#CountryKids A sunny afternoon at Wray Castle

It was a nice day yesterday so we decided to head up the shores of Windermere and go to Wray Castle. Lots of other people had the same idea so we had to go to the overflow car park and came at the castle from a different angle:

We quickly grabbed a picnic from the cafe and I spotted this cheeky little addition to a hole in the servery:

Well supplied we took the wiggly path down to the lake shore:

A picnic rug was established in a combined shady/sunny spot and the children very quickly changed into swim wear and were into the water:

The water wasn't was very warm but they were happy enough paddling, my daughter wasn't too happy when she slipped and fell right in:

The local swans didn't seem to mind either the cold water or the noisy children:

After recovering from her impromptu dip my daughter attempted to catch some of the other local fauna:

Her little brother did what little brothers do best, cause as much disruption as possible too stop her succeeding:

I then persuaded him to have a go at swimming despite the coldness of the water. He didn't do too badly:

Big sister had given up on catching anything and instead had fun skimming stones:

After a while they both needed to get out and warm up whilst they ate their picnic:

Once they had warmed up and got dressed my son was keen to get into the castle as on his last visit he had discovered a new table tennis table in one of the old servant's rooms:

My daughter made butterfly feeders in a free crafting session whilst I had a wander around. I love that they have dressed one room to look like another of our local properties Allan Bank

You can see why the original owners had chose to site their castle in this beautiful spot when you look through the windows:

The castle is geared up to entertaining lots of different ages including a full sized billiard table:

Even away from the adventure playground there was plenty for the children to do including croquet:

On our way back to the car I couldn't resist taking a shot through this strategically placed picture frame:

My children were much more interested in the volleyball net:

I am planning on going back next week just with my son and to hopefully spend time in the new adventure playground!