Diggerland 2012

We have decided not to have a main summer holiday this year due to going to Eurodisney and Lapland which are both very expensive trips. So instead of a big summer holiday I have promised the boys I will take the odd day off of work to take them out for the day. Work has been so busy lately that I finally managed to make good on my commitment to the boys this Tuesday just gone and we made our annual visit to Diggerland down in Kent. We picked the absolute perfect day as the kids were still at school so there must have only been 40-50 people in the park, plus the weather was scorching hot. The best part though was that we have had so much rain this summer that the diggers and dumpers had some proper muddy swamps to drive through which made it sooo much more fun. 

We all had an absolute blast of a day and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Joshua is tall enough that he can drive all but one of the diggers on his own this year. He absolutely loved this and did an outstanding job of driving some of the machines through some very tricky terrain. Brandon is still a fraction under 1m tall and had to go on nearly all the rides with an adult (or in some cases Josh) and I think there was 2 or 3 rides which he couldn't go on at all.

Anyway this blog update is going to be a bit of a picture fest with some 30+ shots from our day out.

We're in the army now.......

The first ride was the big dumpers. Unfortunately 1.4m min to ride solo as under this and you would not reach the pedal. So both boys had to ride on our laps for this one. However both of them managed to steer the dumper around the course with no problems at all. 

It was then time to get down and dirty and dig some holes. At first Joshua went on this with his Mummy, but next time around he controlled these diggers solo.

Dig-around doesn't look all that impressive but boy does it spin you around and get you dizzy. Fortunately I managed to avoid the nausea of spinning around and sniffing diesel fumes at the same time as Joshua and Brandon could ride this without an adult.

You spin me right around baby right round.

For me the top ride of the day was these little JCB's which seem to be able to negotiate any type of terrain. This was the first vehicle that Joshua got to ride solo and I couldn't have picked a more difficult one as it is controlled by twin joysticks. We was nervous about letting him loose on his own but as it turned out he was a natural and navigated around the very tricky and muddy course as easy as anything! 

Going solo for the first time in a very muddy JCB.

Staying perfectly in the middle of the track.

Brandon rode with me and also managed to steer the JCB a little bit on his own.

A happy little bunny having a turn at steering the JCB.

Next up were the "Bob The Builder" cars as Josh calls them. Now this is where things went a little wrong as these vehicles are reasonably quick and I decided to let Joshua and Tina ride one of these as Brandon wasn't tall enough. So what do you get when you let a 4 year old and a woman drive? You get a vehicle stuck sideways crashed into a tyre barrier!  

Anyone got a JCB to help us out of this predicament?

Finally off and running again and rallying through the mud and puddles.

Now just how cute is this. Both boys driving around in a mini Land rover. Brandon couldn't drive these on his own but he could ride in the passenger seat with Joshua driving. It was absolutely hilarious watching the two of them going around and around, having a little natter and every now and then losing concentration on the road. But they had fun.

Someone should tell Joshua to keep his eyes on the road!

Brandon now taller than the 0.8m marker, but just a fraction under the 1m marker.

Joshua towering over all the markers except for the 1.4m one.

Getting ready to go 75ft up in the air for an areal view of Kent and Rochester castle.

The view looking down on Diggerland.

Brandon and Mummy heading off on a train ride whilst me and Joshua hit Spin Dizzy.

A rare family picture of us all on the digger train.

Joshua did amazingly well at controlling the little diggers with the skill games. He successfully managed to play the skittles, the treasure hunt and the duck lifting all on his own. Brandon also had a go, but for this year he had to ride with Daddy.  

Only 3 skittles left..........

Brandon trying to nail his final skittle.

Joshua digging for the hidden brick treasure.

Brandon shaking off our first brick at the side of the gravel pit.

So onto the big one - Spin Dizzy. First time we went on this I rode with Joshua. Remember what I said earlier about spinning around, sniffing diesel and nausea!!!! Well the good news is Joshua was fine and went on to have a second go solo. Me, well I was a little green after one go today *must be getting old). I swear had we of done one more revolution or gone up any higher then I would have chundered. Fortunately I managed to save face in front of the boys and man up as much as I could when leaving the wide. 

Joshua riding spin dizzy all on his own.

And up and around he goes....

As always the boys enjoyed playing in the indoor play area and the arcades. This is always a good opportunity for the adults to sit down and chill with a coffee.

The stunt show was very impressive and the stunt driver had his digger do some pretty amazing tricks. Given how wet and boggy the ground was he really pushed the boundaries of gravity! The kids were also screaming at him to stop thinking the digger was going to tip over.

Now that's what you call a digger stunt. What was more impressive was when he did the same trick tipping the digger sideways.

One of the few rides in Diggerland that you pay for is these little electric cars. However we hit the jackpot as I put a nugget in the green car for Brandon and it just kept going, and going, and going long after Joshua's one ran out. In fact it went so long that eventually the boys were having pit stops and taking it in turns doing laps. It went on for so long we actually got bored and left it in the end with the car still running! Now that's what I call value for money. 

On your marks, get set.................GO!

Brandon taking the racing line in the faster (duracell longer lasting) green car!

Finally I want to write a little bit about the magic show. The boys enjoyed the entertainer and he did some good little tricks for the kids. His party piece ending involved the use of 4 adults and I was one of the unfortunate ones he picked on. Normally I wouldn't do things like this through fear of being embarrassed, however in front of the boys I would have looked stupid to not get involved. Anyway the trick involved getting four adults sitting on chairs in a square, then leaning backwards so we was laying across each others laps (very cosy). The trick was to then remove each chair one by one and see if all four of us remained in the position or whether we collapsed in a heap on the floor. Well the photo isn't great, but as you can see his trick worked!

Look no chairs! I am front right wearing the shorts in this picture. At least we one free bumper car tokens for our effort!