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Monday 11 July 2011

Major This and That and We're All Going to the Zoo

Boys 1 and 2 have been on hols for just one day, and already I am in this sort of state:



Also a couple of Major things:

I made a Major Omission from my last post about meeting up with the lovely S.  Here is a pic of S to remind you.



What I forgot to say was, S is a HUGE FAN of Faux Fuchsia, she cannot get through the day without checking on her latest post.  While we were chatting for England and shopping, S spotted this decoration and declared it would be just the thing for FF and her Christmas tree, so she purchased it.


FF, it will be on its way to you, once I get to the Post Office.

Second Major Thing: Daphnes4Boy$ had their Speech Day on Saturday and the guest speaker was an Army Major in dress uniform with a CV that read like a James Bond novel. Just too, too exciting for a woman at my time of life.  He had those trousers on with a red stripe down the side, so so flattering and dashing.  Never have I been so interested in Speech Day!

Luckily, a really lovely mum I know reminded me that
a) I am married
b) dribbling is not attractive
c) she herself had in fact been a Major in the Army so there! ( in fact recently I went on a bicycle ride with her, she is super fit and I was terrified in case she shot me for lagging behind/desertion...)

So today, the official first day of the Summer Hols, I took Boys 1 and 2 to London Zoo.

Look, you would think this was somewhere deep in the countryside, but it's Regents Park, which we stomped through on the way to the Zoo.




And here is the Regents Canal, also very picturesque.


I must admit to reservations about zoos, do we need them when we have all this great video footage of the animals in the wild?  But London Zoo take great pains to stress all the conservation work they do, funded by the zoo entry fees. Boy 1, though, who is a very kind chap when not bashing his brother, remarked constantly on the smallness of the cages.  I imagined that some of the animals looked a bit depressed, like the tigers:



But some of them looked quite chipper, like the penguins and the meerkats.



The ardvark just looked weird.


But my favourite was the sloth; this is how I would like to spend the holidays!

The boys were also less than amused when I told them we were going because of the Chimp Adoption Programme - I hoped they would be eligible.  They countered with a Feed Mummy to the Snakes Initiative, which shut me up ( I had to stay outside the Reptile House, such is my serpent phobia).

And just look who we saw in the Zoo Shop (where we spent a disproportionate amount of time lusting after the furry toys, I had no idea Before Children that boys could love those things with such fervour..)


9 comments:

  1. Blighty, you just pop up everywhere!

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  2. This may be an odd thing to say, but I have a feeling that the London Zoo does not smell bad, and that makes me happy. I live somewhere quite, quite hot, and a visit to the zoo in summer can only be done in the early morning - or else the ripeness of the animals can throw oneself into a VERY foul temper.

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  3. When I was 9, we lived opposite Primrose Hill Park. From my bedroom I could hear the elephants trumpeting as they were being fed dinner every evening at the London Zoo. It was every child's dream, honestly... We had an annual pass to the zoo and would go almost once a fortnight. It was a magical place for me. Great memories.

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  4. London Zoo is fab - don't you love the new penguin beach (I want to move in!). Major Major sounds as hot as mustard - too bad you didn't get a stealth photo of him. Now you know its worth the school fees! Have great hols. xxx

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  5. Dear Mrs Blighty, I cannot help myself - I do like a man in a uniform! Speaking of which, wasn't Albert's Safari number at his wedding a little sad. I think only the bride should wear white. I was compelled to climb a rock wall by youngest and still feel a bit like your first photo. My favourite creatures at the zoo are the meercats too. I hope that between educational excursions you have some lying down time! love Lindaxxx

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  6. Bummer I just lost a huge comment. Will try again tomorrow. Bed time now.
    Oops, been in bed all day. Sleep time now.
    Lou
    Xxx

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  7. I am in two minds about zoos, to be honest. I hate the little cages, but acknowledge that if it wasn't for zoos, lots of things would only exist as taxidermied models in a museum.

    We went to a wildlife park on the Isle of Man where there was a llama who had had a stroke, lost an eye and was called Elvis. He was fecking terrifying. But harmless. The meerkats had Sonshine and I purring like a couple of kittens as we ooohed and aaaahed over the teeny weeny baby ones.....

    You've packed a lot into the first day or so of the hols. We're a week into them and I have totally run out of enthusiasm and ideas.

    Have missed you :-)

    Ali x

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  8. Dear All, thanks for your lovely comments. Since our epic first day of hols excursion, things have gone back to what passes for normal chez Blighty - Boy 1 is at Daphnes4Boy$ Holiday Club ( at extra cost, of course - kerching!) and Boy 2 is mooching around the house trying to sneak onto the computer and otherwise ensconced in front of the TV sticking tissues up his nose ( a favourite pastime); occasionally I roust him out and he thrashes me at chess... must read that Kids Chess book urgently...

    Miss Kitty Cat - you are full of surprises, fancy living right near the zoo as a child, what a lovely place to live! I must admit that area of London is not well known to me but I thought it was lovely and was busy imagining retirement flats for me and Mr B - Mr B though would rather live in Bournemouth....

    Alison - that Elvis sounds a real catch - is he single?

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  9. Dear Blights and S

    I am thrilled THRILLED about the excellent pink union jack whatsie!!! Massive thanks. Rebecca Brooks is much in the news here-thoughts? She does have impressive hair. Meanwhile Downton Abbey is on now. I do long for servants xxxx

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