When Monkey met the monkeys

Monkey turns one tomorrow. I'm kind of still in denial about it. We've had a weekend full of fun and celebrations and I've loved every minute of it but I still don't want to admit my baby girl is growing up.

Anyway that's not what this post is about!

For Monkey's birthday treat we took her to the zoo. It's been booked for ages and today was the day. We were up bright and early to get into town for the coach.

Waiting for the coach

Monkey had never been on a coach before but the journey was fine. Her car seat strapped in so I felt much happier than I would with her on my knee. She soon made herself comfy, said hiya to all the other passengers then promptly fell asleep! She stayed that way all the way to Chester.

Travelling in style!

Chester Zoo is an amazing place. There is so much to see and do. Our coach got us there just before 11 and picked us up again at 5.15. I was a bit worried it would be a long day but there was so much to do that we didn't get bored.

Monkey ready to meet the monkeys!

There's no way I could write about everything we saw so I'll just share a few highlights. Monkey's favourites seemed to be the chimpanzees. She was giggling away watching them climb and chase each other.

The chimps were entertaining but they were VERY naughty! Maybe my Monkey is a bad influence on the monkeys. They were fighting and very noisy. In the end the zookeepers asked everyone to leave their house so they could calm them down.

The other animals Monkey seemed to particularly like were the elephants.

My favourite animals are giraffes so I was very excited to see those, especially baby Sanyu who was just 15 days old - already taller than me though!