I always feel very lucky to live in
Yorkshire as there is so much to do right on the doorstep. As a
family we love exploring the outdoors and getting the girls involved
in activities. I personally love that there are lots of National Trust sites close by, one of which is under 10 miles away, giving us
plenty of activities to do.
I often check the National Trust
website to find out local events on at the different Trust sites and when I
discovered the Night before Christmas adventure at Nostell Priory, I
could not wait to take the girls. The event ran over 3 days and was
free to enter. On Saturday there was a special interactive Christmas show called Come as Yourself, Leave as an Elf and the Sunday offered a
more exciting event to my eldest 'The Knight before Christmas' a
chance to meet Mike the Knight and a guest appearance from Derek the
Dragon from Alnwick Castle. My eldest loves watching Mike the
Knight and so was incredibly excited when I asked if she wanted to go
see him.
All I can say is what an exciting day
for the girls. As mentioned in a previous post, my eldest absolutely
loves horses. When she saw this as we approached the entrance she
was just in awe.
Two beautiful white horses all dressed
up for Christmas. She could not believe her eyes, so much for her to
look at.
Next for her was the reindeer and
Christmas tree
and we saw some real reindeer too!
She was loving every second signing the
different Christmas things she saw. We went to book our tickets to
see Mike the Knight, a 2pm showing, so had plenty of time to explore.
We decided not to book to see Santa, as the girls have a Santa
experience booked for next week, and instead to see what else Nostell
Priory had to offer.
She enjoyed the stable block exhibition
as it gave her the opportunity to see where horses live. They have a
wooden horse for you to brush its hair and she had fun doing this.
We decided to give the girls some run
around time in the gardens at the side of the house. The gardens are
beautiful and although winter they were stunning. Hidden in the
garden is an adventure playground. One of those lovely wooden ones
that make you wish you were a kid again just to have a go. Our
eldest managed to find a horse to play on and happily rocked it back
and forth. The girls had a cuddle on a big bucket swing before our
eldest decided to go off and explore some more and even managed to
find a small puddle to splash in.
After stopping for a bite to eat we
decided to have a play on the fairground. It is the first time for
both girls to visit a fairground and so we were unsure what they
would make of it. We need not have worried for they absolutely loved
it. Our eldest rode the swings, all by herself, a very big girl and
then we rode the teacups. When it finished she said again please,
teacup fun, so we went round again, well the look of enjoyment on her
face was too much to say no to.
The large clock tower signalled it was
time for us to catch our show and so we went to the courtyard.
The
show was great and both girls really enjoyed it, watching the knights
and the juggler. We stopped to make Christmas decorations before
Mike the Knight came to say hello and she waved at him. Her
favourite by far though was Derek the Dragon. She absolutely loved
him. He talked to her and said she was very pretty, which made her
smile and that he liked her jumper. Since coming home she has been
asking for the dragon and that she wants to see Mike the Knight to
give him a cuddle.
It really has been a truly wonderful
day and as our daughter hasn't stopped talking about all the things
she has done definitely one of the best days out for her. I will be
checking the National Trust website again to find another event,
because where else can you have this much fun in such a beautiful
setting?
This day I love Knights, Dragons and Teacups
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