I never thought that mooching around the bridal ways of this lovely county would be over adventurous. Although originally from the flattest part of the country, beautiful Norfolk, I wouldn't associate Northamptonshire with treachery and danger when out walking.
Last Saturday we had two agendas. Pick up a couple of geocaches and walk 5k to complete my Virtual 5k for the Lullaby Trust.
Two children, 3 pairs of wellies, our Phil&Teds and our phones fully charged and we were off. It was wet underfoot. The grass was taller than Effy. We found the first cache and then it went quite wrong. The ground was so wet in places it was like quick sand, but we felt we'd got so far it was silly to turn around when I wasn't quite at the 2.5k mark and maybe these conditions were isolated. Then areas we thought would have gates for crossing did not, and we had to walk lengths of fields we hadn't anticipated. And then what we thought was a path from the map was actually a stream. By the time we got to cache two, we'd done our 5k and a bit more but we were not going to be doing the "and back" to this walk. Then we realised that there was no path on the main road back to the car, and both kids were asleep. So caked in mud and edging closer on dinner time, we walked another 2.5k home, and D got a cab back to the car while I put our muddiness in the wash or gave it a brush down.
Then the washing machine died. But that's a story for another day.
Lessons learned. My pram, although an excellent off-roader is not a snow plough and does not have the wheels of a tractor. Read more about the cache before trying to locate it. Don't be over ambitious. Be safe first.
Despite our over-adventurous-ness, our long walk felt good (aside from D having to pull the pram backwards through a field. That felt less than good!) and it reminded me just how at home Effy is in the outdoors, and I love that. She hates her hands being mucky, but I was the same as a kid and still am now, in reality, but she LOVES running, and exploring, and looking and asking questions about what she sees. And it exhausts her, which means we get a lie in sometimes too. While I love carrying Lowen and adore my pram, I can't wait for her to able to join in with her sister.
I can't imagine not having the countryside on our doorsteps. I can't imagine having a family who didn't want to spend time in it.
Over-adventurous we may be, but we are very, very lucky.
And a smidge muddy still.
Even though she hates having dirty hands, E is an outdoors kind of girl. She loves being outside and getting fresh air, and places that offer the opportunity to look at animals are a double whammy of joy. We have a great local farm park, but I've always felt it a little expensive for what it was, and have been keeping my eye out for alternatives.
I was over collecting some baby clothes from my friend's parents the other day and we were chatting about Colchester Zoo, as said friends have been posted to Colchester. In the midst of conversation it became clear I had not researched my zoos properly, and it transpires that Hamerton Zoo is only 25 minutes drive from us.
So when the Met Office promised sunshine today, you can guess exactly where we headed. What a great day, despite the chill and it being the muddiest E had ever encountered. And their annual pass is £28.50 so I'm signed up for a year of zoo visits! Truly a local gold mine!
Not only was E stoked about looking at animals, it proved a great opportunity for discussion and vocabulary building... New animal names and some great sentences including...
"Monkeeezinere"
"Monkey go outside"
"Tigersleepnow!"
"Noisy monkeeeey!"
"Monkey eat an apple"
"Baby in the tummy" (referring to the wallabies and me)
Educational and fun. My kind of day out.
I consider myself to be pretty lucky tucked up in this corner of Northamptonshire to be blessed with wonderful countryside and plenty to do. Don't get me wrong, having grown up near the coast I couldn't have picked worse when I chose to settle in the middle of the country and I do yearn for the seaside, but as counties go, Northants is up there in my opinion.
Yet I still get stuck in a rut about places to go. And I forget them I am minutes from Cambridgeshire, Rutland AND Leicestershire, and they have a lot to offer too.
So this morning we met up with one of my NCT friends for a morning walk at Foxton Locks. The sun was shining but there was still a sense of winter about... But a sense that winter was passing too. E was disappointed at the lack of ducks but enjoyed doing most of the walk hand in hand with her life long friend, another E, even if it took some time for them to figure out which combination of hands was most conducive to walking forward in a straight line. I love watching these friendships forming, and I love the sound of two little girls giggling with glee.
And frankly, after a week of eating my body weight in things I shouldn't, I needed the walk too. You wouldn't know, looking at the photographs that four hours later we'd be stuck in the middle of a hail storm. I think I got it wrong when I thought winter was passing.
Not time to pack away the wellies just yet then.
What a disastrous day.
We're up, we're ready to go, I've checked Kirby Hall's opening times and we are off. It's the failsafe well, it might rain destination for the toddler who likes it best outside.
Firstly I can't remember where to turn. We get lost. On arrival, I haven't checked carefully enough, and failed to notice the winter opening times.
We'll go to Dean Park, I thought. Closed.
We'll go to Lyveden, I thought. Closed.
By which point, we've driven half the way around Northamptonshire. We'll go to Fermyn Woods... Great in principle, it's open, after all. Except it's £2.60 to park and I only have my bank card. So I have to pay £2.40 in addition on unnecessary beverages to put a car parking ticket on my car.
I fall over trying to get into the wooden castle climbing frame.
E refused to do much other than go on the swings and then demands an unnecessary beverage. I manage to attract the weird men out walking their dogs who want to regale me with how they've forgotten the dog's lead. Then it tips it down with rain.
We went home and my daughter ate a lunch consisting of ham, which she removed from the bread, and a banana. Followed by a yogurt. Lunch fail? Unsure. Dog eats crayons that are thrown on the floor.
Looking at the photos, you'd never know about any of the bad stuff. Toddler outside equals happy toddler. Dog with full belly equals happy dog.
Exhausted mummy.
