Firstly I should comment about Caden's art class. He had been actually looking forward to this one as opposed to most others where he would rather play on his iPad. As some of you know, he calls himself an 'artist' and practises his drawing all the time. The teacher was awesome, she is an excellent artist. Her studio is in her house and there are various pieces of her work around the house. She is extraordinarily talented. Caden was impressed and asked me how she manages to get the painting to look exactly like a photo. He is inspired and wants to learn.
Having Miles in the class didn't work. Miles just mucked about with paper. I took him out after 30 minutes. Caden however, was engaged with the artist. He listened, told her about the things he enjoyed drawing, namely dinosaurs and dragons. He practised drawing with charcoal and watercolours. The teacher showed him how to draw an outline and then fill in the space and he listened and did what he was shown. He drew this little fellow. It might seem fairly basic but this is a new skill that he can take away with him and he does want to practise it. After the lesson he told me that he thought the lesson was great and will take his dinosaur pictures next time. I have decided that we will commit to an hour a week as he loves it so much and he can practise at home. It is a great outlet for him and whether it ends up being a vocation or not, it really doesn't matter. Having a creative outlet is so important and if he can learn how to do it well I am sure he will get a lot of pleasure out of it in his life. So it was a great start.
We took a day trip out to Whipsnade Zoo with some friends for a birthday day out. We saw their new three week old baby pygmy hippo. Major cuteness! It is being shielded by Mum hippo here...
I was eaten alive, headfirst to Caden's amusement!
The friends all played together, all day. They are talking about the relative sizes of the common hippo to the pygmy hippo here.
We went to the cheetah enclosure, it was such a clear and sunny day, we were very lucky although it was freezing cold.
The boys both said that the lions (and the tarantulas) were their favourite animals of the day, we compared the lion's mane to men's beards.
Lion cubs.
Miles had chosen an enormous strawberry eclair earlier at the bakery, he was SO delighted to open it up and eat it at lunch time. He was covered in strawberry cream. Thank you baby wipes.
Caden loved the outdoor play area. The kids had a blast together. They also spent a good hour just chasing each other and playing in the indoor play area after their picnic lunch.
We went into the discovery centre and they had a lot of fun spotting the lizards, insects and snakes in their enclosures.
Afterwards the kids all had a massive play of 'Sardines' and 'Hide and Seek'. They had so much fun that they didn't want to leave. We have some material to discuss later this week between us now about deforestation and the impact on wildlife.
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