AD - An Autumn Adventure

Wellies.
Jumpers.
Snacks.
Baby wipes.

We are off on an Autumn adventure.

The leaves crunch under our feet as we walk into the forest. Crunch, crunch, stomp, stomp. Kicking the leaves around as we go.

We find a tumbling down brick wall. "I think Little Red Riding hood used to live here" M says. 

A 5 year old girl in a pinky hoody sits smiling in a tree


We walk down the hill through the trees until we find a tree which looks great to climb. Little sits at the bottom looking at the bark, but M climbs up higher "look at me Mama!” she shouts. Soon followed by "I'm hungry". So we have a quick snack and we are off again. 

A girl in a pink hoody sits in a tree with a bag of mini rice cakes

"Look a mushroom! I think a mouse has been eating this one".

"Peekaboo, I see you" calls M through a tree branch, her sister giggles.

A young girl grins through a triangular tree branch in Epping Forest

“Which way should we go?” I ask. “That way!” M says, pointing up the steep hill. I look at the other path which runs flat along a stream and sigh. Up the hill we go. 

We spot some hoof marks "what do you think these belong to?" I ask. “A dinosaur! Quick run" shouts M. We all run until I’m out of breath.  "What are these?" I ask as a distraction, an excuse not to run any more. "They are either fairy apples or marbles for giants" states M with confidence.

A young girl holding up a tiny apple while sucking from an organic mamia fruit pouch

We find acorns and rabbit droppings and feathers. Tracks in the ground get followed to see if we can find what made them. 

Under a Beech tree M wants to collect up as many nuts as possible "for the squirrels". We put Little down to play in the leaves and help M. We leave a pile of nuts on a tree stump, although some go into M's pockets to join the acorn, conker, leaves and other assorted findings. One nut falls in M’s welly. She hops around on one foot before falling over and getting covered in leaves and sticks. Her sister giggles again.

A father's hand holds the outsides of a number of Beech nuts, a baby's hand reaches out for them

"I'm hungry". I get another fruit pouch out for M, she's too big for them really but she says they taste "mmmm" and I know she can eat them while exploring with mucky hands. Little’s hands get a baby wipe first and then some rice cakes. They are easy for her to feed herself and not make a mess.

A baby sits in a tree eating a rice cake

Time for more adventures. So much to see, so much to imagine. "Fairies live here and dance round this tree”, "Look they could sit on this" M says pointing at some yellow fungi growing out of a tree like a seat. 

Little loves looking at the blue sky through the trees and listening to the leaves rustling in the wind. She's tired, but there is so much to see it keeps her awake.

Her sister shows her some birds on the path ahead. We all try and tip toe up to them quietly, but they fly away. "Maybe they were scared of the dinosaur" M says. "Arrggghhh! Dinosaur". We turn round and run back towards the car.

M gets distracted by an earth mound: ”I think this was made by a mole". “Maybe” I agree, although I suspect it was man made.

A young girl with blond hair and pink hoody sucks from a fruit pouch while holding on to a large tree trunk

"Quick, out of the way!". Some cyclists speed past "phew, that was close".

"I'm tired" says M. I look down at Little in her baby carrier. She has fallen asleep. We walk the rest of the way back to the car with a bit more focus. 

"Ooo look at that! A wasp". We look at the car windscreen. That's not a wasp, I shudder.  "that's a hornet" I say. We all get back in the car, but I keep a very close eye on the large black and yellow striped insect. 

When we are all safely in the car it starts to rain. Just a few drops at first then big heavy splashes. I turn the windscreen wipers on as we drive home. Excellent timing.


I must remember to empty M's pockets.

A baby sits on the floor in a forest holding leaves with a fallen branch in front of her and a tree behind

This post is an entry for BritMums #MamiaDaysOut Linky Challenge, sponsored by Aldi Mamia. We received a selection of Mamia snacks to help inspire this blog post. The snacks are perfect for babies and toddlers, but my bigger girl insists she can have them too.

A wicker hamper with a selection from Aldi Mamia including: 2 mini rice cakes, apple and pear pots, 5 organic puree pouches, apple and blackcurrant drink and baby wipes

Dear Bear and Beany

4 comments

  1. Great to see how you got on and lovely pics! Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.

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  2. Our biggers ones ate them as well, adore your picture of M sat in front of the tree.

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  3. I love your writing style! Reminded me of "We're going on a bear hunt" which is one of my all time favourite kids books!

    I never thought about giving my older girl a fruit pouch. I just assumed they were "baby food"
    I may pick some up for inside the change bag next time I go to Aldi!

    #SharingTheBlogLove

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  4. What a wonderful adventure you all had! I love how imaginative kids are, the smallest thing and they're off! My 2 year old still loves a fruit pouch - I have to ration him or he'd eat loads of them! Thanks so much for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove

    ReplyDelete

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