What a day. We filled 8 buses with 400 excited bairns, for the 2 hour trip to Flamingoland in North Yorkshire. Highlight of the outward journey was the Mexican wave which eventually reached the bus in front once we stopped in traffic in Helmsley - the kids loved it! They were also fairly hysterical when the driver took the bus airborne over the switchbacks, and I flew horizontally into the aisle!
Three and a half hours of screamtastic rides followed, as we took the kids by surprise and actually joined in the fun...were they really expecting us to watch from the sidelines? Getting stuck as I climbed onto to Velocity, the motorbike ride, was a little cringey as the kids shouted from the queue 'go on miss!!', but the embarrassment was soon forgotten as we tried all of the screamworthy rides and had a brilliant time. Mumbo Jumbo was worth the lengthy wait, during which we fought off a wasp, and we were pretty impressed with the ride,which has the steepest climb hill (Rollercoaster jargon) in the world. Just as well it was high, as our jobs may have been in jeopardy as our language was a little colourful when we were dropped from a great height!
After a stint in the cafe, I had a walk around the zoo, to find the baby giraffe, and came across the meerkats, always a favourite. So cute, yet here they were grappling with a stray duck, until the heroics of the zookeeper saved him from a grisly end. One of those situations where you don't know whether to laugh or not!
After rounding up the year 8s who'd lost track of time, we headed back to the bus, where our driver tried to make up lost time, resulting in 5 very sickly children and one brave teacher who mopped them all up. Her three colleagues, including me, hid at the back of the bus, vomit-phobics that we are!
Whenever we take the kids out from school we are guaranteed a fun-filled day, and this was no exception. Rain was forecast, but I think my manic adrenaline-fuelled laughter scared the clouds away, and we all came home with colour in our cheeks! The one consolation for the day going too quickly is that some of us get to do it all again in 4 weeks, when we take the choir and band on tour to Germany, including a trip to Fantasialand! Bring it on!!
