Fun on the Farm

On Easter Monday, we had the great pleasure of a visit from the kid's Godmother Marie who lives in Manchester. When Marie comes down we often go out for the day, partly because her visits tend to co-incide with important events and partly because having her around means an extra pair of hands to attempt more adventurous trips. This time we decided to go to Manor Farm in East Leake. 

At the moment Daniel is very keen on ducks; Sarah and Duck is almost constantly on, his favourite bed time story is Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack even as I'm writing this he is sat on my knee pointing at the above picture and quacking. So you can imagine his delight as we arrived to find six ducks swimming in a circle. Despite the bitterly cold temperature we all stood with him for a good ten minutes enjoying him quack and shout "dack" repeatedly. Before we could make it indoors Beth spotted the donkey rides and decided to spend some of her Easter money on a ride. 

 We briefly made it into the play barn and next to a heater, before realising there was an owl talk on. The farm also acts as a rescue centre for owls and birds of prey. I was incredible impressed by the variety and number of birds they care for. The gentleman who did the talk was very good with the kids and as tends to happen Beth was very chatty, and answered all his questions, even when he asked someone else, and for the most part when she didn't know the answers. After the talk there was a chance to hold the owl and Beth was very proud. 

 The Farm has an amazing play barn, with a castle and a pirate ship. There is also an area for smaller kids to play, a football area and some kind of pedal karts for older kids. There is also a cafe in the barn and we settled down to a warm drink whilst Beth did some Easter crafts. While they were drying it was time for the Easter egg hunt. I was incredibly proud of Beth during this as not only did she stick with her little brother when he was slowing her down, but when he found a rabbit token, she was very honest with the man about how she was only getting the chocolate for her little brother because she hadn't found a rabbit. (The rules had been laid down that children who didn't find a rabbit would still get chocolate, so I'm not sure if it was all out competition whether she would feel so gracious).

We had a bit more time in the barn Beth played on the rock climbing wall and in the ship and castle again. We took a walk round the other animals then it was bed time for the Animals. This was probably the highlight of Daniel’s day as he actually got to stroke a duck. In fact the reason we don't have a photo of this is because he was so excited we need several pairs of hands to restrain his affection for the poor duck. After the birds were put to bed the children were lined up with carrot sticks and the llamas, horses and goats came down the line to say good night and get a carrot stick.