Yesterday, we went for a day out and there wasn't even any geocaching involved for once ! We headed off to the Tour de France à la Voile (Sailing Tour de France which starts in Dunkirk) and Fête de la Mer (Festival of the Sea) which usually has lots of things for the kids to do. We were very impressed to see a Navy helicopter landing just on the other side of the dock to where we parked. We didn't know what it was doing there though - but we'd find out later !
We started off at the Mickey Mouse magazine stand where the kids coloured pictures that were made into badges. They each got to pick a free magazine, which also had a free gift stuck on the front - a Tinkerbell stationery set for Juliette, a set of 3 puzzles for Pierre and a "water your worm and watch it grow" plastic worm in a test-tube for Sophie ! Big smiles all round !
Next they played a game teaching them about recycling - they had to choose what goes into which bin and be the fastest to grab the right token - and again, we came away laden down with gifts : a card game, tin of sweets and UV bracelet each.
Suddenly we heard the unmistakable noise of a helicopter.
As we turned around, we saw two people in the water pretending to need rescuing and watched with bated breath as the helicopter came in really low and winched a man down to save them. I say with bated breath because it was very windy and the helicopter was wobbling about in a very small area, just next to a huge, old and very beautiful three-master ship from the maritime museum.
We needn't have worried though - those guys from the Navy know their stuff ! Pierre was very impressed and said that it was just like his Fireman Sam rescue helicopter !
I think this is the closest we've ever been to a helicopter - we could clearly see the pilot so the kids kept waving at him !
Time for a quick rest in the sunshine.
Juliette looked dwarfed by the deckchair !
I thought the food van looked extremely funky.
But Sophie was more impressed by a giant pair of sunglasses !
We all agreed that the American school bus at the Bic stand was very cool though.
Time for a quick bit of footie.
Followed by some very energetic bouncing on a trampoline.
You're never too old !
Pierre thought the Swingball was hilarious - we'll have to get ours out for the summer.
The health and safety measures seemed a bit over the top for the final activity, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
I loved the way Juliette played the role of big sister to make sure Pierre was all strapped in safely.
Lots of splashing in the paddle boats - actually, there are no paddles, you turn the wheels to get them to move backwards or forwards. And for once, they didn't get a soaking wet bum !
We nipped off to the Banette stall for a loaf of bright yellow Tour de France bread just before we left !
We were amazed at all the freebies we ended up with in our goodie bags - bread, card games, magazines, balloons, homemade badges, rain ponchoes, rabbit-shaped egg moulds, Haribo sweets ... plus lots of giggles and happy memories. It's still on today so we may have to go back for another go !
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Fantastic day for you all! and of course, you are never too old for a good bouncing session. I'd love to jump on a trampoline
ReplyDeleteTotally agree ! Part two coming up - we went back yesterday for more fun, even though it was raining !
DeleteI want to attend events like this! So generous and those parachuting guys looks so awesome too! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteA great fun day out with lots of activities and the helicopter rescue must have been fab to watch. I'm very impressed by your goodies that you all accumulated. Thanks for linking up and sharing the fun with Country Kids.
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