Friday 11 October 2013

In pursuit of the peacock

One of the things on the pre-baby bucket list was to get out and about as much as I possibly could with E. She treated me to a bit of a lie in this morning, allowing me a cup of tea in silence after D left for work... Bliss... So I treated her to a slightly damp (OK, it ended up pouring with rain, we were pretty soaked if truth be told) treat out to Kirby Hall to search for conkers. I was more excited than her about this, obviously. 





We gave up our National Trust membership in favour of English Heritage membership at the end of the summer for two reasons. Firstly, we're lucky to have a lot of EH nearby, and less NT. Secondly, more EH properties are "ruins" and therefore there are no expensive vases to be pulled off tables and broken by overexcited toddlers. Kirby Hall is undoutably my favourite locally, because of it's versitility. When it's dry there are gardens to explore and grounds to run around in. What remains of the house makes for a great game of hide and seek with nooks and crannies to nosey around in even when it's raining and there are always some super confident peacocks to pursue, if you're 18 months old and think they're oversized chickens. And, luckily for me us, there is an avenue linked with conker trees, for your conkering pleasure. And it's all free when you're a member. Fantastic.





So we threw on our crocheted hats for their debut trip out, warmest jumpers and wellies and set off. On arrival we were greeted by a peacock, who, it would seem was named Tyler. (Tyler is E's best friend at nursery, I think. She talks about him ALL THE TIME) So, after a slightly nervous chat with him, we started looking for autumnal treasure. It wasn't hard to find, the place was littered with them, but E was really curious and fascinated about what I assume is her first experience of conkers. She enjoyed picking some up that had already parted company with their little shells and popping them in a bag to take home. She disliked the really spiky shells, but we soon found some that were smoother that she was able to pop open to discover what was inside. The novelty however was certainly in how many she could find and put in the bag. While counting isn't quite on the cards for us yet, this would have been a fabulous opportunity to do so... The spiders at home are packing their bags as we speak.



By this point however it was pouring so we got inside to have a run around. Interestingly the only other visitors were also mums with their toddlers! There were lots of big windows to look out of and lots of stairs to climb (each one anticipated with readyyyyyyyyyyyy, steadyyyyyyyyy, gah!), so it by no means felt that we had had a wasted journey. Conker collecting had taken longer than I had anticipated due to the sheer number of them for the picking, so we were soon headed home for lunch. At least I thought we were heading home, but E had other ideas as we have to repeat the conker search on the way back too, this time with less concern about spiky shells and giving a couple a taste test. Needless to say we were pretty mucky by the time we were almost back at the car, and the rain was coming down in sheets. Nevertheless, E took it upon herself to chase 'Tyler' around the car park for several minutes in the rain before eventually choosing a snack over him. Thank goodness we had a welly bag and some wet wipes in the car! 




Before I had E, one of my biggest hang ups about doing the parent thing was having to go out in the rain, my hair going frizzy and getting filthy. I've always hated having dirty hands, even as a child not much older than E, and I can't STAND it when the back of your trousers gets soaked though. Its another of those things that I've had to embrace, especially now she is bigger and soaking wet with frizzy hair and soil all over hands and face is the name and the game... But what I've realised is that she doesn't care if my hair looks a state or if my mascara has run down my face, and she doesn't feel like she's being judged for eating stones or conkers while sitting in a pile of damp leaves. She's having a great time and some of the best memories are made this way. We can go home, dry off, and put our pj bottoms on after the fun has been had, and she benefits far more from exploring outside than going to softplay again because the weather's a bit miserable. Even if my jeans are damp, she's loving spending the time with me, and I am loving the time with her... This is what childhood is all about right?

It's funny because now I look back at the last 18 months and there have been some awesome parenting moments... I miss that squishy little new born, and am excited about doing that bit again soon... But some of my best parenting moments have been days like today, and I'm so looking forward to E being able to take her little brother and sister back in two autumns time and for her to start teaching them what it's all about too.

And anyway, I totally rock frizzy hair. Fact.



34 comments:

  1. It looks like a great (sodden!) day out, with some gorgeous photos :)

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  2. That looks like a lovely day. Since having children I go with the 'no such thing as bad weather' view :) #PoCoLo

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    1. That's a great view to take, although I think E might have been blown away if we were out this afternoon!!!

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  3. Totally agree about English Heritage v N Trust. We had an EH pass when our kids were small too. Glad you both had such a lovely time and that you've come to terms with the mud and the damp. If yours are into football or rugby you may have a few more years of that to come.

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  4. One of the perks of being a parent is the chance to relive all those wonderful childhood memories and share them with our children. E won't remember frizzy hair and wet clothes but fun and happy times spent with her Mum creating wonderful memories. You have some lovely photos from your visit and E looks fab in her crochet hat! Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.

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  5. What a fantastic trip out. Loving the look of those big empty rooms. It's great to give your own inner-child a run out too ;)

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  6. Not many people can say they rock frizzy hair. :) I'm glad you had a good time out, despite the weather. :)

    Thank you for linking to Super Sunday Sync!

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  7. This is lovely - and so sensible to change from NT to EH by the sounds of it. Grace is so in to conkers at the moment - she would have loved this :) Thank you for linking to PoCoLo x

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  8. Love how she's so fascinated with the peacock - I always get a bit nervous they'll start running after Z, he loves them too!

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  9. Aww! Lovely photos! Looks like a lovely day out despite the weather x

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  10. awww honey this looks and sounds like an amazing trip out and i think your so right some of my best parenting memories have been in the toddler years too

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  11. really lovely photos, looks like it was a fun day xx popping over from #MagicMoments xx

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  12. Most envious that you found such lovely conkers! We have an Autumn bucket list and as yet have failed on the conker front as the ones in our local park failed to form :o(
    #MagicMoments x

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  13. Sounds like you really had a lovely time out. It funny how much your sense of what is necessary for life changes with kids. I find myself quite content running out the door with no makeup and wellies on to go for a spash in the rain with my children, and as long as we're not too far from home or the car it doesn't matter how wet we get - although I do try to have towels or blankets to hand now days as there's nothing worse than a damp whinging child in the car after a lovely adventure!.

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  14. It looks like a lovely (wet) day :) Glad you've had a lovely time!
    * Got here through MBPW

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  15. We really love this post so we included it in our Mid-Autumn Round Up, http://thetimetravellingtoddler.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/tiny-time-travellers-mid-autumn-round-up.html

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  16. What a lovely day out for your both, and great to be ticking things off the bucket list :) love little E's gillet too, so cute #letkidsbekids

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  17. We went for an EH membership for the very same reason. Much easier to relax and have fun when you don't have to worry about something being knocked over. Great conker collecting. Haven't heard the old spider/conker connection for a while. #LetKidsBeKids

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  18. I love conkers! The colour when they first come out of their shell is just beautiful!

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  19. Conkers are just awesome aren't they. We collected some with our toddler recently and I forget how wonderful they are. Sounds like you had a great day out and I love the photos :)

    Heading over from www.podcastdove.com / @The_Doves

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  20. What wonderful memories you have created.

    Conker hunting is the best!

    Thank you for linking up with the Weekend Blog Hop

    Laura x x x

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  21. Rain and mud is so much fun anyway. Loving the crocheted hat. We really need to go visit one of these National Trust places.

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  22. Love English Heritage places - I've rediscovered them myself this year too. I did think the kids would be too young to appreciate them but they love it too - win win!

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  23. Brilliant day and Tyler is very handsome! :) Visiting on #BlogLoveDay

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  24. Thanks everyone for stopping by and reading, it's been such a busy couple of weeks. Tyler is indeed very handsome and I am enjoying getting mucky and wet! xx

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  25. What a lovely thing to do and reflect on before having another baby. I've had to force myself to embrace bracing winds, rain and the great outdoors with my kids - I too am a bit precious about my hair! Looks and sounds like you had a great day together, precious times :) Thanks for linking to #oldiesbutgoodies

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  26. Such a lovely post! Really glad you're enjoying some time with your firstborn before the arrival of number 2 - I'm new to your blog (via the Love all Blogs Linky) so not sure if this has happened already - good luck with it all anyway! Will be back for more of the blog just as soon as I get another 5 minutes me time!

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    1. 8 weeks to go...! thanks for stopping by, here's to more quality time with her before chaos arrives, eh?

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  27. Lovely lovely photos - how come conkers are so photogenic??

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    1. Thank you. I'm not sure, but autumn is definitely my favourite season for photographing!

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  28. these are gorgeous photos!

    anna (intheplayroom)

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