Life is Full

I have spent a lovely morning, firming up the details of Noomski's Stag Do. It's been very enjoyable. Kev found an excellent website for activities in Nottingham, so we're going to use that. I phoned up and spoke to a lovely man first thing, and he was very reassuring about it all. All I have to do is go away and collect definite numbers, and money, and then phone him back and he'll sort it all out for me. It's all very flexible, all very convenient, all very cheap. I'm very pleased. Of course, it was Kev's finding, so he gets the credit for that. But I get the credit for doing the phoning and contacting of Stags. The tricky bit is getting in contact with everyone that Noomski wants to invite - not everyone's on Facecloth, and I don't have a phone number for all the rest. But you can only contact who you can contact right? I'm doing my best. It's so much fun! We're going to go paintballing, and off-road karting. But aside from that it will be two full days and nights with a load of fellas! I'm a little nervous, but I'm pretty sure it'll be good. Maybe some of them will end up as my friends too, and I'll invite them on my next birthday adventure :) (I'm fancying an obstacle course for that actually.)

We had a little adventure yesterday. It was idyllic :) Kev had a day off and we took the boys to Silverdale. I don't remember ever having been to Silverdale properly before. I know I went to one camp there with Brownies, but that was just a day that was spent making papercrafty things in a hut. Not sure why we had to go to Silverdale to do that. Hmm. Anyway, yesterday we didn't stay in a hut, we went out in the fresh, fresh air. It was very fresh! Not cold though, just blowy. On Saturday night we had watched The Bridge to Terabithia, which had quite an influence on us. In that film (adapted from a book), two only-slightly-annoying kids let their imaginations go free, and they invented a fantasy world that only they could see. We didn't intend to do that when we went to Silverdale yesterday, but that is what we ended up doing - so successfully that James got rather nervous and said that he didn't want to go there again because it was too scary, lol :D Kev and I are not usually all that great at playing along with these games that the boys try to start off. Thomas is always excellent at pretending he's on a quest, and that he's pursuing or being pursued by some baddies. James gamely follows after, but keeps coming back to check we're still with him. Matthew usually tries to follow, but can't keep up, and ends up being carried because he's tired. But yesterday the setting seemed to bring out the warrior/explorer/adventurer/discoverer/hero in all of us, and no-one got tired or bored or whiney or grumpy or bossy. The photo I've posted shows the coastal bit of the territory we claimed for our kingdom, where we scrambled on rocks and tried to find seafood in the pools left by the retreating tide. (We found two seagull wings, and one bare bone - so in the end we had to go back to the farm for ice-cream instead.) But up behind the treeline that you can just about see, there is grass, and gorse, and fern, and trees of all kinds. It's quite an amazing place to walk with kids, and I can't believe we've never been before now. It's very hilly, and as you go over each rise you don't know what you're going to see, which made it perfect for adventuring :) There are lots of forks in the path, and Kev kept taking a different one to the rest of us and trying to sneak up on us further down. We kept imagining that we could hear our enemies up ahead, or gaining on us from behind. And we thought we saw signs of a giant once or twice. (I have photos of us at the Giant's Seat, but Kev is fishing today and has the camera with him!) While we were at the Giant's Seat James started to whimper a bit, and when I asked him what was wrong he said that he was ready to go home because he didn't want the giant to find us. It's a shame when you have to tell your kids that it's only a game, and that the giant isn't real - but sometimes, when their distress is so acute that you can see their rapid heartbeat through their t-shirt, it's necessary, lol! Matthew is not old enough to find these games frightening yet, and he bounced around the countryside shouting 'Yarrrr, we're going to find you and get you Giant Master, haaghh haaghh!'

All these walks we keep discovering. Ahhhh, perfect. We do live in a wonderful place for kids. There might not be much in the immediate vicinity of our house, but we don't have to go very far in the car to find somewhere beautiful to play. Next weekend I think we might head off towards Milnthorpe, and see if we can find the way in to the park where we always see deer from the road. That looks like a great place to walk - though I've never seen anyone walking there. I hope it's allowed. Matthew had no problems with walking this weekend, and in fact, wanted to run most of the time. The days of giving piggy-backs may well be coming to a close - and I can't say I'm sad about that!

Busy, busy. Have fun today :)