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The big mummy blog share – guest feature

| Lavania Oluban

As part of The Big Mummy Blog Share this week I am featuring a fellow mummy blogger!

Meet Charlotte Stein from Team Stein Blog. She is a mummy blogger from York.

How many children do you have?

4 – Finlay, Daisy, Teddy and Florence.

Did you write a birth plan?

I only wrote a birth plan for my first birth and I was pretty much happy to try anything and everything. I the first of my group of friends to have a baby and so wasn’t very clued up on births, so went with the advice of the midwives. My 3 other births were all planned c-sections upon advice from the consultants.

Baby Bump

What type of birth did you plan/envision?

I loved watching on Sky TV births at birthing centres, they always looked pretty calm and the staff so supportive. Although I’m glad I didn’t go down this route with my first as I needed an emergency C-Section.

Did you have a natural birth or caesarean section?

One emergency Cesarean and three planned cesareans.

Did you have any pain relief?

Yes, plenty! I was in natural labour for 18 hours with my first baby Finlay and was on gas and air until I was 6cm dilated. I was then given an epidural in case I needed surgery as they were anticipating a c-section as they predicted he was a large baby

(He was 10lb 3 oz). I also asked for plenty of top-ups in pain relief in the days after my 3rd and 4th C-Sections as after my 2nd birth I learnt just how much pain you can be in when recovering from the surgery, especially after subsequent C-Sections.

Tell us a little bit about the lead up to your birth

I’m alway pretty uncomfortable on the run up to my births as I have large babies, so getting a good nights sleep isn’t easy. I always have swollen ankles and I have to turn over or get out of bed every half hour or so as my legs go dead. Then there is the nerves of knowing I’m going in for a major operation, that makes me feel anxious for mine and my babies safety. That said as soon as the relief that the operation is done and that were both fine makes all those last few weeks of constant worry and pregnancy niggles disappear.

Tell us about the moment you gave birth

Csection

My first was born after a dramatic emergency and was fighting fit and pretty angry that he had been pulled from his comfortable position. I was in shock but not aware that I was and just happy to hear him cry and know the surgery was nearly done. My second was such a pleasant planned C-Section as it was on Christmas Eve and she was born whilst Michael Buble was playing on the cd player. My third, Teddy, was born in a German hospital, so it was a little tough as there was a real lack of communication and my husband wasn’t allowed in for all of the operation so I found it a little stressful and this made me appreciate the NHS even more. Then Florence was a natural C-section, so she birthed herself with a bit of help from the consultant and so the room was in silence just watching her, I think her calm entrance to the world definitely sums up her lovely personality now.

How did you find your recovery?

I’m not going to jazz it up. Having C-Sections is tough, although clearly not that tough as I went back for a further 3 after my first! It’s a hard few days after the birth and plenty of rest with movement added in and lots of pain relief is the best way. I shed a few tears but I have to agree with the latest NHS advice in that getting out of your bed as soon as possible makes for a better recovery. I did this with Florence my fourth and my recovery was much more improved, just make sure you move with plenty of painkillers!

c section birth

Is there anything you would do differently?

I think by my fourth I followed everything that I had learnt along the way from having the others. I think you know in your heart what is best for your baby and your body and so my advice is to go with your gut instincts. I wish I had done this more with my first and even second baby

If you would like to read more about Charlotte and her family then you can read her blog at: www.teamsteinblog.com

The Big Mummy Blog Share

Seals in the City

| Lavania Oluban

We were invited to a special evening at the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham to celebrate the arrival of Miley and Boo.

Miley and Boo, who each have medical conditions which will prevent them from ever surviving in the wild, have been fostered from Sea Life Centres in Hunstanton and Scarborough respectively in order to make critical space within rehabilitation hospitals for the coastal sites during their heightened “pup season”, when demand for rescues of common seals in Britain is at an all-time high.

Boo is a five year old who was rescued as a pup with lots of health problems, and despite attempts to rehabilitate, it’s best for him to be kept in the safe care of animal handlers. Miley was rescued at two days old as an abandoned pup and has an underlying thyroid condition which requires daily medication.

Together they now live in a purpose built facility in Birmingham where their presence will help educate millions of visitors about conservation of our oceans.

Their new rescue facility is awe inspiring to behold, as a visitor you get a first glimpse from a pathway through a window where you can see Miley and Boo tumbling and spinning around under water.

The sea life centre itself is designed to be a one way walk through, so before you meet the Seals there is plenty of opportunity to meet other wonders of the world beneath the sea. In fact the first animals to greet you on your visit are Pablo and his pals the Gentoo penguins.

En route there are rock pools, cat fish and sharks to meet, and my personal favourite the seahorses. We opted to head for a “behind the scenes” experience where we learnt lots about how all of the fish are fed. Very interesting for the parents and older children.

As you continue on your journey through the centre, you turn a huge corner and are greeted by a panoramic view of the seal facility, where you can really appreciate the size of the enclosure, and there’s a fabulous little tunnel to climb through for a fully submerged viewing experience – and the seals seemed to love all of the attention, interacting with us as we watched.

There’s plenty more to see and do at the Sealife centre, with the underwater shark tunnel and a 4D movie experience too so you can spend a good few hours soaking up the atmosphere and learning along the way.

The centre publishes a full schedule of feeding times to get a close up experience with informative team members happy to share lots of information.

For tickets and to find out what’s on head to the website. There are various offers including reduced price tickets for toddlers with parents, as well as themed events during the school holidays.

If you are visiting the midlands be sure to take advantage of the combination tickets with other local attractions including the Lego Land discovery centre and Warwick Castle.

The Eden Project

| Lavania Oluban

What a beautiful place. This is a “must do” if you’re visiting Cornwall.

It’s hard to describe what it’s all about because the experience is so breathtaking, but to put it simply it’s a huge project set up in a reclaimed China clay pit with two huge biomes (large greenhouse type domes) and surrounded by an outdoor garden interspersed with art and informative exhibitions.

This is a huge tourist attraction, with clear road signs and directions as you approach, and plenty of car parking space. Be prepared to walk, the car parks are quite a way from the main entrance and the entire place covers a huge amount of space with uphill walks so strollers are a must for little legs.

Entry fee is quite expensive but have a look on the website in advance. I visited with my partner and my parents back in September so opted for a couples membership at £80 which entitles you to bring an adult guest each. By returning again within the year the visits have cost us £10 per adult each time which is more than reasonable for a full day out.

We arrived shortly after opening at 9.30 and it was fairly quiet, there are toilet facilities at the main entrance, as well as a cafe – and don’t forget to pick up a map and check out the daily schedule – or if you want to be eco friendly then photograph the maps to save paper.

It’s difficult to miss all of the different eco-friendly messages throughout the project, from recycling, to saving water and beyond. I won’t go into detail as all of the things you learn are part of the experience, and some of the fact and figures are quite surprising.

My favourite art installation is the giant bee – bee’s are crucial to the eco system, they pollinate flowers and over a third of our food flowers rely on this process, and our bee’s are under threat for a variety of reasons.

Outdoors, Arlo’s favourite area was the sensory garden. A walkthrough area full of herbs and aromatic plants – we spent a long time walking through, using our senses to explore with delight…. mint, lavender, wild garlic and all sorts is on display.

The clever garden design is split into zones, each reflecting a different part of the world, from allotments, to American prairies, so much thought has gone into this and it’s truly as authentic as you can get, because the team at Eden work with people from across the globe when installing…. which I’ll come onto later.

The main attractions are the biomes. You enter at the centre, between the two, where there is a huge two level atrium, with the ground floor hosting the Eden Kitchen with long wooden tables with benches which means there’s plenty of space for large families, and an amazing menu.

We watched the chef’s from above as they prepared the fresh food from early morning and after our walk through the biomes couldn’t resist the menus… jerk chicken for me (£9.50) and Arlo had marinated chicken wings, cassava fries and corn on the cob.

Kids food is very reasonably priced at £5.50 – our membership earned us a 10% discount. A lovely little touch is the provision of paper rolls at the table for cleaning sticky hands.

We decided to explore the Mediterranean biome first, which transports you right there, with all sorts of little details. The plants are of course the main feature, however the sculptures and installations add to the atmosphere, there’s also a beautiful pizza restaurant here too.

We were invited by a member of staff to join a free of charge toddler activity “music in the med” – led by a charismatic conductor. Arlo really enjoyed singing and dancing along with musical instruments in this beautiful environment, and having checked the website there seem to be frequent activities for all ages so make sure to check before you plan your visit.

The walk through the biome led us toward Australia next, and my mum having recently visited Perth was delighted because it was so similar. After talking to the team, we discovered that indeed the Eden project had worked with a team based at Kings Park, so the plants here were planted with the advice of Australians, and not only that, the art work including the totems have been created by an Aboriginal artist too, so this truly is as close as you can get to Australia without the 24 hour flight!

Before you head into the rainforest biome there’s a cloakroom, toilets and a store on the upper floor. I would advise to rehydrate and remove layers as it gets incredibly humid inside. The biome is full of wildlife, and some of the most amazing rainforest plants. One one side of the pathway you could be looking at African jungle and the other, South American plants will line the route!

The route takes you up a winding path and there are water fountains along the way. You will meet some unusual little birds, discover new fruits and then end up in the clouds, just when you think the heat is too much, there’s a lovely little cold room to pause and rehydrate – ready for the rainforest canopy.

As you climb higher there’s a waterfall, a rope bridge and cloud formations to discover before heading back down through sugar canes to discover the BaoBao shack and grab a tropical smoothie.

In this biome we also discovered how a Nigerian artist created sculptures from reclaimed wood after the fire damage to Falmouth harbour. The wood originated from Africa in the 1930’s and we learnt all about how this particular type of wood from Africa is resistant to water so is used world wide by the shipping trade, and it was lovely to find out just how much thought had gone into this installation, and this delighted my dad to learn about his Nigerian heritage.

We spent all day at the Eden project, there’s plenty more to see and do including an indoor science exhibition and an outdoor amphitheater, and even tea tasting sessions.

Arlo was exhausted by 4pm, we took the land train to the top and spent a long time browsing the gift shop and nursery before heading home. So many unusual items, ethically sourced, eco friendly and locally produced – I ended up buying some succulents and a fab bar of chocolate.

Thank you to the Eden project, we had a wonderful day and we will be back soon 🐝

Seaside town of Padstow

| Lavania Oluban

On our first full day in Cornwall we decided to visit Padstow, a lovely town on the North Coast of Cornwall, about ten miles drive from Newquay.

It’s a town renowned for it’s food and also for it’s fishing, and we were delighted to be there early enough to see tradesmen all delivering fresh food to the restaurants, and for bakeries and fish shops to be arranging their window displays.

We had a wander around the shops and it was wonderful to find such an eclectic mixture of stores, from some high end brands, to art studios and everything in-between, this is the place to buy gifts and keepsakes alike.

We paused on the harbour front to gawp at some wonderful cakes, before noticing a sign for sea safari trips which caught our eye, so of course we had to book a little excursion – click here to read more about our trip.

The harbour itself was pretty quiet when we left on our boat, but we arrived back to the hustle and bustle of a busy tourist destination, we ate fish and chips overlooking the boats in the harbour before heading further along the coastline to the beaches to make the most of the glorious sunshine.

If you’re in Cornwall and have the opportunity, it’s well worth a day trip to visit this lovely little town.

Gousto – recipes delivered to your door

| Lavania Oluban

I work full time, and my evenings are crazy. It’s usually a mad dash for me to get to the nursery through traffic at rush hour three evenings a week. It’s a big transition going back to work after maternity leave. I’d put so much effort into baby led weaning and making sure that Arlo developed a love of food.

Arlo normally runs right at me chattering about his day with some artwork to bring home, and once we get home it’s past 6pm. He does usually have a meal at nursery around 4pm and then snacks but this little child burns so much energy dashing around that he never stops eating. By the time I’ve usually cooked dinner it’s rapidly approaching bedtime.

Before Gousto I was in a little bit of a rut. I would serve my batch cooked portions of bolognese sauce or chilli, or resort to freezer food because I’m keen to spend as much time as possible in the evenings with Arlo, and it was easy. Everything was a bit “Samey” and I often found myself having to pop into the supermarket last minute because I hadn’t remembered to pick up pasta.

This is where Gousto came in. A friend recommended them and provided me with a Discount code so my first order was £15 for four meals to serve two people. Amazing!! Now it costs me around £35 for four meals which is very reasonable considering the quality of the ingredients.

The app is simple to use, you simply choose the date for delivery and the number of people to feed and then select your meals. The options change weekly – there’s a good selection and they’re split into categories – healthy, ten min meals, classics, meat, vegetarian, gluten free etc.

Each recipe has a prep time, a use by date guide and a list of equipment and basic ingredients you might need – usually things like butter, egg, milk and flour. There’s also a nutritional guideline, if you’re counting calories. You can click to expand the description and read the recipe in more detail before you order.

Then that’s it. Once you’ve placed the order you receive an email in advance of delivery with the recipe reminders and this is when I check to make sure I have everything I might need in the cupboards, but there’s nothing else you need to do.

The time slot on delivery day is broad however this doesn’t matter because the box is well insulated. I usually arrive home to a huge box in my “safe place” – and then get really excited to unpack everything.

The cold items are in a separate bag, with reusable ice packs (I freeze these to save for lunch packs and cold compresses). Meats, cheeses, fresh herbs etc

Then these are surrounded by a layer of insulating material which is Reusable. I’m saving mine up to use in the garden when we plant our sunflower seeds.

All the veggies are loose and then there’s a little paper bag with individually wrapped “dry store” ingredients in perfect portion sizes. This for me often includes spices, marinades, honey, pastas and similar.

I absolutely love this because I used to be terrible with food waste. I would find a jar of something I bought for an experimental dish at the back of the cupboard. I’ll use one or two tea spoons, and then it will never see the light of day again. In the past I’d also mess up the balance of flavours so not bother trying again – especially with Oriental dishes – it used to be easier to order a take away than guesstimate how much a “dash” or a “pinch” is.

The box also comes with recipe cards. These are idiot proof. It’s impossible to mess this up because everything is pre portioned to be the right amount. The little packets are clearly labelled and there’s pictures for each step to show you what things should look like as you prepare and cook.

As a side note in my first box I received a Little folder to keep all of my cards which is really useful – I have actually attempted a couple of the dishes again on my own.

Some foods have longer shelf lives than others so be sure to check these before deciding which meals to cook first, and then read the cards. I’ve made things like the Shepard’s pie in advance the day before so my evenings are even less stressful, just popping the tray in the oven takes a minute.

So here we have it. I try and order things I wouldn’t usually cook at home to introduce variety and learn new techniques. I usually order at least one “ten minute meal” which again gives us extra time together in the evenings without having to sacrifice the quality of our meal.

I order the box for two people and this is usually more than enough to share with Arlo, sometimes I might add in an extra potato or serve with more veggies but the portion sizes are not stingy, and we’ve loved every meal so far, and we’ve been doing this for over a month.

If you would like to try Gousto click Here to receive a 50% discount on your first order.

May Day Mini Break

| Lavania Oluban

At the last minute we decided to pack overnight bags into the cars secretly and take the four wildlings on an adventure. It seems like every time we go on a day trip, the kids have so much fun they never want to leave.

Arlo literally sobs when he has to say goodbye, and the older cousins use diversion tactics to try and delay home time. Imagine their delight when we revealed that we were going to stay at a hotel. Together! All night!

I used Booking.com to make a reservation based on proximity to our Sunday trip to Arley Arboretum.

I often use this app to make last minute reservations as it is so simple to use. I used the filter to highlight the hotels with indoor pools and discovered Stourport Manor– a lovely four star hallmark hotel. This is ideally located for people exploring the Severn Valley Railway and other local attractions.

We arrived looking a bit worse for wear having been exploring the arboretum all day with four children in tow however we were greeted at reception warmly. The hadn’t received the details about the children from booking.com , so the additional beds in the family rooms were not made up for our arrival which reception apologised about but rectified swiftly.

Reception also called the leisure reception to ensure that there would be space for us in the pool, as the hotel was busy with it being the bank holiday, and so we ditched our bags, got changed and head straight to the pool.

The kids were delighted to be treated like mini adults and given their own spa towels and greeted warmly by staff, and we had the pool to ourselves for the best part of an hour. With changing facilities clean to the highest standards and a lovely kids splash pool we all had a fabulous time.

With it being so busy we decided not to take the kids to the restaurant downstairs and subject the other guests to our chaos – so we ate in our rooms, the beds had all been prepared whilst we were downstairs, and we gathered together to watch Jurassic a park on the TV screens before getting some sleep.

We all slept soundly, and the children delighted to be next door to each other were ready in their swimming costumes again at 7am. They had another hour in the pool before we went down to breakfast.

What a spread! I often stay away with work, but I can honestly say that the selection available here is one of the best, truly befitting of a four star hotel. With pastries and cereal, yoghurt and toast, all of the full English options, plus juices, coffees and fresh fruit we were spoilt for choice.

The staff and other guests seemed to be amused by how thrilled all of the children were, and the attentive service by the staff members made us feel extremely welcomed. Nothing was too much trouble, with staff happy to help us warm milk and fill our water bottles with cordial before we departed.

Check out was a swift process and we left after a sound night’s sleep ready to take on another outdoor adventure at Rays Farm to complete our Bank Holiday Mini Break. There’s so much to explore nearby we will definitely be back

The Fairy Tale Forest

| Lavania Oluban

We decided to conclude our May Day bank holiday mini break with a trip to Rays Farm, set in the Shropshire Countryside. With four children to amuse it’s sometimes difficult to satisfy all of the different age ranges, but here there really is something for everyone.

As we arrived we purchased tickets and animal food and headed to the farmyard to meet the animals. Arlo is now an expert when it comes to naming all of the animals and so he roused us all into a few verses of “Old Mac Donald” as we met rabbits, lambs, goats, chicks and ducks in the small animal shed.

We followed one little escapee goat across the courtyard to visit the llamas and donkey before heading to the open field to play with the goats. This is a truly unique experience, and the playful goats were happy to jump and skip around, and over us – this made our day!

We paused for a snack on the picnic benches before parking up the pushchairs and tying up our shoelaces to hit the forest trails. May is the perfect time to explore the beautiful English countryside and the work done along the trails at Rays Farm is inspired.

Along the entire route are wooden sculptures inspired by classic fairy tales, myths and legends. At the start of the route you can choose to go left or right at the big chair. There’s some giant boots you can try for size here too

We decided to take the woodland walk to the left first and came across Excalibur set in stone – alas none of us were strong enough to remove the sword and claim the English Throne – quite fittingly as we were here a news alert popped up to let us know that a new member of the Royal Family had been born.

We followed the path down alongside the brook, and were surrounded by a sea of the white flowers of wild garlic. All of the children were busy spotting wooden sculptures, and Logan the eldest at six years old pointed out an orienteering clip so we spent time looking for these along the route too.

The woodland walk is approximately 300yards and so if you have little ones with tired legs you can head back to the farm, however we marched on, and I’m so glad we did.

The pathway is a bit of a climb up and down, but there’s so much to see and so many rest stops that it’s a lovely route. Here we were delighted with the swathes of bluebells, and along the route were informative wildlife signs.

I won’t post too many spoilers with the sculptures, there’s plenty of nursery rhyme characters to meet along the way – including Humpty Dumpty.

There’s a fairy ring, a story telling witch and then three men in a boat looking over an assault course style play area.

The kids all had muddy knees, and the little ones were tired so without strollers they had piggy backs for the walk back, and then as we left the woods we stopped at the little crooked house for snacks, next to a field of goats at the far side of the farm.

We’d been exploring the woods for over three hours at this stage, and slowly ambled up the far side of the farm boundary to meet the pigs, Reindeer and the owls which bought us back to the courtyard.

We finished our day with some refreshments from the cafe and a little run around in the indoor and outdoor play areas, being followed by a mother hen with two chicks.

The farmyard is lovely, the animals are well cared for and very friendly but the stand out for us was the fairy tale forest. We will be back to explore again as the seasons change.

To read about our day out at nearby Arley Arboretum during our May mini break click Here

Have you got any suggestions for family days out in the Midlands? Have you been to Rays Farm? Which was your favourite sculpture? We’d love to hear from you

Arley Arboretum

| Lavania Oluban

What a beautiful place. It was my sisters idea to take all of the kids for a little mini break, so we booked a hotel, packed up the cars and headed off on an adventure for the bank holiday weekend.

Arley Arboretum is in Worcestershire, not too far from the beautiful banks of the river Severn where there are plenty of beautiful rest stops for scenic picnics.

The entrance to the arboretum in a lovely wisteria covered archway which takes you into the entrance courtyard, with a little cafe, outdoor seating and a hut to buy tickets. For an additional £3.50 we purchased a Peter rabbit trail booklet.

What a fabulous idea – the booklet and enclosed stickers have been designed with much thought, to guide you around the grounds following the story and looking for Peter at some of the most beautiful spots, at each location a picture of Peter was hidden with a little Beatrix Potter themed set up and we had to match stickers to the location.

The story began of course at Mr Macgregors garden. The first Peter was hidden in the beautiful courtyard at the first of the greenhouses, with a watering can and so we found the first sticker with the watering can, added this to our map and read the next bit of the story.

This told us to follow the signs – bright orange carrots painted on to signposts in the shapes of arrows pointed the way clearly, and as a little checkpoint we found Peter’s blue jacket in the gardens. At this point Arlo was fully invested….. he knows what a rabbit is and is familiar with Peter Rabbit so recognised the blue jacket and then began to point out the signs as we spotted them along the route.

We walked through the courtyard and through an arch into the grounds, past Mr MacGregors gate to look for Jeremy Fishers pond. This area was nothing short of stunning.

I won’t share all of the details and ruin the surprises, but along the route we met Jemima Puddle Duck, Mrs Tiggy Winkle and other characters from the books before finally finding Peter Rabbit.

The walk took us over an hour to complete, and we slightly overlapped with another route for older children called “the goblin trail” so even without the guidebook we decided to follow the signs for this trail too, because who can resist a fairy door?

Our route took us to retrace some steps back to the park area, and we spent a while here with a picnic, and being followed by pheasants. Throughout the day we’d heard the far off sound of the Severn Valley Railway steam trains and we were delighted to discover that just behind the park, was the perfect grass bank for train-spotting.

We sat and played tumbling down the hill before picking up the goblin trail clues again which led us along a path to a sensory garden, which is a work in progress but full of herbs which we took some time to investigate before heading along an enchanted pathway to the maze.

I took a picture of the maze map before we entered, and it took us a good 45 mins to find the centre and then find our way back out again. The kids loved running through, chasing dead ends and each other – by the time we’d finished here it was time to start a leisurely stroll back to the main entrance.

We took our time ambling through the woods and into the walled gardens, which are beautifully landscaped and home to chickens and peacocks which were free roaming, and we sat for a while on the tree swing just to soak up the surroundings, before heading past the fountains to the cafe.

We showed our completed Peter Rabbit trail sticker books and all of the kids chose their reward from a basket full of chocolate eggs and bouncy balls and all sorts of fabulous prizes, and then we ordered milkshakes and sat outside to enjoy our drinks and review the days “best bits.”

Living Coasts

| Lavania Oluban

We happened to be in Torquay for a long weekend and my partner discovered Living Coasts whilst on an early morning stroll with Arlo, and purchased entrance tickets to go in and see the penguin feed, with no idea what to expect.

I finally managed to catch up with them for lunch a few hours later in Torquay and then we went back to Living Coasts as Arlo spent the entire meal excitedly chatting to me all about penguins.

We went back and because storm Hannah was expected the entire attraction probably had about twenty guests including us, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It’s hard to describe this experience as around every corner is a new surprise.

As soon as you get past the entrance the route takes you along a winding underground path, past a huge window behind which there are puffins diving which is delightful to watch. It’s quite overwhelming to see this first of all as it’s so unexpected so it’s great to take the time to watch these birds enjoy themselves.

The bulk of the attraction is outdoors, you follow the route up to the coastal surface, and you’re in an environment created to not only protect the animals inside but also give you amazing views across the coastline. This is very exposed to the elements but we were happy wrapped up in layers and obviously the penguins were even happier. We happened to arrive just in time for their feeding time.

The staff arrived with huge buckets of fish and delivered an excellent talk, describing the unique personalities of some of the penguins and pointing out differences between some of the species. We met a penguin as old as me in her thirties – I didn’t know they could live this long!

As the talk drew to a close we walked through to meet the puffins again, this time above the surface and what a contrast to the view we had from underground. Lots of different species of birds live here, all seem to be thriving in this environment. Such a clever way to have built these attractions to showcase these animals, and give them the platform they all deserve to be appreciated.

The winding path took us along to see otters splashing about enjoying the blustery weather, with views again from above and underground and then we spotted a huge furry seal basking and another seal bobbing up and down in the water pool.

As arlo had already been around the venue earlier, he quickly ran around and hurriedly took me back underground to show me one of the best things I’ve seen.

The seal pool underground has a huge viewing bubble so you can sit inside this space and feel as though you’re in the water and watch these beautiful creatures perform a gymnastics display in the water. We sat for half an hour watching and interacting with them as they liked to play. Seals are certainly one of Arlo’s favourite animals after having the opportunity to meet some at the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham recently too.

The aquariums were also in this section, it’s magical watching sea horses and all of the different fish – Arlo’s favourite was a huge tank which you could crawl underneath. Sporadically it released a rush of water which is obviously good for the fish but made him giggle too.

Around another corner we came across an underwater view of the seals diving and zooming around, which again we spent a lot of time watching. In amongst all of the animal displays there’s some fabulous interactive things to play with – sand pits, rock climbing walls and a colouring in station – lots of different things for Arlo to get involved with, and which older kids would also enjoy.

There’s a fabulous art work exhibition made from material found on the beach with a clear focus on the environmental issues facing the planet at the moment – it’s a strong but important message delivered throughout and I feel as though everyone visiting will be impacted by this.

After having the opportunity to encounter animals such as this and interact so closely it’s impossible to leave without thinking about how we can make some changes too. We really enjoyed our time here. If you’re visiting Torquay then you can combine a ticket at Living Coasts with Paignton Zoo and you can also validate your tickets for re-entry for up to seven days.

Click Here to read about our experience at the zoo