Making the best of a bad day!

We decided we'd have lunch out today (McDonalds won the vote although Sams vote was Peterborough Services - they have Pizza Hut, McDonalds and KFC next to each other so we all get to have diferent meals there!) and then go to Colchester Zoo. McDonalds was great and we won a cheeseburger in their Monopoly competition - I can't tell you how thrilled Megan was with that! She spent the whole time in McDonalds fantasizing about what she would do if she won the £500K if we find Park Lane (which we did) and Mayfair! It mostly centred around having a wii in her bedroom!

Then we set off for Colchester Zoo. I usually drive on country roads to get there, but went the wrong way at a roundabout and decided to stick with it and go on the A12 - duel carriage way after all.

I HATE the A12 - there's always problems and today was no different. It should have been a half hour journey but 45mins later we were still stuck in traffic and had hardly travelled at all. So I got off at the first junction I could and headed back, crestfallen towards Maldon.

The kids were disappointed, but when we saw a sign for the Museum of Power, they jumped at the chance to go there instead! Megan had been with a school trip and was so thrilled she could go back with us.

It was going to cost £7.50 for us to go - one adult and two over 5's, but the man on the desk said Sam looked like he was only just five so could go in free - I think he felt bad at charging us 'cause it turns out it was rubbish! I'm not sure what I was expecting - I don't think I'm ever going to feel excited about a museum about power, but this felt like steptoe's shed! (If they ever read this, I'll feel terrible! Its me, not you!)

But Megan, Sam and Leah were THRILLED! They ran from "exhibit" to "exhibit", shouting "Wow, come and turn this wheel!" or "Watch how this button lights up this light"!?! I honestly don't think there was any difference in their reaction to when we went to the Science Museum in London!

Megan had a go at taking this lawn mower engine apart and...erm...putting it back together (or she took it apart and I put it back together as usual!)

Sam loved this not so ancient Little Tomy toy - cogs that you fit together so they all turn.

The donuts we'd brought were enjoyed under a tree by the river - picnics always improve a trip!

The museum has a train track round it - one of those trains you all sit on - but of course it wasn't running today! So we walked round the track and the kids...pretended to be a train!!?

They even had fun with a little statue on the train platform which was obviously closed!

This could have been another disaster and if had been down to me, I'd have been scoffing at everything there, but the kids were troopers! They made the best of everything they found! We played pooh sticks under the bridge, but the river ran so slowly and was so clogged with muck that it took about 10 minutes for their sticks to come through! Not a moan or a murmer! (Except secretly from me!) They just persevered! I was really pleased with how they dealt with what they were stuck with! I'm usually complaining about them, but today, I've got the best kids in Essex!