The day started a little bit dull and damp but that didn't affect the Beavers who were waiting paiently in the stands for the day to begin. Eventually there was the sound of music and the Bournemouth Carnival Band appeared - all dressed as Batman! (They have their own website if you would like to know more about them.) There was even a Batman on a scooter. The band was lead by the Penguin. After the opening ceremony the Beavers were allowed to go off and explore the site in their groups. So much to see and so little time. There were loads of bouncy castles of all shapes and sizes including a big bouncy jungle and a haunted house. Although there were queues at some of the attractions they seemed to move quickly and other things had no queue at all. The two Matthew's must have had 10 goes on the bouncy slide before they moved on to other things. One of the more unusual activities was caving. Kingfisher managed to catch Akela waiting with the Beavers. When it was time to go in you had to wear a hard hat with a light on it. After exploring the cave system Matthew burst back out into the fresh air - a little muddier than when he went in!

After what seemed like no time at all the hooter sounded for lunch and it was back to the stands again. While we were eating we were again entertained by the band who were this time joined by Spiderman. After lunch it was back to the activities again. The Scouts who are going to the Jamboree in Thailand were running an obstacle course. We sent Jonathan to test it out first before letting the Beavers have a go. Even though there were loads of people about we still managed to bump into other Beavers from our group. In addition to Beavers there were also dragons about. This one seemed fairly friendly - at least there were no reports of anybody being eaten. During the afternoon we were also joined by the Berkshire Air Ambulance which flew in for a brief visit. As well as face painting, one of the tents was providing tattoos which were painted on by a clown. Although there was a whole range including flowers and butterflies it seemed that the fierce snake was more popular. Another popular activity was the swing boats.

After all those activities it was time for a drink and a bit of a sit down. It gave us the chance to have a look at the face painting on some of the other Beavers. The group from 2nd Easthampstead looked very scary. All too soon it was time to go home and we joined the weary but happy Beavers making their way to the exit.

Thanks to Kingfisher (Michelle Dye) for providing the photographs and to all the parents that came on the day - we hope that you had an enjoyable day.