THERE’S a quote I’ve often heard, especially since becoming a parent, and that is that the days are long, but the years are short.
As my son approaches his second birthday that has become particularly apparent to me, so I relish any opportunity to really soak in special times with him and see his face light up at new experiences.
I was very lucky to get an invite to attend the Seaside Carnival launch at Knowsley Safari Park with my son and partner and we had one of my favourite days out ever.
Due to naps (toddler stage naps are really inconvenient) we started our day out at 1.30pm, but with the beautiful weather that didn’t matter.
We took on the safari drive which was amazing to see the likes of rhinos, deer, buffalo, bison and camels just casually strolling in front of our car.
We did not feel confident in braving the monkeys – we still have damage on the car since the last time we attended – but we very much enjoyed watching other brave drivers take on the baboons, something my son particularly enjoyed shouting ‘no no no’ while laughing and pointing at the windows of the car.
Next came the foot safari and what we came to see which was the carnival, complete with striped deck chairs and plenty of sand for kids to enjoy.
The carnival aspect comes in the form of highly skilled performers on stilts and an acrobat take on daring aerial performances as well as teaching children how to spin plates, juggle with old fashioned style stalls there for people to enjoy such as Coconut Shy, Bottle Ring Toss, Beat the Buzzer and Ball in a Bucket – something my little boy wasn’t yet interested in but watching the performers was awe inspiring for him.
The foot safari was our highlight, my son ran right up to the giraffe enclosure saying ‘oh wow’ and enjoyed the rides (several times) and watching the Birds of Prey at dinner time.
He even enjoying searching for the Tigers – which we did not get to see – but the search for them was exciting all the same.
All in all we had a fantastic little family day, realised just how lucky we are to have such a fantastic day out on our doorstep, and with full bellies and memories to cherish we said goodbye.
But we will definitely be visiting again, particularly since we missed out on seeing Sealions again, something we will have to do first next time we go.
Seaside Carnival will be at Knowsley Safari Park until Sunday, June 4.
Tickets are available via knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk.
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