-- Happy Halloween --

Happy Halloween!!!

The boys went off to a four hour Halloween party at martial arts last weekend, they all love dressing up and I secretly love getting arty with the face paints.

Sunday we got stuck into carving the pumpkins that we picked up from the pumpkin patch.

Jon and Ru attacked the massive white one and the boys all did their own, we're going to have to buy Alex a new pumpkin today as his had gone a little mouldy.

I turned mine into a vase and bought some autumnal flowers from Tesco's.

I also bought some bunting which I've been able to cut up into three different banners as it was so long and I've popped it up over the fireplace, in the hallway and in the kitchen.

I also found a recipe for Pumpkin spice latte cupcakes.

I wasn't too keen on them to start with, but the taste grew on me and I rather enjoyed them.

Even the boys loved them!

It's not really Halloween without some Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

I'm not sure if we are going trick or treating this year as Noah has parents evening on Thursday and we're away on Friday so probably we'll just get some Halloween themed snacks in and watch some family-friendly Halloween films after school.

Halloween is not complete without the yearly Halloween snap chat filter fun!

Hope you all have a fun Halloween.

Day Out // ... Mountfitchet Castle ...

During our half term, Noah went off on holiday with his cousin Sam glamping in Lincoln so we were down one kid.

I was pretty much working every day but on the two days off I had we decided we do something a little bit different and go a tad further afield. 

So on Tuesday my first day off, we jumped in the car and headed to Essex.

Two hours later we were at Mountfitchet Castle.

Mountfitchet Castle is a unique time capsule.

With its commanding position overlooking the Stort Valley, the Castle is situated on its original site which is steeped in history.

Formerly an Iron Age hill fort, this historic site was also a Roman signals fort and later a Saxon and Viking settlement before being attacked in 1066 by William the Conqueror who built a wooden Motte and Bailey castle here.

Mountfitchet Castle was also briefly used by the Royalist Army to King Charles in the English Civil War (17th C). 

The Royalist forces held out at the castle when they were laid Siege to by Cromwell.

The grounds were cleared to reveal the original earthworks and mounds and after years of battling with planners, in 1980 the work began to reconstruct Mountfitchet Castle. After many years of work, the restoration of Mountfitchet Castle was completed and was opened to the public in 1985 and is unique as being the only wooden Motte and Bailey reconstruction on its original site anywhere in the world.

This historic castle enables the visitor to travel back in time to 1066 Norman England. Explore the Castle and roam through the Norman Village hidden behind the castle walls, wander in and out of the many houses and view the scenes, smell the log fires burning and experience the ambience of an ancient bygone lifestyle. A living history, hands-on and interactive experience.

We started off in the Toy Museum and Haunted house, we all really loved seeing all the toys, the boys all loved the Star Wars and Doctor Who collections.

The boys, however, weren't so keen on the Haunted House, Alex even cried halfway through! 

So we quickly turned on our phone lights and zoomed them through to the otherside.

Once through they all cheered up.

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When we arrived there was a school trip going on, so the grounds were full of children, but it didn't phase the boys and they got on with what they wanted to do.

The school kids were all very polite.

After lunch, the school kids all went back to school and the grounds became very empty, the boys pretty much had free range.

We went back around so the boys could do some bits that they had missed, like go inside the jail and play with the mills.

Also, once the school kids had gone the Deer came out to play!

They were super friendly and even fed straight from our hands.

That was probably my favourite part of the day.

Mountfitchet Castle is definitely worth a visit with the kids.

The staff were all really helpful and friendly.

We had a fab time and will probably go back again with Noah.

... Pumpkin Patch Fun ...

Hellooooooo.

Yes, I know I've been away for well over a year, but I'm back now!

I had a break from the blog as life got a little bit hectic with work, Uni and family life.

A lot has happened in the past year and I will write a proper catch up about all of that in another blog post.

But for now, this is just a short one about our fun at a pumpkin patch over at Undley Farm in Suffolk.

The boys have always enjoyed visiting Pumpkin patches and we did it a few times when we lived in Kent but have never done it since we moved to Norfolk.

Last year we grew our own in the garden so there was no real need to go and buy them.

 This year however only two grew in the garden, and after seeing a friend post some pictures I knew the boys would enjoy it. 

It only took an hour for us to get there, most of the drive it was chucking it down, but fortunately for us, the weather dried up as we arrived.

The inflatables weren't on as it was too wet but the boys weren't really too bothered by that, as there was plenty of other things to do once we had finished pumpkin hunting. 

We each picked a pumpkin each and then we decided to get a massive white pumpkin for the whole family.

I think it will look pretty awesome once it's carved.

In total we spent just under £30 on a ridiculous amount of pumpkins as Ru sneaked in some diddy ones towards the end.

I now need to think up lots of uses for the pumpkins we aren't going to carve.

If you have any good pumpkin recipes I would love to know.

Happy Pumpkin Picking if you're heading off to a patch this weekend.

Easy craft ideas for kids to make at home

As the days draw in, and the weather takes a turn for the worst, entertaining your children at home becomes ever more important! So, from DIY hamster toys to seasonal crafts, here are a few easy ideas for activities to do with your children at home.

Get your seasonal craft on

It’s a beautiful time of year, so why not do some seasonal crafting to suit! Here are a few ideas:

1.    Cut an apple in half and create pumpkin paintings. 

Simple dip the half apple in orange paint and print the shape onto paper. 

Glue on a brown pipe cleaner stalk, googly eyes and draw a mouth and away you go!

2.    Go pumpkin picking. Pumpkins can be fun for many different things. 

Why not pick out your favourite at the pumpkin field; carve a fun shaped face into the side; get your bake on for a pumpkin pie; or cooking up a pumpkin soup.

Go on an adventure walk, and then get crafting

This time of year is beautiful, with its autumn leaves, fallen conkers and so much more. 

Why not take your children out on a nature walk and pick up a load of seasonal goodies to get craft with? 

Here are a few ideas for things you can do with your autumnal pickings.

1.    Use conkers to help toddlers paint. All they need to do is dip the conker into the paint, and make patterns like flowers, dots and so much more.

2.    Create bunting or an autumn mobile with fallen autumn leaves. Use a piece of string and tie the stalks of leaves into pretty patterns. 

There are so many beautiful, bright colours to include.

Make something for your pets

From DIY hamster toys to homemade cat or dog toys, why not recycle old items from around your home to create things for your home. 

Here are a couple of ideas:

1.    Rip an old t-shirt into strips and tie them around an old tennis ball. This creates an ideal tug toy or fetch toy to play with puppies and dogs!

2.    Stack up old toilet roll cardboard inserts into a pyramid and glue old ice lolly sticks to the sides to hold them together. This creates a fun tunnel stack for your hamster.

So, whether you want to have a little adventure outside before getting crafty with seasonal ideas or recycle things at home to make DIY pet toys, these ideas should be everything you need to keep your children occupied indoors.

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