It was time for the obligatory trip to the farm. This time we arranged to meet up with my good friend and her two boys. My friend suggested Lee Valley Farm in Essex - https://www.lvfarms.co.uk/. We booked tickets online the day before to get a 10% discount. It cost £24.30 for one adult and two kids (£8.10 each) and under twos are free. On the whole I think the entry price was worth it.

Lots of activities for kids

It was my first visit to Lee Valley farm and I was pleasantly surprised with the number of things on offer for kids. There is obviously the farm with the usual farmyard animals, then there was weirdly a meerkat area and a reptile house. I mean who doesn't love meerkats? but on a farm?? There were falconry displays, lamb races, tractor rides and and donkey rides. The outdoor play areas were brilliant.

Reliving my childhood on the Alpine Slope

And best of all I found a way to tire my kids out so that they go to bed on time!.....it was the Alpine Slope....a dry slope that you can ride down in huge squidgy doughnuts and then drag the doughnuts back up the hill to have another go. There are reindeer walking around nearby which made the whole thing extra exciting. The kids played on there for around an hour! As you might have gathered by now, I always grab an opportunity to relive my childhood so I had a go too! At this point the baby was asleep to my friend and I got a chance to actually have a conversation. Any mums will know, it's a rare occasion when you can have an interruption free chat when your kids are around!

Goats behind glass

One of the things that I found a bit odd was the fact that some of the goats and sheep were not very accessible to the children. These were the goats and sheep that children could feed with the special animal food that was available to buy in the farm shop. However there were high fences and glass panels with a little hole where the animal could put it's mouth and be fed by visitors. The goats kept trying to jump over the high fence to see who was feeding them! I've taken the kids to Ash End Children's Farm in Staffordshire (https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/ash-end-house-childrens-farm) before and the animals there are much more accessible. As in kids can actually see the animal they are feeding and touch them! They're not behind glass as if they are T-Rex's in Jurassic World. The kids just laughed about and found some goats in another part of the farm that they could feed properly.

Beautiful countryside setting

That was my one criticism of Lee Valley Farm. The farm has a lot more to offer. The falconry display was really good, and the outdoor play areas were pretty impressive. The best thing about it in my opinion was the beautiful countryside setting. Living in London makes you appreciate the countryside a lot more. There's something so refreshing about being surrounded by fields.

Fresh farm milk

A nice touch at the end was a machine that dispenses pasturised milk from the farm cows. Mini Me 1 and Mini Me 2 loved working out how to operate the milk vending machine, selecting a bottle, paying and then filling it up with milk. According to them the milk was the best they'd every tasted. It was full fat and we usually have semi skimmed so it probably tasted like they were drinking cream!

Thankful

One of the best things about the day was seeing all the kids having so much fun together. It made my heart sing to watch them all just doing all the things that kids love to do. This day epitomises childhood for me. It's not usually my style to get all mushy in my blogs but on days like this I always remember to say a big thank you to the Almighty for blessing us with the life that we have. I don't take these things for granted.

MummyImperfect x