Lego Movie Day

Today we went to see the Lego Movie. I had got some cineworld vouchers from Costco at the weekend. I paid £33 for £40 worth of vouchers. I knew we would go to see this movie and hopefully another one soon so it made sense to save the £7. Apparently you can use the vouchers for food there too but I don't usually go planning to buy food at the cinema, it's really expensive. We usually end up having to buy something though, today it was coffee and water and a bag of pick n mix, they had 25% off (looks sideways sheepishly). The boys have been wanting to see Lego movie for ages so they were bouncing around all morning with excitement about going.

I have been feeling in need of exercise with the long, wet Winter we have had and the three weeks of illness just past. So Caden scooted, I carried Miles for most of it and we took a long walk/picnic into CMK. It is about 4.5 miles I think. Actually a great walk, through parks, past playgrounds and lakes, over the River Ouzel and along the canal too. 

This is one of the playgrounds we stopped at along the way. 

We stopped a bit further along for a snack and a drink and we were treated to a fabulous display of territory  defending by some swans on a flood lake. It was so interesting. First of all we saw two canada geese and two mute swans and a seagull all floating about peacefully on this temporary lake. Then two more mute swans flew in. We loved watching them land, they kind of water-ski in don't they and they both made a great splash. 

Then one swan, we assume the male, got very territorial about 'his' lake. He began puffing up his wings and craning his neck and chasing the other male about the lake. Caden was fascinated. I explained what was going on as it happened. The weaker swan didn't really try to fight, he just kept swimming really fast and looking behind him to stay out of the way of the aggressive swan's beak range. Then the dominant swan actually chased the male off the lake. He flew off and we watched him go for quite a bit, leaving what we assume was his mate, behind. We watched the flying swan then circle far away and fly back. Now we were gripped, we thought maybe the weaker swan was going to fight, maybe he was coming back for his mate or something else. He 'jet-skied' back on the lake to Miles' amusement and then the dominant swan chased him about and off the lake again. The same thing happened, he flew off and had a fly about. In the mean-time the dominant swan turned on the female that was left on the lake, he chased her off quite quickly just as the weaker male landed again for a third time. Then the weaker one realised his mate had left and flew after her and they both flew away over Woolstone together (we were sat quite near Woughton on the Green in linear park, MK). It was so great to watch this and gave rise to a whole conversation about animals fighting for their space and territory and how there is often a winner and a loser in these situations. How that can mean life or death or their young living or not. What better way to learn about this than a real-life situation unfolding as we watch. It was just spectacular, we were very lucky to see the whole thing. 

It was pretty chilly today so we set off walking/scooting again soon after this. 

The swan to the left is puffing up his wings and swimming at speed towards the other swan. 

This is the weaker male swan flying back in for round three. 

We walked down the canal and then found another playground at Springfield. It is a very good one!! Great big slide again and this bouncy ride that they love. 

We arrived at the cinema but the film didnt start for an hour so we went to the free mini play-gym at the Snozone cafe in the snow dome. 

The lego movie was pretty good, they both loved it. There was a moment mid-film where both boys started to yell about different things and I had to remove them from the cinema for a break. Once back in though, they were fine, they stayed quiet and we managed to stay to the end. 

Then we walked to the bus stop and past this interesting scuplture of a man swinging a giant hammer. The kids really liked it and they climbed all over it. Interactive art ;)

Then we got the bus home. They absolutely loved this and to my amusement (and mild embarassment) promptly began singing 'The Wheels On The Bus' song as soon as they sat down. I am glad we were at the front so I didn't have to see the amused (or annoyed lol) faces behind us. The only thing is it cost me £4.50 for three of us to get home one way!!!!! It would have been cheaper to take the car AND park! This is completely bonkers! I have known and found it hard to accept that trains are more expensive than cars but buses too!! It is really unacceptable that in a world where we need to massively reduce car use and many people WANT to do this to contribute, they are unable to and forced into contributing to global warming instead. 

Moan over... we did have a lovely walk, the exercise was good for us all and the bus ride was great fun! I just won't be doing many bus rides in the near future and will take my car instead. Or be taking them out in the bike trailer I am hoping to borrow from a friend. One huge benefit of living in MK is the massive redway system. We will be making use of that this Summer. 

Here is Miles, full of joy at being on the bus!

Caden loving his big window seat!

We got involved in a little project on our walk today. This was finding signs of Spring. Caden was the most involved in this as Miles was on my back but both of them enjoyed spotting the signs and I took pictures of all the ones that were actually signs of Spring. In the end they got so good at it that there were signs all around us and far too many to photograph. 

Here are a few we found....