our adventure continues

It has always been important for me to let the children have as much 'free time' out doors as possible, before we moved, we were the luckiest people there was, we lived in the middle of nowhere with simple countryside and nothing else outside our door, away from the reality that is present for the majority, away from fast cars, and strangers, free to go and do as we pleased with only nature to cause us trouble.

So obviously my three children have spent their tender years experiencing the great outdoors, climbing trees and running through fields, watching as the seasons change and nature paints new pictures, never bothering if it is cold, wet or windy, always finding something outside that could occupy and entertain.

We spent so many happy days flying kites as the wind blew, building snowmen when it snowed, wrapping coats around to keep warm whilst looking into the dim sky, we spent time collecting insects, watching tadpoles become frogs, pond dipping to find what lurked below, we reared chickens and collected their eggs for breakfast, finding our way through trees using the branches to make dens or as weapons to fend off nasties, we watched sunsets and danced in the rain.
Obviously our adventures brought fun, but also lessons learnt finding our boundaries, realising nettles stung and its not wise to pass through thorns taller than your head, testing physics as rope swings broke followed by bones!

then we moved house...

With a heavy heart we had to leave behind where we'd always known, our lifestyle we knew and loved, our outside adventures.

We moved to where the rest of the world lived, we moved to where there are cars, and new dangers and houses outside our door where the fields used to be.

Yet amidst this our adventures continue, the great outdoors is not relevant to where in the country you live, nature is not only there for those who are lucky enough to be surrounded by nothing but its glory, oh no nature is everywhere, and there is an outdoor adventure waiting for everyone.

Now we have a garden with a fence all around it, but there are plants we are growing and insects still visit. Now we walk down the street to get to a nature trail, but once we're there we are emerged in what we know and love, and now there are new places to find and trees to climb.

Children grow and learn so much from being outside, and it is the truly simple things that matter, everyone is near enough to some sort of countryside, some park, some trees, so go find your out door adventures and watch them grow!

if you've got a minute - or ten, feel free to watch my slide show of a few of my favourite outdoors photos :D




I wrote this about a year ago when not many people read my blog...  so I'm linking it to TheBoyandMe's linky