Where do I even start? Since horse riding we've had school place decisions, illness, arcade trips, crafting, sunshine, working and we have an exciting thing happening soon that I will probably reveal in my next post.
For anyone that follows my Instagram, you'll have noticed that I am a little better at updating on there, it's just so easy to update as you go along, I don't find a lot of time at the moment to just sit down and write it all down.
We found out where Harper will be going to school in September, which was a big step, we got our second choice and so did her bestest friend so she's over the moon, so by extension, so are we! It's a big school for round here, with 3 classes per year and she is very small for her age so I was initially quite worried about it, but what she lacks in physical size, she more than makes up in personality and confidence, so she won't care - and I'm
trying not to either! By nature I'm a worry wart so the very fact that she's going to be staying somewhere all day for 5 days a week without me is a big deal and I am ever so slightly having a crisis over it, but what's new? Hello anxiety, my old friend I guess! she's happy to go to big school, she's excited and who am I to rain on her parade with my worries, so I'm excited for her too, it'll be a big adventure.
We had some unexpected sunshine last week too, which led to us having a picnic in the glorious weather, and oh how things have changed this week, it's bloody miserable! I hope that's not the end of summer for us!
I promise I will keep up with this more from now on, it's just been hectic lately - more good things coming our way though, I've got a good feeling!
Today we went on a pharmacy adventure, by that, of course, I mean a safari adventure. Harper insists that I am wrong however, and honestly who am I to correct her? What was originally meant to be a day out to see the giraffes, rhinos, gorillas and tigers turned into something much more... Prehistoric though. A new interest has been born - DINOSAURS.
At Port Lympne Zoo, you arrive and you go through the entrace, through the gift shop (that of course you also exit through), and go to basecamp, where you are picked up by a safari truck and driven through various zones to see lots and lots of animals - we saw giraffes, rhino, a cheetah, zebras, and lots of deer-type animals (the engine was so loud I couldn't hear what the man was saying, so I missed their names) running around quite happily, Harper was absolutely enthralled, squealing with excitement as the giraffes passed by, and spotting animals in the distance - she was one of the first to point out the ostrich and his chicks, and she felt very clever to know what an ostrich was. When you get off the truck, you have quite a walk ahead of you, but you come out, walk up a little to where the toilets are, and opposite is the dinosaur forest, which basically goes around in a loop and you learn about loads of different dinosaurs. There are some hiding in the bushes and you have to have a good look for them. As we walked around (in the rain) Harper was super excited about spotting them all, and reading (being read to, anyway) about them, learning their names, what their names meant and where they lived on the planet, and when ("not now Mummy? There aren't any dinosaurs around now?" was quite a concern apparently - she didn't want to get eaten by a T-Rex). We had a totally wonderful time, but a word of warning - if you baby wear, you might be best sticking with a carrier, we had to drop the buggy off, and while there are umbrella buggies that you can pick up for free after the safari experience, with little-little ones it would definitely be easier to just take the carrier too. We had a great day, and while of course it wasn't a particularly 10-month-old kind of day out, it was right up Harper's street, and Sylvie definitely didn't mind that Harper insisted she also get a stuffed dinosaur, to be "fair." All in all, it was a great day out, and Harper is now interested in something that doesn't have wheels, which can only be a bonus!