My children are at their best when in open spaces. Cafes, soft plays, restaurants, toddler groups, often bring out the worst sides of them. They are busy people, with lots of energy that can rarely be happily contained within 4 walls.
We are always on the look-out for new places to explore. We are so lucky to have so many within a short drive of the house. Our routine most weekends is simple - load car, drive, stop, release children, run them out, get back in car, go home. I wish the car element wasn't there. I miss having the countryside literally on my doorstep. Its been a long time since I felt so hemmed in (which is ironic because I can see the beautiful, empty Ochil Hills out of my back window). I long to have the space and wilderness for my own children that I had growing up. We would spend hours wandering around the woods and ponds, my Scottie dog Snickers at my side.
But, what I give up in wild, I make up for in a house that I love as if it were my own...a rare thing when you rent. So if a drive to the woods is my payment for that, I will take it.
This past weekend, we stopped at Flander's Moss National Nature Reserve. Wide paths, board walks, viewing tower, piles of gravel, bridge...just about the perfect combination
(these are only some of the photos from the day. The rest were uploading when the laptop took a coffee shower. Sigh.)