Well I say our first trip out, what I mean is our first big day out or notable trip. I am the kind of girl who likes to be out and about even a few days post c-section, even with baby twins. So, from very early on we could often be found down the park or taking a long walk to Morrisons just to get out the house. 3 kids and one smallish house can often equal a very short-tempered mummy is what I used to find.
Our girls were born in mid July in 2007 and the weather was gorgeous, not so great for new babies that need protecting from the sun and get miserable when they are hot but let's be honest if they were my only complaints then really there is nothing to complain about. Given all the lovely weather and JJ having been such a big and patient older brother we decided to take a family day to Woburn Safari park and to discover the delights they had there. We choose somewhere we had not been before to make it interesting for dh and I and also somewhere we could use our Tesco deals voucher so the day would not become too expensive.
Without even knowing we managed to pick a day that the children's TV channel Nick Jnr were holding a sponsored event there and JJ was completely delighted to meet some of his favourite characters, take a look at the short video to see the delight of a near 4 year old as he indulges in a day that was all about him.Can you imagine how hard it was being a pampered babe for nearly 4 years, all the focus on you and then not just one but two cute new babes arrive and demand that your mummy feeds them almost constantly. Yes, he learnt to be a very good and patient boy that summer. We were so lucky that what he always showed was love to his sisters and not animosity.
My memory of the day is wonderful but I do recall just how different it was to any other day out I had ever had with my family before it. For a start we drove there in our new 7 seater car as you can't fit 3 car seats in the back of a Fiesta! As soon as we arrived dh and JJ went off to explore and I set about my first breastfeed, one babe at a time taking about 1.5 hours in total. Of course this had to be followed by a nappy change and cleaning Mummy's shoulder up from the tell tale new baby marks!
Towards lunch time I finally got to leave the car and we bundled the babes up in their tandem pushchair and set off for a good look around. We were piled high with baby paraphernalia, ready for all eventualities like any good new mum is. Dh took on the pram duty and looked after the girls so that JJ could have his Mum back for a couple of hours. Meeting the Nick Jnr characters, taking a train ride and enjoying our picnic were all great, then of course it was time for me to feed again. Whilst dh would have been happy to sit down with me for a rest whilst the babes fed a 3 year old has no interest in that, so off they went to the Noah's Ark soft play and I sat down to feed the girls again. Luckily I have always been comfortable to feed in public, managing to cover my modesty. Roll forward another couple of hours and another nappy change and all 5 of us are reunited for another look around some of the animals.
We decided to have tea at the park to make life easier for later. Again I fed the girls and then we set off on the drive back down the M1 and homeward bound. For a first big day out with two small babies it was excellent, the girls behaved like a dream and JJ was so made up to have a big fuss made of him. It felt perfect and was a superb start to the rest of our lives together as a family unit of 5.
Here is a short video with some clips from our day out to Woburn Safari Park -