A ringside seat and a tableful of food , this family came well prepared.

More bouncing, swinging, jumping, driving and patting!

Yes, yet another day at another "adventure" park with a pack of children. These places have sprung up all over the country and are probably the result of the call to farmers to diversify. On fine days during the school holidays they are mobbed and probably generate quite some revenue.

This one we visited is near Dunbar, east of Edinburgh, and has, in addition to the usual playthings, a collection of animals, some of them being usual farm creatures but also some more unusual types and most are very tame. I can hardly believe that my grandchildren from down south were all excited about feeding a sheep. We, as children, took these beasts for granted.

This train travels round the part of the park containing the livestock

The Fort is a new addition this year.

These tunnels on a mound resemble a rabbits' warren.

..and this speaks for itself!

The gang loved feeding the goats.

..and even the fallow deer came over for food.

This is a rhea chick, about 10 inches high, which had escaped into the adjoining enclosure from its mother's.

Doesn't it look like some of sort miniature dinosaur?

The llamas, as usual, were rather haughty looking.

After all that, "Please can I have a drink?"

Big things for bouncing on

..and smaller ones.

Various sizes of "John Deeres"!

The pedal go-cart track.

Dalkeith Country Park

Dalkeith House whose estate grounds are open to the public with miles of walk/cycle ways and an adventure park. We met up here with another daughter and her two girls for the day.

This is the former stable and coach house yard which now houses a cafe and restaurant. It must have been a grand place in its heyday.

Picnic time!

Peek-a-boo!

The sand pit in the stable courtyard.

The adventure park consists of a large wooden fort-like structure with high walkways and lots of items for climbing, sliding and swinging.

Ava pushes the big swing ball.

Lauren pushes the huge tyre with Jamie and Ava inside.

Kathryn and little Megan shoot down the high chute!

Jamie charges around the walkway up in the trees.

..and Megan swings on the monkey bars.

They were ready for bed that night.

A slight distraction!

Blogging has had to take a back seat for the past week as I had visitors from the south (of England). My daughter was up with her 3 children for their annual visit...most people, nowadays, go abroad to warmer climes but she always comes "home" to a drop in temperature, this year reckoning it to be about 10 degrees!
The children speak with an English accent but mum still has her Scots tongue.
It was a bit bedlam-like in the house at times, with 2 bitches in season and dogs having to be kept separate and the accompanying howling but somehow the children managed to sleep and we all managed to stay relatively sane.
I think the children enjoyed the freedom of being able to play outside the house in our little cul de sac without too much supervision, which they cannot do at home.

Jamie (6), Charley (3) and Megan (1 1/2).

Chasing bubbles with a cousin and mum.

On the wet days we played board games, saved from our youth.

Little Megan had fun trying to thread the balls on to her "spear".