"Friendship is a sheltering tree"

Not far from where we live there is a lovely place called Apley woods, Since meeting up with our friend Lucie there a while back on her recommendation it seems to be the place we go when we have no other place to go. With the weather picking up a little we've been making the most of the bike trailer and have been adventuring about, stopping off quite a few times at Apley.

Opeie loves riding through the woods especially since we realised the first time we went that its safer to have the netting down after i covered him with bark and soil, oops. As we whizz through the woods though he always asks me to stop at the same spot, so we park up and get out our bag full of tricks ready for some woodland fun.

I don't know what it is about this big old tree that draws Opeie in but once there he doesn't want to leave.  We always pack toys, reading books and a sketch book with pens. Everything else we need for our fun can be found around us. Hanging out with Opeie is so amazing, his imagination and curious nature is so addictive and i can't get enough of it. Conversation is ALWAYS interesting although a little jibberish at times but he really knows how to make me chuckle.

Sword fighting with sticks will usually take up a huge chunk of our visit, but my favourite thing to do wherever we are is to sit outdoors and read. Reading plays a huge part in everything we do and there's nothing quite like sitting against a tree with my favourite person while taking in some children's literature.

Opeie comes up with some fun games every time we visit, my favourite to date though is woodland baseball, find a stick, collect some pine cones and you have a game all you need to do then is to step up to the plate. I feel so lucky every day that this is my life now, Mrs M's drive to build on her career and do everything she can to take care of us is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me (after helping me bring this little cutie in to the world anyway).

I'm Stickman, I'm Stickman, I'M STICKMAN! Thats me.

While in Asda we did our usual rounds perusing the toy aisles but there was nothing to take our fancy so we headed over to the books. Since our friends bought the boys 'Zog' by Julia Donaldson for Christmas, everytime we read it and get to the pictures of her other books on the back page Opeie always points to 'super worm' and says 'I'd really like that'. Well today it was staring right at us from the shelves and as it was on offer we got to choose another book. I liked the look of 'stickman' so that found it's way in to the trolley too. 

Stickman is a great children's book and Opeie finds his adventures lots of fun, We've read it at least once every day since getting it. It made me think of when I was younger and how much fun i could have with a stick. A stick is the ultimate classic toy and it's up there with the rock, the cardboard box and the piece of string. Sadly with technology taking over this simple yet extremely versatile play thing probably doesn't get the attention it deserves these days.

Thankfully in our house 'Stickman' has awakened something in Opeie and his love of sticks is growing stronger by the day. Despite all the toys he has to play with over the last few days our garden role play has been stick heavy. His beloved stick (which now resides in the house and lounges about on the boys sofa like a lazy teenager) has been subject to many different games. The cliche but ever popular use as a sword or 'Lightsaber' if Opeie's feeling a little futuristic has been the weapon of choice for some up close and personal scrapping but it has also been transformed in to some form of gun/blaster to get him out of sticky situations (perfect for long distance battles and fending off up and coming attacks...

Are you a little bit bored while waiting for your Nemisis to attack? Why not make use of the phone setting (I'm not sure what the reception is like but I'm guessing its better that EE)...

The stick also comes in handy if your foe's nose resembles that of an elephant or prehistoric monster beak and you need to throw a little smack talk down. "hey big nose..."

Nature really is a wonderous thing and as I said before the classic, true vintage toys are really unbeatable in the world of play, so get outside while the suns out, grab yourself a free toy and let your imagination run wild. After all it's what being a child is all about and us parents need to be encouraging that.