Is there anything better than a family stroll in the bush on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Hell yes there is! A large coffee in the sun watching the kids entertain themselves springs instantly to mind. But Hubby has been on at me to go, and being the model wife that I am, I took the opportunity to get it over & done with out with the boys & burn me some calories!
There are a number of reserves/bush areas right near where we live so we picked one, threw the kids in the car, adding jackets at the last minute. 15 minutes later we were surrounded by native bush/trees & thankful for our jackets. We meandered on the path, Master 2 stopping to pick up as many sticks as he could fit in his hands (slightly stick obsessed at the moment. They even asked me at his kindy if he has been watching Harry Potter lately as it looks like he is waving a wand around haha Let me assure you he has never watched it or even had the books read to him. So who knows where this particular gem has originated from)
Right, where was I….Master 2 was very persistent that he lead the way to the summit. He wanted no help &, with his hands full of sticks, it was slow progress(just the way I like it) Master 1 was happy to walk & ,when it became a little more challenging, to be carried until the ground leveled out again.It was a pleasant trip up, easier than I anticipated & the boys were so well behaved – no whinging the WHOLE way up! If you don’t count the telling off I received every time I tried to take a photo!Needless to say I have a load of “back of head” shots
Coming back down was a little bit of a different story altogether! I can’t say I blame them really, they’d walked uphill close on an hour, it was almost “witching hour” & it was bloody cold! Master 1 flat out refused to walk. When I put him down to rest my aching arms (& pull up my jeans!His boots kept making them slide down,luckily we had the place to ourselves & a flash of my undies wasn’t too serious) he would refuse to budge until we walked away threatening to leave him behind. He would then get a devilish glint in his eyes, turn around & run full tilt in the opposite direction! Remembering that there was a slight drop off into scrub on one side of the path, we couldn’t very well let him charge off with his devil-may-care attitude(he gets that from his father!) All up he fall over some roots, tripped into some bushes, fall off a bench we had stopped to rest at & got poked in the eyes numerous time by branches. Carrying him was by far the better option after that!
Master 2 decided his legs were just too tired to walk another step & that the only solution was to have daddy carry him all the way down! Thank goodness mama wasn’t popular (he still hadn’t forgiven me for taking all the photos I’m sure)
Daddy was popular. I didn’t get a shot of Master 2 being carried as I was otherwise occupied carrying Master 1. But this was on the way up when mama was in trouble for taking too many photos
16kg of solid toddler, going downhill, on soggy ground littered with gnarly tree roots is no mean feat! Master 1, at 12kg, was enough for me. But we made it down in relatively high spirits, before an all out meltdown from Master 2 when we reached the car & he realised the fun was over!I’m talking atomic bomb meltdown!!Ahhhh, the day wouldn’t have been the same without at least one….
All was forgiven when we pulled up outside the Fish & Chip shop though & he was allowed to come in & chose a drink—-bribery you beauty!
Some more pics from the afternoon…
All on my own
AfricanKiwi 
