On the last day in Norfolk we decided to head to a lovely National Trust property, Felbrigg Hall Gardens and Estate. It was actually my mum who suggested we visit, and I'm glad she did. Felbrigg is absolutely beautiful and we had a wonderful day out.

We did encounter a little problem at the very beginning of our visit. We were using a Sat Nat to find our way there, and we ended up being taken along a rather strange route. We didn't go through the main gate, and we actually thought we'd have to turn around when we reached a gate! I'm not sure if it was something wrong with the sat nav, but we did enter the postcode on the website. Strange.

We made it though, and started our visit with a wander through the walled gardens. These are located just off the car park, and are full of flowers, fruit and veg and even a beautiful dovecote you can go inside.

The gardens were bursting with colours and smells that the littles loved exploring. Everywhere we looked there were hundreds of ladybirds as well. I remember our wedding day being over run by ladybirds, and they seemed to follow us around Felbrigg too!

After a gorgeous lunch in the cafe - which I must add is located in a beautiful courtyard - we continued exploring the grounds. The huge park features a lake, 520 acres of woods and way marked trails, meaning so much to explore. Most of the walks are buggy friendly too; although Parker decided he wanted to run around and not sleep for the whole day!

We walked through the woods around the back of the house, which was a perfect trail for little ones to explore - enclosed and not too long. Indie had her bucket from when we visited the beach, and was collecting as many stones, chestnuts, leaves and acorns as she possibly could. I've always said these kind of places are so much more fun in the Autumn - there's just so much more to see!

We soon left the woods, and were greeted with the lovely views of the Hall itself. We didn't actually go inside (the littles are still a bit too small for houses), but it is beautiful from the outside. The main house is surrounded by gates, but just outside were cows roaming the lands - a highlight of Indie's trip I think!

As we made it back to the entrance we stopped to play with the provided outdoor games. Hula hoops, cones, balls and plastic rackets - I can imagine these are hugely popular in the summer months. We all enjoyed them though and even had a mini game of frisbee before we had to leave.

We had the perfect end to our holiday at Felbrigg Hall. I just wish we could come back and visit again sooner!

Exploring Pensthorpe Natural Park in the Autumn

Probably my favourite day out from our recent holiday to Norfolk, was our visit to Pensthorpe Natural Park. Voted Norfolk's Best Large Attraction last year, Pensthorpe (which is located close to where we were staying in Fakenham) had something to do for all the family and kept us busy the whole day.

Lakeside nature trails, woodland walks, gardens to explore and animals to find as well as a huge outdoor adventure play and indoor soft play. I honestly wish we had something similar where we live, as we all had so much fun, Indiana especially1

We headed straight to Hootz House (indoor adventure play) when we arrived as it was still a little chilly outside. Entry into Hootz is by timed sessions, but is included within the price which is fantastic - especially when we didn't have to pay for the children to enter (under 3s are free).

You get a two hour time slot which is more than enough time to play. Under 5s have their own section to play in, although like most soft plays you can take them into the bigger section. I think we spent almost an hour sat playing with the ball machine, and whizzing down the slides.

By the time our slot was up it was lunch time. If we had visited during the warmer months we would have definitely brought a picnic. We ended up in the Courtyard Cafe though, which although quite pricey, offered some really tasty food. It was definitely needed too, as after lunch we had lots of exploring to do!

Parker was exhausted by this point so with him asleep in his pram, we let Indiana lead the way. As we visited over the Halloween half term there were extra activities to do. Indie was most excited about following the paths and spotting the bugs though.

It wasn't long before we found the beautiful red squirrels and flamingos hidden along the woodland walk. It did make me laugh to see Indie much more excited by a common duck, that you can find at our local park though! She was feeding them grass and completely ignoring the flamingos she'd never seen before.

We left the 'mingos' and continued exploring the park. There is so much to see, you really couldn't fit it all in during one visit. We just let Indie decide where she wanted to go and ended up walking around the lake and through the Sculpture Garden; following the stamp and mirror trails.

We ended the day back at the WildRootz adventure play - a Huge outdoor play area with the usual play equipment, sandpit, little streams to play in and the biggest slide I've ever seen (Jack said he'd only go on it once as there were so many stairs).

There really was so much to do and explore at Pensthorpe. Whether you want to discover nature on a nature walk, or just need to entertain the kids - it's a perfect day out for all ages!