After a week of school and work, weekends have to be about having fun together as a family. And this weekend, it was a lot about that!
Every year, the first weekend of October plays host to a local food festival. We missed the first three years, but made it along last year and loved it so much we went each of the three days. This year I decided to volunteer for a shift to help out and show my support for what is an incredible event. I popped along to have a quick look around on Friday after work and took some cakes home to have for tea and then was up bright and early to get along to my Saturday morning shift. It was fun and made me feel that I was a part of it, rather than just a visitor.
After my shift finished, the wife met me with Bunny and Bear and we sat by the bandstand to escape some of the crowds and eat our food finds of 28 day aged beef-burger, red Thai curry, sausage roll and pork & apple sausage in a bun. We had a quick catch up with my friend from school who was down for the weekend and then went and met my sister and her boyfriend who had also come down for the night.
At this point in the afternoon, we had to start tasting the local beers, ales, ciders and wines so I was very pleased at my decision to leave the car at home for a change! Some of the rare green hop ale was very tasty and if I’d been there without children, I may have gone beyond tasters!
We were having such a good time, browsing the stalls for scrummy food (and plying the girls with locally produced ice cream), we were still there when it closed at six o’clock! But nobody was ready for the fun to finish so we headed to a local restaurant for an early dinner (seriously!) but as they were fully booked we ordered takeaway, picked up some wine and headed back to my parents’ house where my sister was staying.
It was long past bedtime, but the girls didn’t seem to mind and had lots of fun playing with their auntie and uncle and running about the house. But all good things must come to an end and as it was getting late, we walked home, getting in at ten o’clock, a full thirteen hours after I’d left!
Today started with a morning of autumn activities in the park with some friends, organised by the lovely and very creative Bex from The Mummy Adventure who’d set up activity stations around the bandstand. We did some apple prints with paint, some colouring and a scavenger hunt to match paint chart cuttings and autumn park treasure. When we had a bag filled with our collected items, we headed back over to the bandstand and glued some of them to the apple print trees we’d made earlier.
Then it was time for some park fun with climbing, spinning and swinging!
After a brief nap for Bear in the car, we met up with my sister and her boyfriend and grabbed lunch before they sadly had to head off to their train. Another sample of local beer, some milkshake and cake and then we picked up some sausages on special offer and headed home.
We’re all exhausted but happy after a decadent weekend filled with great food, family and fun!
Linking up with Coombe Mill’s Country Kids after a busy weekend of outdoor fun. Click the badge below to discover what other families have been up to.