Although T doesn’t have many to his name, out of the half term breaks he’s had so far, this one has been pretty epic. In comparison to his last half term break – where we went to the Isle of Wight – we decided to stay at home and see what was on offer in the local area (and by local, I mean within the M25!).
Sadly, unlike T’s last half term, I had to work for most of it – including one of the weekends – but that didn’t mean he didn’t have fun! Sharon took three out of five of the days and made the most out of the time they had together.
Here’s what we got up to this February half term…
The weekend after T broke up saw us take a visit to Dorset for the weekend to visit family. As we’ve mentioned previously, Dorset is our happy place, so to add some quality family time to that also was an absolute pleasure. Although the weather wasn’t on our side (which is an understatement and a half) we still had a blast.
We went on walks, played games, went bowling (which was a first for T) and generally caught up since the Christmas holiday. It was perfect.
Monday
Kicking off the holiday with a bang, Sharon and T were invited to London Zoo for the day to check out their Vets in Action exhibit that ran throughout the half term. This was a fascinating experience for T as he got to be a vet for the afternoon – from giving a ‘meerkat’ a health check to removing plastic from a poorly sea turtle – T really got involved in the variety of activities on offer.
Although it was busy, it was well worth the visit as he got to learn lots of new things, specifically about the hard work the care and veterinary team do at the zoo.
Joining them was also one of T’s friends from school, which was an added bonus. T adores his friends from school so this was a real treat to see his friends outside of school!
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Tuesday
Tuesday saw a change of scenery with a visit to Brighton’s SEA LIFE Centre to explore their new JAWsome Sharks ‘Top Trumps’ Trail, which is running at the centre until 19th April! During their visit, T was invited to find and collect Prof. Finn’s missing cards to become a Jawsome Ranger.
Along the way, T learnt about the different variety of sharks at the centre as well as took part in a number of tasks – including the invitation to challenge staff to a game of Top Trumps!
Although we visit the SEA LIFE Centre every few months, T never tires of firm favourites at the centre such as the ocean tunnel, the rain forest walk, and the starfish exhibit. It always feels like we’re finding something new to see and do with each visit.
Wednesday
With a busy two days already, and another on Thursday, Sharon made sure Wednesday was a relaxing one by spending some time at home. Before heading to work, we had a nice breakfast and then I picked up T’s cousin ready for the following day.
With busy schedules, they don’t often get an opportunity to spend some quality time with each other, so it was really nice to see them play together.
Thursday
With Sharon returning to work for a break, it was finally my turn to enjoy some time with T. Although it was lovely seeing T and Sharon having some quality time with each other, I was gutted to have missed out on all the fun!
So, with his cousin for company, we took a trip to Barleylands Farm in Essex, which was a new location for all three of us! Although we love staying local, it’s always exciting to go further afield, so when we were invited to visit Barleylands Farm (which is only 2 hours away from Brighton) to see their new exotics and nocturnal exhibit I wasn’t going to turn it down. A full review of Barleylands Farm is coming VERY soon!
Just like the rest of the week, the weather wasn’t great, however that didn’t stop the children enjoying themselves. Although not the biggest of farms, there was still lots of see and do, with a number of indoor and outdoor activities to take part in, including a petting and feeding barn, a nature trail, and lots of location to play!
Friday
With the week coming to a swift end, we decided to fill our time with a catch up with some of T’s baby-group friends. We initially planned to take a nice bike ride along the Saltdean to Rottingdean underpass, however with the wind not giving anytime soon we had to abandon our plans and take respite in a local coffee shop with hot chocolates!
We even tried to fill our time with a trip to the park, but it was even too cold for that!
With the on and off storms continually hitting the UK at the moment, I might be tempted to book some winter sun for next year’s half term! Although T had heaps of fun, it certainly put a damper on certain days. We’re no fair-weather parents, but even the recent winds were too much for us!
Another one bites the dust
Finishing the week with some time at home, to get back into the school routine, it really brought home how quickly T’s school-life is passing us by. He already has a handful of half terms under his belt, and although he still has many more to come, I’m very aware that we must try and make the most of the ones that we have with him. Looking at friends who now have older children, who spend most of their school breaks out and about with friends, it reminds me how precious these breaks are.
Although T is chomping at the bit to go back to school (which I’m not complaining about), I’m really going to miss him being at home. It’s been lovely coming home and hearing about his day, as well as having breakfasts and dinners with him. I can’t wait until our next break together!
