We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

So Tom has seen most of his family in the last couple of weeks, so we decided to round it off with a half way meet with his Granma and Pop Pop in Bristol.  The weather was looking OK - ie cold but not raining so we decided to visit the zoo - it's been a long while since I've been there!

Roar!

We set off at 9.00, got there just before 11am, luckily Granma and Pop Pop got there before and called and talked us to the same parking space as them otherwise we could have gone round and round in circles trying to find them.  The sun was shining, but it wasn't warm - where has the warmth gone????

The zoo was much smaller than I remembered, which was good, just about the right size for little legs.  Tom behaved very well - his favourite place was the aquarium - note to selves: next rainy day we should go to the Sealife Centre, once again the boring grey fish were his favourite.  Other than that, I think the pygmy hippos closely followed by the gorillas were the best.  The lions were also good - the big male lion was 'playing' with a horse's head - Tom called it a meatball which was cute.  Anyway Tom took it all in his stride and managed to keep going without getting tired.

Cute

After a good lunch, we finished off the zoo and ended up in a Splash zone - fantastic area for toddlers a little stream going through waterfalls, waterwheels, a bridge, a fountain etc etc.  Tom LOVED it.  We rolled up his jeans, took his shoes and socks off and he potted about quite happily even though the water was freezing.  He really really enjoyed it, he kept holding up the end of his jeans as if they were about to fall down.  Really funny.  Once we dragged him away from there he had a play in the play ground.  We then went into the parrot area where lorikeets fly down to eat nectar that you can purchase.  I did it so Tom could watch, he watched with interest and then did it himself really well, then unfortunately a bird landed on his shoulder which he wasn't expecting and shocked him which led to crying.  What a shame as he had such a good day.  Oh well, another play in the splash area sorted him out.

Trousers up

At 5 o'clock the zoo was emptying and Tom was showing signs of tiredness so we made our way back to the cars, said our goodbyes and made our way back.  Tom was asleep in minutes and stayed asleep for a good 1.5 hours (a sign of a good active day).  Once he was awake we turned off the motorway and searched for a pub for dinner.  We found a cheap and cheerful one and ate up (Tom polished his plate off).  We then got on our way again.  It was just before 9pm when we got back, Tom really didn't know what to do with himself, he stayed awake, but was limp in his chair - must have been wondering what on earth we were doing.  Anyway a good day was had by all.