Banham Zoo

We made a very cold, but very fun, trip to Banham Zoo while we were in Norwich. There were even a few flakes of snow in the air, which made the penguins happy.

 

Not so sure if the red panda and giraffe were so appreciative of the cold, though!

 

 

And the dinosaur looked positively frozen...

 

We had an interesting few questions when, ahem, one of the mummy tigers gave one of the daddy tigers a 'piggy back'. No photos of that, but here's a tiger behaving himself.

 

And here's another tiger who looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth!

 

The cupboard under the stairs

Like something straight out of Harry Potter, the children kept being drawn to the cupboard under the stairs while we stayed in the cottage.

Every time Chloe and Anya came to visit, everyone would climb into the cupboard, bringing toys, cushions and food with them, and then use it as their secret den!

 

Still, it kept the rest of the cottage looking tidy!

Fire starter

Andy was in his element during this holiday, as there was a wood burner in the cottage, which allowed him to play with matches without being told off! The worrying thing is that the children also seemed to enjoy the fire, so Ruth is going to have to keep those matches hidden from them, too!

 

Will was happy to help at the other end, and enjoyed cleaning out the dust and ash, like a modern day Cinderella!

 

Indoor fun

A cottage holiday in the UK in February means that you're likely to spend a lot of time indoors. But, we came prepared on this trip...

For mental activity, we taught Will the skill of Mastermind. He now knows which coloured pegs taste the best!

 

For further mental activity, Ruth worked hard on a jigsaw puzzle... until Will decided that it would be more fun to take it apart than to make it!

 

For physical activity, we made good use of Ruth's new Wii Fit. Our yoga moves are something special to behold!

 

 

 

Norfolk cottage

Our first (aren't we lucky!) holiday this year was to Norfolk, to visit Uncle Tim, Auntie Abby, Chloe and Anya. We stayed at a lovely cottage just outside Norwich, which had fantastic views and a beautiful garden.

 

 

 

Of course, having a pond in the garden meant that we all had to act like gnomes and try our hands at fishing. We never caught anything, though!

 

Midnight feast!

To mark the end of their visit to Norwich, Hannah, Thomas, Chloe and Anya had a cinema evening (High School Musical 2!) and midnight feast. Something tells me they enjoyed themselves!

 

 

 

 

 

Something also tells me that Anya likes popcorn!

 

 

Cousins

They don't get to meet up very often, but when they do, Hannah, Thomas and Will get on fantastically well with their cousins Chloe and Anya. If only someone would hurry up and invent Star Trek transporters, so that it wasn't a five+ hour car journey to visit!

 

 

 

 

Sand between the toes

Lots of the play parks in Norwich have sand as a the flooring, presumably to stop any children from smashing into solid concrete as they leap off the top of slides! It's great for safety, but it does leave pockets full of sand at the end of the day, especially when you're making 'sand angels'!

 

 

 

A great way to clear the sand off your shoes, though, is to stand in the middle of a fountain...

 

Fancy dress parade

Hannah, Thomas, Will and Ruth headed to Norwich this week to visit Uncle Tim, Auntie Abby, Chloe and Anya. Daddy had a very quiet week at home!

The first full day in Norwich involved digging through Chloe and Anya's dressing up clothes and putting on a Royal Performance - the video is something else! Here's some samples of the costumes, though...

 

 

Will just looked on in amusement!

 

Heading East for Easter

In order to make the most of the Easter holidays, Mum took Hannah, Thomas and Will on a trip East to Norwich to visit Uncle Tim, Auntie Abby, Chloe and Anya. The weather was even nice enough for picnics in the garden!

 

It was great to see everyone again, even if Anya's hair was really scary!

 

There was time for fishing (or at least waving a big stick around dangerously, while pretending to fish!)

 

And Will enjoyed the kisses from Auntie Abby!

 

(And what did Dad do while all of this holidaying was going on. He was in work, earning the money to pay for all the petrol! But, he did enjoy the peace and quiet, and even had a chance to go for a walk up the Garth mountain, which felt a bit like a holiday!)