Family Fun at The Welsh Mountain Zoo

Voted one of the top ten attractions in North Wales, the Welsh Mountain Zoo is a lovely place for a day trip, especially as it reasonably low cost too. For just £38.10 a family of four like ours can spend the day interacting with animals, watching creatures big and small being fed and having lots of outdoor play at the Jungle Adventureland. We have just returned from a holiday at Conwy over Easter and this attraction really appealed to the Mini Mes.

After paying from your vehicle at the entrance you drive around to the car park which is in the centre of the zoo. It's a really picturesque location with some stunning views across the Snowdonia Mountain range, Isle of Anglesey and the coastline. If you don't want to take your car you can always pop on the free mini bus between May and September from the railway station nearby instead however.

Outdoor Family Fun - 5 Cold Weather Activities

We all know how important it is to be active but when the sun hasn't got it's hat on and Jack Frost lurks around every corner we often need encouraging to go outside.

Hopefully these 5 ideas will help to persuade you and your family to pop on your boots and get moving outdoors, regardless of the weather!

Shadow Fun

With darker days until Spring it's the perfect opportunity to take advantage of all of the shadows on the ground. Use them as stepping stones, play shadow tag or see what interesting shapes you can make with your hands and body. 

Star Gazing

Enjoy a lovely evening walk and see if you can identify the sounds of the wildlife before laying on the ground and staring up into the nights sky. There are so many constellations to look out for but you can also look for planes, bats and owls in the process. 

For a warmer alternative take a tent.

Puddle Jumping

Your little Peppa Pig fans no doubt like to get messy so put on some sensible footwear (I love my new women's Puma trainers), some waterproofs and get splashing. You can stand nearby for some great action shots or join in too. Warm up afterwards with a hot chocolate, plenty of cream and marshmallows with a great family movie.

Winter Games

With the Olympics in progress it's the ideal time for recreating some of the activities safely at home in the garden. Use cardboard boxes as bobsleighs and your imaginations for some competitive play. You could always do some baking and make some cookie medals to reward yourselves after!

Woodland Creations

With high winds there are many broken trees and plenty of branches around. Go on a scavenger hunt to collect some and then use your materials to make your own magical broomsticks and stick characters. Cuddle up with Room on the Broom and Stick Man for a read too or get back straight back out there for some kite flying action!

Which winter activities do you enjoy as a family?

If You Go Down To The Woods Today...

After school on Tuesday we decided to go for a walk around a nearby wood; Badby. 

We popped on our wellies, jumped in the car and set off.

The air was cool and the leaves crackled beneath our boots as we clambered over fallen trees and around flooded streams. It was incredibly wet and muddy!

We walked for 70 minutes in total. It really left us feeling refreshed and we had a great time playing eye spy, squelching through puddles and running with the dog.

It was also great to see that the wands we had created several months ago and left in a spot where other toys had been placed for fairies were still there! 

What outdoor fun have you enjoyed this week?

Project 365 - A photo a Day #2

This week seemed to fly by! Here is what we got up to...

• We visited Badby Woods on Sunday for an afternoon walk with the poochie. The Mr decided to walk through what appeared to be a small puddle and sunk right up to his thigh - hilarious!
• We had some more outdoor fun at Draycote Water Monday. The Mr and Mini Mes love to see how high they can go... even if their expressions say otherwise.
• Our last afternoon together before school restarted was spent at our local park. We played chase and this was taken while I was 'it' and they escaped to the climbing frames!
• Spartan doesn't really understand what personal space is and he likes to ram himself between the armrest and I while I'm trying to work.
• After school the Mini Mes asked to go to the indoor play centre so we headed there straight away. I was surprised by how quiet it was! You can just about see them right in the centre (Jamster in a yellow t-shirt).
• A yummy homemade jam sponge for dessert - mmmm!
• We received some lovely furniture from Ikea to review so Saturday was a DIY day.

What photos have you taken this week?

Country Kids

One benefit of playing outside while it's cold or wet is that you often have the entire place to yourself and that was just the case yesterday.

After school we visited the Country Park and had an hour playing on the exercise equipment, climbing frames and chasing each other around before dinner, me being the troll or Gruffalo as usual! It was rather chilly but as we wrapped up well it and it wasn't long until we all felt warm anyway.

Calorie count

Climbing

Have you had some outdoor family fun this week?

 

I'm linking this with...

The theme this week is the letter C
(Country Park, cold, chasing, climbing, cardio, calorie count)

Family Fun - Sledging and puddle play

Like every break from school and work, half term seems to have flown by! We have had a lovely week though and made the most of the snow and rain with plenty of outdoor fun.

After creating some Chinese themed crafts to celebrate the New Year we popped on our wellies and headed to the park on Sunday. We walked 2.5 miles around the reservoir and woods, fed the ducks and played at the park - even though it was pouring down! We were completely drenched but it was nice to have a warm shower, put on our pj's and enjoy a hot chocolate before dinner when we returned home.

Monday after a trip to the cinema and lunch out, we cancelled our plans for the afternoon to make the most of the snow while it was here. Luckily we have a lot of fields nearby so we didn't need to travel far for a huge open space for sledging. I dragged the Mini Mes around on the sledges for a while until I was exhausted, before they decided to brave the sloped paths themselves.

We headed out again to the park later on in the week and out one evening sledging too. 

The daffodils in my garden have started to appear along with the sunshine so I'm hoping Spring is on the way!

Have you had fun outdoors this week?

I'm linking this with...

Our week that was... new beds, food and outdoor fun

Sunday the Mr and I decided to go on a hunt for a new mattress, as despite being only 2 years old our current one isn't very comfortable. This resulted in us buying new carpet, a TV bed, pillows and a new mattress and we looked at new beds for the Mini Mes too.... Oops - but worth it!

Monday we went on a bike and scooter ride after school for some outdoor fun and fresh air. Minxy has a basket on her bike which was handy for bringing back a few bits of shopping in too. We didn't get out as much this week as I would have liked but with it being half term now we will be outdoors a lot next week.

Tuesday Spartan decided to join in with my 30 day shred by climbing on me during sit ups!

 Wednesday I received a lovely Weight Watchers hamper of goodies including wine, bonus.

Thursday Minxy had her first swimming lesson in the evening. She loved it and did really well, the instructor said she was confident which was reassuring as I have a phobia of water.

Friday after a busy evening clearing our bedroom out completely ready for the new carpet I popped on a movie and poured the Mr a Jack Daniels Single Malt to relax.

 Saturday As the Mini Mes were really good while the workmen were in today, I treated them to some chocolate eggs, pizza and a movie.

How has your week been?

I'm linking this with...

Ice fun and safety

Although it's a while since the snow melted, the ice hung about for quite a few days afterwards with a good few inches of it remaining on top of the big puddles nearby.

The Mini Mes had fun climbing on top of the ice and balancing with our support.
It was a great opportunity to discuss the importance of staying away from ice on top of deeper water too!
Fun and safety combined.

• We spoke about sledging in locations you know so that you don't end up in deep water in error as sometimes ice covered water can be covered in snow too.
• We spoke about never going to help anyone in water or ice, even pets, as it could endanger them and to seek help instead.
• We talked about the importance of keeping away from the edges of rivers and lakes just incase the ice nearby was slippy or thin resulting in them sliding in.

We then went jumping in the smaller, slushy puddles for some more fun!

We created some bird feeders this week using the same recipe we used last year, as we were inspired after seeing posts by Fiona and Cerys. These are great for animals at this time of year when food may be scarce. You can find out how to make them here:

http://www.theminimesandme.com/2012/05/fatballs-make-your-own-bird-feeder.html



I'm linking this with...

We're going on a bear hunt...

BEARS...

Rather cute bears though!

To make our dog walking a little more exciting we decided to take some inspiration from some books this week and we first chose to make our plod across the fields into a bear hunt!

Inspired by 'We're going on a bear hunt' by Michael Rosen.

I'm linking this with...

Leaf collecting and a giant lawn spider!

Halloween is here so yesterday we decided to start the preparations by decorating the garden and home ready for some spooky fun!

We headed out to the park nearby and collected a LOT of leaves in various shaped bags...

We tied them up, twisted them, positioned them and pinned them down to create...

...a wonderful spider for the lawn (minus 2 legs) !

What do you think? Do you decorate your garden?

I'm sharing this with The Gallery as the theme is Frightful and with Country Kids for outdoor fun.

A woodland walk

Sunday was a beautiful, warm day so we decided to head to Salcey Forest for a family walk in the afternoon. I hadn't been there in years so I thought it would make a nice change from our local fields and parks. 

It's far more than just a forest, it has a tree top walk, play area and a lovely cafe too there.

Tree Top Way is considerably higher than I remember! Raising to 15 metres above the forest floor and with steps up to a crow's nest platform at 20 metres I did feel a little giddy at times. The Mini Mes jumping on the way didn't help my fear of heights, as it made the walk wobble quite a bit (eek), but I plodded on trying to remain calm awaiting the wonderful views from the top.

And wonderful they were...

There are rest stops every 24 metres which is the perfect opportunity to look out at the wildlife and take pictures.

Once out of the forest we stopped off for ice creams...

I'm linking this outdoor fun post with Country Kids