Wow, what a stunningly beautiful day. Apart from a slightly chilly and misty start to the day, the weather has been better than would be expected later in the year, luckily James and I had plans to make the most of it. Matt and Cat were coming up to Leeds for the weekend for Matt’s birthday and we were off to have a picnic in Roundhay Park. To make the most of the day, James and I got up early and went to Tropical World in the morning as we were not meeting up until lunchtime. Tropical World is ok and James enjoyed it, however, it is not the kind of place you would want to go to on a regular basis. We went round twice in about an hour and a half and James absolutely loved the bats. Fortune had it that we arrived as the bats were being fed and it was amazing to see the all gobbling down their breakfast.
Habitual coffee (me) and milk (James) break in the cafe
After Tropical World we had about half an hour or so to kill so we headed to the Secret Garden for a wander round. This is a lovely self contained garden with several different areas. Very relaxing and James and I had a good look round. James even sat quietly on the bench and took it all in. A very peaceful interlude.
Ok ok - not all so peaceful as James aired his vocal talents
Imitation lock gate that had James puzzled.
“Why is there no water making the wheel turn daddy?”
The moment before the little man tried to reach the centre of the pool, resulting in me throwing myself across to prevent a splash
At this point Matt called so James and I headed off to find everyone. Unfortunately James was getting a little hangry by this point and it took us quite a while to walk the hundred metres of so back out of the garden towards the park. This resulted in everyone else having to walk more or less all the way to us. We settled down to lunch which Matt and Cat had brought and it was a fab spread, I even got a goody bag to go home with! After lunch, it was time to play.
Rik had brought his circus skills set with him which everyone loved playing with
Looks like Matt is a pro here!
Cheerleader keeping score on the sidelines
He shoots, he almost scores! Unlike Cat, who nailed two out of two.
Here comes the ball boy
After the football had been concluded, the most epic game of hide a seek started. There was round after round of it. The kids were all expert hiders, partly as they are so small. However, James was so excited he could not keep hidden and kept running out to see where the person seeking was.
Count to twenty (missing out most of the numbers between ten and twenty)
Definitely no cheating going on here!
Got you uncle Matt
The pace of the day getting to Matt
After three hours of solid running around, it was time to head off. I had one very tired little boy who lasted only one song of Frozen in the car before he was fast asleep. It had been such a lovely day, the weather was fantastic and it was good to catch up with everyone!