We made it back to the play park.
I mentioned last week that the parks were opening back up again in Wales, and that we might try to visit one soon.
We went to Cwmdonkin park one afternoon at the start of the week and, honestly, it was really stressful. It was so busy there, I was relieved the children had their scooters so they were happy to just do circuits of the park for a while until a huge group of people left the play park.
Even after they’d gone I was really on edge, and asked the children to just stick to one bit of equipment to play on. It sounds a bit strange now I’m writing it down, but the thought of all who knows how many children climbing on everything all day long with nothing being wiped down afterwards just really made me nervous.
Rhys and Nerys were fab though and happily stuck to the wooden climbing frame the whole time, and then let me cover their hands in sanitiser on our way out.
After that experience I thought we would try going first thing in the morning next time, so that’s what we did at the end of the week.
We were in Brynmill park by 9 and it was lovely.
It was quiet, it was incredibly warm and the children were thrilled to be able to play on everything they wanted to play on. We probably spent about an hour by the swings and I felt so much more relaxed than I did at the start of the week.
We were still careful to keep our distance from the couple of other families that came and went, and we still used plenty of hand sanitiser but it was a much more enjoyable experience.
We even managed to get some duck food from the kiosk and fed the birds for the first time in over 5 months.
I sat in the sunshine and the children fed the ducks and the pigeons.
Little pleasures really.
Nothing big, nothing we’ve not done before, but after months of not doing these things it feels so lovely to be back doing them again.
We’ve always enjoyed staying close to home, making the most of the parks and beaches we have nearby, so this is what most of our summer will look like I think. We’ve got a list of things we want to do before school starts again and it’s pretty much all beautifully simple things like making our own ice lollies and rolling down hills and if we can tick off as many of these things as possible the children will have had a pretty great summer as far as we’re all concerned.
I’m glad you enjoyed the playground – I was pretty stressed the first time we went too! It’s definitely all about timing! 🙂 #livingarrows
Lovely to think of you all in the park. We are so lucky here with the sports field. The Pavilion (rugby club) has benches outside, well spaced and with table service. Lovely on a sunny day at the weekend.
This summer for us is all about the small pleasures. I think we’ve found a real love of reconnecting with the simple things x
Its definitely a summer of doing simple things. Its hard to get the balance of letting them be children and enjoy the park, and to keep them safe x