As I hadn’t adapted to Central time and still waking up close to UK time I headed out early and drove down to Galveston Island to try and see the local brown pelicans. In Galveston, they get both the brown pelicans, and the invasive white pelicans which have tried to take over.

There is a vast length of beach along the island, and it was so peaceful in the early morning, with just the birds (and the bird watchers) about! I first stopped at a beach side car park and saw the Laughing Gulls and the Willets. Then on the way back along I stopped at Galveston Fishing Pier to see what more I could see if I was a bit further out into the sea. There I was treated to a group of Pelicans flying across in front of me at the end of the pier.

After this I headed back up towards Houston to get to the Space Center just as it opened. On the way across the bridge back to the mainland from Galveston there were two flocks of Pelicans that flew really low across the road - so close, it felt like I was being dive bombed by them!

Here are a few of the bees that have visited our garden so far this weekend:

Bee from rickymoorhouse on Vimeo.

We had a lovely holiday last week at Center Parcs - we’d booked it almost a year ago to make use of the discount they give if you rebook within 28 days of getting home so we were looking forward to it for a long time! It was so different to last time we went, as last time Abi was only tiny and not yet moving around, so we carried her around in the sling most of the time. This year she likes to walk around for herself and currently has a fascination with stairs - so every time she saw steps of any kind she would say ‘up stairs’ (even if she was at the top of them!) and head towards them. Also this year she was big enough to travel round in a bike trailer which after getting used to it she loved. Having bikes seemed to make everywhere seem so much closer and easier to get to.

It was a really nice relaxing week, and a few of the highlights for me were:

• Eating at the Pancake House on our first evening there, whilst watching the snow and the birds through the window.

• Taking Abi swimming and seeing how she grew in confidence with the pool and how much she enjoyed the slide in the toddler pool

• Cycling around, towing Abi behind in her trailer

• Being able to watch the wildlife from the villa window - Abi made friends with the ducks, but we also saw squirrels and coots.