looked like they worked really well together after their earlier tiff. Even the rain didn't deter their enjoyment, the twins looked more than eager to join in, thank goodness for reigns! Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids

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    1. Yes they can get on remarkably well at times, like all siblings they can fight as well. The reigns are a godsend I have to admit

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  4. Looks like a really fun day out! I think we'll need to take a trip to see the Kelpies.

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    1. yes they are only about 70 mins away from here and dead easy to get to.

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  5. Lovely photos and looks like everyone had fun! I visited and did a tour of Scotland in 2012 and remember being mesmerised by the Falkirk Wheel. Didn't see the Kelpies :( but perhaps they wasn't there then, not sure? Lovely post #MagicMoments

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    1. The opened Apri 2014 so no would not have been there when you were here. The Falkirk Wheel is very clever

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  6. Lovely photos, we live just up the road and visit the Kelpies and the Falkirk wheel regularly. They are great places to tire out the kids. Love the differences between the twins! :) x

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    1. we are spoilt here in Scotland with parks and open spaces.

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  7. This looks fantastic, I would love to visit Scotland

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    1. Scotland is a beautiful country, lots of parkland, beaches, and greenery thanks to the rain we get.

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