Saying yes to more adventures

I talked last week about having bit of a crappy Easter weekend, and lately, life has seemed to be getting on top of us. I think sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday stuff that needs doing, work, housework, kiddos groups… life. And then you realise that it’s been all work and no play. I’ve been feeling a bit over-stretched and exhausted, still up two or three times a night with the boy and trying to work and home school all at the same time with no help and some days i feel like running far away! There was a time we were out and about exploring several times a week, and honestly I miss that. I miss just spending time outdoors, seeing the kids running around and having fun. I’m not sure when or why we stopped going out so much, but I do know that it’s something we need to change. I need to find a way to re-jig our day-to-day so that we can get out more.

Tuesday was a lovely sunny day, and given were forecast rain for much of the rest of the week, I dragged everyone out of bed and for a long walk to Erddig – our local National Trust property. It’s a 45 minute walk from home, not too far really but enough sometimes to make me wish we had a car! I really would love to learn to drive as then we could justify having a car and it would mean we could go on more adventures as so much of the Welsh countryside is just not accessible by public transport. Think I may need to win the lottery before I can afford to have driving lessons though!

Anyway, back to Tuesday. I packed up a picnic {and some chocolate to keep us going on the walk ;)} and managed to get everyone up, ready and out of the house early for us {i.e. 10.30am!}. Once we hit the grounds by the river, everyone perked up. Beastie was pleased to see the dogs and birds, and the girls found some stones and sticks to throw into the river. The chocolate was a welcome reward for making it all the way up the hill {mountain climbers we’re not}. One of the kids favourite things about Erddig is the ‘Wolf’s Den’ – a natural, wooden playground – rope swings, logs to walk along, tree trunk stepping stones {and lots of mud}. They had a great time – especially Beastie as it was his first time there when he could walk and really enjoy it!

A picnic in the garden there, spying some baby Moorhens and then a long, muddy walk back home made for an excellent day. It’s amazing how much magic some fresh air and exercise can work. It made me realise that this is just what we need more of. More time outdoors, less time worrying about all the things we ‘should be doing’. More adventures. More just saying YES. While I have to work {and absolutely love what I do} I need to find a way to condense my work time so that we have more free days for fun adventures like this one!