Marsh Farm



Today we had a rare day away from football and had some Groupon tickets for Marsh Farm which needed to be used by the end of March. So today was as good a day as any to take Holly for her first visit to the farm despite the weather being very changeable with sun, wind, rain, hale stones, cloud and everything in between. The weather didn't affect our day in any way though and overall we had a fantastic day out.

 

Joshua's homework for this weekend is to do with doing a good deed for someone. I think it was supposed to be related to bullying but this is a little difficult to do without him being exposed to some form of bullying. So instead his good deed for the day which he has got to write about was to hold open all the gates in the farm so that Tina could push Holly and the buggy through them.

 

Joshua doing his good deed homework with help from Little B.

Early morning and the sun was shining down on the Llama and the Alpacas.

Joshua trying to hand feed some pigs before we noticed the sign saying do not feed as these animals may bite. Woops!

Joshua and Brandon shouting the names of the Alpacas to try and get their attention to feed them,

Can anyone spot a little chicken in this picture? Or is it just Brandon trying to lay an egg?

It must have been a few years since we last went to Marsh Farm and now it is owned by the same company that own Partyman World. As a result of the change of ownership the park has had many changes since we last went and certainly has that Partyman brand/theme to it. I am not 100% sure all of the changes are good for a farm as a lot of them tend to be more about entertainment rather than farm animals. For example one new addition is the wooden Alice In Wonderland maze. Good fun, but in a farm!. 

Joshua trying to find his way through the Alice maze.

Brandon looking a little lost.

Brandon trying to read one of the Alice clues that are posted throughout the maze.

After the maze Joshua and Brandon waited with Tina for the tractor ride across the marsh land.

Tina, Joshua and Brandon sitting far left in the trailer. I was happy to sit this one out as the marsh land has too many memories of the Saltmarsh 75 for my liking!!!

Another new addition to the park is a little crazy golf course and some bouncy castles. Again great for entertaining the kids but not really right for a farm in my opinion. The crazy golf is cool though as its an all weather course.

Brandon gets ready to T-off.

Joshua takes his second shot..........he is so impatient on a golf course.

Joshua and Brandon figuring out how to get the ball through the yellow curled walls.

Brandon about to tonk one over the humpback bridge.

Me and the boys posing for a shot at the 9th and final hole.

See - pigs do fly!

The farm has also added a birds of prey section and an aviary to the pet corner. 

Some of the stunning birds on display in the aviary. Great colours.

Real farm animals as Joshua feeds a little goat.

Brandon became real friendly with this long eared goat.

Joshua and B feeding the long eared goat.

Some timeout for the boys after a busy, busy morning in the farm.

Throughout everything that we had done so far and up to and including lunch, Holly was sound asleep in her buggy. But we woke her up lunchtime for some milk and to get her in the harness so that she could have a look around the farm as well. Normally I would take Holly but I am still suffering after last Fridays operation plus my back is absolutely killing me for some reason. So it was over to Tina and for the first time ever we tried having Holly forward facing as she can support her head and look around really well now.

Holly having a walk around the farm with her mummy. Lovely blue skies for a change.

Today one of the sheep gave birth to a lamb and we arrived seconds after the birth. The mother sheep was still trying the clean the little lamb and the chord was still hanging underneath. The lamb was standing but very wobbly and wide legged.  

The newborn lamb trying to stand up only minutes after being born with its mum licking it clean.

Joshua with the big moo cows.

Brandon getting very brave hand feeding a rather large cow.

Holly taking a look at the cow but not getting too close.

Joshua practising milking a cow.

Then Brandon getting stuck in and getting his hands on.

Another change to the park is that the big pig barn has been converted into a "Partyman" type soft play area with a cafe. Surely this has got to be a backwards step as they have lost a great bit of the farm in favour of a smaller Partyman World. Anyway as the sleet decided to come down heavy it was as good as anywhere to seek shelter and let the boys burn off some steam. Whilst in there I took Holly into the little toddler soft play area and she did her first ever roll over as witnessed by me and Josh. 

Holly in the soft play area practising her back to belly rolls.

Holly is really getting strong in the legs and trying to push herself up on her feet already. Supported by her big brother.

Holly laying on a piggy soft mat.

Anyone want some chicken for their Sunday roast.

Joshua and Brandon brushing a rather large horse.

Why do they both look so concerned?

Have you ever got your dog lead out and taken your pet goat for a walk? Joshua has.

And so has Brandon, although I think the goat was taking him for more of a walk rather than the other way around.

I think Joshua would quite like a pet goat.

Joshua in the play area on a pretend digger.

Brandon about to drop down a slide.

I've got a brand new combine harvester (and Brandon's bum in this picture!).

Anyway we all had a really enjoyable day. For me the highlight was probably watching Brandon getting dragged around by the goat or seeing the two boys chuckling away in the magic show.