With it being half term this week there hasn't been any baby and toddler group and with Eden needing to be constantly entertained by some big adventure we headed down to Paignton Zoo for the day (The whole day!) Paignton Zoo has so much to see you need atleast 3 hours to go around everything and thats without taking in time for keeper talks, lunch and breaks to play on the park or soft play. We arrived at the zoo right as it opened at 10:30 and began our adventure, we saw loads of animals and stopped to listen to two keeper talks, Eden's still too young for the play parks at the zoo and we didn't go to the soft play, although they had a ball pit so she would of enjoyed a visit and we left at around 15:30 so we stayed for a good 5 hours. I was a bit nervous about the trip because Eden is going through some developments and hasn't been sleeping well and has been kinda unsettled lately plus she's teething so chances were the day could go not so great. But she was a star, she got upset a few times because she was hungry or tired but settled pretty quickly each time and was loving looking at all the animals. Her favorite was the giraffe and cheetah (the 2 talks we listened to!), she loved walking (being carried!) around the grounds and looking at the tree's and water.
The zoo has toilets/baby changing/nursing rooms dotted around in various places so it was fairly easy to stop and feed Eden when the mood took her , although the nursing room is literally a very small room with a chair that didn't look all the comfortable in it so we found it much easier to use the baby change/toilets as there was just more space to settle down (I know people get upset about feeding babies in toilets but it really doesn't bother me and Eden doesn't care where she's eating as long as the milkies are there).
At the beginning of December when Eden was just 6 weeks old we wanted to take her to visit with Santa but wanted to avoid standing in line for hours in the cold to visit one in the shopping mall and so we looked in to a local attraction that was doing visits with Santa; Devon's Crealy Great Adventure Park was doing story time with santa and so we decided to go along and try to meet him. On arrival we collected our park tickets (we had pre-booked on line as advised on their website!) and were then given tokens to see Santa. We had arrived at midday and the santa slot we were allocated was at 14:30 so we had to find a way to entertain a tiny 6 week old who had never been outside for such a long time before and who liked to spend most of her time attached to mummy having milkies. We started off trying the indoor soft play toddler area/ball pit and this was immediately met with screaming and tears from the little one. Not a great start. We found a spot to sit and a quick nappy change and milkies stop later Eden was back to her happy self and so we decided to see what at Crealy Eden was allowed to go on. We started with a quick go on a seated ride the kind you find at arcades, Eden was definitely too small for this but with a bit of support from mummy and daddy she quite enjoyed it (even if it doesn't look that way in the photo!), Then we headed towards the safari
train (A ride on train that goes in a circle around a track like a very slow rollercoaster), we asked if baby could ride and was told that was fine as long as we held on to her so she didn't fall out (as if we needed telling to hold her!), The train goes past various models of animals like you're on a real safari and Eden was mesmerized by looking at these. Next we decided to check out the park next to the train which had a bridge and cannons that shoot balls and a small slide, Eden tried out the slide (or pretended to!) and then we moved on to the merry-go-round/ carousel and again were told yes Eden could ride. She was a bit confused at this point but remained very interested in everything that was going on around her. After this we headed back to the arcade/soft play barn and played on a tea cup ride which Eden very much enjoyed riding with mummy before we went up to the other inside area with another soft play area and more rides (Eden was too small for the rides in this barn but she did try the toddler area in the soft play again and this was more successful than the first!) Next on the agenda was the animal barns where Eden got up close and personal with donkeys, horses
and rabbits and so began her love of animals. We still had a little time before it was time for Santa and the adults were getting hungry so we headed for lunch and attempted (Unsuccessfully) to get Eden to take a nap before we headed up to the grotto. Once inside the grotto there was a bit of a wait for the jolly fella to join us and the room got very crowded very quickly, this caused Eden to become quite upset as she isn't a big fan of crowds, Santa finally joined us and told a story (Which Eden screamed and screamed through! There was no escape; we were stuck!) and then everyone joined him for a rendition of Rudolf the red nosed reindeer before we all lined up to meet Santa, get photos taken and be handed our prize (A selection box) by which point Eden was feeling much better about the large crowd and was getting attention from other families which as always she
loved. Once we were done with santa we had a ride (or two!) on the dinosaur jeeps - Again a reminder from the operator to hold on to the baby but no restriction on allowing her to ride. Next up was a wriggle around in the sand pit before taking a walk in the woods by which point Eden at only 6 weeks old and still having not napped all day was started to fade (Or more accurately shout and cry!) so we made our way to the gift shop for our souvenirs before heading home. It was a really wonderful day out and will be a regular day out over the spring and summer I am sure as I plan to purchase annual tickets as soon as the season begins. Crealy has everything in one place. Soft play, rides, park, sand, animals, walks, picnic area and plenty of food options too, What more can you ask for?
Eden really loves to get messy, She goes to a baby and toddler group where there is usually an activity that results in Eden going home dirty. The first session was full on Messy play with food colouring spagetti, yoghurt and paint, Another session there was play dough which Eden squished and squeezed until it was stuck to every little bit of her hands and all down her shirt and yet another session was valentine inspired arts and crafts where Eden decided to free style (In fairness she is way to young for stamping which the aim of the craft asked for!) and smeared her hands through the paint and used that to paint her mummy and daddy a picture each and in the process smeared red paint all down her sleepsuit and bib (and all over mummy!). So with this in mind I decided to get Eden involved in some messy play at home since with it being half term she hasn't been to group this week. Eden is coming up to 4 months old and with the aim of Eden getting use to smell and textures of food and since there was a baby event on in store I had purchased several tubs of baby puree for her to sample and use for easy food when we were out on adventures in coming months; so I popped Eden in her Bumbo seat with the tray attached and placed a few blobs of puree in different areas of the tray (Having learned from past events Eden did this before getting dressed for the day!) and just let Eden do with it as she wished. I love to watch her exploring and discovering new things in her own way.
At first she just looked at it and then back at me as if asking what I expected her to do with that. (I did put my finger in and place a tiny bit on the back her hand to encourage her to touch!) Then she started running her fingers through the blobs and gradually began to bang her hands in to it harder and wave her hands around resulting in food all over her face and legs and splashed over other near by toys. Eden then decided she wanted to get a closer look and leaned down to the tray and immediately decided it looked so good she had to taste it. Eden started to chew the tray and lick at the food like a dog (Must get get her more human friends!) Anyway she had a blast playing with the food and was covered from head to toe in thick sticky fruit puree so I'd say it was a hit !!!
With it being half term this week there hasn't been any baby and toddler group and with Eden needing to be constantly entertained by some big adventure we headed down to Paignton Zoo for the day (The whole day!) Paignton Zoo has so much to see you need atleast 3 hours to go around everything and thats without taking in time for keeper talks, lunch and breaks to play on the park or soft play. We arrived at the zoo right as it opened at 10:30 and began our adventure, we saw loads of animals and stopped to listen to two keeper talks, Eden's still too young for the play parks at the zoo and we didn't go to the soft play, although they had a ball pit so she would of enjoyed a visit and we left at around 15:30 so we stayed for a good 5 hours. I was a bit nervous about the trip because Eden is going through some developments and hasn't been sleeping well and has been kinda unsettled lately plus she's teething so chances were the day could go not so great. But she was a star, she got upset a few times because she was hungry or tired but settled pretty quickly each time and was loving looking at all the animals. Her favorite was the giraffe and cheetah (the 2 talks we listened to!), she loved walking (being carried!) around the grounds and looking at the tree's and water. 
The zoo has toilets/baby changing/nursing rooms dotted around in various places so it was fairly easy to stop and feed Eden when the mood took her , although the nursing room is literally a very small room with a chair that didn't look all the comfortable in it so we found it much easier to use the baby change/toilets as there was just more space to settle down (I know people get upset about feeding babies in toilets but it really doesn't bother me and Eden doesn't care where she's eating as long as the milkies are there). 
