But we were here not jut to walk, but to do the Autumn Trail...
Little W did the simple 5 question one, while the girls did the full 20 questions. You have to find the clues around the park. Here's one...
We've done them before, but have not tired of them yet, even though we now know where to look for the clues. The trail is open until Sunday 2nd November.
Be sure to check out special offers and discount vouchers online before you go. The sea-life displays are excellent. This was my favourite...
But they've also got some open top displays one with rays and another with starfish and urchins that you can touch.
The seals are pretty friendly...
And then there's the Shark Tunnel...
where you can see them swimming over your head. The kids thought it was fantastic, but by now they were hungry.
...is still there and we ate there again, served by he same waitress! Excellent food too.
It's about 60 miles from Bury St Edmunds, but the roads can be slow - it took us about 1 hr 20 minutes to get there, setting off from home before 9 o'clock to make a day of it. Popular since about the 1860's, it's still a busy family resort in the summer, but wasn't too busy when we got there, as you can see.
The water is shallow and the tide goes out a long way into The Wash.
We had a lovely long walk along the beach and under the amazing two-tone cliffs...
... an excellent site for discovering fossils, but watch out for the crumbling cliffs! Little W and I found a couple of fossilised shells while the girls searched the rock pools. 
Little W wouldn't leave his picture behind, though as he wanted to do more work on it...
While I viewed the fascinating photography and Nimrod exhibitions, they all went on to make some snowflakes...
...to be hung from the suspended sled...
By now we had had a full day so we headed back to the Newmarket Road Park&Ride. What a good day out! The Festival is on until next Sunday. We may go back.
Here is Little W beside our tutor who got us making different sounds and got us to drum together.
Fantastic. My favourite activity of the day. But we couldn't stay too long - Little W's hands go sore from beating the drums so hard!
...and here is one of Little Miss' attempts...
As for Big Miss, well she made some DNA...
Good work. So I ended up going home with a bagful of viruses. Nice!
First activity we tried was the pendulm drawing. In case you didn't know, this is how seismographs work. The helpers simlated an earthquake by wobbling the paper underneath the pendulum. I loved the construction - a rubber glove filled with sand as the weight with pens attached to a finger. Here's Little Miss having a go.
...and here is Big Miss helpng out by jumping up and down to create the seismic activity displayed on the trace.
After the talk we tried out out some of the demos. The Missus enjoyed herself too!
He and his sister both made badges...
... and then some dragonflies...
...while Big Miss did the quiz.
First post for a while - I've been on my holidays to the Highlands of Scotland without any Internet access for 10 days, so I'm going to have some catching up to do. Meanwhile, here's a view of the Cairngorms from the viewpoint above Grantown-on-Spey, where we were staying. And look - it isn't raining!
The gardens are looking fantastic. I love these Echinaceas...
Big Miss was in charge of the video camera and took some stills too. We decided she got the best flower picture...
Little W was more interested in the trains. He loved setting and unsetting all the signals in the signal box.
Of course we had rides on all 3 of the little trains. But as you can see, we didn't always manage to stay dry...
Still. A great day out was had by all. You can see more of our photos here on Flickr.
Holkham Beach at Wells-next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk coast is a fair drive from Bury St Edmunds, but on what was likely to be the hottest and sunniest Sunday of the year, it was just the place to go. But look what happened as we walked along the beach to pick our spot...
The sea mist rolled in! But it unlike the North East coast, where I grew up, it didn't get cold and a couple of hours later it had all boiled off.
Even though it was possibly the busiest day of the year, there was still plenty of room on the beach. The dunes here were deserted. (Well OK, maybe there are some people hiding over the tops).
The sea was lovely and warm and these two stayed in it for ages.
Yes we had a great day on the beach and everyone slept well that night.
They were running a bit low on ice-creams by the time we left, though!
It is not far to walk to the lake and picnic area in front of the house (which is now a nursing home).
But today the Missus wanted to walk on the heath to get some sun.
It's a good job we brought our water bottles with us. And even after the icecream from the visitor centre, someone still needed extra cooling when they got back home...
"I am the king of the water", he sang.
It is just off the A442 between Bridgnorth and Kiddereminster at Quatt (here). We went there last summer but didn't get to visit the house as it is only open between 2-5pm on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday. (The grounds are open from 12-6 on Mondays as well as the days he house is open). But it's worth visiting just for the gardens...
What's happened here? Has somebody shrunk the kids?
No it's just the giant Gunnara leaves. There is also a slope in the lawn which is excellent for doing roly-polys down...
I rather liked these steps, overgrown with chamomile...
Looking at my pictures of the place again, I'm starting to feel in holiday mood already... Rats I've another week and a bit to go.
