My two little boys love animals - to the point of obsession. We're often at our local farms, zoos and safari parks but I'm always on the hunt for a new one to visit, for that added bit of excitement. Cotswold Wildlife Park is just over an hour's drive from our home in Birmingham, and I knew my children - aged 3.
5 and 1.5 - would love the giraffes, camels and penguins. The four of us packed a picnic and set off on a Saturday in July - inviting along Grandpa and Granny with us.
The weather was on our side, it was lovely and warm, but that meant it was also fairly busy. Read more: I'm a toddler mum and found one of the best attractions only a 20 minute drive from Birmingham We had to queue in the car briefly to enter, but it didn't take long at all. Staff guide you to a parking space and then you're free to head in and explore at your leisure.
We started at the penguins (a favourite) before visiting the meerkats and then talking a stroll through the lemur walk, where you can get really close to the park's family of lemurs. We also admired the beautiful, perfectly-manicured gardens Cotswold Wildlife Park is so famous for - they are stunning! Then we made our way round to the camels, who've just welcomed a baby to their group, and took a peek at the sleeping lions as well. We spent a while at the giraffes, who were all outside enjoying the sunshine.
What's brilliant about the giraffe enclosure here at Cotswold Wildlife Park though is you can get eye-to-eye with them, literally, in.
