Wednesday 5 October 2016

A wet and blustery day



Last week the weather was not the best and I had planned for a day out with DD1 and the children, Our initial thoughts had been for a picnic but Thursday was a wet and blustery day. So we headed towards Kilmarnock knowing there was stuff we could do indoors there as well.

We packed up some snacks, part of which was from the Aldi Mamia's award wining 100% organic baby food range. We were sent some fruit and savoury pouches, fruit pots, rice cakes and a bottle of flavoured spring water to take with us on our day out. The pouches have easy ( for parents) twist off lids that can be refitted to save waste.





When we arrived it was dry and sunny if rather windy but we decided to brave the park and let them all run off some steam. We put jackets on the gruesome twosome, and DD1 popped Ziggy into her baby carrier, zipped her jacket up over her and we headed off. The gruesome twosome spotted the ducks in the duck pond but we said we would look at them on the way back to the mini bus. The park has two main sections, the older equipment that has been there since my children were small as well as a newer section that contains items for the children to play on and half a dozen pieces of keep fit equipment aimed at adults, a great idea that the public can use whenever they want.

typical boys - finding puddles to splash in

the gruesome twosome on the swings

Bob on a new piece of equipment

We all tried the keep fit equipment- 







But sadly within ten minutes the rain was bouncing off the grass so we headed back to the mini bus and decided to have something to eat.

the ducks were not caring



raining rather heavily

Firstly we gave Spud one of the pouches and I have to say she did not manage overly well with the it, she ended up wearing more than she ate I think. We might have had more luck had she not wanted to hold it herself. With hindsight a bowl and spoon would have made life less messy.  Thank goodness for the Aldi baby wipes!! But Minky, Dinky and even Bob like the pouches and happily had one each as well. I remember my daughter using them with the twins when they were younger as they do not require a spoon and Fifi use to feed them to the twins on the go if we were driving back from some where with no chance to stop the car.



But she did mange the rice cakes easier. These are a great snack idea, fairly easy to eat even for Spud at seven month and the twins tend to get rice cakes fairly regularly. They polished off most of the rest of the two packets we had between them. These light, tasty and healthy whole grain rice cakes with no added salt or sugar, just flavoured with fruit juice, so make a great healthy snack or as part of a balanced meal, and at only sixty nine pence a pack and are certainly a great on the go food. 




So after we had something to eat we headed to the Dick Institute. Firstly we went up the stairs and into the museum section. Here there are various exhibitions that relate to the history of the town.

With an early fire engine

a clock that measured depth

Stephenson's Rocket
with Stephenson's rocket 

we found some toys

learning counting and colours while Spud practises moving


While the older ones played Spud rolled around the floor. 



Fisher Price camera
lots of Fisher Price memories 
  We then crossed over to the side of the museum dedicated to Natural History. Lots to look at here. The glass display cabinets have information sheets that tell you what the displays in the case actually are. Bob and I were laughing at a rather large seed a Coco de Mer that has the nick name the big bum coconut because it resembles a pair of  buttocks.

Bob enjoyed finding local places on an old map of Ayrshire, he managed to find his street as it had the old church on that is opposite their house.



looking through the round window at various birds and animals 



Brian the lion
looking at Brian the lion, he has been here for over a hundred years


Minky loved Samantha 




Then we went downstairs to the library to read some books.


Dinky and her mum with a book. 

By this point they had all had enough and so we headed home.



This post is an entry for BritMums #MamiaDaysOut Linky Challenge, sponsored by Aldi Mamia


21 comments:

  1. Brilliant that you weren't put off by the rain and still had fun. I like the play areas that have something for everyone, especially the adult outside gyms.Nice to dry out again. Especially in such an interesting place.#CountryKids

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    1. the twins dont care about the rain, and Minky does not care about getting spaked - the wet and muddier the better for him

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  2. It looks like you all had a wonderful day, even if the weather was against your picnic plans! It's fab that the park's had a refit so that there's some new equipment for the kids to try out, that giant blue swing that Bob's stood on looks awesome. The museum looks like a fab place to escape the weather with lots of learning opportunities.

    Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.

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    1. A lot of our parks are being adapted to allow less able bodies people to use them, as with the swing Bob is on.

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  3. Sounds like you all had a fab day! It's a shame about the rain. We found pouches were so great for weaning and my daughter is a big fan of rice cakes too! #CountryKids

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    1. yes the pouches are a great options for the slightly older children, a brilliant on the move.

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  4. Such a shame about the weather but it looks like you still had a fabulous time. I think I had one of those Fisher Price cameras!

    #countrykids

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    1. there was quite a bit of fisher price stuff there, brilliant toys as they wound up with no need for batteries.

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  5. Museums are fascinating places to visit and explore when it rains.Although, splashing around in puddles would be fun for kids.

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    1. the boys love splashing in puddles, though Dinky preferred the library.

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  6. Such a shame about the weather, but great you still managed to get out for some fresh air for a bit. #CountryKids

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    1. the weather is not a big enough deterrent to stop us ( most of the time)

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  7. Great to hear how you got on and lovely pics! Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part

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  8. It is a shame about the rain, but that museum looks like a fun place! And I love the fact that there is a dinosaur called Samantha :-) #CountryKids

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    1. yes we took the picture because we have a friend called Samantha and the children wanted to share the dinosaur with her.

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  9. Fab day out and I'm pleased that the rain didn't spoil things. You can't beat a day at the park, or a fantastic museum. #countrykids

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    1. No we did not let it stop us, if it had not been for Spud in the baby carrier we would have carried on a bit longer

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  10. Aww looks like a lovely day inspite of the rain! What ever the weather its always nice to go out and enjoy the outdoors! #countrykids

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  11. Looks like a lovely day out even if it did rain x

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  12. Looks like a fun day for you and well done for braving the weather.
    #countrykids

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  13. I can't believe how old the twins are now, your grandchildren are so sweet!

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