I am pretty rubbish at having proper days out with little M. At least, when I compare myself to some of my friends, who seem to be managing one fabulous outing after another with their kids. Anyway, sometimes I do get my act together and plan something a bit more elaborate than a visit at the local park - so this weekend I took little M to the Peak Wildlife Park.
After recently visiting Chester Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park, which we both loved, this one looked much smaller. I chose a scenic route through bits of the Peak District and there was already lots to see on the way. (Queue random shouts of "sheep!", "tractor!", "cows!", "rocks!" and so on.) The park is easy to find if you put their postcode into your satnav (ST13 7QR) and there is plenty of parking available.
The entrance area also houses the gift shop; tickets are £10.95 for adults and £8.95 for kids - under 2s are free. Nearby you will find toilets (with baby change), a family room, indoor softplay area and a cafe.
The park is laid out in 3 sections: the main area where you will find most of the animals, a central zone with the above mentioned facilities, food etc and a play and picnic area. Have a look at the map here.
We made our way into the main animal area and I immediately thought how nice and un-zoo-like it felt. Very little concrete and a meandering network of paths that lead around and through enclosures. All done in a way that minimises barriers allows you to see lots, e.g. you can easily see the penguins diving as well as hopping about in various areas. Lots of windows give insight into the otter and meerkat areas and so on.
You can wander through some of the enclosures, such as the wallabies', goats' (African Village) and Lemurs'.
If you can convince your kid(s) to be slow and patient, some of these animals get really close and friendly and you can even pet the goats and wallabies when they don't have any young (there will be signs up when you're not allowed to).
You can also walk right past the Humboldt penguin enclosure - which is just cordoned off by a rope. (I saw some Magellanic penguins in Argentina years ago and this enclosure really reminded me of that experience.)
The nature trail didn't feel like a zoo at all, just a meandering path through countryside with deer and wild birds. There are even a couple bird watching huts - though little M didn't have the patience to sit in there and wait.
All of the above meant that we spent way more time with the animals than I had planned. Little M just loved watching the animals, getting close, seeing them eat, stroking the goats etc.
We grabbed some lunch at the cafe. Their pizza is really nice (proper thin crust!) and makes a great change from the usual food on offer in zoos etc but I found it quite pricey. (Salami pizza was around £10.) Lovely picnic areas though, so I'll probably bring a packed lunch for our next visit.
After another wander through some of the areas we wanted to re-visit, we went over to the other side of the park, where you find the main play area. Before letting little M loose on the bouncy castle, we popped into the rabbit enclosure. Huge and soft and happy to be fed, little M loved them.
So after that, off we went to the play area: a big bouncy castle, nice set of slides and climbing frame and a sand pit - which he loved. A little kiosk nearby provides cold drinks and ice cream.
We probably spent about an hour there and I pretty much had to drag him away in the end. The obligatory visit at the gift shop (yes, you have to pass through this when you come and leave) and we were on our way home.
Will we go back? Yes, definitely!
Top Tips/things to remember:
- Try and catch the the feeds and talks: really informative and good fun to watch the animals getting excited. We missed it but there was a little table near the warthog enclosure where kids could make enrichment packs for the meerkats and then throw them in at feeding time. A really nice touch and great way of having them get involved.
- If you think you'll go back there regularly, it's worth considering getting a season ticket, which costs £29.99 (adults)/£25.99 (children). If you buy it on the day of your visit, they credit your entrance fee.
- Bring a packed lunch: lots of nice picnic areas and the food on offer is quite expensive.
- According to local signs, Alton Towers is just 6 miles away, so if you are on holiday in the area and spend a day at Alton Towers, this would be the perfect antidote - but no less enjoyable!
Have you been or are you thinking about going? Let me know!
I know I'm swooning over lovely handbags and various other luxurious bits and bobs. However, there are, of course, things money can't buy and one of them is time.
Time to spend with your
children. Time to read a book. Time to finish that task during which you
kept getting interrupted. Time to go on a holiday. Time to smell the
flowers. Or, maybe especially so if you do have small children, time to
sleep.
For me, the biggest one on the list probably would be time to spend with your children.
Little M is racing towards his third birthday and I feel like the years
are just passing by. Working full time means he spends all weekdays at
nursery, which he does love but that bit of time we have at the morning
and in the evening is often filled with me trying to do 4 things at
once, not really being able to focus much on him.
Of course nobody can just conjure up these extra few minutes or hours.
The day only has 24 of them. For all of us. However, I have a plan to
ignore reason and pretend that I can. Not by magic but by making a few
simple adjustments.
1. Get up 10 minutes earlier every morning
These
10 minutes sleep won't really do much difference to me being tired or
not and, lets face it, they are usually just lost by me pressing the
snooze button. But if I can get ready and get him ready and then have
those 10 minutes to just have a chat or read a book with him, I will
have spent some quality time with my favourite person in the world.
Right at the beginning of the day.
2. Get my Filofax sorted
I
am slowly moving into some DIYFish inserts, that I have received a few
days ago. My plan is to have them set up in a way that I will avoid
duplicating and re-writing lists as well as panicking and fixing stuff I
had forgotten to sort out.
3. Go to bed earlier, aim to be tucked in by 23:00
I work full time then
come home with little M, sort out his tea/snack and whatever else needs
doing when we get in. He then has a bath at 19:00, story around 19:40
and usually is in bed at 20:00. I'm very lucky in that my OH does all
the cooking and kitchen stuff, so we tend to eat around 20:15, which
means I start to look at my blog and various online things (such as my
bag obsession) from about 20:45. I probably get in a good 1.5 or maybe 2
productive hours. And then I should just go to bed. Instead, I faff
around and start getting lost on Facebook or some other page and go to
bed way too late. And then suffer the next day not being as productive I
could be, which means I waste even more time.
4. Use commuting time more efficiently
I spend a total of about
60 minutes on the train to a from work and usually end up reading daft
things on Facebook, Buzzfeed etc. Instead I'll try and get my Filofax
out, review what I didn't achieve yesterday, what's planned for the day
and how my week is shaping up. If I have a few minutes left, I might
allow myself a quick peek on Facebook or Instagram.
5. Make proper plans for the weekend
Quite often the weekend
flies by in a blink-and-you-miss it kind of fashion. Monday comes and
you feel like you haven't really had a weekend as all you did was run
errands and try to keep the kids happy. The last couple of weekends
though, on at least one day I took little M and went out. We're lucky
enough that we live right at the edge of the Peak District so there are
lots of lovely places to visit right on our doorstep. Last weekend
Saturday we went to a hidden valley in a village nearby and on Sunday
drove to Castleton. He climbed up all the way to Pevril Castle, we had a
picnic and hours' worth of running about. This weekend we spent
Saturday looking at a "big mountain", sheep, caves and then went for
icecream. On Sunday we chased the Gruffalo through Lyme Park.
Not
only do I know that I spent some real quality time with M, I also feel
like I had a tiny little holiday. And we still talk about what we did
for weeks afterwards.
I know there are tons of
time saving tips out there but these 5 are what I'm starting with. They
should either give me more time or ensure that I feel like I've had
more. I'd love to hear what you do?
(PS: The irony of me posting this on a Monday evening at 22:49 is not lost on me...)
