More On Monday: Muddy Puddles

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Traditionally, I've used the 'More on Monday' blog-title to explain my Silent Sunday. However, today I'm using it because I had difficulty choosing a picture for my Silent Sunday and therefore I want to share the other photographs.

On Saturday we went to a local country park with lakes and woodland. We went equipped with The Boy's special George muddy puddles wellies and my camera. The Boy, and the mud, did not disappoint. I have decided that I love this time of year with an infant: it's a whole new world to explore of treasures from the trees, sounds echoing around the woodland with a little red nose from the bite in the air.

Autumn is way more exciting than Summer!

This is the photograph that Mr. TheBoyandMe wanted me to use as my Silent Sunday.

After we'd finished jumping in muddy puddles (he was saturated, I need to look out the waterproof all-in-one suit), we went and explored the wooded areas, including a rather fabulous looking tree-trunk.

And then daddy and The Boy pretended to be aeroplanes.

I seriously love this photo because of the way that The Boy is looking at his daddy, sheer adoration.

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I am linking this up to CoombeMill's Country Kids linky

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Farm Holidays Cornwall

Ten Years On

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I've been teaching for ten years. Ten long years. And although I'm not happy in my profession at the moment, in the blink of an eye I am back in my classroom of my first teaching post. I can remember many things about that first week teaching; the sheer panic of being responsible for a class of thirty children, every single child's face and name, and the tree outside my classroom window.

And standing in the staffroom at the end of my fifth day of teaching and the cleaners asking if we'd heard the news.

It really didn't mean much to me. I knew that the Twin Towers existed and I knew that they were famous. That was it. I was only 24 and about to get married. I was fresh to the adult world; naive to world politics and current affairs. I remember thinking, "Well this must have been an accident, why would anyone do that on purpose?" and I went to finish marking the Maths and English books like a good teacher.

It wasn't until I got home, looked at my (then) fiance's face and turned on the news, that I started to understand. To understand that there is evil in the world; that a group of people would really sacrifice the lives of thousands of people in order to make a point.

The sight of the second plane crashing will stay with me forever. Even thinking about it now, the sickness is there. The image of those people jumping from the windows. I turned from the television and asked why didn't they just go down the stairs. My future husband looked at me and explained gently that they couldn't, they were trapped. That's the moment when I realised the horror.

To then find out that the Pentagon had also been attacked was just astounding, and really brought home the severity of the operation. But the one that seems to shock everybody to the core is United Airlines Flight 93. The choice that those brave souls made is testamount to the good in every human being on this planet. That at heart, humankind cannot allow evil to prevail.

On this day, the 10th anniversary of that fateful day, I intend to remember.

To remember the victims of the Twin Towers, of the Pentagon, of the four planes. Their families. But also to remember all the brave men and women who have fought to bring humanity back to this world, so that my child can grow up knowing the goodness in the human race.

Folly Farm

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During the Summer holidays I celebrated my 34th birthday. I know, I don't look old enough.

In order to celebrate, we decided to head down to west Wales to spend the day at Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo. We'd last been there over five years ago with Mr. TheBoyandMe's nieces and nephew, and I couldn't wait to show The Boy the different farm animals, the old-fashioned funfair rides and the indoor play area. Plus, I had been champing at the bit to see the only giraffes in Wales.

FollyFarm is not a theme park, thank goodness. It's been going for over twenty years, initially as a farm diversification project and then when the owners' daughter and husband joined the management, they brought their Disneyland training with them to make it more of an adventure with rides and attractions for all ages.

At the heart of FollyFarm remains the Jolly Barn which is home to a huge variety of  farmyard friends: sheep, pigs, donkeys, horses, chickens, goats, etc. While this is now a small part of the various attractions, it remains my joint favourite section and is constantly filled with children under seven years, petting, grooming and learning about everyday farm animals.

My second favourite area of FollyFarm is the Vintage Funfair. This is seriously good fun! A stunning carousel proudly dominates the centre of it, but there are the other really traditional rides; the swing-chairs, the dodgems, ghost-train, fun-house and waltzers. There are also a whole heap of other rides for younger children, and this is the first time The Boy had experienced rides like this unattended. My heart was in my mouth the entire time, but he had such fun and I saw him grow up just a little bit more in front of my eyes.

The rides in this section require tokens, which cost 50p each. Most rides are only one token, very few are two tokens. While this is a nominal amount, with the entrance fee of £9.00 for adults and £8.00 concessions (peak times), spending much time in this zone could soon mount up for a family of four or more. The Vintage Funfair is a must-see element of FollyFarm (especially if it's raining), but you will need to budget it into your expenses.

The other area that I was really excited to see was the Folly Zoo, mainly because of the giraffes. There are many different zones, equating to habitats: Desert Heat, Australian Outback, African Reserve etc. This last one was, for me, the best. There are (from what I recall) six giraffes and their facilities are fabulous. They are absolutely thriving in their environment. The zebras are also magnificent specimens with a huge paddock area for roaming, running and being quite frisky in!

It was quite a chilly and wet day when we went there, and so we didn't spend a huge amount of time outside. However there are masses of areas and attractions for little, and big, ones to play on. They have had a ferris wheel installed since the last time we were there, but the JCBs, sand-diggers, ride-ons, adventure playgrounds are all still there and covered in swarming children. It's a very popular aspect of the park.

The central area is where most of the food outlets are. There's a range including the usual burger and chips, along with a family restaurant and a cafe (bizarrely there's also a fully-licensed bar), and a sandwich/light meals section. Hot drinks are around £1.50, a baguette £3.25, a baguette meal (including crisps and drink) is £5.35. These are average places for a tourist attraction. There are also two large areas (one indoor, one outdoor) for picnics, which is what we took with us. There are plenty of bins around and recycling facilities, along with people sweeping up dropped litter.

We had a good time in Folly Farm: the range of attractions are wide-ranging and aimed at family entertainment without a cacophony of sirens and screams, the facilities are good and the atmosphere is fun. The entrance fee does vary with season and there are additional costs for rides, so check the website before you go.

And one last thing, it's in West Wales and on a hillside: take a pac-a-mac with you, along with your sunscreen. When it's hot, it's a sun-trap and glorious. When it rains: don't let it spoil your fun!

We were provided with free entrance tickets for the purpose of this review. My opinion is, as always, honest.

Nature's Treasures

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A few week's ago, I made a treasure, sensory box for The Boy and he has thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the different colours and textures in it. Following last week's successful trip to the park where we found some amazing gems. We collected the larger, more round items up into his little shopping bag, and stuck the collection of leaves onto a recycled nature board.

It took The Boy a little time to understand that we were looking for different types of leaves; not as complicated as the species of tree, just colours and shapes. When we compared them after, he was able to distinguish the different shapes, but with the subtle shades in the Autumnal colours he found it quite tricky to distinguish the differences. He liked feeling them though and using the words 'scrunchy' and 'smooth'.

He has been a boy obsessed this week. The treasure box has had to come down at every opportunity. Throughout the week, I've had to remove certain mouldy parts but it has continued to serve him as a great source of enjoyment and fun. Of course, I've taken the opportunity to guide him. Of course I have: I'm a teacher!

He's sorted, counted, ordered, described.

But more importantly, he's had fun!

Seeking Out Autumn

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Several months ago I read an activity post from Multiple Mummy that involved a nature trail in her back garden (her son had chickenpox so they were quarantined). Ever since, I've wanted to do this with The Boy but it's taken time to get prepared. First of all, I had to find some self-adhesive pads which having scoured local shops for, I ended up finding them in a cheap shop on holiday in Dorset! Now things are more comfortable with potty-training, I felt happy to have a go.

With the increasing bite in the air and the occasional, but gentle, rainbursts, it was time to pop on our wellies and waterproofs and go nature-treasure hunting in a local park. Ideally to do this activity you need horse chestnut and sycamore trees, pine trees and possibly an oak. There is a park on the way down to the beach that is perfect for this with the abundance of trees lining the periphery of the park.

The Boy already knew what a conker was because I'd shown him a few days beforehand, trying to get him to find other treasures proved interestins; he's only two, he's never seen these things before. We wondered around the more woodland area of the beautiful Victoria park, straying off paths, climbing up banks and sliding down muddy paths and found a whole heap of nature's wonders. The Boy kept stopping and listening during the still moments between the roars from the cars on the road alongside the park. In those snapshots of serenity he heard the raindrops falling through the layers of the canopies, blackbirds calling, squirrels scampering up the treetrunks, and his absolute favourite was the chorus of the crickets in the long grass. He stood and listened for over ten minutes.

In this emeral and khaki wonderland, under our rubber-encased feet and amongst the fallen detritus, we found pine cones, acorns, beech tree seeds, red leaves, orange leaves, multi-coloured leaves and conkers in their cases and out. Is their any greater joy than opening up a conker case and being the first person in the entire world to see that feat of nature?

Children can only learn what they experience!

(Come back tomorrow to find out what we found in our nature trail)

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