Our October half-term 2016

The recent October half-term was Eva's first ever half-term so I was looking forward to taking her to a few places and spending all day with her. However, those plans went out of the window as my husband has recently been made redundant. Therefore, I now work almost everyday and sadly half-term was no exception. I had major mum guilt that week but who doesn't hey?

Whilst I was working Eva enjoyed time with her dad and sister. On the Thursday she was lucky enough to be involved in a Shopkins party. This was Eva's first experience of Shopkins as up until now she's been too young for it, although every-time she has seen them on tv both hubby and I are met with 'Can I have that? Can I buy that? Can Santa bring me that?'. As you can imagine she was rather excited when she opened her party package.

The party was to hold and celebrate the film premiere of the new Shopkins movie, 'Chef Club'. The film will see new Shoppie in town Peppa-Mint attempt to win over the friendship of the other Shoppies Bubbleisha, Jessicake and Donatina with the help of their Shopkin friends. It also boasts a host of catchy new songs and quirky costumes that have never been seen before.

Eva sat in her pyjamas to watch the film along with her little sister. She got herself comfy on the sofa with some popcorn and cupcakes and lapped up her first taste of Shopkins.

At 44 minutes long the film is the perfect length for kids. Eva loved the bright colours and catchy songs. She's been singing 'Tell me what's cooking repeatedly,'. It's a must for any Shopkins fan. You can buy your copy here, DVD.

We did manage to get one day out together as a family so we chose to go to a place we love, Noah's Ark Zoo Farm. We've only been once before but Eva loved it so we were keen to take Ophelia.

We actually went on Halloween because Eva had an inset day. It was surprisingly a beautiful sunny day which was great as most of the animals are outside. If you haven't been I would class it as an all weather place because there are lots of indoor things too.

Eva's favourite animals to see on the day were the monkeys. They were being particularly noisy so she found that highly amusing although Ophelia didn't share the same enthusiasm. I think she was more shocked. 

Ophelia loved holding and touching a rabbit which you can do in the animal village. Eva also fed a lamb in there too which she found hilarious.

We saw lots of other incredible animals such as Giraffe, Meerkat, Camel, Lions, Tigers and my personal favourite, the Elephants. I could watch Elephants all day. Their home at Noah's Ark Zoo is fantastic. It's very big with plenty for them to explore which is great to see.

Eva also loved the play areas. There are quite a few to choose from including indoor and outdoor ones which are all nicely spread out around the park. I think it's great that there are so many as it gives the day a nice balance. I think if we took her to see animals but there was nothing else to do, the whole day out would be over very quickly. Ophelia also enjoyed an indoor soft play area.

We ate in the cafe which was reasonably priced. The girls had a lunchbox each and Arwyn and I had a jacket potato. The jacket potato was huge with a lot of filling and salad so well worth the price.

If you haven't been I highly recommend it. It's about a 40 minute drive from us but we have had such a great day every time we've been. You can buy annual passes which we are considering doing for next year.

Have you been to Noah's Ark Zoo Farm? Is your little one a Shopkins fan? If so which one is their favourite?

*We were sent the Shopkins DVD to review but all opinions are our own. We paid for ourselves to go to Noah's Ark Zoo farm*