Piggies, Shooting and the North Pole

Another very busy week... No wonder the doctor says I'm run down.

So last Friday it was my Nephew's birthday so we spent the day in Peppa Pig land part of Paulton Park theme park.

After 2+ hour drive from where we are it started off as a bit of a grey old day but we persevered and headed to see the Pig.

Have to say it was a great day out. So good for young children. There was lots of rides to amuse them. Had fun running on all the kiddie rides.

 Peppa's big balloon Ride.

Windy Castle Ride and a big hit  Daddy Pigs Car Ride.

Also the Soft play area which was helpfully split into section so the little one could play without the fear of being mowed down by the bigger kids.

plus loads more rides attractions and parks.

Have to say was very good value my ticket was around £25 and I bought a couple of souvenirs and some lunch and was pleasantly surprise at the cost of it all.

Would give it a big thumbs up and recommend it to young families as a relatively (remember I go to Disney a lot so that the bench mark) inexpensive brilliant day out.

Saturday we went to farm where my dad does his pheasant shooting for their clay day.

I personally am probably a hindrance with a fire arm so left that up to the Hubby.

Also having dyspraxia I do worry about handling loaded weapons as I'm not the most co-ordinated of people which was apparent as I fell walking across the field. It was compounded by the fact I was carrying the little one. I managed to fall to my knees before I eventually lost my grip on him. Luckily the ground was soft. But it was pretty scary and after I made sure he was okay a few tears but hugs soon made him better. Started to feel frustrated and stupid at the whole thing.

I know it just an accident and these things happen to everyone even people without dyspraxia, but then I have "what if it was worse" though running through my head for most of the rest of the day. Making me feel even more guilty than I did in the first place.

Having dyspraxia has effect my choices as a parent as I refused to use the baby sling/carrier when he was young as I was afraid of falling over when he was attached and he probably spent more time in the pram. As when we where going anywhere new I didn't really like carrying him if I was on my own and when we went shopping it was the Husband responsibility to transport the car seat to the trolley then back again.

The older his got and the more active and mobile hes got as made me less worried although with days like this don't think I'll go again unless I better prepared and have more help when he's running about the place.

Apart from the fall the rest of the day went without a hitch and we from a lovely range type cooker, (So jelly one day I would really love one of these)

event was rounded of with Boar Sausages.

They were super duper local as they farm we were shooting on was where the boar are raised. Super delicious and I can buy them from the local farmers market.

On Sunday in between going to the park to let the little one run off some steam in the nice weather I got some cooking done.

I made a lovely spicy chicken dish. Basically getting some skinless, boneless chicken thighs throwing them in a cooking dish, breaking an Oxo cube over them and sprinkling chilli power (a little or a lot depending on how spicy you want it) then just throwing in Red Onion, button Mushrooms and baby tomatoes before putting it into a high over (200 degrees) for around 25 minutes.

Monday Morning as the Hubby had work in the afternoon we decided to trek all the way to The North Pole, well the Wateringbury one :).

It a really lovely pub very kid friendly as they have a fab garden out the back. The also have a section off Dog Garden as well which is good if you have a boisterous pet you want to keep away from the play area.

Their food is great have eaten there on a few occasion and I've never had a bad meal. It was the first time eating for the little one. I got him a kids meal which he enjoyed some of. But he's still not eating loads so his father and I got to enjoy the rest along with our fab sandwiches. (Would have had order from their main menu but we were a little pushed for time, just another excuse to go back). Although saying that considering how big the sandwiches are and how lovely the homemade chips are accompanying felt so full after eating.

That afternoon I also made some dessert bars. I found a wonderful recipe on Google+ from the Mrs with the Dishes  blog of  Blue Berry Pie bars.

I have converted the recipe into UK measurements if anyone in the UK would like to give it a go as it was simple but effective as they look great and taste fantastic.

Crumble Mix
125g of Butter
100g Sugar
50g Brown Sugar
250g Flour

Yogurt Mix
1 egg
190g Plain Yogurt
65g Sugar
3tps Vanilla Extra
2tbsp Flour

Fruit
350g Blueberries
65g Sugar
2tps Lemon Juice
2tps Corn Flour

Mrs with the dishes has a great step by step guide to making these. But in essence Mix all the Crumble mix ingredients together in a bowl then get your hands in and rub them together till you get a nice crumble consistencies. in your foil lined tray put 3/4 of the mixture to form the base of the dish. Then mix all the yogurt ingredients together and pour on top of the base (jiggle the mix to get an even spread).

Mix the fruit with the sugar, lemon juice and corn flour together stick with it as it becomes a bit gloopy add the fruit on top of the yogurt mix.

Then with the 1/4 of the crumble mix distribute evenly on top of everything and bake in a 180 degree oven for 55 minutes.

Blueberry Pie Bars

I also put a twist on the recipe and made Chocolate Cherry Pie Bars. I used 25g less flour in the crumble mix to add 25g of coco powder. I added crumble Twirl chocolate to the yogurt mix and on top of the cherries which were used in of the Blueberries.

I took both in to work and they were both a big hit, but I think the Blueberry ones where the favorite as the were the first to go.