Durham / North East Meet Ups - 2012

[juneybean]

Hello hello! Here I am with good intentions to behave and show up to some meet ups since I utterly failed in 2011!

So we need ideas for daytime meets and of course we must not forget our night time meets

[b]Daytime Ideas[/b]
Beamish
Saltwell Park, Gateshead
The Giants Den, Team Valley
Botanic Gardens
Beach (in the summer of course, unless we want airborne children!)

Okay so ideas for January daytime, I think cake is definitely in order so I propose the one that's next to Ebony, the huge place, down some steps, uhh... Slug & Lettuce is it? CAKE!

January night time? Is this something we want to plan? I know we're always poor after Christmas!

Ah W will probably try and steal it off her soon anyway. H went shopping with grandma and came back with a polly pocket which she insists is a Barbie doll. Luckily the iron and cake baking set that came with it has been abandoned and Polly/Barbie is now a pirate explorer

Have fun tomorrow Shall we arrange another meet up seeing as it is the summer hols? I still have the breast pump to hand over to Indith.

Kara/anyone- are you going to the big latch on at Tynemouth on Sat? I might but it is down to start at 9:30 so depends on what the sleep situation is like. Sat is normally my lie in day!

Yes yes, lots of meet ups! Shall we do one at Gibside? there is so much going on there over the summer.

Crap I forgot about the latch on, I've organised to take my bike for a service on Saturday.

ooh Gibside good. I am National trust member so can take in any over-5s for free (technically it is only children of the family but when we joined they said that I could take in any cousins as well as they aren't that strict so I can be Auntie Spiggy for the day)

Indith Thank you! I like purple, but the pink thing is pretty much absolute. If it is a small part of a pattern I can live with it, but not as a main decoration. Not just being funny (honest - or ungrateful!) but if PIL see anything with pink on, they will conclude the moratorium is over. They keep testing me... But I am more determined than they expected!

Spiggy I wish I could go to the big latch, but would need to set off so early! It's a good couple of hours from us.

Kara Thank you for the dress - V looks very cute in it, though I still think she looks a little like she is in drag whenever she is in a dress. She does seem to find it very comfortable though, and the leggings/tights preserve a tiny bit of modesty!

Not bringing friends after all. But will be at the Botanic Gardens tomorrow.

Spiggy - no, Tynemouth is too far from me :(
Am very disappointed they chose that location as I know a few Teessiders who would have been up for it if it had been a bit closer!

Have a meeting at 11.30 but will be along for a quick coffee this AM - meeting in the cafe or on the grass?

I think my children are a teeny tiny bit shattered from all the wild adventures in the woods :)

Yep, mine too!! DS ended up having a 90 minute nap!

Dd fell asleep in the car then we chilled at home and watch the olympics before they headed back outside at ran about in the park for a couple of hours!

Yeah, 10 mins after he woke up, DS insisted we went out for a walk, with him on his bike and DD in her ride-on. We just went to the park up the road and did a few orbits.

Hope everyone ok in all the rain.

Bored!! I have been playing The Bed Game (don't ask!) for 1hr 45 mins. I have now plonked DS in front of Big City Park so I can MN and regain some sanity.

Does anyone fancy a meet up this week? I could do Wednesday, any time!

I am going to murder my children. Tried to go to a pick your own place today but it was closed. Probabl due to the torrential rain that started falling as we were driving.

Dh has the car tomorrow so we'll be stuck at home again. Argh! Wednesday I have to take the baby to clinic and the electrician is coming at some point for his supervising body person to carry out his annual inspection of his work and since we have conveniently just had the fuse box updated he wants to see it.

Anyone is welcome to come play! Actually SPB is off work Wed and we were going to play inthe park at some point :)

We should plan Gibside though. Going this Thursday for den building with SPB. Shall we plan another visit there next week for a meet up?

Monday is plant hunting and jungle run.
Tuesday is making mini gardens
Wednesday is pond dipping
Thursday is bushcraft
Friday is Frisbee golf

Also on the 22nd there is a teddy bears picnic at the botanics.

Ds would loooove pond dipping!

Pick your Own sounds fun (or at least, sounds like it would have been if it ws open) - where abouts is that?

Pond dipping does sound fun. What do the rest of you think to a Gibside meet Wed 15th?

Pick your own is Lanchester. Coming from Durham it is on your right just before getting into Lanchester. Easy to miss as it just looks like a layby.

Hi everyone, definite ly on for Wednesday if people fancy deepest darkest waterhiuses? Happy to host too unless we need to be near parks for you to run back Indith? Have been dying to do pho with kids, were you going to plawswirth, or is there another nearby?

Plawsworth is closed SPB but there is one on the Durham road out of Lanchester.

Not sure where I need to be when on Wed. Dh will be here so prob just want to be here when he arrives plus I need to get to baby clinic at some point (though not urgent really so could go next week but not if we are having a Gibside meet up).

Am free pretty much anytime after tomorrow and a crappy trip to Leeds. woo hoo! Kids would love a trip to Gibside. Think I'll pack a change of clothes or two if pond dipping is involved.

Project new bathroom is on track, once that is over and we have access to a toilet other than in the en-suite you are all welcome up here. It is a bit of a trek but plenty of room for children to run riot come rain or shine so we should be able to eat cake in peace.

Sounds good Spiggy.

Not for me this time.

Thank you Indith and Kara for baby clothes (and Spiggy some time ago!). Do any of you use reusable nappies? We've been trying them this week and they have given DD nappy rash - her first ever bout! We're passing the nappies on to a new mum who wants to try them, but does anyone want the truly VAST number of paper flushable liners? The new mum already has some. And I like to pay back when I can...

Oh, and DH reminded me to ask - do you want the baby clothes back when DD has grown out of them? Or can I keep them for the next brat? Did you want them back to pass to someone else? not sure of the usual etiquette on this and never thought to ask at the time.

That was quite a dull post

Keep the clothes or pass on Viking. I am DONE and I do not want anything reappearing in my house!

re cloth nappies, don't give up yet! What are your nappies? How have they been washed? Are they new or second hand?

If second hand and therefore washed lots they may need a good stripping to remove any residues. Put them in the machine on a cold cycle until you stop getting bubbles. Sling half a bottle of vinegar in there for good measure. When you wash nappies between uses do a cold rinse then a wash with only a tiny bit of powder. If she has sensitive skin you might need an extra rinse afterwards.

About liners, are your nappies fleece lined? If not and only using a paper liner then there is nothing to make a dry barrier next to her skin. Personally I don't use paper liners, I just find they end up with soggy paper stuck to their skin. I use fleece liners so wee goes through the fleece into the nappy and the fleece stays dry.

It is worth having a fiddle round to see if you can make them work for you. For some reason neither of the boys have had rash problems. dd did when newborn and it took a couple of good stripping sessions to sort her out, she still got terrible rash when teething and we had to go into paper during each teething session but mostly using cloth still saves a whole load of money!

Not fleece lined, but I do have some fleece liners. I'll try them. I have washed the nappies without any fabric conditioner, and she doesn't usually have sensitive skin, but I'll try giving them a plain water wash as well and try again next week, after the weekend to repair her!

Thank you for the clothes. She looks gorgeous in the dungarees!

I love those dungarees so much, I got them from the 5 items for £1 bin in the salvos when i was pregnany with William, Greg pulled this face but all 3 kids have worn them with pride. Glad they have gone to a good home.

If they're the dungarees that I'm thinking of (the brightly coloured ones - can't really remember the details) then add another child who has worn them with pride :o I loved those but was so disappointed that I couldn't figure out where they were from to buy a pair in my another size!
Indith, have texted my friend (the one I'm meant to be meeting in the morning) but not heard back. Shall we just say 1pm? or 1.30 at Gibside?