While I was away the other week I received a very exciting email inviting us to meet Mike the Knight at Warwick Castle, of course I had to say yes! Warwick Castle is very close to us to travel to and I remember visiting regularly while I was growing up. I hadn't taken either of the kids yet and Gracie is at that age where she gets so excited over princesses and castles and anything to do with fairy tales. She also absolutely loves Mike The Knight!

Well we were quite lucky this Saturday that Daddy had the day off work so we got to have a fun day out together just the four of us and we even got a full day of sunshine! I think I was just as excited as Gracie. Daddy had never been before so I got to show them my favourite parts of the castle grounds. The first place we headed was the Princess Tower. I had never been in the princess Tower before so didn't know what to expect. Gracie loved following around who she thought was a real life Princess and got to dress up as a princess herself for a photograph. Unfortunately I didn't get a copy as they were quite expensive and you weren't allowed to take your own photos inside. Although I did get a quick blurry snap on my phone of the printed photo they showed us. Gracie had fun though and we will never forget seeing how excited she was.


Next we headed to the area near the entrance where all the Mike the Knight fun games and activities were. We saw some fantastic Mike The Knight inspired sandcastles there and made a few of our own. After making sandcastles we headed off for a yummy lunch before finally getting to meet Mike the knight! We were near the front of the queue to see Mike and it was lovely seeing Gracie so happy. She was waving her Mike the Knight flag around ready to show him and waved frantically at him when he was walking over. Now Gracie has always been scared if big 3D characters but when it was her turn she ran over and gave him a massive cuddle. It was so cute but silly Daddy didn't get a picture as he was in shock we did get some lovely pictures of her posing with him though. She then blew him big kisses and took her postcard off Mikes helper and walked away a very happy little girl!

Mike the knight was at the castle to celebrate the launch of the new second series of his hit Cbeebies television show. He also has a new DVD 'Be a Knight, Do it Right!' which is due to be released on 29th July.

Warwick Castle is a great day out for all the family, another of our favourites from the day was the Warwick Warriors display which happens just once daily. The Warwick Warriors show is where two knights take centre stage in the courtyard arena for a battle using authentic weapons such as swords, pole arms and the axe. I was really looking forward to having a tour of the stately rooms with the history team but unfortunately when I turned up it was closed for the afternoon as there was a wedding inside which was quite disappointing as if I'd have known I could have planned that for earlier in the day! it should definitely be signposted for visitors so they don't miss out. There are so many interesting stories about Warwick Castle mainly surrounding 'The Kingmaker' Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville. I'd have loved to hear all about it from the experts.

There are so many other things there we didn't get to do, not through anyones fault but there is just so much to do. We'd love to go back and see the rest of the grounds, we didn't get as far as the boat house and trebuchet or the mill and engine house. Also with having a pushchair we didnt manage to climb the towers which I have never actually done and next time it would be nice to spend more time in the gardens too.

If you missed the fun last weekend, it's not too late to go and visit Mike The Knight at Warwick Castle. He'll be visiting again this weekend Saturday 6th July & Sunday 7th July and I would definitely reccommend going! You can save money by pre booking tickets on the Warwick castle website.http://www.warwick-castle.com/

Disclaimer
We were given free tickets for this event for the purpose of this review but all views are my own.