Family Fun at Chester Zoo #Matalanzooday

Last Sunday Matalan kindly invited us to visit Chester Zoo along with 14 blogger families for the #Matalanzooday! Rather surprisingly considering the previous week's weather the sun was shining and there was barely a cloud in the sky, a lovely start for a day out...

Thank to my husband's over enthusiastic timekeeping we actually arrived before the gate's opened at 10am so went to watch the Elephants have their breakfast, which was lovely to watch there were four generations  of the same family and Elizabeth adored the baby ones, pointing and giggling at them from her comfy perch on Daddy's shoulder's...

Soon though it was time to enter the Zoo and after watching the Elephant family come out into their enclosure, we headed towards the BUGS exhibition, which was really quite fun and interactive  although beware if you have a fear of creepy crawlies! Ben was unfazed and enjoyed having a ride on a giant ladybird!

Other #Matalanzooday bloggers soon arrived and we all met up at the chimps, it was great to see some good friends including the very lovely Sim from SimsLife and Pippa from RedRoseMummy, who we continued to explore the Zoo with.

We soon had a break for a yummy picnic lunch near the play area before going on to visit the Ape house, which had lots of delightful sights including a Mummy ape showing off her Baby to the crowds, it was lovely to watch and she was obviously so proud!

It was a really fun day out, it's been over a year since we last visited and both children were much braver and more excited this time, running about and following Bud who was the self appointed map-reader for the day!

It was loudly announced that their favourite animals were the monkey's, Giraffes and Elephants, although Ben was fascinated by feeding time at the Giant Otters too, I just wish we had battery life left to take some pictures, I guess I was too snap happy earlier on!

Prior to the day, the lovely folks at Matalan sent us some vouchers to kit the children out in their latest clothes for the day. I was spoilt for choice looking though all the lovely girls clothes but eventually decided on this pretty Chambray Dress for just £12 with the gorgeous Red Cape that was a bargain at £14, the outfit is adorable and as well as looking fabulous at the zoo, the outfit will be well used over the winter. I have to say that they boys choice was slightly lacking compared to the girl's however I soon found this shirt & Tshirt set for £7, which looked very smart with these rather funky jeans that were just £13. Two really cute and great quality outfits that I am really pleased with. How cute is that Cape? I wish they did it in my size!

I'd like to Thank Matalan and my fellow Bloggers for a great day out!

Disclaimer: Matalan kindly paid for our family to gain entry to the zoo and gifted us £40 of vouchers towards the clothes we purchased.

Not Quite a Royal Visit to Chester Zoo....

So as you may have heard Chester Zoo will be having a very special visitor tomorrow... Yes it's Her Majesty the Queen! HRH and the Duke of Edinburgh will be opening Chester Zoo’s £2m gateway to conservation with the unveiling of the Diamond Jubilee Quarter, Chester Zoo's first ever public space! It sound's like it will be an exciting day and if you fancy seeing all the action you can watch the visit live on their website!

If you'd rather see the animals up close then the zoo will be open from about 12 noon and you can book online to get 20% off the price!

Reading about this reminded you that I haven't yet had the chance to tell you about our trip to Chester Zoo last Week...


Back in the Autumn of last year the very lovely Laura from tiredmummyoftwo decided that she wanted to run an amazing giveaway to give lots of lucky people the chance to have an extra present under the tree! Well thanks to Laura and travel company Superbreak I was the very lucky winner of a family ticket to Chester Zoo!

I've always loved the Zoo but haven't been for years! Ben had visited once with his Godfather when he was younger but Elizabeth had never been.

So the Mymummyspennies family were all rather excited! We packed up a special picnic and off we went. Ben was especially looking forward to seeing the Lions and the Penquins!

We had a fantastic day, the weather was amazing and we got to see some beautiful creatures up close!

I have to say I am a big kid at heart and think I enjoyed it more than the children. We went on the boat ride, we we saw both mine and Elizabeth's favourites, the Giraffes! At £2 for adults, £1.50 for children and free for under 3's it really was worth it!

The was also the dinosaur exhibition which Ben adored but to be honest some of them made me jump!

Although Admission prices are quite high you can do Chester Zoo on a budget and still have an amazing time! We took a lovely picnic with us and were able to leave it in the car then nip back to get it at lunchtime, they also had lockers available to hire., Even if you want to 'treat' your little one to a present from the girt shop then that can also be done without breaking the bank. We got the children a foam animal mask for just £1.50 each.

So thank you very much Tired Mummy of Two and Superbreak we had a fantastic time! Have you taken your little ones to the zoo recently? What's their favourite animal?


Here are some pictures of our fabulous day out....

Family Fun at Gypsy Wood....

Yesterday on the way back from a few days away in North Wales we went for a family day out at Gypsy Wood Park...

The children (and Mummy and Daddy!) had lots of fun running around on the play areas, petting the animals, watching (and riding on) the trains, discovering the fairies and much more so I thought I would show you our day in pictures...


We had lots of fun finding Fairies....

And visiting the animals.....

Before having a play....

Making some music....

And discovering some trains...

Costing under £20 for all of us (2 adults, a four year old and a one year old) this was a fabulous family day out that didn't break the bank!

We will definately be returning and next time will be taking a picnic to enjoy on one of the lovely picnic areas and wellies so we can explore the wetland walk!

I'm linking this to the fab Country Kids over at Coombe Mill so why not pop over and check out other fun days out in the fresh air...