Meccano, is it just for children?

As usual at the moment things are hectic around the house, so I was so happy to give my Meccano off road racer to TJ for a little space. 

This will be the first time TJ or myself have ever made a Meccano model and my first thoughts were that it looked quite easy and once the model had been finished he could build another one of the twenty-five models.

Emptying all the pieces into the box so nothing is lost, I left TJ in charge of putting together the first few pages of the book. With 406 pieces I thought this may take him a while to complete. 

Finding the pieces and slowly and carefully putting the screws and nuts together. By step 10 TJ was fed up so I took over. Twenty minutes later my fiddly fingers found it difficult to place small nuts around the screws. Finally I gave in and started looking at the tools properly. It was then that i realised that the monkey wrench had various purposes. 

The instructions are clear, and with the picture of the screws and a 1:1 picture of each screw that is needed on the each instruction. The Meccano is built out of black plastic or metal and each piece has a place to go.

 After three nights of spending a little time and doing 6 instructions a time I still haven't finished.

I'm loving the fact that this isn't just a 5 minute job and that it is taking time to build. I like to take my time making things and love a good jigsaw puzzle so this is right up my alley. 

Although TJ has lost interest I'm enjoying making it as it's helping keep my mind off of some family problems of late. 

Lemur Landings Re- Launch

When I said to TJ Lemur Landings at Tower Park Poole was re - launching a updated version of the fantastic indoor play area he bounced around the room saying he wanted to go.

Keeping in mind TJ is now 9 years old and very excited to be going.

When arriving we had a meet and greet with two very cheeky and fun Pirate Lemurs. Lewey and Lola characters were so much fun they had me in giggles of laughter throughout the  time we were with them.  

The new Play village was so much fun although its for small children I had more fun dashing in and out a pretending to be different shop owners and the police. 

Next was the climbing wall with four different sections and light up steps reaching a height of 5 metres. 

There is a weight allowance minimum being 2st and maximum being 17st. 

The best part about the wall is being able to race others to the top and hit the button to stop the timer.

When it's quiet you can have as many goes as you want although when it busy there is a token system working.

TJ was to big to go on the smaller child's adventure area, which looked like so much fun.
The area was raised from the ground and the children had to wear harnesses  

Pizza was served as food at the re-launch and I have to say it was better then Pizza hut's. Our favorite flavor was the BBQ chicken and sweetcorn.  

The pizza's had plenty of cheese and lots of flavor. 

  

Knotts Berry Farm was deserted which worked out amazing for us..

When visiting somewhere for the first time you expect it to be daunting. Honestly because of the time of the year that we went it was quiet which made visiting Knott's Berry Farm Theme Park such an amazing choice.

The musical part of the park wasn't the best I've heard and the actors and actresses seemed a little bored of the act. Saying this the guy that was chosen from the audience did throw a few curve balls towards the actress which made the show a little more entertaining.

When walking around the park it was like a ghost town, being in a ghost town has it's advantages.

For example walking straight on to the roller coasters. I did three coasters within 15 minutes including walking from one coaster to the next.

The view from the front of the queue is always awesome when there's only you and at the most 100 other people in the park. 

The mine train was a little dated for the adults but for the children who were on the train they enjoyed being on it.

The park is the oldest theme park in the US which began as a farm in the 1920's. The Knotts family specialised in boysenberry's. Selling jams, drinks and pies a restaurant was born. 

With all the history that is involved in Knotts Berry Farm and an area that is dedicated to the Old West when the ghost town was built in the 1940's. The buildings are authentic. The mine and log ride were purchased and added to the numerous attractions in the 1960's.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

My Dad posing with a few of the locals.

The coaster rides are amazing my favorite being the Xcelerator. Be prepared to sit in a hot rod seat that smashes 82 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds. Racing up 205 feet into the air before plummeting back down towards the ground at a 90 degree angle  this ride is a must for any thrill seeker. 

 There are so many amazing rides to choose from including the rides for the children at camp snoopy. The show for me was a little bit on the young side so we left it early. All the children were clapping and singing with the songs and joining in. 

Nothe Fort Weymouth

Entrance to Nothe Fort 

Monday the 26th of August was a busy day but for some reason this beautifully restored Fort was not busy. The heat outside was hot and sticky and yet walking around this place it seemed like a cool summers day.

When you enter the Fort it doesn't look like much but a large tunnel and lots of rooms leading off the central area.

View from the top of the Fort 

We first started looking around the top floor of the Victorian built labyrinth. With three floors and fantastic views of the surrounding coastal area we were stunned at the sights that could be seen from the viewing deck room.    

 

Each of the displays on every floor had numbers to help find where you are on the map. This came in handy when we reached the basement floor. In the basement there was a dark corridor where it's said to have a lot of paranormal activity the main one being an eerie whistler that can heard around the Fort.  

Each floor has various room with descriptions of what the rooms roll was back in each of the wars.

Feeling very lucky whilst looking around we stumbled across a room that had man made matchstick  aircraft carriers and planes. Each of the models were hand painted down to the smallest detail

Matchstick airplanes

Matchstick aircraft carriers 

Thunderbirds are go, go, go!

I am in love with this new RC Thunderbirds 2.

Unboxing the T2 didn't take much effort there were 2 pieces of string wrapped around the T2, a small piece of cable tie around the charging cables which was slotted inside a cardboard slit. The controller was held in with 2 small plastic pieces that were easily twisted to release from the packaging. This has by far been the best and easiest packaged toy I have opened in a very long time.

Packaging 

Once out of the packaging the controller needed 4 x AA batteries, I was prepared to get the mini screwdriver, but it was not needed. There is a neat little button that you need something similar to the size of  a biro pen nib to push in and slide out. Again this was so easy to do even a small child could do it.

Flying competition

From the minute I charged the aircraft my 35 year old brother and myself have been trying to out manoeuvre each other.

The controls are easy to use with the left thumb stick controlling height with the right thumb stick controlling the turning.

 Its light weight with a polystyrene shell in the shape of T2. This covers the power core and the stabilization gyro making the T2 harder to crash and break. The shell helps protect all the walls and furniture from being chipped at by the rotating blades.

(sorry about the mess) T2 at a steady height.

Due to the rotating blades that spin round the bottom of the Thunderbird 2 I would recommend using with hair up ( longer hair ) as it causes a draft when flying overhead causing hair to go everywhere. 

The T2 flies in various directions, but because of the lightweight design is easily blown of course when there is a draft which makes the craft a little harder to control. 

Charging time is very quick and the charge for the Thunderbird 2 we found have lasted about 25 - 30 minutes with each charge.

One Day Holiday Challenge

Over the Summer holiday I was set the challenge by a Ocean Finance to stick to a strict budget of £100 for a day out or days out. This was named the 'One Day Holiday.' The reason the challenge has been set is to help show that its not needed to spend a fortune to have a great day out.

With the money I originally intended to go to Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. I filled my car up with fuel, brought snacks and hit the road. By the time we got to the balloon fiesta the hot air balloons had already taken off and landed so that scuffled our plans for the day.

The view from the road.

After taking a few moments and a google search for what points of interests were nearby we ended up heading to Bristol Zoo.

Bristol Zoo

Once at Bristol Zoo it felt like we were the only people there. We weren't, but it was very quiet till about lunchtime and then the crowds were flocking in. 

TJ and I started looking at the lion area, to begin with we didn't see the lions until we got to the second half of the enclosure. Once at the glass the lion was at the front of the enclosure observing all the people passing by and watching them closely.

So close to this one amazing animal.

 The next animal we went through the enclosure and looked at the flamingo's. 

Tj commented on the color of their wings and body as they were such a brilliant pink.

On to the Gorilla enclosure. Again it was amazing to be so close to these beautiful and powerful primates. When we arrived at the enclosure they had just been let back into the house for their breakfast. It was amazing to see the 32st Silverback Gorilla picking at bugs and what looked like large nuts off of the floor.

The Gorilla house has recently had £1 million over haul and the fantastic 180 degree views.

The penguin enclosure was beautiful, its been a long time since I've been up close to one but this little one definitely stole the thunder from all the rest. I named him Dudley although that's not his official zoo name. 

He was such a lovely character and even poked his beak through the cage allowing me to stroke his head and bill. I don't recommend doing this to anyone as they can have a nasty nip.

The above animals were just a select few in the zoo. Every enclosure was well kept and well looked after. 

The shots below are a select few of some animals within the zoo that I found interesting and one which I've not seen before.

This seal was yelling and posed for a photo!

A very rare TJ turtle 

Another rare human Joey

The Army Air Museum - Stockbridge

Tank outside the museum

The Army Air Museum is located just a stones throw away from Middlewallop Army base. 

We were lucky enough to visit the museum on the bases Family Air Day.  

This consisted of helicopter flights landing and departing throughout the day, taking army personnel and their families for a tour of the local area. The flights lasted around 20 minutes each but it was amazing to see the whirlybirds flying so gracefully.

TJ inside the nose of the helicopter 

As we were at the museum before it opened we headed on round to the cafe where we had breakfast, I should say I had breakfast as TJ ate cereal in the car as I was driving. While I ate, I sat watching TJ running around the play area like a lunatic diving from one wooden structure to another. I have to say I found this highly amusing as he was pretending the aircraft's that were coming in to land were communicating with him via the wooden watch tower.

 Once breakfast was eaten and all the helicopters had been  grounded by LT. TJ (or at least as quickly as I coulld get him in to the museum before the next one took off) We raced to the museum entrance.

Once in the staff were helpful beyond my expectations explaining the different quizzes that there were to do. ( there were 4 different quizzes) in the end we choose to go on a teddy bear hunt and to find the stars around the museum.

On our journey through the different areas we came across a area where you can education area. Within the area was a machine that shows how wind affects the flight and how it helps lift the aircraft off the ground.

TJ learning how hard it is to keep a helicopter upright and straight

 Next on the tasks list was visiting all the different aviation machines from the aeroplanes to the small one seated helicopters. 

Fascinated by the man inside the aircraft

TJ found the dressing up area 

Flight simulator last 5 minutes and costs £1.

The hanger in the photographs below had helicopters coming down from the ceilings as well as being on the ground. Displaying in this hanger must've been at least 10 different aviation vehicles.

 Not only on our ticket we paid for entry for that day but we also became members for a year with gift aid so in the next year when we want to return entry will be free each time.

 I have attached a link to the events page of the website so you can see what special days are on whilst you visit.

 https://www.armyflying.com/events/