Tropical World (With Granny & Grandpa)

Earlier this week Naths mum text me to see if it was okay for them to come over and take the kids out. I always appreciate how they make time for us all individually when they have so many kids (11) to think about and look out for and so of course we were super excited and looking forward to having them here to catch up, play and take the kids out. Ethan and Megs were full of beans the night before (as they are whenever they know either set of grandparents are coming) and certainly were doing my head in when they were asking every hour (though felt like minute) “when are they coming?” or “will they be here soon?”. Teaching them they had to sleep 1st was nigh impossible!
Originally I had planned on some more DIY and finishing up painting whilst they took the kids out somewhere, but after working hard the day before de-cluttering the kids room and putting up some shelving I decided to tag along and hang out too and was really looking forward to it. They thought it a good idea to go to “Tropical World” to see the butterflies, as its Spring, its always fun with the kids and warm and dry too. So we all jumped in the mini bus and off we went!

I always remember going there on a school trip when I was 6 or something and Nath and I went once even before we were dating, since then we have been several times over the years with the kids too – its such a convenient destination, reasonably priced and overall an adventurous couple of hrs out -it really is a great spot for any stage of life! Its recently had a refurb and so I looked forward to seeing what they had done, but other than the cafe, I’d say its not a huge difference; there were some lovely new touches (like touch screen info spots around) and over all it all seems a little cleaner and then as it was term time it was fairly quiet too and so we were lucky that the animals/insects were way more sociable than usual. Our faves were the NEW poison dart frogs and the “sneaky snake”:
The butterflies were as big as I remembered as a kid (but bigger than I’ve seen recently there) and it was so funny to see Megs dancing about as they flew over her – a couple of times she said “I want to dance with the butter-fies” and Grandma would grab her as she looked to be heading into the nearest pool of water!

Whilst the kids have been several times before (even last year with cousins and Granny) each visit is just as exciting, full of learning opportunities, adventure and always a sneaky ice cream somewhere along the way. Their curiosity with various creatures is something I always look forward to but most of all I love to see the kids with their grandparents and the fun they have together, I love to see the joy on their faces being with the kids and its nice to have some extra hands to help out occasionally!
Tropical world is a fun day out for all ages, pram friendly and time it on a nice day you can follow it up with oodles of fun, ice creams and picnics in Roundhey park next door!

Linking up with Yorkshire Tots to spread the Yorkshire Love!