Family Adventure - Gruffalo Hunting

It's been a rough week for our little family with both of our little ones developing tonsilitis and an ear infection. There's been lots of tears, feeling sorry for ourselves and lack of sleep that has been made worse with being cooped up all week. We decided today that they were recovered enough to venture into the fresh air and enjoy what has been a gloriously sunny winters day. We decided to go on an adventure!

It's been 15 years since the release of popular childrens book The Gruffalo. 15 years, and yet I've never managed to see one in person! I'd heard from a good source though, that if we travelled to Fineshade Woods in Corby, Northamptonshire (not far for us to go) before the month was up we may well be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a Gruffalo in it's natural environment. We bundled up warm, pulled on our wellington boots and set off on our adventure to Fineshade.

The sun was shining, the air crisp and cold - conditions seemed perfect in my amateur opinion. I had a good feeling about today... we might finally spy a famous British monster. We set off on our walk and within minutes spied an oversized mouse. A good start!

A few paces further and we were greeted by a very friendly looking red fox. 

We were on a roll. The day had already been very productive, but we still hadn't spotted what we'd hoped to. Clayton was our expedition leader, and we were hoping he'd have an idea on how to improve our chances of a rare sighting. That was when he suprised us all and found a very impressive stick to walk with. A good stick always improves a walk I find, and I was hoping that this one would bring us the luck we needed. We passed dog after dog, and Clayton used his ability to bark and communiticate with the canine race to gain valuable local knowledge. We turned the next corner and were greeted by the biggest snake I've ever seen - It was lucky we had that stick!

We had definitely enjoyed our day in the British countryside and were just about to head home, pretending not to feel slightly disappointed. The snake had been the last straw and we were unsure if we could fend off any more danger, questioning if lucky was really on our side. We turned around and there in plain view of us was the infamous Gruffalo. Standing there for all to see. I couldn't believe my eyes... we had found our very first Gruffalo! Our expedition leader had made our mission a successful one and we could add our names to the list of lucky people that had seen this great and rare sight with their own eyes.

The journey home was a happy one, with us feeling accomplished and proud. Our proud guide sat in the back seat behind us repeatedly saying "Nice" and "Bye 'uffalooo" until he dozed off smiling. Today had been a good day.