Posts tagged north east

Mummy, Mum, Mammy, Mam

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Family Life, Zara

I have a dilemma and I need some advice. I’m not a snob and I love living in the North East but recently I’ve been having a battle on my hands

You see up here, they don’t say Mummy or Mum, they say Mammy or Mam. In my heart I’m Zara’s Mummy and that is how I want to be known and what I want her to call me and most of the time she does at the moment.

I’m finding it increasingly difficult though as Zara goes to nursery 5 days a week and all the carers are from the North East and so tend to call us Mammies when talking to the kids about us. When they make cards for us, it is always “To Mammy” written inside it and all the other children call their mothers Mammy.

I feel like I’m being a complete snob by asking nursery to refer to me as Mummy and write that in any cards but I feel like I have to because I don’t want to be Zara’s Mammy

I’m also worried that by teaching Zara to call me Mummy I’m going to alienate her from her friends as she grows up as they will think her “posh” and she won’t fit in.

Also surely when it comes to learning to write etc they should be taught to write Mummy rather than Mammy as that is the correct way?

What should I do? Should I maintain my position and insist on being Mummy or should I just accept that Zara is growing up in the North East and so let her address me as all her friends address their mothers?

Durham Lumiere

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Parenting

Where else could you find a statue of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry on his horse turned into a giant snowglobe? Well Durham Lumiere of course! Between 17-20th November 2011, Durham turned into a magical place when Lumiere arrived for the second time since it first began in 2009. It is a biennial event and I’m already looking forward to it returning in 2013. We missed it in 2009 as I was 41 weeks pregnant with Zara so this year I was determined to go, despite the cold and damp weather and having a 9 month old and 23 month old with us!

Now I’d love to fill this post with loads of beautiful photos that I took but to be honest it was really misty and so although we saw lots of the installations, my photos are all full of “orbs” from the mist (well either that or the spirits of hundreds of ghosts were showing themselves )

In total there were 35 installations this year, we didn’t get to see them all but we managed to see most of the ones I really wanted to. A couple were rather disappointing and some where amazing. The crowds were insane and although they advise you to leave buggys at home, with 2 under 2 we didn’t really have an option to and so we braved the crowds with the Twin Techno. The lights come on at 6pm and so headed into town at 5:30pm after dressing the terrors in warm clothes and ensuring they had full stomachs. With their usual bedtime being at 7pm we knew we were risking it but it was an opportunity not to be missed!

Wrapped up warm on a chilly night

I shall start with my favourite installation which was Les Voyageurs, as we walked around South Bailey you couldn’t help but notice the glowing figures soaring overhead or sitting on the rooves or in gardens. There was something really magical about it, almost Peter Pan like. Zara loved them.

Moving on from South Bailey, we came to Rainbow Bridge, which to be honest looked nothing like the website led us to believe it would and was hugely disappointing. It did however look better from down the river which I think was helped by the mist. I didn’t even bother getting the camera out for this installation.

The Cathedral looked amazing with The Crown of Light projected onto it, definitely one of the highlights. It was absolutely stunning. My camera let me down here but I’ve found a video clip on you tube which will give you an idea of how amazing it was:

by rather poor comparison my photo looked like this

Some people apparently thought the giant snowglobe was a monstrosity, I however loved it. Anyone in Durham is familiar with the man on a horse statue that stands proudly in Market Square (he’s the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry apparently!) but to see him encased in a giant snowglobe was just as surreal as it gets! You can’t help but stand and stare.

As we were fast approaching meltdown from a cold and tired Zara we didn’t get to visit too many of the installations and I’m sad that I missed some of the ones I really wanted to see but next time round we will have a 4yo and a 2yo so navigating the crowds and the cold will hopefully be a whole lot easier

Unfortunately by the time you read this, Lumiere will be over for 2011 and you will have to wait until 2013 for it to return but if you do come to visit, here are a few tips!

1) Plan ahead to decide which installations you want to see. The website has details and maps so you can research before you arrive in Durham

2) Parking is crazy so leave plenty of time and pack some patience

3) Wrap up warm, VERY warm!

4) Expect to queue for food, expect crowds, lots of crowds.

5) If possible leave the pushchairs at home, it is bloody hard work getting them through the crowds but if you have to take one you will manage

Days out Durham lights lumiere north east

Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Family Life, Oscar, Zara

The Brown’s were recently invited to vist Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens and with Zara being obsessed with all things aminal (her version) at the moment, we were of course delighted to pop along for a visit

Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens is a new attraction which has opened at Kirkley Hall, just outside Ponteland in Northumberland. It’s about a 40 minute drive from Durham. Now when it says “Zoo” in the title don’t go expecting Lions, Elephants and Giraffes as it’s not that kind of “Zoo”. It does however have over 100 species of animal including emus, wallabies, marmosets, pygmy goats, donkeys, meerkats, snakes and many more.

As we arrived around lunchtime, we started our visit by going to the Orangery Tea Rooms to fill up the tiny terrors before we went to see the animals. Zara and Oscar shared a childrens lunch between them whilst Alex and I had some baked potatoes which were truely delicious. There was only one small issue in that the tea rooms only had 2 high chairs available for use when we visited. As one was already being used it meant that I spent the first half of my lunch balancing Oscar on my knee until the second high chair became available. I must apologise to them for the state of the floor when we left but eating one handed whilst holding onto a 9 month old who is eating his lunch as well tends to result in a lot of dropped food

Double trouble enjoying lunch

Once we were all fed we set off to see some aminals with an excited Zara leading the way. At places like this it’s impossible to get her to sit in the pushchair as she just wants to rush around seeing everything. Zara loved seeing the Pygmy goats and the marmosets and as we followed the path around the site we came to the petting barn. In here we saw rabbits, guinea pigs, a pony, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters but the highlight was letting Zara and Oscar meet a rather large friendly rabbit

Oscar meets bunny

Zara was a little unsure of holding bunny herself

After persuading Zara to say goodbye to bunny we were just in time to watch the keepers feeding the Meerkats. Zara was a little confused by the name Meerkat and kept shouting Miaow at them bless her but I think she could have stood and watched them running around all day.

Meerkat

We also loved seeing the “little monkeys” (marmosets) and the “lizards” (chameleons and iguanas) as Zara calls them

"little monkey"

Lizard

There were so many animals it is hard to mention them all but we had a lovely time at Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens and would definitely pay to go back there. An adult ticket is £5, children 3-17 are £3.50 and aged 2 and under are free. You can also buy family tickets for £15 which admit 2 adults and 3 children. We will definitely be going back again We are tempted to pop up for the Kirkley Hall Christmas Fair on Sunday 20th November. Entry is only £7 a car and includes entry to the Zoological Gardens as well as the traditional christmas fair. (See their website for details of other events coming soon).

Days out kirkley hall north east zoological gardens

Beamish – The Living Museum of the North

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Family Life, Oscar, Parenting, Zara

A couple of weeks ago the Brown’s were invited for a day out at Beamish Museum. My husband and I have been to Beamish before but pre-children and so we were excited to be going back and this time taking the kids with us

Beamish is an open air museum where you travel back in time to see life in the North East in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian times. Standing in 300 acres of beautiful County Durham countryside, within the site you will find Pockerley Old Hall, The Town, Rowley Station, The Fairground, Home Farm and The Pit Village.

Bearing in mind that Beamish is an open air museum and it was the end of October when we visited, we wrapped up warm against the cold and packed raincovers, umbrellas etc as we wanted to be prepared. We did feel we might be risking it taking two tiny terrors out on a potentially cold and wet day but luckily the weather held out and was actually really pleasant.

We started our visit by catching the tram to Home Farm. Or rather Zara and I caught the tram whilst Daddy walked down there with Oscar in the pushchair. As you’d expect with vintage trams, they aren’t exactly designed for pushchairs, and whilst you can fold them up and take them on with you, folding up a double buggy laden with bags and carrying two children was just a little too hard work. We were warned that this would be the case before we went to Beamish and so it didn’t worry us at all. We just took it in turns to ride the trams with Zara and one of us would walk with Oscar. Although the site is spread out, it is still perfectly possible to walk around it without using the transport.

At Home Farm we had a wander around the farm house but Zara was more interested in seeing the aminals (as she calls them). On previous visits we have seen chickens, lambs, calves, piglets etc at the farm but of course with us visiting in October the amount of animals around were less than usual though we did get to see some chickens, cows, ducks, geese and pigs.

After exploring Home Farm, we had a leisurely walk up into the Town. As Oscar was getting hungry by this point we decided to take shelter in the bus shelter and give him a bottle whilst we had cups of tea from the conveniently located beverage stand. The bus shelter is also where the baby changing facilities are located which was also convenient (although a little chilly!). Whilst Oscar and I were doing bottles we thought it was a good opportunity for Daddy to take Zara on a tram ride around the site. It takes about 20 minutes to go all the way around the site on a tram and so off they went on the top deck of an open air tram and left us to finish the bottle in peace.

If you look closely you can see Zara and Daddy re-enacting Titanic

The Town represents a typical North Eastern market town in the years leading up to the First World War. It has various buildings from a Masonic Hall and Bank to a Dentist, Pub (that sells real beer!) and a Grocery Store. Our favourite is of course the sweet shop where at certain times of the day you can go behind the scenes and watch them making sweets Also in the Town are the Tearooms where we popped for some lunch. Now as vegetarians we found the choice a little limiting but we enjoyed some nice sandwiches, crisps and a cup of tea before heading off down to the fairground to have a ride on the steam carousel. I fondly remember the steam carousel’s from my childhood and being dragged to steam fairs as a child by my parents so it was lovely to be able to take Zara on it. She loves horsies and so was very excited It cost £1.50 for a ride but it’s one of those things that you just have to do!

Mummy and Zara on the horsies

After managing to drag Zara away from the horsies we walked down to the Pit Village to go and see the Old School House. The Pit Village has lots to see, miners cottages, an old chapel and a recent addition is a traditional fish and chip shop. Now this smelt fantastic but it was disappointing that the chips are all fried in traditional beef dripping which meant as vegetarians it was off limits to us. We’d have loved to have some chips but I guess if they are being traditional then beef dripping it is

I think the School was Zara’s favourite place to visit with the old classrooms and slates to write on. It took us a while to persuade her to put down the slate and continue exploring with us.

This Ipad isn't working Daddy!

In the School playground we had a chance to show Zara the kind of things Mummy and Daddy had to play with when we were children (cough cough) and had lots of fun running around with metal hoops and stick things. I can’t for the life of me remember what they were called and we were absolutely useless at it but we certainly had lots of fun trying

Playing with hoops

By this time, Zara was getting tired as we had been at Beamish for 3 hours and so we decided to call it a day before we had a meltdown situation. Zara opted for the easy option of getting back to the car…

Too tired to walk herself

We had a fantastic day out at Beamish but it feels like we barely scratched the surface. It really does take at least a whole day to get around and with 2 tiny terrors our time was limited. If you are planning on going with small children make sure you plan ahead so you can visit the places you like the look of most and then you won’t be disappointed if you don’t make it around every part of the museum. If you live nearby like we do then I highly recommend buying the Beamish Unlimited tickets which cost £16 and allow an adult 12 months unlimited visits. Children under 5 are free and and at present winter weekday tickets are £8 for an adult.

Tips:
1) Don’t expect to be able to see everything in one day if you have small children with you.
2) Pushchairs won’t go everywhere in Beamish as some displays are authentic and so aren’t designed for pushchair access.
3) Have some extra cash on you for the fairground
4) Wrap up warm – it is an outdoor museum and so if the weather is cold then you will feel it!
5) Plan your visit so you know where you want to go, this way you can make the most of it.

Beamish Days out north east

Blue Reef Aquarium, Tynemouth

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Family Life, Parenting, Zara

We first visited Blue Reef Aquarium at Tynemouth back in 2010 when Zara was around 6 months old and we’ve been back a couple of times since. It’s one of those places where the older your children get the more they get out of it but even at 6 months Zara still enjoyed her visit.

Right practical things first, there are good baby changing facilities in the entrance area along with a cafe with plenty of high chairs. We took the Phil and Teds explorer with us on our last visit and found it easy to move it around. Access is good and I can’t see us having any problems when we go back with the double buggy. Parking is probably the trickiest part, we park on the promenade and it can be difficult finding a space at times but we usually manage to get one on our first drive past.

On our first visit we decided to use the baby carrier to take Zara around so she could get a better view of everything.

Letting daddy do the hard work

A baby carrier definitely helps the younger babies to appreciate the fish more

Zara really loved the Monkeys in the Amazon area (ok and so did I)

As a baby, Zara loved the underwater tunnel

Our next visit was when Zara was around 15 months old, and Oscar 5 weeks old so we took the Phil and Teds with us. Zara got a lot more out of the experience this time although Oscar just slept the entire time as 5 week old babies tend to

Zara absolutely adored the otters and could have spent all day watching them

There really were Otters who obligingly put on a great display for us

Zara was also fascinated with watching the seals this time round

She would have sat here all day spotting seals

I can see seals Daddy

There is also a small outside play area near the seal enclosure which allowed Zara to test out her newly found walking skills

Walking the plank with Daddy

Now I have to admit this isn’t the cheapest day out at £8.30 per adult (children under 3 free) but it is one of those places which we will no doubt return to as there is so much to see and do. Definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area

Blue reef aquarium Days out north east Tynemouth

South Shields and The Seaside

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Family Life, Parenting

We are very lucky living up here in Durham to have the coast just a short drive away from our house. It takes us about 40 minutes to get to South Shields and it is one of our favourite days out when it’s a sunny day. Zara is obsessed with the seaside and will say to us over and over again “seaside seaside”.

There are a few things we love about the coast at South Shields:

1) Parking, if you get there in the morning there are always plenty of parking spaces available and at about £3 for a days parking right next to the beach I think it’s very reasonable

2) The Beach. There is a beautiful beach at South Shields, the sand is lovely, it is right next to the car park, the sea is clean and it provides hours of entertainment for Zara who is obsessed with sand and water

Zara's first time seeing the sea

It got me!

Sand and water = hours of entertainment

3) South Marine Park. Just across the road from the Ocean Beach funfair is South Marine Park. This is a beautiful place to enjoy a picnic lunch or as in our case a chip butty from the Fish and Chips stall across the road (we are veggie remember!). The park has a lovely play area which can get busy but we usually manage to get a swing and play on the digging machines in the sand pit.

Swinging in South Marine Park

There is plenty of grass and open spaces to run around in and burn off some energy. A boating lake with pedalos on it! (Admittedly we haven’t tried these out yet as with 2 small children and a pushchair it is pretty impossible, especially with Zara’s obsession with wanting to be in the water ). There is even a minature steam train which runs around the park and costs £1 a go. Zara absolutely loves going on this (she travels free with an adult) and so we usually end up going on it about 4 times each visit lol.

4) Ocean Beach Funfair, this is a lovely little funfair just across the road from the park and a fab place to take Zara on some rides. It costs about £1.50 a ride (Parents travel free with children) and we are discovering more and more rides that Zara is happy to go on with each visit. Some require one of us to go with her (yeah yeah I know any excuse ) and others she will happily go on alone.

I'm a big girl and can do this one by myself

But I need you to come on this one with me Daddy!

I'm very brave and will do this one alone

but Mummy insists on riding on the horsies with me

Daddy can’t wait until she is big enough to go on the ghost train with him as I refuse to lol. As with all funfairs there are the usual array of fast food stalls, arcades, candy floss and even a mini roller coaster so I imagine we will be frequent visitors here as the children get older.

As far as cheap days out go, this is one of our favourites for sure! Plenty to do, not too expensive and a lovely relaxed seaside atmosphere. South Shields Seaside gets 10/10 from us

Days out north east Seaside south shields

Durham Botanic Gardens

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Family Life, Parenting

On days when we don’t fancy venturing far from home, we occasionally pop along to Durham Botanic Gardens for a visit.

Situated not too far outside of Durham, the gardens are part of the University and cover 10 hectares. Now I’m one for gardening as a rule and all the different plants are a little mind boggling but as somewhere to go for a walk and take in a bit of wildlife, we find the gardens a great place to visit.

Now with a double buggy and 2 young children in tow, accessibility is always something we consider. There are baby changing facilities in the disabled toilet in the main entrance. We managed to fit the double buggy through all the doors we came across and around most of the site without much difficulty. There are some areas where the buggy won’t go such as in the cactus area of the greenhouse and the steps near the winter garden, but the map provided on arrival, clearly shows where steps, steep slopes and disabled access routes are.

We first visited the Botanic Gardens in June 2010 when Zara was around 7 months old and used our Snugbaby sling to carry her around most of the site.

Zara aged 7 months exploring the Cactus House with Daddy

Piggy back with Mummy!

It’s strange looking back at photos from that visit and comparing them to this time…

Back then Zara was obsessed with the giant water lilies and the water!

and some things never change...

Zara loves the rainforest area in the greenhouses, you can press a button to get rain which always pleases her

Wow it's raining!

And although we started off exploring the site with them both in the double buggy, Zara soon decided she wanted to walk instead.

Checking out the Millenium Bugs

Checking out the scary giant rhubarb thingys with Daddy

And of course, more water to investigate

No visit to the Botanic Gardens is complete without a quick visit to the bird hide to check out the birdies. I say quick because a) we like to check there are no other people in there that Zara might disturb with her excitement and b) we don’t like to disturb the birds and rabbits etc for too long.

oooh there is a bunny over there mummy!

After working up an appetite we stopped for lunch at the visitor centre. They have a limited range of food available but sandwiches and cakes are always available and very tasty along with a nice big mug of tea

We love the Botanic Gardens and think they are definitely worth at least one visit. We will no doubt be heading back in the autumn when all the leaves are changing colour as it will be gorgeously pretty then

botanic gardens Days out Durham north east

Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands

14 years ago

by dawniebrown in Days Out, Family Life, Parenting

The Washington Wetlands Centre is a place we only discovered recently and visited for the first time in August 2011.

Situated on the banks of the River Wear just outside Washington, the Wetlands Centre is basically a large parkland full of different water habitats and lots of birds. (OK so I’m not a bird expert but I thought Zara would love to see them ).

First things first, the centre was easy to find, had plenty of parking. Another essential for us, is that there is enough space to take a double buggy everywhere. We managed to fit through every door we found and the paths around the park were all a good surface and wide enough for the buggy. There were also good clean baby changing facilities and toilets in the visitor centre at the entrance.

On arrival we were given a map of the centre and the staff kindly pointed out areas of interest for us. Our first stop on our route around the park was the close encounters area, an area where you can get up close to some beautiful birds and even hand feed them (bags of corn are available at the visitor centre for 80p). Zara absolutely loved this and I think she could have spent all day looking at the birds, although she was also very keen to jump in the water and join them! We kept a close eye on her and made sure she left the water for the ducks to enjoy instead

Zara was tempted to follow them all back into the pond!

So many pretty birds!

As we continued our way around the path, we came across flamingos which were stunning. It was a shame that they were all standing at the far side of the pond but Zara was happy to have a nature lesson from Daddy and view them from a distance. Along the path were various other ponds containing other rare and endangered species. They were gorgeous and I’m sure Zara would have stood throwing them corn all day. When I say throwing I mean as in toddler, complete lack of aim throwing and so it was hardly surprising her coat was full of corn she had thrown over herself by the end of the trip

There really are some flamingos over there honest!

Daddy never takes his teacher hat off!

We then moved onto the Otter enclosure, where we spent about 15 minutes looking for Rod and Musa the resident Otters, unfortunately for us we missed the feeding times (11am and 3pm) and despite all our searching we couldn’t find them so they must have been hiding (It was a shame as Zara loved the Otters at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth).

We then continued on around the path, past the Japanese Cranes which were huge and a little bit scary. We then headed down to the nursery and although it is a little late in the season there were still plenty of little chicks to be seen

At this point we continued back to the visitor centre as Oscar was getting hungry and we decided it was a good time to have lunch etc. The food was very tasty and they even had a range of toys to play with so that when Zara had finished eating she still sat happily playing at the table whilst I fed Oscar and we finished our lunch.

After a double nappy change we then set off to the play area to let Zara enjoy some fun in the Splash Zone. Zara loved it here, there are tunnels, water toys, boats and a whole variety of toys to keep the little ones happy for a while. Although she did get soaked in the water toys (note: next time packing a change of clothes might be a good idea!).

Any excuse for Daddy to go on the slide!

Row, row, row your boat...

As Zara was soaked and time was getting on, we decided to call it a day after this, we had intended to go for a walk around the longer circuit taking in the reed beds, wader lake and the meadows but we will have to leave this until next time

We had a lovely day out there and would highly recommend it for a visit

Visitor information can be found on their website here