Well as predicted February came and the calm and peace went. An even bigger reason to revel in January’s stillness next year. March seemed to spin past at break neck speed this year too.
So I have some family microadventures to add.
January
Skin of our teeth we left it right until the 31st Jan. Starting small on our year of microadventures. We decided to do a sunset walk, a good time of year seeing as sunset is early. We ventured to our local nature reserve, well wrapped up (although some reluctantly). It was windy and cold, almost a full moon and -1 at 5pm. The kids enjoyed themselves, watching the sunset, flocks of gulls and geese coming in to roost.
We walked about a mile and a half, this is when things got a bit fraught!!!! Darkness descended and so did the temperature!
My middle daughter always the first to get cold was not happy, the walk back was a little challenging. Even so, we managed to enjoy the change in light and sense of the place at night. It’s a wonderful place, and I feel lucky to have it so near.
Street light, house and power station lights came on in the distance and gave a magical twinkle. The stars began to appear, Orion’s belt twinkling against an almost full moon. We didn’t need our torches. So, challenging, but worthwhile, I think we’ll plan another sunset walk for Autumn (it might be warmer).
February
We still haven’t slept out!, and I’m not entirely sure whether or not we will (five bivy bags will add up costwise), but we are pushing our boundaries as a family. Doing things and going places that we wouldn’t before, and testing the kids!!! (I hope they look back on it as a good experience).
This month we planned a trip to Reeth in Swaledale, and a walk up Fremington Edge with some friends. The challenge this time, navigating with a proper map, a steep ascent and snowy hills. We had a wonderful day. It was a steep climb up from Reeth, but the patches of snow and friends made it a lot of fun.
The sun shone and the sky was blue, happy kids. Picnic lunch at the top with beautiful views over to the North Yorkshire Moors.
The navigating back was fun, a wealth of dead rabbits kept the kids entertained as we missed our path and ended up walking much further than intended (7 miles all together).
The descent was much harder than the ascent slippy, slidy mud everywhere. I think everyone ended up with a muddy bum. Lots of fun and laughs from the kids. My youngest is 5 and she didn’t complain once, this is the furthest she’d walked too, she was amazing. All topped off with a pint in the pub. Magic.
We also went ice skating for the first time as a family this month too, everyone loved it, and we’ll definitely be doing this again.
March – no adventures this month due to other commitments every weekend! I’m going to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
I’ll leave it there for now, and fill you on on April’s adventure another day.