Dear Zoo Trail at London Zoo

On Saturday we were invited to the launch of the new Dear Zoo trail at London Zoo.  To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the childhood classic book by Rod Campbell, ZSL and Macmillan books have created a trail around the zoo where children can collect stamps for all the classic Dear Zoo characters.  

Dear Zoo was one of the first books we bought when Dylan was little and I think we all know all the words now.  I took Archie and Cora with me for our trip to the zoo as Dylan and Finn were both ill and we loved following the trail and finding the stamps for the animals that were too fierce, too jumpy and too grumpy to become pets.

We were really excited to meet Rod Campbell and listen to him read Dear Zoo to the children.  We loved the special birthday cakes and Cora got to wear her Dear Zoo dress (M&S did a lovely range last year).  

The elephants are currently at ZSL Whipsnade rather than ZSL London so our card came pre stamped with the 'too big' box, but the rest of the stations were located by their animal and the children could do the stamps themselves.  The Dear Zoo theme extends around the park and the restaraunts sell themed kids meals as well as having decorations baring the famous giraffe.  It made our visit to the zoo even more special and Archie was so proud to complete his card.  

As well as enjoying the trail, we loved the new Land of the Lion area which transported us into the heart of India with a colourful hands-on exhibit surrounding the mighty (and far too fierce) animals. Archie and his friend T loved playing in the vehicles, trying to pedal the bikes and exploring the different areas. 

The zoo is brilliantly designed to keep children occupied and we could break up discovering animals with areas like Land of the Lion to discover, parks to play in and plenty of space to run around. 

The Dear Zoo trail is on from April 1st to April 17th at ZSL London and is included free with your ticket price.  We had the most wonderful (and exhausting) day.

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London Zoo

We love visiting London Zoo as there are so many of our favourite animals to see, but trips take a lot of planning! We used the new Journl app to make our day out even easier (and to keep a track of spending!). We timed our visit inside a weekend in the big city which meant we didn't have long journeys either side, and the boys had an amazing day out.

Journl is an online personal organiser, and now an iphone app too.  The website gives you the chance to organise your whole life from to do lists, to budget planning to their handy calender and the iphone app gives you all this on the go.  My favourite aspect of the app was that it helped me keep track of how much I was spending - something that easily gets out of hand! The notes section meant I could pop down handy blog ideas whenever they came into my head too - here is to hoping I actually get a bit more organised now!

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A Day at the Zoo

I love being a stay at home parent, but I do look forward to the weekends and some family time together.  Seeing my boys playing together, getting some one on one time with each of them and of course having someone to help during the more demanding times.  This weekend we enjoyed some wonderful family time and set off to London for a day at the zoo.  Dylan is at the perfect age for it and I got to have a play with my new camera as well (sorry for the photo overdose!)

Dylan made it very clear that the gorillas and giraffes were our priorities and he loved exploring and watching everything from the penguins to the monkeys.  

He wasn't so keen on the pigs and tigers but he was desperate to feed the giraffes and zebras and I think he would have taken a gorilla home given half the chance.

I popped Archie in a sling on my back so that he could see everything as the pushchair is quite low and he was silent and wide eyed the whole way round, taking everything in as he snuggled. (well until he fell asleep at least)

A lovely walk through the beautiful Regent's park where autumnal colours and fallen leaves lined the paths, and we stopped to take in some Christmas lights (and enjoy some gingerbread men) before heading home worn out for a quiet family day in on Sunday.

I love visiting the zoo this time of year and we were lucky it was such a mild and dry day.  The paths are quieter, queues shorter and the animals are busy and active which is great to watch.  I love showing the boys new things and Dylan hasn't stopped talking about our day out.

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Family Day out at London Zoo

We have only a few short weeks left as a family of three and I am trying hard to make the most of it.  As the bloke works during the week and I work one day every weekend, we only have the one day a week to spend as our little three and this weekend we decided a Christmas treat was in order.

Our adventure started early (well early enough anyway) with a train journey up to London, and Dylan loved walking around the carriage making friends with everyone that smiled back at him.  He is happiest when he has lots of attention and was in his element!  We decided as there was two of us, we would take him on the underground and he sat happily in his pushchair watching the commuters, tourists and Christmas shoppers as we made our way to the zoo.  Dylan seems to have developed a little obsession with animals and our days are spent practising our animal noises, doing animal puzzles and pointing out every monkey, dog and lion in the books we read. I knew he would love the Zoo and so London Zoo was our destination!

Just a little excited!

Whilst the little man napped, the bloke and I took in the smaller animals and bugs and once he woke up the fun really began.  We went to see the monkeys and gorillas, and he was fascinated as they swung around and climbed the ropes.  I could hear a constant ooh ooh, aah ahh and it wasn't coming from inside the cages!  I am so used to visiting zoos in the summer, but in the winter the animals are all so much more active and it is lovely to watch.

Next he was captivated by daddy's favourites - the penguins.  We went along for an informative talk, and sat and ate our picnic lunch as we watched them devouring their fish.  I amused myself and Dylan by making the penguin follow my finger around and I wonder whether he was interested in the penguins on my mittens!

The lions and tigers were a big hit and Dylan seemed very fascinated in watching the tiger eating his dinner - rabbits! It must be a boy thing, as Daddy was captivated too!

We saw the otters, giraffes, reindeer, zebras and butterflies as we walked around (all three of us as someone decided the pushchair was unnecessary when there is so much to look at) and Dylan marvelled at them all, suddenly realising that the creatures exist in the real world as well as in his books and toys.  

By the time the sun was setting and we decided a quick visit to the gift shop was necessary, the little dude was utterly exhausted and I was feeling the same way! There may have been a couple of stragglers in the bag when we left as well.

Mr Gorilla and Rawr the Lion

 Dylan had his first go on the Merry-go-round and he loved riding on a giraffe as we went round twice, waving at Daddy every time we passed him and dancing to the music.  He had been so interested in how tall the giraffes were, I think it was an easy decision when it came to which animal he should ride on!

We all had a wonderful day at London Zoo and my favourite part was spending my time with my two favourite people, doing something that was fun for all of us.  Watching Dylan's face as he took it all in was magical and it was the perfect family day out for us.

Disclaimer:  I was provided with tickets for London Zoo by Money Supermarket

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Trunki Day Out Review

When we were invited to London Zoo to see the new Trunki products it would have been rude to say no, so armed with a bag full of nappies and milk, off we went.  They were all set up in the reptile house which was luckily under cover as the rain was relentless.   Dylan has developed a bit of an obsession with his cot, meaning that he will sleep perfectly in itt, or not at all if we are anywhere else.  The first Trunki product was something that may remedy this.

The Snoozihedz are a fantastic invention, consisting of a soft animal face pillow, with a blanket and inflatable insert inside.  When your child fancies a sleep, you remove the blanket, and blow up the inflatable to form a pillow for their heads.  The blanket attaches both sides of the pillow meaning that even a fidget won't get cold as it stays put.

The snoozihed currently comes in blue and pink, but the new range has four new animals, including Pippin the Penguin (my favourite) and Leeroy the Lion.  Purchasing one of these new characters feels great not just on your little ones head, as they donate 50p from each one sold towards the corresponding animal charity at either London or Bristol Zoo.

Dylan loves his, and I love the security of knowing that he cannot kick the blanket under the pushchair wheels anymore.  They are great for carseats, pushchairs, airplanes, anywhere your child may want a little snuggle really.

The second new product was the paddlepak's new designs,

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