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In Family Time, Reviews / Sponsored

Santa’s Christmas Steam Adventure

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 6 Comments
"It's Santa's train!"

I am a bit of a train geek. I am blaming this on the fact that I have two boys and the eldest has always loved trains. On Saturday we headed over to the National Railway Museum at York for the launch of Santa’a Christmas Steam Adventure, and we loved every minute!

The museum itself we have visited many times and Kieran has also been with school. It is free to enter and there is so much to see and do! More details on the NRM can be found here.

On arrival to the special festive event we were cheerfully greeted and shown into the festive area (for ticket holders only) where we could see a whole array of festive delights!

Our tickets were for 12.45pm and at 12.40pm we were ushered onto the Santa Express. Kieran was agog! A train AND Santa? Surely it doesn’t get any better than this? The children were all invited to take one of the cushions and warm blankets that were dotted around and get snuggled up and comfy. The storytelling began and the storyteller had a fantastic knack of capturing the children’s imagination and keeping them involved as the story progressed.

Let the storytelling begin!

I won’t tell you much more about this because I really don’t want to spoil the surprise, but Santa did arrive and everyone was given an age appropriate gift by the wide-eyed man in red! The tickets for this event are £7.50 for a child and £5 for an adult (which includes a mince pie and hot drink in the cafe) and it is worth every penny. The gift that Kieran received from Santa was worth more than the ticket price alone, no “tat” like you sometimes see at various grottos and the like.

Santa’s Christmas Steam Adventure runs literally right up until Christmas, see below for details and visit here to book.

Dates and times

  • November 19, 20
  • November 26, 27
  • December 3, 4
  • December 10, 11
  • December 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

Times are 10:30, 11:15, 12:00, 12:45, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15, 16:00.

This was a fantastic way to spend the day and Kieran is still talking about it. This is the first time Santa has visited the NRM for a long time and seeing as he has already been a bit hit, I hope we can see him next year too!

The staff were brilliant! Nothing was too much trouble and there were smiles a-plenty. This is Rhona, one of the staff helping out who really did make you believe it was Christmas with her genuine cheerfulness!
We have always loved the education side to the NRM. A festive occasion it may have been but there is still a lot to see and do outside of the event making it a full visit!

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Don’t forget that you can be kept up to date with the NRM’s news and offers on Facebook and Twitter!

*We were offered free tickets to this event in exchange for a write up of the first day of the event. This review is based purely on our experiences as a family and the NRM have had no influence over this. Neither has Santa.

In Family Time, General

What do you do for Christmas?

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 4 Comments

Thinly Spread

It’s November now and Christmas is getting closer. We do much the same every year and throughly enjoy the season.

Christmas Eve

Before lunch we drop off presents for everyone we’ll be seeing at my parents the next day before setting off to Roy’s parent’s and spending time with everyone there. There is always a festive feel, much noise and laughter! Roy sees his siblings, cousins, nephews and niece and we all get a chance to catch up. Usually there is a “help yourself” buffet set up (which adds to the festive feel), and we do… often! Before it gets too late we set off back home which takes 40minutes to an hour depending on the weather.

Once home, after a light supper and warm drinks, it’s time to set out stockings, leave mince pies, carrots and milk out for Santa and the reindeer and off to bed.

When the coast is clear we bring everything out of their hiding places and arrange it before snuggling up for some quiet time for us and a fun film.

Christmas Morning

I am always first up, shortly before 5am. This is no different to any other day of the year but on Christmas morning I am up with a spring in my step. I love Christmas! I usually accidently wake Kieran who in turn accidently bounces on Roy until everyone is awake and we can go downstairs. Stockings are opened then it’s time for breakfast. The adults always have bacon sandwiches, Kieran always chooses an egg bango and I’m guessing Taylor will have weetabix.

Then the rest of the gifts are opened, with Xmas music in the background and we just enjoy our morning together. By about 10.30am we are all showered, changed, wrapped up and ready to walk to my parent’s home.

Christmas at the Magee home.

I love Christmas at my parent’s house, everyone does. It really does have a magical quality to it. I am one of six siblings and most of us are married or have partners and children. It gets busy! Once the grown-ups have had their coffee we all decamp to the front room where Mum sits under a beautifully decorated tree and hands out presents to us all. There is alway much fun and laughter and Dad always gets to play bin man, a standing joke, as he sits by the door with the bin bags and we all gently pass (throw when Mum isn’t looking) the wrapping over to him.

After all the gifts have been exchanged and we’ve had a natter and taken photos we are kicked out. Yes, Mum tells us all it’s time to leave! Since we all started having children and the house has got fuller and fuller we’ve all gone home after the morning fun to spend our own family time in our own homes (we are all local) and get a phonecall when it’s time to come back for Xmas dinner. This works brilliantly and gives Mum & Dad a break from the chaos!

Once home, we slump and the kids play. Christmas TV is on and we just have a relaxing afternoon and a small lunch.

About 3.30pm we get “The Call” and hightail it back to Mum & Dad’s for Xmas Dinner! You have to understand something here. Mum’s Xmas dinner is legendary, and Roy starts talking about it mid-October. There are crackers, and jokes and delicious food. We always have Shloer as well as more adult drinks and it’s a great occasion. Shortly after tea we all start to filter off home. The kids are tired, the grown ups are tired but everyone is blissfully happy.

We love our family Christmas’s – they really do capture the magical of the season.

What do you do on Xmas day? Do you stay at home, have chinese for dinner, go for the full traditional day? I’d love to hear!

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