"The wailing owl Screams solitary to the mournful moon."

Before our recent visit to the Sea life centre in Birmingham the boys spotted a big colourful owl outside that dominated the remainder of our afternoon. After we had had our fill of fish and finished adoring the seahorses we set about our mission to spot as many of the owls from the Big Hoot as we could. I love how lots of local artists and business' have come together and created a colourful trail spanning over a huge area of Birmingham.

We had around an hour and a half before leaving to pick Mrs M up from work so we only had the chance to get to the owls situated around the town centre, the great thing is though, they are everywhere and the boys were so excited going from owl to owl. I wont hoot on too much (haha) as I think these beautifully decorated statues speak for themselves. Here's the ones we managed to find...

Our favourite was definitely the phone box and although we didn't get to see them all the unexpected adventure really made our afternoon. I was a little gutted when I noticed on my friend Aidens fb page that there was a Captain America one hiding but the owls are about until the 27th of September so maybe me and Opeie can get out and find the rest before they are auctioned off to raise much needed money for Birmingham children's hospital.

 

"Watch him wiggle! See him squirm! Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM!"

The weather has been awful today and because of it its pretty much been a day in the house playing. To cheer myself up this evening though I've decided to catch up with a post about a sunnier part of this week. Opeie had been asking me for days if we could go on an adventure and visit the sleeping Gruffalo. If you are a regular reader of the blog you may remember that last year we went Gruffalo hunting thanks to the amazing sculptures dotted around the country at the forestry commission sites. They were due to be removed last year but we were emailed a while back to let us know that the Gruffalo was staying for now (i wouldn't want to try and move him either).

We packed up the car with important things like snacks, scooters, a mini Gruffalo and of course Rose the cat (Opeie's trusted companion). When we arrived Opeie's little face was all smiles when he noticed that the Gruffalo trail had been replaced by a Super worm trail, what an awesome surprise.

The great thing about the trails in Wyre forest is how easy it is for children to get around and find all the clues to get to the final destination. Opeie loves that he is in control too and was excited guiding me around.

So off we went...

...and with every clue found a fun activity to go with it.

Super hero? Opeie of course went for Flying, fighting skills and invisibility.

"Daddy! that grumpy tree looks just like you!" thanks Opeie.

"Dad that tree looks like a worm monster bursting out of the ground"

I love just pottering about in a forest, there's so much to look at and Opeie's imagination can run wild. The afternoon was filled with questions, who lives in that hole? whats that noise? How many different kinds of leaves are there?

The trail is great for kids and anything that gets Opeie excited and running about in the fresh air is great as far as I'm concerned. It would have been nice to take the scooters through the forest but i don't think the wheels would have dealt with the uneven ground. Anyway back to the trail...

 Opeie was getting very eager to find the Gruffalo and was doing a great job of getting us there by himself.

Eventually we spotted the sleeping monster in the distance and Opeie crept up very slow to make sure he didn't wake him. He was feeling a little tired from the walk and asked if he could have a sleep on the Gruffalo's nice warm tummy.

Then we sat against our sleeping friend and read books and ate our lunch, it was the perfect way to break up our forest adventure before continuing our Superworm trail.

We got talking again about rhyming words as we do most days and i told Opeie that we couldn't leave until we had found two things that Rhyme with Rose (Opeie's best friend). After a short deliberation Opeie came up with Nose and Toes, so off we went on our adventures.

We got round the trail in a couple of hours and i thought Opeie might be tired but no, we had to jump straight in the car and find somewhere to scoot for a couple of hours. It was a perfect afternoon of adventuring, reading and learning with the best company i could ask for.

Opeie may have been full of beans but after an early morning wake up i was feeling the strain. Until next time readers...

"If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail."

I love living in Shropshire, there are so many beautiful places to walk around and spend our time. Yesterday I had a text from our friend saying she had found an amazing place to spend the morning adventuring with the children and she really wanted to show us. So being the inquisitive chap that I am I said how about this morning. I packed us a spot of lunch and typed the postcode in to my phone (which I would be lost without) and we started our journey to what our friend Emma described as a hidden magical wonderland.

'You have reached your destination' said my phone. Despite driving down this road many times I'd never noticed the place and this time was no different, I drove past it and continued for half a mile up the road before turning around to try again. I finally spotted the sign and as we drove down a drive of  interestingly pruned trees we were greeted by a friendly looking scarecrow... With a dog face...

Emma turned up soon after with Opeie's friends Wilberforce and Waldon and after a brief chat with Ralph a really nice chap that lives on the grounds our morning along this well hidden nature trail began. Well Emma was right, the place was amazing, in fact it kind of blew my mind as I really wasn't expecting it. The trail was like something from a children's book, caves, woodcarvings, archways, hidden huts, a stream running through and plenty to look at a long the relaxing walk.

We love hanging out with Emma and the boys and It's adorable watching Opeie and Wilberforce chatting away and playing. The boys waved sticks around and searched for interesting things to look at, occasionally we heard 'I want that stick' despite there being piles of sticks all over the place... kids!!! Its so important to get out and about taking in nature. Although we all love our gadgets there's nothing quite like being out in the fresh air investigating and spending time with people we like being around, having Opeie and being a stay at home dad has given us the chance to meet some really amazing people (you know who you are).

It was the perfect length walk for young children with more than enough to keep their imaginations running wild. Had it have not been for two very tired boys i could have happily stayed there all afternoon. I wonder what else is hiding in Shropshire??