"One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak."

I'm determined to take full advantage of this glorious weather we've had over the last few weeks and with Seth being off now too there's even more reason to get out and about and soak up some vitamin D. Before Mrs M left for work she put the words Carding mill valley in the boys heads so thanks to that there was nowhere else we would be. It was a beautiful morning and after packing a lunch we piled in to the car and headed to our destination (but not without grabbing the usual bulk of toys).

Being up, dressed and ready for action to drop Mrs M at the train station is great as like this morning when we arrived at Carding Mill it was quiet and peaceful, there was only one other car on the car park... Bliss! Seth wanted to head straight towards the waterfall as he had never been before, I knew it was going to be quite a struggle for Seth because of his muscles but I don't ever want to hold him back. With plenty of patience, long stops and a bit of carrying I got the boys there safely and from the look on Seth's face it was well worth the wait.

I'd never ventured any further than the waterfall but Seth being the adventurer that he is insisted we climb to the top. This part was a little more difficult and it meant I had to carry one of them up and sit them somewhere safely while I went back for the other. When we got to the top we spotted a small flat piece of land for our picnic that was next to the stream running down to the waterfall. It was such a beautiful spot and gave us the chance to cool our feet off in the cold water.

After messing around for a while, chatting about everything and nothing and hunnting for grasshoppers we headed back in the direction of the car throwing rocks in the stream a long the way. The boys were clearly shattered but we still managed to stop for a game of frisbee before heading home.

Within five minutes they were both asleep in the back of the car and because of the heat I felt like I could have joined them. I really hope this weather carries on because its beginning to shape our summer holidays perfectly.

"Knox in box. Fox in socks. Knox on fox in socks in box"

Do you remember the time when things were this simple?

Being able to chose whatever vehicle you wished to travel in and jetting off to whatever secluded and glamorous location you liked, not even been confined to this planet. Long distance travel wasn't an issue because you could go in to hyper speed or even teleport if you wanted to. There was no need to moan about the price of fuel going up because your transport ran off Orange squash, or Lego and as you can see from the photo above accessorising your outfit to go with your ride was a breeze (its like a cardboard fast and the furious).

Its amazing how much entertainment the boys can get out of cardboard. We've been attempting to de-clutter again so have been listing our unwanted items on eBay and filling up our local charity shops. Mrs M kindly brought home some boxes for packaging up but as i expected most of them didn't make it that far because big boxes in our house are like gold dust and on sight the boys are all over them.

The boys spent most of the afternoon playing in their new cardboard creations, one minute they were in rockets, then a motorbike with a side car. With the help of a coat hanger being attached to the front Seth's became a racing car and right before we left to pick Mrs M up from work they were on a boat that had hit an iceberg and they were desperately trying to rescue all of their toys from the dangerous currents of a violent sea. I couldn't help but think 'i wish we had a boat big enough for me.'

As the boxes had become flavour of the day and the sun was out we asked the boys if they wanted to take their new custom vehicles outdoor racing down some hills, I'm quite sure you can guess what their response was...

It was a lovely evening so we took a slow drive down to somewhere hilly to make the most of the cardboard super cars. On the way Seth reminded us of a snowman hedge that he had spotted the last time we had passed through so Mrs M jumped out to take a picture.

Sadly on arrival the boxes barely even got a look in as Mrs M's PT Gareth donated a very slippy Gym mat to the cause and it soon became the favoured hill sliding companion. As soon as the boys got on it the boxes were a thing of the past. It was early evening when we headed out so it was quiet and we made the most of our dry slope sledging activity. Even Mrs M got in on the action.

 

We left our sledging escapades in high spirits and were all having a great chuckle on the way home so just before getting back to ours i drove to somewhere that had made me laugh the day before. A house we had driven past a few times had given their already tacky lions at the end of their path a touch up. Orange and Red? really? i honestly don't know what possessed them but Mrs M found it equally as funny.

It was another great mini adventure for me and the troops and ive really enjoyed the making the most of our time after Mrs M being at work. Its been a great de-stresser for her too. I feel so lucky to have a great family and with next week being the last full week that Seth has off for the holiday we have a lot of cramming of fun stuff to do.

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb."

If someone had have told me four years ago that in four years time you will be signing up to be a member of the national trust I'd have laughed in their face. I was a party boy through and through and I would never have been found traipsing around a stately home or castle ruins. Just goes to show how much my life has changed and as we sat in a valley coffee shop filling out our application i had a little chuckle to myself.

These days I've traded in the alcohol, late night partying and waking up and not knowing where I am for quality time with the three people I love the most. We asked Seth what he wanted to do yesterday and he told us he wanted to splash around in a stream with his wellies on so I packed the car and we headed on our way. Thankfully the weather was great, warm and with a sun that was shining bright. As soon as we had reached our destination, used the facilities and filled out our application it was wellie time and as soon as Opeie had got his famous and very glamorous pink sparkly Peppa Pig wellies on we were being pulled over to the nearest hole with water in it.

I'm not a huge fan of stomping through streams and turning over rocks but if it makes the boys smile then I'm happy to pop my wellies on and get wet. The stream was pretty shallow compared to our last visit, so Seth's plans at catching fish with his bare hands was soon shattered. Opeie soon got bored of looking down at clear water with nothing going on and dragged me to the foot of the valley where there was a rope climb and informed me he wanted to go up. Excellent i thought, my boy is going to be a climber, that's exactly how I was when I was young, always climbing trees and tall hills. It worked out quite well as while me and Opeie went climbing Mrs M and Seth continued their nature hunt.

It was a steep walk but surprisingly apart from steadying himself on my shorts for balance a couple of times he managed the hike by himself. A huge change from the boy a year ago who could only roll to get about. He was more interested in saying "Be careful daddy" every ten steps (i guess he knows first hand how accident prone i am). When we reached the top Opeie let out a loud 'yeah we did it daddy', looking very proud of himself.

Opeie spotted Seth and Mrs M from way up high and gave them a shout which echoed through the valley. They looked up and waved so we took a photo, not a great one but that's them smack bang in the middle of the picture.

After Seth had finished splashing around and me and Opeie had made our way down we went for a gentle stroll as Seth's legs were starting to hurt. Me and Mrs M being the grown ups that we are took it in turns to sprint up the steep hills while being timed to see who won (I'll let you decide for yourselves who you think was fastest). 

It was so nice being out in the middle of nowhere for the afternoon and spending quality time together. Although Seth Struggles to walk to far,pottering about was lots of fun. The only sad part of the day was the amount of dead bees that we saw. We're always reviving bee's at home with honey and our trip out as made us realise that we need a utility belt with a honey dispenser on it. We did spot one interesting bug though that was happily strolling about.

Well i guess being part of the National Trust now we better take advantage of all the beautiful places in the UK. We will definitely making the most of it over the next year and have already spotted some interesting looking places so stay tuned of the coming weeks. 

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."

 I am feeling far to tired to be sitting at the computer this evening so tonight's post will be photo's from our day (i say that but Mrs M has just put some rubbish on the TV so i may end up on here all night), Enjoy.

Opeie launched a banana at a sheep and he wolfed it down, oops!!

“Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey."

Today has been day two of our long weekend of walking, we had such a great time at Carding Mill valley yesterday that we decided to go valley walking again today. The sun was glorious and it was a lot warmer than yesterday, we still needed to wrap up though. Opeie was loving being out in the sunshine and it was a really nice relaxing afternoon. 

It probably sounds daft to most people but one of the things that i love most about having a good old wander about it getting to hold Mrs M's hand, we don't seem to get a chance to do it much as we've always got our hands full with the boys, but having Opeie up on my shoulders gave me the perfect excuse for a bit of cuteness.

We got to climb up the hills and walk through streams and everything was beautiful, peaceful and very relaxing. I love being able to spend quality time with my favourite people but we were all missing Seth, it's rubbish that he doesn't get to be with us all the time.

I could have walked about for hours and i know Mrs M felt the same but Opeie hadn't had a nap and all the walking was clearly tiring him out so we headed back to the car. The walk back down was a lot easier although there was still a fair bit of snow and Mrs M was slipping all over the place, So while I'm looking for wellies for myself i think I'll also be looking for sensible walking boots for Mrs M.

I wonder where we'll be going out walking tomorrow??