Tales of the unexpected with The Boy, my pride and joy.
It seems like the Summer is beginning to whizz by! One minute we're busy waiting for a bit of warmth and sunshine, and the next I'm beginning to worry about fitting in all the days out which I'd wanted to plan.
But in amongst all of this, when it comes down to it, is a little boy who just wants to play in the water.
When we first visited Cefn Onn Park last year, The Boy's first question was about the playground. At the time he still had in his head that every 'park' was of the suburban template consisting of various flora, a set of swings, see-saw, slide, climbing frame… you get the picture. It's taken him a while to realise the point I explained to him then; that there's play equipment wherever you go, you just have to work out how to use it.
At the grand old age of 4&¾, The Boy has accomplished 37 of the '50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾' tasks created by the National Trust; a list designed to get children outdoors doing the fresh-air things which children should be doing in the most innocent years of their lives. The range of tasks very much encourages children to step away from technology and embrace their 'natural childhood', however there is one that does involve technology and that is geocaching.
On a wet and grey Sunday a fortnight ago, we decided to try it out for the first time with The Boy.
We're so lucky where we live.
So lucky to have miles upon miles of glorious coastline; swathes of golden sand, mounds of perfectly elliptical pebbles, an abundance of rock pools populated with crazy creatures, and a vast tidal range allowing for hours spent on the beach.
Enjoying childhood.
One of the must-does for our break this week to Coombe Mill in Cornwall was to visit the beach and cook on a fire. Luckily we had the wonderful Wild Family Fun with us, whose job as an outdoor activity facilitator means she's a bit of an expert at starting a fire with vaseline and cotton wool.
So while I explored the rock pools with The Boy and his cousin, Mr. TBaM and The Boy's aunty set to starting the fire up in order to boil up some hot water using the Kelly Kettle she'd brought with us. A Kelly Kettle is an ingenious system which requires a fire to be lit in the metallic base, and then the 'water-jacket' kettle is placed over the top. It ends up with a fire chamber which creates an upward chimney draft ensuring efficient and rapid boiling even in windy or wet weather. And it was very windy that day! [Read more…]
This has always been our motto with The Boy.
From a young age we've encouraged him to explore the natural world and allowed him to get as mucky as he wants to outside. Clothes after all are to keep us warm and protect our bodies, if they get dirty then they go in the washing machine. If The Boy gets dirty then he goes in the bath.
As far as I am concerned, there really is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. And there really is no excuse for preventing children to have fun in the natural environment. Least of all getting clothes dirty.
Which is why when the sun broke through the clouds last Sunday we met up with my brother and his family at the local nature reserve. Apart from a three minute downpour when we were feeding the swans, the sunlight was revitalising and much needed.
Especially for showing the way when climbing trees.
But then of course all that rain that we've had makes for some glorious squelchy fun. Mud, glorious mud.
So after some jumping up and down in muddy puddles, sliding down muddy banks and trying to catch squirrels, we had a small accident.
This is why we have a washing machine.
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Linking up to Country Kids, Outdoor Play Party and Flashback Friday
We love going to the beach at any time of the year, but it's incredibly difficult to find the enthusiasm when it is pouring down, and there's been a terrific amount of precipitation recently! However, last Sunday when the sun made an appearance and reminded us all of how wonderful the Winter sunshine truly is, we set off further down the coast with my brother and his family to explore Ogmore beach.
The main beach was packed but we actually headed around the coastline a few hundred yards to a beach which is a bit tricky to get down to and therefore has less visitors. The point about how tricky (in wet conditions) it is was made when I slipped on the muddy path walking down and ended up with a derriere covered in mud within three minutes of leaving the car!
However once we were down on the beach, the sunshine was warming and the conditions idyllic. We set out our picnic blanket and sat down on the rocks chatting and munching away on pasties and grapes while The Boy and his cousin roamed amongst the rockpools, collecting pebbles and creating some beach art.
As witnessed in many episodes of Doctor Who, this stretch of coastline has a wonderful strata in the cliffs and the beaches are crammed with rockpools galore. The perfect place to find crabs or starfish!
Ogmore beach is well known for the wonderful array of fossils in the rocks and cliff-face, and under the guidance of my sister-in-law who has been beach schools trained, we all set to the task of finding a variety of fossils. Finding what was once a fish, or a barnacle-like creature, is absolutely amazing and so rewarding; it reminds you of your place in the history of our planet.
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It feels like weeks since the weather has been anywhere near pleasant enough to enjoy when out and about, indeed it was last year for us! The last day of 2013 saw The Boy and I pop down to the beach for a scoot and cycle. As we curved around the hillside road leading down to the beach, I saw that the tide was at its lowest for quite some time, and so we drove home again to pick up my wellies as I didn't feel that my trainers would survive the beach.
I was right.
After a quick cycle on the pier, where The Boy discovered why cycling down a ramp at speed into a pole isn't a good idea, we picked our way across the smooth, round, grey pebbles and over the swathe of sand. I thought that we'd be stopping to examine the rock pools which are visible at low tide, but the lure of the squelchy mud at the water's edge was too much for a four year old boy to bear.
And that's when it happened.
In the one second when I didn't have my camera trained on him, he went and did the winning Candid Camera moment.
Thank God I'd put his waterproof trousers on him!
And it didn't just happen once, he seemed to have balance issues that day and he fell over another three times.
After a joyous two hours on the beach, it was time to squelch our way back to the car for the big clean-up operation. But look how much fun we had!
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Linking up to Flashback Friday, Country Kids and The Outdoor Play Party
This time of year is so very cold, dark and oppressive that I find it very difficult to summon up the energy and desire to be the super mum who is proud of preaching, "There's no such thing as bad weather you know, just bad clothing." Because actually there is such a thing as bad weather, you just have to have the will to brave it, accept it and face it. Call it the post-Christmas blues if you like, but I'm struggling to pull on my thermals and wellies.
However I'm beginning to think of the wonderful places that we do visit in the more agreeable weather, especially as it gives me the will to think about adventuring when it's 20°C lower than my preferred temperature.
Considering what an advocate of outdoor play I am, I've found it increasingly difficult since The Boy started school to get out and about more than once or twice a week on a school day. When he comes home from school he's utterly exhausted and collapses on the sofa for half an hour or so, vegetating in front of the television while chomping down on a snack. Invariably by the time he's recovered enough to do anything it's pitch-black outside.
I must try harder next half-term.
However, while we have managed to get down to the nature reserve to feed the swans once a week or popped to a park, we seem to have neglected the best playground around; our back garden. With a climbing frame and slide set, plus a swing, there's really not much more he needs to create some fun and games in his own time. Therefore on Christmas Eve morning, when things were becoming a little fraught in the house, I sent The Boy out with Mr. TBaM to rediscover how easy it is to get 15 minutes outdoors a day.
Watching him through the kitchen window as I made our Christmas cake, it struck me how more physically aware and confident he is than six months ago when he first had the climbing frame. The Boy now scampers up the side of the frame easily and balances at the top with no problem. The swing seems to have become a challenge for him; how many acrobatic moves can he perform on it? Standing on it gave me a few palpitations, and then I saw him jump off the seat…
He ended the play with an attempt at flying. Because he's four and if he wants to believe he can then I'm not one to stop him!
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