Playground — Blog — They Grow up so Quickly

With it being half term there was no swimming so James and I were off to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park with some friends. We were up at 7am and James was raring to go. We packed a small lunch box and jumped into the car getting to the park shortly before it opened. Luckily they were letting people in early, so James and I heading in for a little look round before our friends arrived.

First we went and saw the lions as James had heard them roaring and wanted to see what was making all the noise. The lions were sat on the bank right by the path so James had a really good look, such magnificent animals. After this we went for a stroll round the baboons. Even the local wildlife had turned up to put on a show.

Aftr the lions and baboons it was off to the polar bears. There was no movement here as all the polar bears were lying out, catching some rays. What a lifestyle. After that, it was onto my personal stars of the show, the tigers. Such amazing creatures and I cannot get over their size.

By the time we had finished with the tigers we had two hangry little monsters on our hands so it was most certainly time for lunch. We had a fantastic spread and the weather was perfect for a picnic. The two children had loads of fun running round as well, burning off some energy. After that we were off to the play park. Travel fifty miles and their favourite part of the day is the play park, fancy that.

A quick trip to South America followed after the park and then onto the leopard enclosure. I have been several times now and this was the first time I had seen the leopard close up. Truly beautiful. It was roaming around the enclosure, right up to the glass. Much to the kids delight, we then managed to find another play park. It’s as if the kids can sniff them out.

By now it was starting to get a little cold so we headed out of the park to have a coffee. After one last look at the lions in our way out, we found ourselves in a coffee shop. Drinks all round and biscuits for the kids was just what the doctor ordered. After this though it was time to go home.

We had been in the park for six hours and the time had absolutely flown by. The little man was exhausted and he was asleep by the time the car had left the Wildlife Park, I think that is the sign of a good day.

This weekend saw us welcome some visitors in the form or Lydia and Nigel who we had not seen for a good few months. They brought their little man Ted with them who would have lots of fun playing with James and, in fact, it was lovely to see them playing together, especially as they shared very well.

On the Saturday eve, once the boys had gone to bed, we settled in with a few gins, some dinner and good conversation. We had agreed to head over to Beningbrough in the morning.

We arrived at Beningbrough dead on opening time, so much so, we even had to queue to get in. Once in, it was first things first! Cups of hot tea all round as it was quite cold. Once we all had cups of the steaming hot drinks, to the park area we headed. If you have not been, there is a fantastic park there.

After we had all had a good play, we decided to go for a walk. More to get into the sun and warm up than anything else. We walked past the fish pond and noticed that their was a thick layer of ice on it. The boys, with some support, had great fun standing on it. This caused all sorts of giggles and squeals to erupt!

After the fun on the ice, we headed back into the warm of the cafe to enjoy another cup of coffee and a cake. That would do for lunch as we had cooked a bacon and blackpudding butty for breakfast. Stornaway blackpudding and homemade bacon none the less.