Dear mummy, we finally visited the Lauren Child exhibition at Mottisfont, National Trust. We’d been waiting since the exhibition started in July to find the perfect weekend to visit. It’s the first art show I’ve been really, really interested in….being a toddler and all that.
The National Trust is looking back at the career of Lauren Child the creator of Charlie and Lola, who are some of my favourite children’s book characters. We read about them and watch them on CBeebies every evening, so imagine my excitement at finally meeting them in person! It’s also a fab opportunity to get a sneak peek at some of Lauren Child’s artwork for her upcoming new book celebrating the 15th anniversary of Charlie and Lola.
Mottisfont is a large National Trust estate just outside Romsey, Hampshire, with over 1,654 acres to roam around in. It’s open all year round and we’ve been in all seasons! It’s got a world – renowned rose garden which we love and visit every June!
Admission is £11.80 for adults and £5.85 for children, but we’re National Trust members so get in for free after paying a one-off annual payment.
We waited for a sunny day to explore the Lauren Child’s creative play trail with characters from her illustrated books. It just happened to be a family fun weekend at Mottisfont as well when we visited, so extra activities were happening, like Charlie and Lola storybook readings, crafting and face painting.
We enjoyed a picnic underneath a large horse-chestnut tree and my mummy provided a great spread, I even had some National Trust English Strawberry Ice Cream! Yummy!
My mummy and I did some crafting in the large white marquee and helped make a cover for a Charlie and Lola book. We also smelled the last of the summer roses in the walled garden.
I spent a lot of time playing in the grass and looking for bugs. I found one by the large wooden logs and cupped it in my hands to keep it safe. We named the bug “Jonesy” and I carried him around with me.
We went on the Charlie and Lola creative play trail around the Mottisfont estate, following characters from Lauren Child’s books. We played hide and seek behind the trees, played on the paths, studied the leaf birds on Lola’s trees.
But my favourite part was going into the big house and meeting Charlie and Lola themselves upstairs in the gallery. Did you know that Lola is the same height as me!?! We walked around the art exhibition showcasing over 50 original art works from Lauren Child’s own personal collection, alongside objects that helped inspired her stories.
We had a fabulous mother and daughter day, with so much to see and do we spent four hours at Mottisfont exploring and chilling out. The Lauren Child exhibition is on until the 6th of September so this Bank Holiday why not pop down and see Charlie and Lola too?
Love Bella x
dearmummyblog.com 
Wow, this looks so awesome! And what a beautiful place, I love visiting National Trust parks. Your photography is beautiful! #letkidsbekids
Thank you very much! Mottisfont is a lovely place to visit #letkidsbekids A great place to roam free! 😉
Looks like great fun! #pointshoot x
Looks like a fantastic mother and daughter day out.xx
Oh I didn’t know about this, it looks great. We could have visited last week. Beautiful place and fun to wander round.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Thanks for hosting #LetKidsBeKids x
We are going next weekend. The big one still loves Charlie & Lola, and I thin they are pretty cool too! #TwinklyTuesday
Ooo cool! Let us know how you get on xx
What great photos! I can see what fun the day was. We love Charlie and Lola stories here too. National Trust properties often have great days out for children. For me it’s just remembering to see what’s on! Thank you for sharing #Letkidsbekids
We follow the National Trust on Twitter and they are very good at letting us know what’s on 🙂 Thanks for popping over to read x
Love the hat! And we need to get National Trust membership next year. At the moment we have English Heritage – which is good – but I feel as if we should invest in both. x
#pointandshoot
We um’d and ah’d about English Heritage but don’t have as many sites near us as we do National Trust. Hopefully I will be a life long member… X
Ooh, we’re going this Thursday! So excited (me possibly more than the little one)
That looks lovely! Will see how near it is to us. I loved Charlie and Lola, the books were excellent and the TV programme a joy as it had things for both me and the Tubblet. Glad you had a wonderful time. #twinklytuesday
Aww! What a fun day out…It looks like you have a lovely time x
Beautiful photos, what a lovely day out – looks like there was lots to do! Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested
Thanks for hosting Kate! Looking forward to reading lots more posts this evening 🙂 x
Looks like you had a great time lovely photos #letkidsbekids
What an amazing exhibit! Thanks for sharing it at #TwinklyTuesday.
Thanks for hosting Sadia! See you next week x
This looks like a lovely place, and it’s great that you got to do some crafting too!
This looks great, Boo loves Charlie and Lola and I think she would love this! All the photos are fab!
looks great fun! #pointshoot
Aww lovely pictures especially the outside ones! My son loves Charlie and Lola and I wish we can visit this place =) #twinklytuesday
What a wonderful place and great exhibit – your photos are beautiful. Charlie and Lola used to be Grace’s favourite and her best 🙂 Thank you for linking to #PoCoLo x
Wow! There are so many things to see! I think I better look into getting myself one of those National Trust membership. Looks like your girl had a great time. I have to say I love her outfits, the dress and the sun glasses. Also I love your picnic set too. I think I need to invest on a picnic set too! What have you done! I am so bad! lol! xx #PointShoot
It is fab isn’t it. Lovely pictures. Thanks for linking up to #PointShoot x