A Day at the Castle

The less said about last night the better!
Archie was a pain with his panting and fretting. Until I picked him up by the scruff of his neck and hurled him into his bed, hissing at him to stay there and shut up.
Then there was the cold and the cramped teeny tiny bed.....
The first thing I said to Mr K this morning was "do you think we should have rented a campervan to try it out first rather than buying one?!!!"
But once we'd got up, made tea and were sitting out in the sun eating bacon sandwiches it didn't seem so bad!!
We had a lovely lazy morning and lunch at the campsite - drinking tea, reading in the sun, playing badminton and cricket, fishing in the pond, playing in the park, listening to the crows (and thanking God we weren't pitched right underneath them!), watching the ducks and geese wandering around, watching the peacocks strut around and fly up and down from the barn roofs, looking at the piglets and calves. It was just brilliant!!
Lunch was a lovely picnic although it was too hot to sit out and eat it so we were chasing the shade and the Little Misses sat in Penny to keep cool.
At about 3pm we set off on the fifteen minute walk from the campsite to Corfe Castle. What a beautiful walk!!
I hadn't realised when we booked but this weekend is a special one at the castle with a recreation of a Saxon Settlement at the castle and a re-enactment of a Saxon and Viking siege.
We're always lucky to stumble across historical re-enactments at castles (Falaise and Chateau Gaillard)
It was fabulous seeing everyone in costumes and just hanging out like they would have been a thousand years ago. It was like stepping back in time!
We loved exploring the castle ruins. We had to have words - and then more words. And then shouts - about Miss E's climbing on the ruins. 
a) it wasn't allowed, and b) it was getting more and more ridiculously dangerous.
As usual with her us telling her to stop made her more inclined to do it which led to shouting and arguing and a general spoiling of things. Sigh.
I'd told her she wouldn't get an ice cream when we got back to the village and as usual she behaved like she couldn't have cared less.
Until she didn't get her ice cream and then all hell broke loose. Sigh.
But glossing over that (as I do all the time!!) we had a fabulous afternoon. 
Miss L was particularly giddy to discover that Corfe Castle was Enid Blyton's inspiration for Kirrin Castle in the Famous Five books. We spotted a jackdaws nest in an old fireplace high up in the ruins and went to see the sticks underneath. Smashing!!!!
I loved watching the steam trains go by on the Swanage Railway. There's nothing like that sound!
As usual we were the last to leave - they locked the gates behind us!
The sight of the Saxon village in the setting sun complete with smoke from all the cooking fires, costumed children running around, soldiers swordfighting and doing archery, all against the backdrop of the ruins was magical.
After dealing with Miss E's meltdown over her lack of ice-cream we set off back to the campsite. We let Archie off his lead for the first time today and he ran around like a loon which was quite something to behold. 
Then it was another late dinner - Hotdogs and beans for the Little Misses, curry and rice for me and Mr K followed by bananas and custard. Yummy camping fare!!
Archie was nowhere near as freaked out by sleeping in the van as he was last night. He hopped up onto the passengers chair in the front, curled up and went straight to sleep. Fingers crossed he stays there!!
I wrapped up warm before getting into the tiny bed and am keeping my fingers crossed for a better night.