"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

I'm going to start this post off on a negative note, which I don't usually do as I always keep all of my posts happy and upbeat but stay with me. For as long as I can remember I have been 'Anti Zoo's'. I never liked the idea of animals being out of their natural habitat and trapped in enclosures, the whole idea of it weirded me out a little and because of this we had never taken the boys to the zoo. When I think about it now my view on this could seem quite odd as I have taken them to aquariums before... clearly I feel completely different about sea life. 

After being asked to visit Twycross Zoo my initial thought was to politely decline, but before doing so I went online and did a little research on the zoo and this is where I realised that my thoughts and feelings about zoo's especially in Twycoss' case was very wrong. After reading about their conservation projects and research into animal behaviour, breeding programmes and sustainability, I closed my laptop feeling very different about the views I had previously had. So we decided to visit Twycross so that we could really see what the zoo was all about.

If there is one very important thing that I have learned since starting this amazing home-schooling adventure with Opeie, it is that no day sat in a class room, having information thrown at you is ever going to trump a day out learning through experience and that really is what home-schooling is all about for us. Add another home-schooling family into the mix and your educational fun is magnified as the children bounce their thoughts, feelings and ideas off of each other. 

We picked probably the best day of the year so far to visit the zoo as the sun was out and there looked like there was no chance of anything changing, which for a day in April is good going. The kids were excited and us parents had our own favourite animals that we couldn't wait to see. What I loved from the get go was how immaculate the zoo was and how welcoming and friendly the staff were which will always put you in good stead for a great visit anywhere. 

With maps in their hands we left the kids to show us around (a great home-schooling lesson in itself).

First on their list of places of interest on the map was Lorikeet landing, I don't think I'd ever seen a Lorikeet before and I think its safe to say that we were all really impressed by the bright and vibrant colours on these beautiful birds. I was great to be able to walk into the enclosure and have them landing right next to you as you made your way through. I love the way that there was no shortage of information about each of the animals there, having the educational side of things made easy for us home-schooling parents.

Being the little punk enthusiast that Opeie is these days, he was in awe of the black and white zebra mohicans. It was interesting to learn that the zebras stripes can be used as camouflage but also that their monochrome pattern can confuse and deter flies. 

one of the most appealing things about the zoo for me was the shear size of it, you could easily spend the whole day there wandering about, especially on the glorious day that we visited. with something different everywhere you turn, even if you were not interested in reading the information about the animals the visit would be a stimulating visual experience. Being able to see animals that you would never get to see unless visiting their natural habitats, really is very special.

Ive always been a huge fan of the giraffe and as we approached the enclosure we realised we had arrived at exactly the right time, to see them up close while they were feeding. For me personally this really made the visit.

One of the things that really surprised me about the visit was the the way I felt about animals that I'd not really thought about before. We're always watching nature documentaries and although its fascinating to learn about animals, to actually see them is a real experience. I'd never really given Gorillas a second thought, when we reached the enclosure though I could have sat there watching them all afternoon and it was clear that we all felt the same.

At lunch time we found a spot of grass to have our picnic. When we looked behind us we were shocked to see two enormous tortiose happily munching on some grass. (like I said 'everywhere you look there is something interesting). 

Tummys full, it was time for our little map reading tour guides to take us to the next place of interest, the Lemurs...

It was at this point that one of our party members started to get very VERY excited... and it wasn't one of the children. When arranging the trip I had been concentrating so much on the kids having a great time I hadn't thought for one second about our friend Helen having the time of her life. It turns out she loves Lemurs and having them walking along right next to her was clearly making her very happy indeed. 

With so many amazing animals to see  we were fully entertained for the day and the kids had so much to talk about on the way home. As a home educating parent these are the sorts of days out that really have the most impact and the visit has already spurred on many activities and interesting talks about habitats and interesting facts about each of the animals we saw.

If you are planning on a visit soon the new Chimpanzee Eden has just opened. Check out the link HERE!

The thing that really made this visit special is that it made me realise that although it is good to have strong feelings about various things in life, they are not always right and sometimes you can be proved wrong. Twycross and the amazing work that they do to learn about each of their animals while educating along the way really is something special and we hope to visit there again very soon. 

"I don't have pet peeves; I have whole kennels of irritation."

I'd love to be able to say that I've become a real dog person since Snuffy joined the family. As much as I love that adorable grumpy faced Pug, I could happily give her away tomorrow. Its not a personal thing, I just really don't like having animals in the house. Negative feelings aside though, Snuffy and Polly have brought a lot of joy into the house and having a friend there all the time has had a great impact on Opeie, I may not notice it all the time if I'm in a micro rage and distracted by pooh in the back garden or wet patches on the carpet, but when I look back through my photos I see that maybe pet ownership isn't all that bad.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

I've written about it many times before but I think that many parents seriously underestimate their children and the amount of information they take in at a young age. Opeie literally blows us away most days with the things he comes out with and his infectious playful personality. I think it's all because we really take the time to listen to or translate what he is actually saying rather than just dismissing it as jibberish (like many parents would).

We were asked by a friend of Mrs M's if we would review a book for her and it was Opeie's big old brain that has been the motivation for the start of the post. When the book arrived I placed it on the sofa ready to read at bed time that evening but as we sat  on the sofa that afternoon Opeie opened the book to look at the pictures and then started reading (or though it seemed). "We don't eat cows, we don't eat sheep, we don't eat pigs and we don't eat chickens" he happily read to himself. What blew our mind was that we hadn't told him what the book was about. 

The book in question was 'we're vegan' by Anna Bean. An introduction into veganism for young children. Ever thought that Vegans were just crazy people that only eat lettuce leaves? It seems to be the most cliche opinion of most people eating a western diet. This book makes it a little more clear and I love that it is aimed at young children. If you eat a plant based diet as a family then it is important to educate your children and this book is a great first step.

With simple colourful illustrations it's really appealing to children and when we did read it to Opeie he really enjoyed it. For me the one thing that let it down was that it concentrated on veganism from an animal advocacy point of view and I think there should have been a mention of other reasons, health, sustainability etc. Personally you can't beat rhyming books when it comes to younger readers especially when it's a serious message, hearing it in rhyme seems to help the information stick (its why I'm such a huge Dr. Seuss fan). I'm not sure if Opeie's some sort it literacy genius or maybe it was just coincidence but Opeie's message was clear and although he has only just turned three he seemed very passionate about it.

It was lucky we were practicing his writing that afternoon, because When asked 'why?' We don't eat cows, sheep, pigs and chicken I used Opeie's very intelligent and heart warming response as his writing exercise...

I'm so proud of that little boy of ours.   

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms."

Finally some proper sunshine. We had some pretty great weather last week and we've been doing the best to make the most of it. A few days back it was hot and bright and it had put me and Opeie in a great mood. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said "ballpit" not my first choice on that glorious day but he was adamant so that's where we headed. As we drove down the country drive to get to Apley farm shop I noticed all the animals were out so I asked Opeie if he'd like to feed the animals first (anything to keep us out in the sun a little longer).

We'd visited piggs play barn loads of times, it's the cleanest soft play that we've been to so it's the one I'd rather go to, we've never taken advantage of the animals there though until now. Opeie loved that we could go inside the rabbit, chicken and Guinea pig run to feed and pet the animals.

there were Donkeys, pigs, sheep, goat, chickens, horses a pony and what i thought was a Llama, until Mrs M laughed and pointed out that it was an Alpaca (same thing aren't they? haha) 

It was only a couple of pounds each to get in and was worth every penny. The animals looked happy, the staff all had smiles on there faces (that could have been the sun) and although there was the disappointment of our bag of food running out it was a lovely way to break up the morning before heading indoors to a sweaty soft play area.