The Stephenson Families' Great Californian Adventure

We chose a good day for it - overcast but not chilly and the spring flowers were in full bloom, we had a blast exploring the ramparts and battlements, checking out the dungeons and visiting the "home" areas of the castle as its in actual fact a stately home, fully occupied by the Lord and Lady for half of the year and their living areas are available for public visit.

We love Durham! The cathedral always impresses me, no matter how many times I see it. We were just a little disappointed that we couldn't go up to the top (the stairs are very steep and they don't let kids go up unfortunately). Anyway we still had fun and picked up some traditional toffee on the way home - I think I have been doing that since I was about 4 or 5, going to Durham with my Mammy :)

Feeding the ducks...... amazingly Kyle wasn't scared of them! And.....

...relaxing in the Riverside Park in Chester-le-Street. A beautiful day as you can see, lots of families playing on one of the best children's parks I have seen (completely different structures and play things than you see in most council parks who all seem to use the same supplier and designs for their swings and slides!) I spent many many hours here as a kid fishing in the river back in the days when it was teeming with fish. Nothing looks to have changed but the fishermen aren't there these days - not for a long time. A real shame.

This place smells of GARLIC! :) We visited Lumley Woods - another place that played a big part in my childhood. Its a beautiful little wooded area with a stream running through it and wild garlic everywhere. The shafts of light coming through the trees, and the wild bluebells make this a really magical place. Couldn't get Kyle away from the steam, of course!

And it all sits behind this beautiful castle. The castle overlooks the park and is only a mile from our house. Its a working hotel (haunted too!) with a bar in the dungeon, full medieval banquet hall and a really awesome, intimate restaurant with pre-dining drinks in the library. It really is an incredible building and has a great deal of history attached to it, as does the entire area of County Durham. You can read more about the castle here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumley_Castle

Kyle found Thomas! In the little shopping mall beside Grandads house. We spent a lot of money very quickly on this thing (and the double decker bus next to it!) and ended up making avoidance strategies.

Hall Hill Farm. We went to this little farm way way up in the Durham Hills on a very cold, wet and windy day! The main draw is the baby chicks and the lambs in spring, we really enjoyed holding and feeding them! It was very busy however with lots of school visits. We also took a tractor ride round the farm which was probably the coldest we have EVER been, anywhere! Then Karina had a pony ride and we retired for well deserved hot chocolates! Needless to say, Kyle enjoyed the drink but was terrified of chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs. What will we do with him? :)

And finally - the Rogues Gallery! We had a lovely day out with some of my very best buddies and their kids, all of whom are roughly the same age. We went to a huge indoor children's playground - you pay to get in then let the kids run wild. While the adults catch up and drink coffee... very nice! Then we found a nice little pub for lunch (and to annoy the other guests with 4 kids full of sugar!). Top to bottom, left to right: Marcus and Callum, Karina and Natalya, Indi, Matt and Meena. Great seeing you guys, lets not make it so ling till the next time.