A walk in the park and family friendships

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m big on going out in the mornings, rather than waiting til later when everyone’s out.

Just before Christmas, I decided that it was such a beautiful day, we’d have to get out and about.  And that meant a trip out for a walk in the park.  N’s cousin was floating round the farm waiting for his mum to finish getting the turkeys ready for collection, so we took him along too.

Of course N wanted to take his bike, but luckily his cousin’s not a fan of cycling, so I could put him off taking it. ..there was no room in the boot because it had his new bike (his Christmas present) in it!

We headed towards the reservoir for the free parking to ensure we could get a decent walk in as well.  Once the weather’s better and the path’s drier, we’ll have to walk round the reservoir again, but that time we just walked through the park instead.

The 2 boys chased each other down the path. Simple pleasures.

Since our last visit earlier in the month, a lot of trees either side of the river had been coppiced and removed.  They’re working on improving wildlife habitats and clearing out the river, so while it looked really bare compared with normal, it’s doing a good thing for the environment.  We did take a quick look at some cut up logs to see if we could find bugs but the logs were a bit heavy for the boys to lift so that didn’t last long.

Instead N found the perfect stick to waft around.  First it was a dog lead, then it was a metal detector.  His cousin wasn’t joining in.  Running was enough for him.

We headed round to the playground which was empty given it was still only 9ish.  The sun was still rising and creating beautiful colours in the sky.  I just had to get the camera working to have some silhouette shots.

I’m sure by the summer N will be climbing to the top of the pyramid climbing frame.  He’s too short to get to the next level, so he had to content himself with other equipment.

They spent a lot of time on the roundabout…I wonder how many calories oushing a round-about works off!

But it was the swings that were the big draw.  One was wet so they were really good about sharing the other one.  Again, the sun and weather created some brilliant photo opportunities.  Some perfect reflections, and lots of fun for the boys seeing themselves so clearly in the huge puddle.

A final run to the goalposts, then heading back to the car and home.

The park provides such simple pleasures, open to great friendships, fun and exploration.  And it doesn’t need anything other than us.  Bikes and scooters are fun, but just a walk can bring a good chance to clear the head.

Have you got out and about over the holiday period? Do your children spend a lot of time with cousins?