I was saying recently to a local friend how lucky we are to live within spitting (well, almost) distance of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. The first time I visited the stadium was back in 2012 when Mr B and I managed to get tickets to watch the Paralympics (we watched Dave Weir win a gold medal!).
Once the park was open to the public in April, it took me a while before I visited with Mushroom. The first time we visited was in the summer, when we made the most of the fountains – definitely Mushroom’s favourite part of the park (and he’s not the only one – you can hear the screams well before you see the water if you go on a hot day!).
We’ve also visited Timber Lodge several times and made the most of the play equipment in Tumbling bay playground – and investigated the nearby interactive art…
And we don’t let the cold weather keep us away! We recently went on a boat trip around the park in the pouring rain – Mushroom and his friend were fascinated by the sound of the rain drumming on the roof of the boat and excited by fact that the water level was so high we thought we might not make it under all the lower bridges (we did)! And now that Mushroom has his weekly swimming lessons in the Aquatic Centre, we often make use of the sandpit afterwards before heading home for lunch. Like I said, we really are very lucky.
If you’re ever in Stratford, the park really is a must-visit. There is so much to do and see – and I haven’t even mentioned the helter-skelter or the Orbit, which is next on our list. Maybe we’ll make our visit to Father Christmas there this year…!
I am linking this post up to Coombe Mill‘s Country Kids . Click on the image below to find out more.
Disclosure: We are not in any way affiliated with the Olympic Park (we will let you know if this changes!) but just love it (if you hadn’t guessed). All the outdoor activity is free to use.
Some great photos, looks like you had a really lovely day. I love fountains like that for the kids to play in. #countrykids
They are so much fun… And not just for the kids! 😉
It’s great to know that at least the park is still being used, especially by kids! 🙂 Would love to visit too. #countrykids.
Oh yes, there is lots going on there! We ended up going back yesterday afternoon for a Christmas adventure too. Thanks for reading and commenting #countrykids
Sounds like a great park, and I love the screams of excitement from children in water arks before you can see them, a true sense of summer… 🙂 seems so long ago already though. The helter skelter looks like fun. #countrykids
I know! The fountains are of course off now, and it’s the one area of the park where you don’t see any kids now that it’s colder! The sandpit still gets some love though, provided it’s not been raining!
This looks like a fabulous place to visit, I bet it’s great fun for Mushroom to explore all the different areas of the park. I bet it will look amazing for Christmas. Those fountains look like amazing fun for Kids to play in. Thanks for linking up with Country Kids.
It was amazing for Christmas… We ended up going up the Orbit for the weekend! I’ll be putting that post up this week before I sign off fro Christmas 🙂
We went there in the summer and loved it but it was absolutely packed to the rafters… might suggest going back while it’s still winter as you pretty much had the place to yourselves. It’s fab isn’t it!
It really is! It helps that Mushroom has swimming early on a Friday morning so it’s even quiet (ish!) at that time in the summer too…
Amazing! It’s a two hour trip for us so we’ll always be getting there later. Thanks for reminding me, I might see if we can go tomorrow!
Ooh maybe we could even meet there one day!
That would be fab hon 🙂