Day two of the Prep V trip to Grasmere started with an early morning wake up call for the Bridgewater staff. With the children in bed at 9pm, it wasn’t until after 11pm that sleep actually set in for most of the group. This meant that staff had to stay up! To pass the time, a “friendly” game of UNO was played. Two hours later, Mrs Sweeney and Miss Gregory had reinvented the game by adapting the rules to suit their needs and proceeded to join forces to try and defeat the increasingly bemused Mr Altdorf. Lesson learned and noted for future reference ladies!
After breakfast, there was a bit of free time to prepare for today’s tasty tester, the “tree top trek trial.” However, there was just enough time for some to go off and paint a mural with an artist from Manchester, whilst others went to the gym in the park for an impressive early morning workout.
Storm Ali had blown itself out and so the hunt was on to find Bridgewater’s very own Tarzan and Jane. We set off to Brockholes in high spirits, ready to climb trees and swing across gaps in bridges whilst suspended upon wires and ropes.
It was to be a real test of courage and mind over matter, as well as the obvious physical attributes required of strength, agility and coordination. Thomas flew round the course and Holly was not far behind. Moaed zipped across the wires, whilst Mia, Evie and Nyla showed their style as they skateboarded across one section of the course. Isabella, Emma and Anna conquered fears, as did Aysha, Chun Ka and Juliette. Everyone can be so proud of how they tackled the daunting course. The reward for getting to the top of the course was the incredible zip wire down to the shore.
The zip wire was the highlight of the trip so far, with everyone agreeing they all wanted to do it again and again and again! The tree top trials continued in the afternoon as we headed off to the tree top nets. Giant trampoline beds suspended in the trees with large inflatable balls and slides were a huge success. Quiet zones provided solace for some, however, the majority took the opportunity to bounce themselves and each other around like kangaroos on a pogo stick!
Unfortunately, the remnants of Storm Ali kicked in and the rains came to end the session and force the children in to the gift shop. I say unfortunately, as this gave many an opportunity to buy the rather annoying “fart whistles”. A rendition of “Baby Shark” broke out on the minibus, revoking memories of yesterday and our visit to the Aquarium. This also served to drown out the charming noises emanating from the rear of the bus by all this who had bought a whistle!
After another shower, change of clothes and a warming up of aching limbs (the latter applies more to the staff!), it was tea and evening activities. With the TV now working, we congregated in the lounge to settle down to watch Emmerdale and play games. The former was sadly drowned out by the noise of falling Jenga blocks and the most amazing game of UNO ever seen. Mrs Sweeney took a select band of the more sedate children to enjoy a game of Family Trivial Pursuit. Meanwhile, the remainder battled through the UNO game in exuberant fashion. In the end, bedtime was thankfully called with the rules of the game being changed more times than Parliament’s stance on BREXIT.
And so ends another action-packed day in the Lakes. All in all, it can only be summed up as tree-mendous!