On Saturday we headed to Antrim Castle Gardens for Garden Show Ireland. The hubster, on Friday night, had been to his monthly Bonsai Club meeting and had been given some complimentary tickets to the show. Never one to turn down a freebie nor a family day out we decided to make the most of the tickets. We packed our picnic and wellies and set off early Saturday morning. I wanted to share with you some snaps from our day….
The day began with a Northern Irish picnic …. in the car…..Mr. Sun was obviously feeling a little shy at the weekend!
Next we hopped on board the double decker bus to the show – the kids were very keen to get to the very top! All very exciting!!!
The highlight for the kids was Scarecrow wood! They ran about with lots of squeals and giggles. We couldn’t get them to move on! LOVED it!
There were lots of ideas to inspire……
Different little activities for the kids to take part in ….
There was the opportunity to listen to the Jazz with a glass of wine and enjoy the artisan foods whilst the kids have a lot of fun eating lovely treats…
Now. I could leave it there and you would all go away thinking, “Awh it looks like you all had a lovely day.” And you’d be right – to a certain extent. We DID have a good day, we enjoyed the show. But, it isn’t the picture perfect day that it might seem. You see, here on the internet we can dress things up a little, add a good caption to a photo, show photos of kiddies smiling, having fun….but the truth behind the photo can be a little different – truth be told.
So, let me rewind – share with you a somewhat more honest recount of our family day out ……
The day began with a Northern Irish picnic …. in the car…..Mr. Sun was obviously feeling a little shy at the weekend! The boys were less than impressed with this. “Straps OFF”. “Let me out” “Why can’t we eat outside?” Were just some of the cries that could be heard coming from the Safira.
Next we hopped on board the double decker bus to the show – the kids were very keen to get to the very top! All very exciting!!! All very exciting for the first five minutes, then the younger 2 wanted to explore – to change seats, to have a window seat, to sit on mummy’s knee / daddy’s knee, to walk up the aisle……
Off the bus and the first thing we had to do…..FIND THE TOILETS! Off to the lovely portacabins we go. Joy.
The highlight for the kids was Scarecrow wood! They ran about with lots of squeals and giggles. We couldn’t get them to move on! LOVED it! This bit is true – the kids really did love it. They ran from scarecrow to scarecrow…so full of delight that a photographer from the press took lots of pictures of them – as he said, “their faces really captured the atmosphere of the show”!
There were lots of ideas to inspire……there were some lovely garden rooms on display. This was the only one I got a picture of. With 3 kids 4years and under in tow I was lucky to even get this one! We basically did what they wanted on Saturday – it was one of those days – to attempt anything else would have resulted in carnage.
Different little activities for the kids to take part in ….Our 3 really enjoyed this climbing frame, and played on it for a good half hour. The first 3/4 mins were fabulous, the hub and I even managed to say a few words to each other while they played. Then the arguing started, pushing in front of each other started, falling into the mud, refusing to move on AT THE TOP OF OUR VOICES cause that’s what you do when you’re 2, didn’t you know?!
These were fun!
The less said about these the better!
There was the opportunity to listen to the Jazz with a glass of wine and enjoy the artisan foods whilst the kids have a lot of fun eating lovely treats…ha, yeah right!!!!!!!! We bought 5 small ice creams and ate them on the run!
And this picture – yes we’re all enjoying the ice creams, yes we’re all having an ok-ish time!! But to get this picture ….
“Come and stand here, no, here”
“Why are you hiding behind J?”
“Everyone smile” “Please. Everyone smile.” Ok. Never mind.
“Look at mummy” “J look at mummy” “S look at mummy” “L look at mummy” “Ben, now you’re not looking” Oh forget it, I’m just going to take it!
While the Garden Show Ireland was a lovely wee family day out, with lots to keep everyone amused. We were just having ‘one of those days’. You know the ones, right? There are just sometimes a day out with toddlers/young kids isn’t all you think it’s going to be 😉
Well done for being honest – I completely agree that we can so easily edit our lives when we blog and make it all look so perfect. Thanks for being real 🙂
Janine
x
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I want people to get to know the real me on this blog 🙂 No point in pretending to be something we’re not 🙂 Thanks for reading Janine xx
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Love this…helps us feel normal !
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Hee hee! I think we ALL have days like these Jen 🙂
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Lewis has only recently stopped throwing major meltdowns on every outing, so I can’t even begin to imagine how 3 little ones, the ages yours are, could contribute to making trips out chaotic! Not that I imagine yours throwing tantrums, just by nature of their being ‘that age’! Though I guess when it comes to keeping a record of our memories we all do try to focus on the positives, In blog land and real life. I regularly grab my camera for smiles and happy scenes, though definitely not so much during tears and tantrums. I’m not sure if that’s because those are memories I would rather forget – or if it is because I can’t imagine I would ever forget and need reminding!
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It’s funny how we block those memories out – thinking back on Saturday now it really wasn’t too bad 🙂
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So, so true!
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🙂
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Lovely post on a normal day out without the obligatory look-how-perfect-we-are omissions!
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Thank you Sally – sometimes it’s good to ‘keep it real’ 🙂 lol
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looks like you had a lovely day! What a cute little family you have! 🙂
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Oh thank you – I think they’re pretty adorable too 😉
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I love this! It’s so rare to see someone admitting that things go wrong and that their family isn’t perfect – Makes me feel normal! Thanks for linking up to #FamilyFriday
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I’d love to read more posts from families on a ‘real day out’ – I think we’d all appreciate knowing no family is perfect 🙂 #FamilyFriday
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Lol I love the honest side of the post the most – let’s face it, we’ve all been there! Amazing how easy it is to ignore all those bits and just talk about the positives though eh? x lol #familyfriday
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I have to admit I hovered over the ‘publish’ button for a good while! But glad I hit it in the end 🙂 Thanks for stopping by x
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I love this. I think we put so much pressure on ourselves to have the perfect day out. And we imagine that everyone is having that day and it’s only our family that has these moments. In reality of course this is probably more like the sort of day everyone had! Social media leads us to believe that everyone else is leading the perfect life but they are simply editing carefully. I think we need a little #real life posting!
Lesley
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Thanks Lesley, it’s refreshing to hear that other people have days like this too! Sometimes I wonder, where am I going wrong??!
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The scarecrow wood looks fab! #FamilyFriday
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