Joshua's Jungle

You knew Joshua's house was a jungle the moment you walked in the door...

These curious animals were accompanied by jungle sounds... and if you were careful, you could spot some animal trails...

The jungle was well signposted (just in case you got lost)

The savannah was a little chilly, but you could shelter under the safari shade if you liked.

There was plenty to do in the shade of the coconut trees....

The birthday boy led the way with the colouring in...

There were also jigsaws to stamp with a jungle theme (also known as Auntie Pam's crafty corner)

And jungle masks to make....

You could pick from the photo props and print out your safari polaroid...

You could find some wild animals to capture...

Or you could just chat with your friends about your adventures in Disneyland Paris...

If you could find your way down the the watering hole, you were in for a treat...

Of course the jungle sticks could be used to make music BEFORE you ate them!

But the most spectacular by far was the birthday cake...

Happy Birthday Joshua!

PS...the party bags carried the theme to the extreme!  Bea giggled about the little package that said "Danger!  Wild Animal".  I think she was a little concerned until she opened it.

The Easter Egg Trail

So, on Easter Tuesday we set off to Rowallen Gardens to hunt for easter eggs.

Phoebe came to hunt for dinosaurs and she thought that she would call them to herself by constructing tiny dino nests.*

* That could actually be "constructing dino nests for Tiny" ... but in the words of Phoebe, "dinosaurs" so interpret that whatever way you will.

We got ourselves some maps and set off on an adventure.

 The first stop was the "egg-splorer" tent to pick up a quiz sheet and a pencil.

Then with the team assembled, we set off to find (and answer) 10 questions hidden around the grounds.

Like lightening the big girls and Max took off, trotting through the gardens to follow the trail.

At various spots, they paused, read the questions, answered the question and then paused again for the adult who could spell to catch up.

Part of the challenge was finding a hard flat surface to write the answer on.  Bea liked to use the question board which had the added advantage of slowing other hunters down.

The littler, little people were less engaged.  Phoebe enjoyed the view while her Dad wrote in her answers and looked after her sheet. (He hasn't had so much fun in ages though!)

No one could keep up with Max, Beth, Josie and Bea.  The dogs were exhausted trying ;)

 (Can you spot a distant Max and an even more distant Bea?)

There was of course time to pose occasionally.

But then it was back to work!

(Pose AND pout, I should have said)

By the time we reached the final clue, Molly had caught up!

I tried to get a team photo at the end, really I did!

Take One ...someone (or two) is missing!

Take Two....bless you Max

Take Three....Molly's got her eyes closed...but do admire her perfect easter outfit

Take Four...this is the best I could get

(Phoebe was hunting for dinosaurs)

Then it was time to swap the quiz sheets for.....

CHOCOLATE!!

After all that, it was picnic time.

Dilly and Beanz lay in the shade of a blooming rhododendron bush.

Where Beth made sure they were given lots of attention.

By the way, Dilly hasn't been drinking Pepsi, I was recycling!

Miss Molly became VERY brave and cuddled the dogs too.

While most of the adults relaxed on picnic rugs (and chairs) the kids found LOTS of adventures....

Tree climbing

Bubble catching

Discovering a secret garden

Building a secret base and creating impossible to crack codes and passwords!

Rock climbing

Then there was time for a quick game of DOG (and that's nothing like the secret password!)

Always make time to stop and smell the flowers!

And occasionally, put a flower in your plait.

At last we made our way to the barn and the balloon modeller.

We'll take four dogs and a sword please!

Time for home...

What will we do tomorrow?