Out and About September Round-up

It feels like we were only just moaning about going back to school, and now September is already yesterday's news. My Mum stayed with us for a month, and she offered to look after the boys, while my husband and I would go out to the restaurant. And so we did, and I even took a lot of photos. I might try to do a blog post about our dinner, though it is already a bit of a distant memory now.
What did our bloggers do in September?
Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews took the whole gang including grandparents to eat out at the newly-refurbished Treacle Mine Whitbread Inn in Polegate near Eastbourne. Kids were given an option of choosing just whichever combination of foods they fancied, and they had picked rather unusual ones. How about pizza with mash and peas? Well, I'm not so sure I'd fancy such a combo. The sign at the entrance set everyone off in giggles, and I can see why.

Image credits: Madhouse Family Reviews

Alison from Dragons and Fairy Dust is a chronicler of the North. Recently she and her men visited the Intu Metro Centre and popped into the locally based Beckleberry ice cream shop. This is a small family owned company which produces ice cream, sorbet and speciality desserts. They have received 80 great taste awards, how amazing is that?! I'd be very happy to tuck in into any of their delicious-looking ice creams.

Image credits: Dragons and Fairy Dust

Eileen from ET Speaks from Home and her family went for a short break to Ringwood and decided to drive to Moors Valley Country Park, which is not far from where they stayed. The kids were absolutely thrilled with an amount of climbing frames and playgrounds, and who wouldn't be?! And I'd be the first in the queue to have a photo taken with the big Gruffalo.

Image creidts: ET Speaks from Home

Back to Cheryl and her lovely trio. They spent a day at Fort Mardyck Zoo. This is a small Zoo which focuses on the native European species, they have about 250 animals covering 50 different species. The younger members of the family were also delighted to find a play area in the Zoo. It was a sunny day, and many animals were basking in the sunshine.

Image credits: Madhouse Family Reviews

Mel from The Diary of a Jewellery Lover made a trip of a lifetime, flying in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon. I know it's very impressive but I'd most likely die from fright or at least faint. Brave Mel found the scenery breathtaking. Though she was nervous to start with, it sounds like she enjoyed her trip very much. I guess a glass of bubbly might have helped. I cannot even look at the photos on her post without having heart palpitations.

Image credits: The Diary of a Jewellery Lover

Getting back to our shores, Mel took a trip to Dismaland. It has been in the news a lot recently, and I have read several blog reviews as well as posts on Facebook, describing the experience. Despite the fact that I did my MA in art theory and criticism, I am very choosy selective when it comes to modern art. And as it often happens with the modern art, it is more of a statement than actual art.

Image credits: The Diary of a Jewellery Lover

Some critics described Dismaland as the emperor's new clothes - a lot of hype, and less substance, with one pastiche over another. From what I've read and seen, I tend to agree. The entrance sign in big letters looks very much like the signposts of the nazi concentration camps, and that is in truly bad taste. And so are most of the exhibits in the show, like mini-boats with refugees with the dead bodies floating around, or the parody installation of the Cinderella's pumpkin coach crush.
That's of course, my personal opinion. Dancing Dandelions on the other hand found Dismaland depressingly brilliant, amazingly dismal and eerily awesome. It's fascinating to read all the different opinions and reviews in the papers and online, and this exhibition has definitely split the nation into admirers and harsh critics.
For me, the poster below sums it up in a way. You wait for something interesting. It might never materialise.

Image credits; Dancing Dandelions

Let's move from the dismaland to the sunny beach in Sothbourne, which Eileen from ET Speaks from Home visited while spending a few last days of summer holidays with her guys in Dorset. Dorset is glorious in any weather, but when the sun is shining, it's just perfect for frolicking on the sandy beach.

Image credits: ET Speaks from Home

From one beach to another - Eileen takes her children to the RockReef Activity Centre on Bournemouth Pier. Though this time they spent time indoors, having booked an adventure package which included the Fun Climb and HighLine. This looks like a great fun, and my guys would love it.

Image credits: ET Speaks from Home

Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews and her family are one active bunch. One weekend last month they opted to spend time in the multi-era reenactment camp in the local camp. As someone who loves costume and period dramas, I'd be thrilled to tag along. Juliette tried a suit of armour and nearly drowned in it, but Pierre was a true knight and held the sword with pride. The only reenactment camp I ever visited was staged in the Blenheim park many years ago.

Image credits: Madhouse Family Reviews

Fiona from Coombe Mill travelled to France. They explored the beautiful centre of Avignon, visited the castle, browsed the market stalls and left with lots of happy memories. I smiled when I read that the kids wanted to eat in the local MacDonald's. This brings memories of our trip to Naples, where little Sasha refused to eat anything in the fancy Italian restaurant, so we shocked our lunch companions by wandering across the square to buy the French fries in MacDonald's and coming back with a paper bag of fries with us.

Image credits: Coombe Mill

Alison from Dragons and Fairy Dust loved the poppies display at the Weeping Window and Woodhorn Museum. This was a spectacular display, and a very moving exhibition. Alison found it a fascinating experience and learnt a lot at the poignant tribute to the men who lost their lives in the war.

Image credits: Dragons and Fairy Dust

Zoe from Splodz Blogz always has some amazing adventures to share on her blog. This time she travelled to Obergurgl. Have you heard of it before? No, me neither. But if you like skiing and are looking for a decent snow, apparently that's the right spot for you. Obergurgl is Austria's highest parish and a village which has around 400 residents. It sits at 1.930m above the sea level. It looks awe-inspiring.

Image credits: Splodz Blogz

Unlike me, Zoe loves heights, and visits a lot of places where she can climb high up and admire the views from above. On her recent trip of track cycling she went up the ArcelorMittal Orbit in the London 2012 Olympic Park and had some great views across London. Whenever I read her posts, I think "Better you than me!", though I do admire her adventurous spirit.

Image credits: Splodz Blogz

And that splendid view ends our round-up for September.
See you soon!

The out and about linky is a linky for places of interest you have visited, restaurants you have eaten out at, days out with the kids or holidays. Anywhere that gets you out and about. It is co-hosted with Dragons and Fairy Dust and stays open until the end of the month. If you have been anywhere recently why not link up? We love to find out about your adventures.

Rules of the linky

• You can add up to three posts per month to the linky below. Please make sure they are no older than three months old and feature somewhere you have visited.
• Tweet your link using #outandabout, if you include @ali991 and @maximka25 we will retweet for you.
• Do pop along and comment on a couple of other posts in the link up and share the love.
• We would love it if you could add the #outandabout badge to your post so that other bloggers can find us.
• Your posts will be tweeted at least two times during the month and added to the out and about pinterest board

An InLinkz Link-up