This time, the Penguin Beach was finished and it turned out to be Lilia's favourite bit of the zoo. In fact, she loved it so much we could hardly drag her away!
It has a round viewing hole on one side under water level, as well as one whole glass side, so you can see the penguins swimming, and we were lucky enough to be there when they fed them so there was lots of diving going on.
I particularly liked the heron which has set up home there - he's obviously worked out there is a plentiful supply of fish! At one point the keeper had to shoo him off and rescue the penguins' lunch!
It was hard to get good pictures, but here are a few.
Lying by the porthole was a popular thing to do, and once we'd seen off the French tourists she had it all to herself. In fact, we had to go back to it after lunch because she loved lying there and watching the water.
We also noticed that the sun shining through the glass enclosure made a rainbow, which was an opportunity for an impromptu science lesson on refraction, as well as a chance to wear a rainbow. Lilia was very pleased with that.
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Her other favourite was the giraffes. But once again we got see just a zebra bottom as it ran inside! Next time we need to go and see them first. Late afternoon doesn't seem to be their best time.
Obviously, no day out is complete without an ice cream, even if it is freezing. Although she didn't object when we eventually took it off her and threw it away because she was turning blue!
And obviously, there is always a point in the day when we need some Daddy time:
There are also loads of new playgrounds at the zoo, and as Lilia's latest 'thing' is climbing, jumping and generally being physical, she loved it. She did need some help getting onto the swinging ropes, but once she was up there she was in her element.
Note the model-style facial expression!
And finally, we went to Pizza Express in Camden for tea (like we did before).
And then Lilia wanted to take some pictures:
To explain, Lilia loves sticking out her tongue and wanted us to do it too!
To finish the day off, we managed to find a puddle:
She really enjoyed herself but did wake up twice that night. First, crying about 'the snakes, the snakes' and second about 'the ants are all over me'. oops. Maybe we won't go to the bug house next time!
