We took advantage of the long weekend by going down to Berkshire to stay with my parents for a few days. It was also my Dad's 60th birthday, so we were looking forward to celebrating that with him. My Dad has always loved steam trains & railways so we bought him a solid stone/concrete train planter for his garden. He was very impressed with it, I'm pleased to say!
It was Dad's birthday on Tuesday & we went out to lunch with all of the family: my parents, our family of 4, my brother, his children & their mum & my 3 Aunties. It was such a lovely afternoon spent catching up with everyone - I haven't seen 2 of my Aunties since Freya was a baby so it's been a long time!
When we got home we were able to actually get a picture of the 4 grandchildren when they were all looking & smiling - not an easy thing to do when you have 4 children aged 5 & under!!!
My Mum got a better one as she was taking the photo from directly in front of them so they were looking at her, not me!!
Bank Holiday Monday was spent outside in the sunshine with the children. We went to the Sandhurst Donkey Derby, which was in its 47th year. I remember going most years when I was a child so it was nice to be able to take my girls as well.
Here's the official blurb from their Facebook page:
Sandhurst Donkey Derby and fair is probably the biggest community event in our local area. It attracts thousands of people each year to join in the fun and raise money for local charities and groups. The family event is Organised by the Crowthorne and Sandhurst Roman Catholic Parish and sponsored by the Sandhurst branch of Romans’ Estate Agents
There are a series of donkey races with special events where you may have the opportunity to become a jockey and have everyone cheer you on! There are fairground rides for the young at heart and many stalls from the surrounding area where you may win a prize, find out about a local group or bag a bargain!
According to the programme that we were given on entry, "the Donkey Derby started back in the 1960s, with only a few hundred people in attendance, but over the years has grown and developed into the largest annual community event for Crowthorne, Sandhurst and the surrounding area.
The donkey races are still the focal part of the day, as they were when the first donkey derby was held, and supported by local pubs, clubs, businesses, along with the fun fair, charities and commercial stalls."
Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of the donkey races as the girls were too excited about the many stalls & rides that they could go on but I did manage to have a look at them in their enclosure at least!!!
Cute huh?!!
The girls loved their time at the Donkey Derby. Freya & my niece, Amy went on a humongous bouncy castle slide:
Poor Abby was too little to go on this ride but she made up for it inside the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" bouncy castle!
They also went on a swinging merry-go-round (if anyone knows the proper name for the ride then please let me know!!)
On the walk back home we stopped off at a small play-park so the girls could all let off some of their excess steam!!
All in all, a wonderful weekend away!
xxx
It was wonderful seeing you all, a great weekend was had by all. The
ReplyDeletephoto's are lovely. Happy times. x