E's 8th Birthday Party

Today, finally, E had her gymnastics party at the Bury Spectrum gym.  It was brilliant - the girls got to try out lots of different equipment, like a trampoline, balancing bars, parallel bars etc all with the careful eye of 2 instructors. They took them over each piece of apparatus before the girls got to free play!  They had so much fun and all said it was the best party ever.

We provided food and E requsted a donut cake!  She envisioned lots of donuts but I made a savarin shaped cake (which was a pain to get out of the tin!)

Walk on the Malvern Hills

The Malvern Hills are a string of rounded summits stretching some 10km that are clearly visible from the M5 Motorway. Running in a line from north to south they form a ridge with the Worcestershire Beacon the highest summit (1394ft / 425m). 

We parked in a pay and display carpark in a disused quarry a few hundred metres down the hill towards the A449 in the village of Upper Wyche. We then walked up to the Worcestershire Beacon (not that the view was great - as you can see the clouds had come down and it had started to rain and then we walked around the northern end of the hills before heading home! 

I really enjoyed the walk, although the girls got cold and wet! I would love to come back and explore some more of these lovely hills!

Slimbridge

We visited Slimbridge which is s a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust near Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. We stayed most of the day, including eating a lovely lunch in their cafe!  We didn't see everything and will definitely return for a second visit!  

 You can buy bird food, which we did and enjoyed feeding the swans. G and P even hand feed them (I am terrified of swans)

 We enjoyed a chance to meet some non-native amphibians. There were numerous talks  through out the day - we enjoyed this one and the otter talk very much! 

 Slimbridge has numerous nene (also known as Hawaiian geese), the rarest goose in the world.

 There are many (who knew there could be so quite so many varied) types of aquatic fowl!  I thought this black and white one was really pretty!  

We also saw enjoyed the  wild bird feed from the  comfort of the heated observatory, although sadly because it has been so mild we only saw a few Bewick’s swans!

2016 aims

This is my 2016 list:

(1) Read 50 books
(2) Visit some new National Trust properties
(3) Complete a walk every month
(4) Have more friends over for dinner
(5) Finish my MEd
(6) Finish a half-marathon
(7) Learn to use my camera
(8) Spend some time carrying out STEM activities with the girls
(9) Encourage the girls to enjoy nature activities
(10) Encourage more sibling harmony
(11) Cut down on facebook time