Knowsley Safari Park

It was August Bank Holiday Monday and it was dull and we hadn’t made any plans.  Olivia is a child that needs to be out of the house all of the time or she will go insane (this is why we have to walk for hours and I am losing weight quickly).

 

Tom came up with the bright idea of jumping in the car and shooting over to Knowsley Safari Park to go and have a nosey at the animals.  Quick mad dash to pack sandwiches and get the bag ready and off we went. 

 

As we got to the Knowsley Express Way the heavens well and truly opened.  There was a minute of talking about going home as we weren't sure what it would be like in a downpour.  We carried on driving and there was a queue of people to go in so we decided to go for it and we were so glad that we did.

 

The rain didn’t stop but it turned into normal rain rather than the monsoon we had driven through.  The only animals that weren’t playing were the tigers who were clearly smart animals and were were sleeping in their house, ask Olivia she will tell you about the sleeping tigers.

 

I remember I went to the safari park when I was a child but don’t really remember much about it.  As an adult I loved it!

 

Save for the tigers the other animals were all within sight for Olivia to have a look at.  I have to admit that for the first 15 – 20 minutes she was more fascinated by the grass, rain, puddles and her reflection in the window haha.

 

But she soon started to enjoy it when there were birds walking between cars, the lions were right by the side of the road that you could probably have stroked them if you were stupid enough to dare to try it and the monkies were playing on the cars. 

 

I thought Tom would have taken us through the monkey safe zone to protect his car but he took his aerial off and we got close and personal with a monkey.  They were very well behaved but that was probably because they were trying to warm up using the engines so not wanting to destroy their heat providers.  Friends went not long after us on a sunny day and had their wipers broken so maybe the wet weather is a good time to go!

 

After we had driven around we got to other attractions, I don’t remember them being their when I was a child.  Thankfully the rain had stopped at this point so we got to keep dry.  We had lunch and we have a fabulous pic of Will looking very surprised at something, I think he was excited that he might actually be getting some real food, hard luck dude.

 

We then went to the bat house which made me freak out a bit, I didn’t like it and Olivia wouldn’t go in without me as she wanted both Mummy and Daddy that day. 

 

We then went to look at the Meer cats which Olivia loved.  One was stood at the top of a tree and Tom was explaining to her that he was  the look out and that if he saw danger then he would shout to the other Meer cats, she was clearly listening with great interest as she keeps telling us that the Meer cats shout :)   Tom also got his car insurance through Compare the Market so we got a Meer Cat that arrived a couple of days later, perfect!

 

Tom then took Olivia on the choochoo train yaaaay.  Olivia loves trains so she was loving this adventure with her Daddy.  Will and I waited at the platform for them although will was asleep so just missed it all.

 

After their return from the train ride we went on the hunt for a ‘raffe for Olivia.  Following the foot prints we made our way over to the giraffe house and Olivia loved it, even though it did smell which was something I did know about giraffes.  After watching them for a while we walked up to see the elephants.

 

Then it was time to go home, booo.  It really was a fabulous day out and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.  We can’t wait to go back when Will is old enough to join in and I can play on the train too :)

 

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Updatearama

It has been a few weeks since I last updated this and what a fun few weeks it has been.

There has been a trip to Knowsley Safari park which I think deserves a post of it’s own as it was so much fun and Olivia is still talking about the monkey that sat on Daddy’s car, he was a cheeky monkey apparently

There has also been a trip to the new Museum of Liverpool which was fun.  We spent the day with my mum, Mum in law and Nephew.  The museum was fab from what I saw.  We arrived just as the Little Liverpool play session was starting.  Olivia and Cameron seemed to like that a lot and spent most of the time fishing.  I missed most of the museum as Will has hungry so we went off to have a feed. 
We met up with the gang again to watch them play with the building blocks of the three graces, well Cameron and other children were playing with the blocks whilst Olivia was just bouncing on the crash mats. 
It will be good to go back when Will is older so that I can have a good look around as well.  I also want to take Liv to the World Museum to show her the dinosaurs RrrRaAAarRR hehe

After the fun of the museum we went for a Ferry ride which Olivia loved, especially when she went upstairs to watch the water properly.  Will on the other hand did not like the ferry.  Every time the engines were going he screamed his little head off.  As the ferry pulled into a stop, was stopped and pulled away with the quiet engines he was happy, however that was only about 10 minutes of the hour trip, sorry other passengers!  He did have a cheer up when grandma wrapped him in her cardi and took him for a walk.

Will has also been for his first over night stay at Alder Hey.  The plan is the same as it was with Olivia in that they are happy that he is able to see at present, so it is a case of eye drops each day and we go back in November when he is older so that they can do the reaction tests with him to see how well he can see and then look at when / if they will remove the cataracts.  He was such a star and although he is quite a cry baby at home he was a star in hospital and just cooed and slept.

It was also my birthday at the weekend and oh my goodness was I spoilt rotten.  I was all for ignoring it and pretending it wasn’t happening due to a mix of not wanting to leave my twenties and the fact I feel like a hag at the moment but I am sooooo very glad my gorgeous hubby wouldn’t let me ignore it as it was such a brilliant day.  He also bought he a shiny new laptop (which I am using at present!)  My old one is a wreck so it was a truly awesome gift.   I think I have eaten enough cake and sweeties to give me diabetes It was brilliant time and Olivia is still singing Happy Birthday Mummy xx

On a final note as it is Wednesday and I knew I had to step on the scales this morning, I was dreading it due to the cake and sweets mentioned above but I have actually lost 2lb!   Breastfeeding really is awesome and also the walking for hours is obviously very helpful.  So today I am 12 stone 2.5lb so still over weight but without actually trying (yes, still lazy fecker) I am getting there.  I really need to get some healthy but tasty ideas for meals especially as the colder whether coming in. 

I was sure that there was more I wanted to say but I have forgotten and my gorgeous boy is waking from his half hour nap so time to go and play.

Patch

Hopefully attached to this blog is my gorgeous patch :)

Tuesday we went to Alder Hey for another examination under anaesthetic. We had a clinic appointment at 9am before we had to get to day ward at 11.30. I had telephoned to query the 9 am appointment as we had never needed to go to clinic before being admitted but no no we HAD to be there. I asked for a later appointment, firstly to decrease the gap between appointments and secondly I knew it was going to be impossible to get there for 9 but we were told it had to be 9.

We got there 25 minutes late and was told off by the receptionist, whoops. It would only have been 10 minutes but the buses were being buses so obviously not running to time.

So we wait patiently only to then be asked why we were there. Argh, I was right and should have pressed it with the secretary.

As we were there anyway they dud an eye test for Olivia and she can see brilliantly. Not sure how it compares to other children but compared to what I could see she was leaving me for dust! I could see a grey smudge and Olivia was telling me, no it's a duck :)

Her left eye is doing all the work atm so we're back to patching to try and get the right eye going.

We then had just under 2 hours to pass so we decided to go and invade central admissions as they have a softplay area. We walked into the waiting room, that is shared with cardio, it was completely empty! Olivia had loads of fun with the whole place just for her and The Man!

The Man is a life-size statue of Batman, it's awesome :)

Over an hour there and she then wanted to go outside so my mum talk her for a walk whilst o sat on reception with a glazed look on my face!

Eventually got to K1 and had a play, acted perfectly for the male nurse and eventually off to theatre. All is looking great so we get a break from the big doctors and only have to go for eye tests yay.

Fingers crossed the patching improves things even more! It is also fab that we don't have the boring plain plaster patches, we have glittery patterned ones!

So here's to a few months off for Olivia YAY!!

Will starts his turn on 4th September. At least August is clear :)

Muddy Puddles

Friday!  Hooray!

I had ordered a wardrobe for the childerbeasts and it was being delivered today so fully expected to be stuck in the house all day but amazingly it arrived at 9.30 meaning that we had the full day to go out and play!

I quickly chucked Olivia in the bath and had an early lunch and off we went.  I only thought of going to the park for a bit but it turned into a mammoth trip out around Garston. 

We went to the playground and played for sooo long on everything there.  Olivia insisted that I got to play today as well and made me sit on the roundabout, I only lasted a few minutes as roundabouts make me feel really ill!  She also pushed me on the big swings which was lovely with the sun on my face, sitting down with a 2 year old pushing with all her might for a really gentle sway, bliss.

We then went to have a run around on the grass and splashing through all the muddy puddles.  I got some evil looks off a couple of mum’s who were sat on a bench as one of their daughters copied us and she screamed at her to stop.  Her daughter also had wellies on!  Where is the fun in putting wellies on your child, taking them to a park on a sunny day after weeks of rain and not letting them jump in puddles? come on!


We then went to sit on the bridge and waited for the trains to pass and both waved to them with lots of giggles from Olivia.  We then went to the shop and counted the buses and vans as we went.

I didn’t have my phone or watch so I had no idea how long we were playing. We got home nearly 3 hours later!  Olivia unsurprisingly has passed out on the chair.  I should have taken advantage of the sleep but expected Will to wake for a feed but the fresh air has obviously knocked him out as well.

It has been an awesome day today and we have a fab weekend ahead with Ben’s birthday tomorrow and then a trip to Grandma’s house and a visit to some mini trains hopefully.

I love maternity leave!!