Useless mother tries her best :o(

The weather has just been so pants all half term and I've become conscious of the fact that we've been nowhere and done nothing (apart from the Bower). BUT... this lunchtime the sun came out . Hooray!! So we had a conflab and decided we would go to Twycross Zoo. We quickly threw a drink, a fleece and the camera in a bag and off we went.

Just before leaving home I (foolishly) checked on Google maps which was the quickest way to go. I know exactly where it is but there are several different routes you can take. I decided I'd give Google the benefit of the doubt and headed for the A5, towards the M42. The journey would normally take about 20-30 minutes. Today it took us 2 hours!!! Aaargh!!

About a mile before we joined the motorway we saw smoke billowing into the sky and all too soon saw what had happened. A lorry with a load of bales had caught light on the opposite carriageway. There were 3 fire engines and a water carrier lorry on the scene and the bales were being sprayed with foam. Unfortunately the whole of that side of the A5 was closed and the tailback was affecting the M42. The police were directing all the motorway traffic but we were just left sitting there. We crawled along very slowly before grinding to a complete halt. It took over an hour to travel less than a mile.

Evie was fed up and moaning 'cause it was hot and the zoo would be shut when we got there. I was fed up and moaning 'cause it was hot and Evie was moaning. This little gem did brighten the mood a little though. They really should have planned space for another letter 'n' don't you think? hehe





Anyhoo... moan over. We got there at about 4pm. But that still gave us a couple of hours so we decided to salvage what we could from the afternoon. We did the fastest tour of a zoo ever but we saw everything that we wanted to.

I love capybara. Whoever would have though of putting long legs on a Guinea pig?! The babie were so cute.

One of a few elephants out in the sun. Their enclosure is getting a Changing Rooms job by the looks of things. A new swimming pool is in the offing I think.

Ahhh! Baby Orang having his tea. Another cutie.

The parrots and macaws are such amazing colours. Sadly my camera just didn't pick this up.

I haven't a clue what kind of animal this is... Answers on a postcard... ;o)

And last but not least - my faves - the lemurs. We didn't get to see al of them but these three ring-tailed dudes were near to the exit so I had to have a peep. At Paignton Zoo the lemurs live in a special woodland enclosure where they roam around freely and you can walk amongst them. That is just fab. There is a swinging bridge and quite often they are lurking around when you reach the end of it, just waiting to say hello.

So now I have redeemed myself as a mummy. Kiddie loves me to bits - fickle child!! I bought her a titchy orang utan plushie from the shop (persuading her that the cheapest one was cuter than the more expensive one which she wanted - hehehe) which she has called Tuft. His bed isn't as good as some (

Hopefully the light will be OK tomorrow so I can photograph my Sillies. They are all finished and waiting to be unleashed on the world :o)