Cooling off on sunny afternoons at Slimbridge

What do you do on hot sunny afternoons when you need somewhere to go to cool off? We often head to our happy place, the local wildfowl and wetlands trust, Slimbridge. Being members we often pop down for a few hours on weekend afternoons to have a wander around, feed the birds or splash in wellyboot land.

The pictures in this post were all taken on my phone as I hadn't intended writing about it but the Little ones had so much fun, I thought that I would so I apologise for the quality of the pictures. With the temperature rocking 27 degrees on this day we were all feeling far to hot and bothered to do very much but at the same time we were desperate to get out the house and the children had energy to burn.

I threw the sun suits, a towel, plenty of drinks and snacks in a bag and off we went, we headed straight to the water on this particular day as no one fancied walking around in the heat, it was busy but there is always room for more. 

The Little Ones were changed in an instant and while Daddy and I found a shady spot to put a blanket they were off splashing around in the ankle deep water to their delight. I love wellyboot land, it is gated so the children can't escape, the water is only a couple of inches deep max so the children are relatively safe and no matter where you sit you can see them.

If you ask the girls what they like best they will say the roundabout, the faster it spins the faster the fountain runs and with a climbing frame, bridges, a rope net, dams and a water wheel there is something for everyone to play on or explore, Little 3 just loves tipping water down the slides and then whooshing off the end himself!

In between snack stops and drink top ups plus tons of sun cream the Little Ones paddled, played and made friends keeping nice and cool in the stream while I enjoyed a sit down in the shade (I rarely actually sit down at home, there is always something to be getting on with) and Daddy might have had a paddle too. 

All too soon, although we had been there 2 and a half hours, it was time to get dressed and head for home in time for tea, but not before we watched the swans being fed and Little 1 had been to visit the flamingos.

We visited Slimbridge again this past weekend, only for a quick paddle this time and instead we looked for ducklings and cygnets before we headed to the park and had some fun there for a while, it won't be long before we are back, the girls want to try their hand at canoeing again, Daddy wants to get Little 3 in a boat, but I am not so sure... toddler overboard anyone??