This day I love.......: birds

With my eldest daughter away at a friends birthday, I took my youngest and Little Man over to RSPB Fairburn Ings for the big wild sleepout. I had a very early start on the Sunday as I had a half marathon so unfortunately we were unable to join in with the camping but we did take part in the evenings activities. I wanted to surprise my youngest too as the Twirlywoos would be visiting later in the evening.

My youngest daughter was in her element. She loves animals of all shapes and sizes, with the exception of flies, and she was eager to discover and learn more. We took some time in the playground before the evening began. My youngest loved the wooden drum kit and has asked for one in the garden.

We wandered over to the campsite to meet with the other explorers. The camp site looked amazing and was a hive of activity, I wished we had been able to camp too. There was a packed schedule of activities and we could not wait to begin. First was a nature walk and with many different options, my youngest chose to do the mini beast talk and so we joined in with the group.

We were treated to a wonderful walk around Fairburn Ings. Little Man fascinated by the ducks and insects he could see flying around. After feeding the ducks we continued our walk, spotting mini beasts as we went. My youngest seemed to absorb so much information from this talk as she has been telling everyone she meets when out all amazing facts about mini beasts.

Our talk finished with the opportunity to pond dip where we discovered more about some amazing mini beasts. After the talks there was a series of drop in events and it was a time that many of those camping chose to cook their dinner, which filled the campsite with some delicious smells! We decided to walk round and do each activity from den building, to bug hunting and we even made some animals out of clay. We even met some very special guest, Twirlywoos. My youngest loved meeting them and they even joined in with some bug hunting, although they did seem to spend more time catching each other with the nets!

Before long it was approaching 7pm and Little Man was beginning to get tired. It was time for us to go home and leave everyone to their evening. We missed out on toasting marshmallows on the campfire and night time nature walks, plus star gazing but are looking forward to returning.

Thank you to the RSPB for inviting us for the afternoon, we had such a wonderful time and my youngest learnt so much.

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Having had a very full on week which involved travelling to and from London 3 times and my total hours of sleep less than the number of days in the week I really wanted a lie in this Sunday. Unfortunately it was not to be, as I have kids with a love for the outdoors and exploring and so before most people had even opened their eyes we were out exploring the local park.

The crisp November air had a lovely fresh feel to it in the early hours and it was a great way to blow away the cobwebs and start a Sunday morning. The girls wrapped up warm in their coats from JoJo Maman Bébé.

Having two children in the same sized clothes can often be expensive as there are no hand me downs to be had. Their love to play outside and explore means I also need to buy clothes that can withstand mud and multiple washes, our washing machine is never off, and keep the girls warm as they explore and go on their adventures. JoJo Maman Bébé have thought of this with their multi buy offer. Buying clothes for the girls has never been easier.

The coats the girls are wearing also came in other colours and patterns, and are fleece lined. They are also reversible and so will last through all seasons, except perhaps summer. The girls love the chunky easy to use zips and my youngest is asking me to buy her some gloves to attach to the glove hooks inside the sleeves. They have certainly kept both girls warm through fireworks and through our morning stroll.

The girls loved running through the leaves and jumping over the piles of leaves that had been created. Although Little Man was in his pushchair he was beginning to get grumpy so we headed home. We completed homework and reading and then settled down to complete a jigsaw.

The girls decided to complete their new Ravensburger puzzle, Woodland Friends. The giant pieces were easy to assemble and a great size for both girls to handle. Little Man was very interested in the jigsaw and kept crawling over to take a look. It was perhaps the bright, colourful pictures that were drawing in his attention but he was very interested in the jigsaw.

Woodland friends kept the girls [and Little Man] busy for a good hour. The assembly was quick and simple but it was the discussion afterwards that followed. The girls asking if we had the birds in our trees that live in the garden. Asking the names of each bird, which I could answer as there is a handy guide included and asking if we could try and spot them in our garden too.

We spotted the birds on the jigsaw and then headed into the garden to see if we could spot any birds. It was really interesting and a great way to discuss the birds leaving for the winter months. Although only afternoon it had begun getting dark and due to the lack of birds we decided to head back inside for a snack before dinner.