Craggaunowen - Weekend Fun!

Morning,

Recently we visited Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and had such a great time we decided to venture to Craggaunowen in Quin, Co Clare. I think I remember being on a school tour to Craggaunowen many moons ago so I was dying to check it out again and I was sure the whole family would enjoy it.

Craggaunowen is a reconstruction of a Bronze Age site with prehistoric lake dwellings called Crannogs, early Christain ring fort, Iron Age roadway and a replica of the Brendan Boat which is a sixth century vessel. There is also a restored 16th century tower house.

As you make your way around the various attractions there are people acting out what life was like in this era. They show the crowds how they cooked, what they ate, how they made clothes and the weapons they used. This was a lovely bonus and captured my 3 years old attention. It was very informative and done in an interesting manner. They invite people and children to participate.

There is a forest walk around Craggaunowen so bring the willies! We forgot ours and got a bit on the mucky side acting like Peppa Pig!  There are loads of rocks to jump off in the forest which is how my three year old would spend her day if we let her! :-)

There is also a castle to explore which was built in 1550. If you are lucky you will spot some Soay Sheep and wild boar which are all specimens of the prehistoric era.  Craggaunowen has a great tea room and picnic area to enjoy. It is open daily from 10am to 5pm during the summer. A family ticket will set you back a modest €21.50. A great price for a great day out!

Give it a go and let me know what you think!?

Don't forget to follow us on facebook @ Countryside Mumsie Blog and also Instagram @ countryside_mumsie

Orla & Kerri Xx

Free Fun Friday-Arts&Crafts

Hey Mums,

Welcome to our 'Free Fun Friday'.

Hope you pick up some great free fun ideas for the family. Today's 'Free Fun Friday' idea is flower collages. Hope you enjoy!

With all the beautiful nature available to us in our gardens and in the wild at the moment I decided to give flower collages a go. It went down great with my girls holding their attention and they had lots of fun. We got our baskets out and went collecting flowers and leaves. We went around our own garden and then down the road to see what the hedges could offer us. There were giggles and running, grabbing and throwing but by the time we got home we had lots of colourful flowers and leaves to create a great collage.

The girls decided to make a card for Granny and a mask for Grandad. I find if they are making something for someone and I make a big deal of delivering it in an envelop after it keeps them really focused. They love getting attention for their hard work.

All we needed besides the flowers was glue, cardboard and I bought blank face masks at Mr Price. 

The girls loved creating their pieces for their grandparents and it was a lovely activity keeping them busy and entertained.  The odd bug came out of the flowers which were investigated too!

I usually put on background music while they are partaking in arts and crafts it creates a nice atmosphere; the album that was on was 'Now Disney Princess'. Great album for any princesses in your life! To be honest I love it too;-)

Give it a go, post some pics if you try it!  I would love to see them!

Last thing I just want to mention is this weekend's 'Crooms Party In The Park'

Weekend Family Fun in Croom, Co Limerick

'Croom Party in the Park' in Co Limerick is taking place this weekend. It is celebrating the official opening of the Croom Town Park.  The Croom Park and Playground is looking amazing. This is sure to be a great family day out. On Saturday from 1pm there are bouncy castles,face painting, food and craft village, animal road show, train rides, crazy golf, giant jenga and entertainment for all the family. 2e wristbands admits one child to all activities which are available to purchase on the day.

Don't forget to follow us on facebook @Countryside Mumsie Blog.

On instagram we are countryside_mumsie

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Orla and Kerrixxx

Free Fun Friday

Welcome to the first edition of 'Free Fun Friday'. Here we hope to bring you some great FREE fun ideas, for the family and for mums alone. Today's 'Free Fun Friday' idea is.......drum roll please......a whole family fun activity........... Geocatching!! 

The three of us are always up for an adventure in the great outdoors, whether it's the beach, the woods or the lovely countryside around us. When a few months back we stumbled across the idea of geocaching we just HAD to give it a go. What in God's name is Grocaching I hear you ask? : Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. Sounds great doesn't it!

We downlaoded the app  from here, found a geo catch nearest to our house and got ready to set out to find it! 

Dad and I were very excited about at the prospect of a real life treasure hunt, we both loved them as kids! However...we weren't convinced DS (Darling Son) would share our enthuaism....we needed to step this treasure hunt up a notch. 

Out comes good old reliable pintrest, where I found super ideas. I loved the kids treasure hunts ideas I found so I mixed and matched a few ideas and Ahoy there Maties to a super piriate loving treasure hunt. Similar one found here.

Off to a near by woods we headed, armed with a checklist of items we needed to find,a telescope, a compass,  a sword, welliies, a crayon, the geo caching app and bucket loads of enthuasism!

Having found the geo cach quite easily we concenrtated on ticking off our treasure hunt requirements, after a great walk in the woods, lots of games and make believe we emerged with our treasure! The only thing left was to bury it!

Off to the beach to bury the treasure! A big hole was dug and in went the treasure (all bar two sticks), covered it back over, got the sticks and DS very proudly placed them as 'X' marks the spot!!

This was a super fun afternoon of adventure. I was so glad we had made it fun for all three of us. The geocaching app is great for adults and the pirate themed worked briliant for our son. And the best thing of all....it was completely FREE!! We have since gone on many more geo catching adventurous both at home in Cork and around the country. So heres to many more geocach pirate adventures.

Why don't you give it a go this long weekend? 'Don the wellie boots and pirate eye patch and off you go! If you do we would love to hear how it goes! 

'X' marks the spot of the buried treasure 

If your around the Cork area and feeling like a little more refined 'Free Fun' this weekend be sure to cheek out The John Saul Picnic and Vintage Fair at the Castlemartyr Resort. Kids are free as is parking, adults are €5, but I believe proceeds go to a local charity. It's on Bank Holiday Monday and if last year's is anything to go by, we are in for a treat. It's a super family day out. We shall be there, picnic at the ready, if you are there be sure to give a wave and say hi. 

Have  a great weekend everyone xxxxx

Love Kerri and Orla xx