May bank holiday London

My dad had just come back from a 7 week visit to India...his first since we went in 2001. He was mad to go at this time of year as it's really hot there. But it was good for him to see his sisters and other family.
We visited him on his return back. First a stopover for the night in the Premier Inn in Stevenage Central. If you should find yourself in need of a hotel don't pick this one...it's well dated. But if you need a bite to eat go here as the restaurant staff were the most cheerful ever, even though they were so busy and run off their feet.

Next morning we went to stay at my dad's. Much as I love him the smell of his cigarettes and cooking linger and make me uncomfortable. I also revert to my adolescent self and end up having confrontations with the old man. I got cross when I couldn't find towels though he had never moved them, I just forgot where they were.
My little brother is living with him again too trashing my old room. So there was a clean up to do before we could put little one in there to sleep.
The trip was great though as we visited my my best mate and her son then my other young brother, his four kids and wife. Their house is immaculate because my bro is a bit OCD. He needs to be as their flat  is small. I wish I was as disciplined. Sigh. Our little one absolutely loves going there as she loves playing with her girl cousins. I wished we lived closer so they could meet more often. Sigh.
The next day, we went along to the South Bank to meet Plummy friends. I may have mentioned before that this is my favourite place ON EARTH. It's sad but I just love it. Despite that I still managed to get off at the wrong tube stop....what a crap memory. What a numpty.Anyway, once there I love walking by the river, past the book stalls at the NFT, down to Gabriel's Wharf for Gourmet pizza, so much to see and do. Whilst it rained we sheltered inside the Festival Hall. We went up to see what's on all the floors. Great views of London (though not of the Shard). We tried to get our kids to listen to a choir but that didn't work. So we took THE SINGING LIFT down to the food market. Yes, you read correctly, the lift sings. For once, we were happy to be going up and down the wrong floors as the singing was so fun.
After being treated to ice cream we walked back to the area around the London Eye seeing people play music, stand as statues, blow giant bubbles and a guy play drums amazingly well on old plastic bins.

Sigh. The long weekend was not long enough, time ran out and we didn't visit Royal Greenwich or Plumstead to see friends and spy on our house. I wonder how my garden is doing in this so called drought.
It was a lovely weekend away but you know what, as we drove back to Livingston, I was happy to leave the crush of people and the narrow streets. It was great to be able to see all the fields on the drive back and breathe the fresh air.

Five Sisters Zoo

Sun 29th April: Five Sisters Zoo
The plan had been to go to Edinburgh zoo with friends and their little girl to see pandas but the tickets were sold out so we opted for somewhere local.  I've been meaning to go but waited as Five Sisters Zoo has just got some rescued bears that I wanted to see. Before going in you pass the biggest rabbits I've ever seen. It's alos next to the Leaping Lemurs soft play area which I'll cover later.
Again, was a bit take aback by the entrance fee of £7.95 for adults and £5.95 for kids but this zoo had a lot more to see than the Owl Centre.
There were for example some owls!
We started off in the reptile house which though smelly, had some very interesting creatures. I'm still shuddering thinking of the snakes.
Then onto the monkeys and other such furry creatures - not a huge selection but they were really active and fun to watch. Look at these cute lemurs all bunched trying to stay warm. So cute.

Next Owls! Yep,  there is quite a little collection here.
There was quite a lot to see in the zoo and there is also a fairground area but we steered clear as the rides cost extra. Instead we went up to see the donkeys and ponies who have a very large area to move about in. Unfortunately, we didn't see the sign asking us not to feed them as it was a bit away from the path...shame as I had fun pulling up grass to give to the donkey.
And finally to see the bears. We only managed to spot one (Carmen I think) but I was happy to see that they have a rather large area to walk around in....they had been treated very cruelly where they were before so I hope they can recover at the zoo.
Again, I wish we had gone on a warmer day as it was freezing and my little one was not enjoying herself.
We left the zoo and went to the adjoining soft play centre Leaping Lemurs. There is a separate entrance fee for this with a discount for kids if you have zoo tickets. There is a very large indoor area with tunnels and slides and secret passages. Lots of seating around the centre (so no H&S concerns about parents walking around with hot drinks with kids running about!!). There is also an outside area with a giant pirate ship. As it was cold indoors was packed and we found a very cramped table under some slides. But once settled, it was great. Our kids ran around having fun. Sadly, this was their first meeting and they didn't play together but it was fine as there was plenty for them to do. I tried to have a go on some slides but my kid was having none of it. She was off and away by herself. Part of me worried as the place is huge but luckily, our girls had the sense to come to us if they  worried about anything.
The restaurant food is pretty much the standard fare at these places...I had a lovely cup of tea which is a blessing when it's so cold.
Conclusion: I enjoyed the zoo more than my kid but I put that down to the cold. It's a run down place, especially compared to e.g. London Zoo but the latter have more resources. I'd visit again. And we will definitely go back to the soft play especially with the mid week discounts.

The Scottish Owl Centre

I've been a bit rubbish at keeping this blog up to date. It was always meant to be a record of the places that we visited but writing posts takes me a lot of time. You wouldn't guess that from my appalling grammar would you?
In the last few weeks here are some of the things we have been up to. Each with a lovely post of it's own.

Sat 28th April: The Scottish Owl Centre at Polkemmet Park
If it had just been me and the little one, we would not have gone in as I felt the entrance fee of £7.50 for adults and £5.50 for kids aged 3-15 was extortionate, especially in the current recession. It was a cold day and it was going to take a lot to cheer me up. The first view is a large Owl shaped slide for kids which was quite impressive. However, we decided to walk around first. My daughter was not overly impressed with the birds. Don't get me wrong, they are magnificent looking but it's really sad seeing birds of prey caged up, in the cold, not moving, looking quite miserable. We were also taken aback by the dead chicks in the floors of some of the cages....I know the birds have to eat but we weren't expecting it.
There are quite a few owls but some of the cages were empty. There is an educational area which had some interesting facts and a few interactive things for tot but most of the displays were too high for her to look at so she got bored.
We hung around as we had booked to see a flying display at 3.30pm. This was a bit of a turning point for me...the man doing the displays was very entertaining even when 2 of the 3 birds refused to do much. It was also quite awesome to see these birds fly. Unfortunately, one of the owls was very scared of wheeled objects and was really scared of an old lady's wheeled walker. I wish that her companions had had the sense to put it outside to calm the bird down.
We left hoping to get a cake at the Ivory Tower Cakes tearoom directly opposite the entrance to the Owl Centre but guess what...they were shutting on a Saturday at 4pm. We went in and there were some yummy looking cakes on display which we said we would take away, but were told that they had been trying to shut for the last 10 minutes and wouldn't serve us. I find this sort of behaviour odd in a  recession - there are people who want your food, you are a food establishment but you turn them away. What are you going to do with the cakes? Sell them the next day ergo not so fresh.

Overall conclusion: Wish we had gone on a warm sunny day. There is enough to do in Polkemmet park that it would take a lot to convince me to visit the owls again but to see them fly is magnificent.