It's Half Term. Day 5. Molly loses the old man.

Off to the park for a kick around and a play this morning and then back in plenty of time to drop Molly off at her afternoon play date with her friend Martha.

So, I get 2 hours to kick around the house doing odd stuff and listening to Radio 5 (Sports panel and then Kermode's film reviews - a very pleasant listen).

Half term is nearly over, just 2 more days of family stuff. It's been a joy. Highlight of the whole week? Probably still Molly and her dog at Big Sheep Little Cow.

It's Half Term Day 4: Hull. Streetlife Museum.

We've now lived in Pocklington for 16 months. In that time we've not visited Leeds nor have we visited Hull.
Yesterday, we crossed Hull off the to-do list.

Aside from going over the Humber Bridge I can't see us going back any time soon.
To those of you left behind in the Midlands, it reminded me rather of Wolverhampton. And that's never a good thing.

But there is a lovely part of Hull, one that's hidden away and really badly signposted as well. It's Old Town, with the old docks, lovely museums and fantastic architectural details. But most of Hull doesn't bother going there, not enough cheap shops it seems.

(Hepworth's Arcade. Beautiful late Victorian arcade. Now full of awful tat shops)

(The old quarter is full of beautiful little features like this alleyway)

So, off to the museum quarter. First up: Streetlife Museum. Hull's transport museum. Beautifully laid out, full of interesting stuff and most importantly for Molly, full of lots of things you can jump on and off. Which is quite surprising in some instances: Britain's oldest tramcar. Feel free to get on, run around and sit down on all the seats. Bizarre.



But it was hugely enjoyable. Very quick, but as it was free to get in, that wasn't something we were that concerned with. We leave and pop into the Museum Quarter shop to appease Molly and I notice a sign at the back of the shop telling me it's the entrance to the Hull & East Riding Museum. Thinking it wouldn't be much (it was stuck in the back of a shop after all), I dragged the family in. Two hours later, we emerge, blinking into the sunlight. The museum is huge. It's the entire history of the East Riding. From prehistoric through Iron Age, Celts, Norman times, right through to the present day. Fantastic, just very badly disguised.

It's Half Term: Day 3: Underdog, tenpins and an 8 year old pool shark....

(This is about Wednesday, but wedding anniversary delayed blogging last night - I know, no commitment.)
I had planned to take her along to Xscape. But it's far too expensive and needed booking about four years ago for this half term. So the skiing lessons, tubing, rock climbing, aerial adventure, laserzone, glow in the dark crazy golf and soft play will just have to wait.
(To give you an idea, that little list costs about £100+)

So instead, it was off to the pictures to see Underdog:

My policy on movies is pretty simple. If Mark Kermode says go see it, then I will go and see it (or get the dvd). It works as a system for me. I've always found his choices suit my tastes and as such he's one of the few reviewers I will always listen to. I make time to listen to his Radio 5 Friday afternoon podcast and find it consistently on e of the best pieces of radio on all week.

But this half term I was stuck. Of our choices of suitable films; Molly had already rejected Bee Movie, I thought Penelope looked bloody awful and I had no idea how bad Underdog was. Stupidly I didn't go online and find Kermode's review of it. Instead I went to IMDB where it had a 3.8/10 rating. Luckily one of the last reviews was from a mom and her daughter, who was just as mad about dogs as Molly and they mentioned how good it was. So I took a chance. And it was good. Not great, just good. But an enjoyable, passed an hour plus pleasantly enough good. Molly loved the dog, I didn't fall asleep.

As an afterword: I've just listened to the Mark Kermode review of it - "essentially rubbish , but I quite enjoyed it". Yep, that's absolutely right. Again.

Then it was off to the bowling alley for a game of tenpin and a game of pool. Bliss for Molly. She's always loved pool from an early age and will actively seek out pool tables wherever we go on holiday. She's getting pretty good at it as well.....

It's Half Term: Day 2: a bitty day around Pocklington

Day 2 of the half term. Molly is prepared:


I particularly liked the hot choc and coffee (maybe a cake) part. Oh, you can really hear that hopeful questioning tone in her voice when she wrote that.
And yes, we did get cake.

Amazingly, nearly all were completed. Post Office, got her some colouring and a Simpsons comic, booked her haircut for tomorrow and came home and had a play. Then out to take bottles, cardboard, plastic, clothes and anything else we can recycle to the local dump.
Finally off to swimming. I always forget that now she's 8 she can be in there on her own. After much cajoling on her part I sloped off after half an hours back knackering lengths to have a coffee giving her 15 minutes on her own with just a couple of classmates. She loved it and is already asking when she can arrange to go with a friend on her own, walking down and back. (Not bloody yet was what I thought).

A good day.

It's Half Term: Day 1: Big Sheep Little Cow

Half Term is here. This is a very good thing. We can spend all week doing nice stuff and then I can spend the evening doing exactly the same stuff I do of a work night.
Something is not right there.

Today, we means all three of us as Louise has the day off as well.
Molly got to choose where we were going and came up with:

It's a farm attraction, with a great hour long farm tour and an indoor play barn. We got to do all the usual farm stuff; held the mice, held the rabbits and the guinea pigs, fed the calves and brushed the pigs. And then spent a couple of hours watching her get hotter and hotter in the indoor play area. Great fun.

Molly, the calf and the little girl who wouldn't get out of the way..........

Unfortunately the play barn thing was infected with that worst kind of inhabitant: middle class twot mother and her vile spawn. The sort I've written about before:

Tarquin.
Noun but used as Adjective.
Meaning:
Any pampered offspring of the class of parent commonly known as "Harbourne Mum". Uncontrollable, spoilt, ignorant, obnoxious.

Normally found anywhere I decide to take Molly to.

Running around like a monkey on speed kicking things at random, including my daughter. Also found in any restaurants we go to.

Usually running around my table screaming whilst Harbourne mom discusses the latest marble kitchen design with her friend.

Bad behaviour on the part of the "Tarquin" is either completely ignored or excused as acceptable behaviour because "that's just Tarquin's nature".

Normal parents consider Tarquin's "nature" to be worthy of a good hiding at least. Unfortunately Harbourne mom believes in letting Tarquin do whatever he feels like doing, because it's good for his development.

Normal parents feel like letting Tarquin run into their outstretched fork because that would be very good for his development and teach him a valuable lesson. Namely that his parents are complete fuckwits.

It is not okay to have your stupid, spoilt ignorant children push, punch, throw balls at and verbally abuse not just my daughter but at least 6 other children.
It is also not alright to look at someone else's crying child and casually say: "Did one of mine do that?" in a manner that implies that this is a regular occurrence.

But apart from that little hiccup, everything else was a delight.
Highlight of the day - the very last thing. As we're coming out at 5pm, the farm dog is in the courtyard. I'd seen her playing earlier and she was obviously a very well trained sheepdog.
I start petting her and then Molly comes out and pets her. Then the sheepdog gets a stick and drops it at Molly's feet. 10 minutes of fetch ensues.

In the car on the way back: "I can't believe it - I played with a real dog". We have to keep explaining that it's not possible for us to get a dog, no matter how much we want one, and that it wouldn't be fair on the dog with all of us out of the house all day.
Bless her, I think her heart would burst with joy if we could get one.