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Trains, Trains & Dinosaurs

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
I convinced myself that I had to make the title of this post a play on the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles and after a good ten minutes the best I could manage was Trains, Trains and Dinosaurs. At this point as a writer I should have abandoned the notion and selected a different title but I am a woman of conviction, a woman of my word, I am the sort of idiot who sticks with a ridiculous idea even when I know there must be a better way.
I have not had a day of just Sebastian and I since Humphrey was born and I felt I needed it. The truth is Sebastian is so devoted and really is the best big brother ever, I know it sounds like something I am just saying because this is a blog and life has to be perfect here. Sebastian has his faults but not in this department he is so tolerant of all the destruction our little baby sized berserker has brought into our lives, the perfect big brother.
days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
Given that Sebastian loves museums, dinosaurs, Andy from Cebeebies and rocks, yes really rocks The Natural History Museum was the obvious choice. Here is a little fact it is faster and cheaper for us to travel from our old apartment in Paris that it is to travel from Yorkshire to London, a pretty poor show from UK trains. I managed to find the cheapest trains I could by booking through Loco 2.
As the title of this post suggests we started with a train, followed by another train and then an underground train. We left the house a 5.40am and Sebastian was a trooper. Excited and chatting all the way to Leeds where we changed and he fell asleep soon after boarding, on my lap, with my bladder full and my bag with a book in just out of reach. During the first very long walk to the Piccadilly Line I was incredibly grateful that I took the Babyzen YoYo this was the best thing I bought in Paris, it allowed me to get everywhere in his baby years, it is so small and light you can carry it on your shoulder and flick it out when needed.
I will share with you now some of my favourite quotes of the day. This is Sebastian on London;
“It is big but a little bit too littery for me”
 
“There are a lot of adverts in London”
 
“Did they steal that Henry Moore from Yorkshire Sculpture Park?”
 
“London is a bit loud and in my grill really”

When we got off the tube and walked into the grounds I was reminded once again how breathtaking the building is, a wonder I will never take for granted. My gaze was interrupted by Sebastian yelling , “Mummy mummy look a fossil of a tree” in full on grown up mode I told him we should not guess we should go and read about it first, but I ate humble pie because he was bob on it was indeed a fossil of a tree. I did not learn my lesson as the same thing happened later on with some Iguanadon bones.

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

After getting a picture with Andy’s clock we chatted about where Andy might be we settled on the fact that he might be working on a safari adventure. The dinosaur exhibition is wonderful and I love that Sebastian wants me to read everything out, and I mean everything. He was also pretty keen on hiding behind a meteor.

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

Benugo run the T Rex cafe so the food is really good and healthy and we were in need of a bit of down time after our early start and full on Dinosaur heavy morning. It is impossible to get round the whole place in one day so over lunch Sebastian and I had a look at the guide to see which section he wanted to see.

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

I have spent his entire life hiding my fear and distaste of creepy crawlies so not to pass those fears onto Sebastian that unfortunately he is now mad about mini beasts. We spent a very long time there and Sebastian worked on his sketchbook, I will tell you more about out sketchbooks in another post.

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

Whilst Dippy is on tour the blue whale looks fantastic. Although the museum is free donations are appreciated and there are usually special exhibitions on that do have a fee. Until January Life In The Dark is on but under 16s are free, despite the fact we are both afraid of the dark the exhibit was amazing and was split into 3 sections; nocturnal animals, cave dwellers and the deep deep sea!

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

The other section we visited was rocks and minerals, yes a whole hour of reading out rock and mineral names to a 4 year old. Don’t get me wrong I love that he is so engaged in everything but mineral names are a dreadfully dull thing to read out for an hour!

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

On the way back to the station we took in some street performers. I felt so bad as all of the children were happily dancing to the steel drum until the bubble guy came along. Sebastian’s smiling face fills my heart with pure unadulterated joy.

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html
days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

A quick supper at Yo Sushi, or as Sebastian calls it Hey Sushi we headed home. We had such a fantastic day it was so special to have a special day to ourselves just the two of us. He was utterly exhausted. He fell asleep on the train home, I managed to transfer him to the pousette, then the car seat, then out of it and into bed and he stayed asleep the entire time.

days out with kids the natural history museum London http://www.archieandtherug.com/2018/09/trains-trains-dinosaurs.html

Do you ever go further a field for a day out with little ones?

 

October 9, 2018

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8 Comments

  1. Reply

    Kelsey

    October 2, 2018

    Oh I love The Natural History museum! I'm so glad Sebastian did too, but I have to agree with his comments about London being too littery and in my grill at times 🙂

  2. Reply

    Olivia

    October 2, 2018

    I love the natural history museum! I miss the dinosaur they had by the stairs! I didn't know they changed it. The new skeleton looks amazing though! 🙂 x

  3. Reply

    Sarah

    October 2, 2018

    Oh this is so lovely. What a wonderful day you two had, it's so important to spend quality time with each child and this is such a lovely way to do it. I desperately want to visit the Natural History Museum! I've never been! 🙁

  4. Reply

    Bethany Sibley

    October 4, 2018

    The natural history museum is an amazing day out, so many great things to see and the shop afterwards is even better ?

  5. Reply

    Dena Jayne

    October 4, 2018

    I used to love going to museums when I was a kid. They were always so exciting!

  6. Reply

    Helen

    October 4, 2018

    Aw what a lovely day out you both had! Sebastian sounds like an amazing big brother.
    I loved the Natural History Museum when I was younger too.

  7. Reply

    Fatima

    October 6, 2018

    My family and I visited the Natural History Museum just a few weeks ago and I have a photo of my son with the Andy’s clock too. 🙂

  8. Reply

    Emily Leary

    October 9, 2018

    I absolutely love the Natural History Museum. It is such a fun and interesting family day out. Pleased you had such a great time!

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