Great British Days Out: Why I don’t wear a coat in the snow…..

It is winter and I don’t wear a coat, I am pretty sure the mums at school think this is because of my northern roots, that I am ‘well ‘ard’ and don’t need to protect myself from the sting of winter.

That is simply a crock of….

The truth is I had a growth spurt in 2012 which has left my winter wardrobe feeling rather snug and my coats gaping, not keen to remain larger than life I have refused to buy anything warm; I am punishing my excess over eating by slowly freezing to death.

It is not really working, as frostbite grows on my fingers I find that hot chocolate and marshmallows does the trick to create instant warmth and takes me one step further away from fastening up my jacket.

So Sunday found me knee deep in snow, with my two year old daughters red bobble hat perched on my head, wearing my husbands jacket matched with stylish leather gloves.  I looked an eccentric sight and everywhere I turned I saw men and women holding cameras with extra long lenses.

We were at the Zoo….

Marwell Zoo to be exact as part of a review opportunity for MoneySupermarket Days Out Discount vouchers.

Timed perfectly to coincide with the twins birthdays we had a rather fabulous, whilst eye wateringly freezing weekend courtesy of both Marwell Hotel and Marwell Zoo.

I must confess when I saw the bucket of snow rain down on the weekend I questioned whether we should take the children on an outdoor excursion but not one to miss an opportunity to see Penguins I went against my better judgement.

The zoo was quiet, which was heart rendering as the natural beauty of the animals is only exuberated by the quiet stillness of the snow.  Photographers were the park’s main visitors and we spotted a few other families who were prepared to brave the cold.

Twin Boy, twin girl and BB were dressed head to toe in waterproof ski gear so the cold brushed past them without causing distress and in between waving at Giraffes and hunting for Tigers we paused to throw snowballs and bury he who helped create them.

The rhinos missed all the fun of the winter wonderland by staying in their watery pit, I empathised with them, perhaps the excess of last year had also left them struggling to fit into the previous year’s coat.

The tiger caused the most excitement of the pre birthday day, he performed for his audience, leaping through the snow, jumping up at the window, delighting the children and  photographers with his majestic poses at the edge of his rock.

It was one of those days where no one shouted, no one cried when a misplaced snowball caught them on a chilly exposed ear.

It was close to perfection. My own coat would have made it idyllic.

We sought comfort in the tropical house when the chills started to grab a hold of our toes and BB delighted in ‘talking’ to the crocodile and the twins followed the path of the ants, gleefully pointing out soldiers ants and differentiating from a worker ant.

We patiently enjoyed the heat of the greenhouse and waited for a poisonous frog to appear (behind glass) before returning the frost of outside and heading to gaze upon leopards.

Whilst the nation sledged we gazed upon the calm beauty of nature playing in the snow.

It was a good day.