The tree swing

The weather is raging outside. As I sit and watch the storm damage accumulating, last week seems like an eternity away. Not that the weather was kind, but at least the trees were a welcome shelter rather than weapons.

Usually, May brings sunshine, warmth. It tends to be the best month. Instead, we had rain, cold temperatures and now a storm that puts fear not just into my four year old. She insists that the twigs and branches can't possibly have been blown down by the wind, it has to be a woodcutter, because otherwise it would be winter soon. And just a few days ago, the trees were a well of colour, light and easy swinging at the riverside.

Our outdoor adventures teach me a lot. How on a day that I have to drag myself out, Cubling is more than keen. Ask her if she'd like to go to the woods or stay home warm and dry, and the answer is without fault the woods. She looks forward to meeting her friends, she drags me out, even on days that start with porridge spilled across the whole room. Once we managed to get out of the house, all geared up and with lunch packed, after the stress of getting everything together and getting there, the reward is great. The calmness, the peace, and the ease of a child who in other environments gets overstimulated so easily. She also loves to be there with me, and it saddens me that soon, she will go there without me again.

It's my favourite day of the week. Not often do I manage to bring my camera as well as two children, rain gear and lots of food. And it's not easy trying to capture the colour, light and beauty we see on camera if an increasingly active baby is trying to help me take that picture. If I do bring the camera though, it's these pictures that I often go back to during the week to follow, to remind me of the best day of the week, the one where we are all happy at the same time. The big easy. The photos reflections of our memories.

This post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday.

Vamos a la playa

How better to spend Easter Monday than to take advantage of good weather and proximity to the sea. Did I say before how I love the fact that we live so close to both the sea and the hills? I grew up far from mountains and even further from the seaside, and I still find it such a gift to be able to head to the beach for the day.

So Snowflake was introduced to beach life by expert big sister, who showed her periwinkles, how to pop seaweed and how to build and destroy sand castles. Unlike the sandy play parks in Germany, Snowflake enjoyed the sand this time. Phew. We came home tired, full of sun and with a bucket load of shells (and lots of sand which still keeps popping up everywhere). I even managed some beach knitting and a nap in the sun.

We were at Portencross, near West Kilbride, where there is a small castle which is now accessible during bank holidays and school holidays.

Party in the sun

So it was Cubling's 4th birthday. We decided this year to celebrate her birthday outdoors. It's a bit of a gamble because obviously March can still bring some pretty wet and cold weather in Scotland and Cubling was more than clear that she did not want to wear waterproofs to her party and there's no way I would have forced the issue on her special day.

Sometimes though, you get lucky. The weather was fabulous, the kids loved it and her cousin kept saying how this was the best party he's been too.
And yes, doing it outdoors meant no trashed house (though to be fair I never find the tidying up after a party as bad as it seems when the last party goers have left) and above all space for everyone. Last year, with a total of 15 kids to invite, we split the party into two - we simply don't have the space in our small house for all her pals plus younger siblings plus parents; as much as we'd like to make the space. Having two parties isn't fun, and it also takes away some of the magic of the special day.

Compare this to the outdoors party: I kept thinking that there were kids missing because it didn't look busy at all, so much space for everyone, no stepping on toes or worse, babies. And who doesn't like a picnic in the sun at the side of the river?

Plus, there was an opportunity for something different as far as party games are concerned. Pass the parcel and musical chairs were missing this time, instead we played a mix of German and British favourite outdoors games: Blinde Kuh (blind cow), What's the time Mr Wolf? and Egg and Spoon Race (Eierlaufen). We had also prepared a treasure hunt, hide and seek and Wolf and Sheep (a chase game played on all fours) but didn't get to play them - though the kids got a shot at climbing the massive old beech tree.

It was quite a challenge finding suitable outdoor party games for younger children, which is why I'd like to share the ones we found. Do you know any good games for 4 year olds to add to the collection? Please share them in the comments!

Blinde Kuh/Blind Cow: One child is blindfolded and twirled around. The other children pick a place and don't move and don't speak. The blindfolded child has to find another child and then guess who it is. Once they guess correctly, the next child takes on the role of blind cow.

What's the time Mr Wolf? One child is the wolf. The other children stand in a line and shout: What's the time Mr Wolf? The Wolf answers, e.g. 7 o'clock, and the children move as many steps as the time, e.g. 7 (counting loud). This is repeated until the wolf decides it's "dinner time" and turns to catch one of the other kids. The other children try and run back to their starting line (behind which they will be safe). The child who is caught is the wolf of the next turn.


Egg and Spoon Race: Children try balancing an egg (hard boiled, wooden or plastic) on a spoon and run as fast as they can from start to finish line. If the egg drops, they can pick it up again. They are not allowed to touch the egg while running. Whoever finishes first is the winner.

Wolf and Sheep: all children on all fours. One child is the wolf, all other children are sheep. Wolf catches another child who will be a wolf too. Both wolves are asleep, snoring, and the sheep tease them. Then the wolves wake up and catch the sheep. Any sheep caught by a wolf becomes a wolf too. The last sheep standing is the winner.


Treasure hunt: self explanatory, though we had thought about collecting as many sticks or pine cones as possible in a set time, with the winner being the child with the most.
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This post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday, hosted at 5orangepotatoes.com - a weekly carnival to encourage and share outdoor activities with children.

One glorious day in February

This week's Nurture in Nature's outing took us on a day trip to Loch Lomond.
Sometimes it's mindboggling that I live in a place where it's possible to just go on a day trip, catch a train, and just an hour later, I'm in such a beautiful location. The stuff of dreams really, especially when I recall how special it was when I first made it to Loch Lomond, that place that I actually knew of through a song. Back then, it took a 3 day interrail trip to make it there, unfortunately the weather didn't play game and I could just about make out the Loch in the fog, but didn't see any of the hills. Still, it was an adventure and I was glad that I'd made the effort.

So now, I can just catch a train and enjoy the beauty whenever it takes my fancy. We don't do it often enough, the gems close to you are easily forgotten or taken for granted. Of course, it was a bit more effort than just a quick train hop - dragging one kid and carrying another plus a heavy rucksack to the train station, changing train stations in the centre of Glasgow and back.

In between though, it was a glorious day - blinding sunshine that had the faintest promise of warmth and summer, while Ben Lomond and even the lower hills were still covered in an icing of snow. After the plentiful rain of recent days, the water levels were high and perfect for getting your wellies wet. We were even able to have picnic on a table and bench submerged in water. The trees seemed to be growing out of and into the water, their reflection as clear as the real thing. There was immense delight at the discovery of snowdrops and a swan, the launch of a boat and the ducks looking for food.

A perfect day, and we couldn't have spent it any better really.
(I'm sure my back disagrees, but don't listen)
Quietly, I promised myself to come back sooner rather than later.

 

This post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday, hosted at 5organgepotatoes.com - the challenge is to spend more time outdoors. In our case it tends to be outdoor Thursday, because that is our Nurture in Nature playgroup day. Nurture in Nature is a loosely organised outdoor playgroup that meets twice a week, usually for a morning and an afternoon; once a month it's a daytrip. It is based in the southside of Glasgow though open to anyone who values the importance of outdoor play and learning and wants to get muddy with the kids. 

Nurture in Nature - first signs of spring

  

Guck mal Mami, a daisy! And die ersten Blumen!

Thus Cubling spotted the first signs of spring and was full of excitement, and mummy obliged and took the photos.

On our way home she asked if it was her birthday tomorrow, as it was now spring.

Patience monkey, it's not quite spring yet. When the daffodils are out in bloom, then it will be your birthday. And the ones in our house don't count.

Pictures taken during our Nurture in Nature playgroup outing in Pollok Park on 3rd February 2011, between the two storms. This post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday which is hosted at 5orangepotatoes.

Baby it's cold out here

Sometimes, there's a reversal of roles. On a normal day, you will see me continuously trying to entice a reluctant 3 year old to move, put on her clothes, her jacket, jump into the car, eat her tea, move on, get places in time because we're running late.

This time however, it was a 3 year old getting rather annoyed with mummy not moving because she was taking rather a lot of photos.
Not an easy task either, while wearing a rather actively kicking baby and struggling to hold that lense still enough, or reaching just that perfect angle on the scene.

What can I say but that it was even more magical than these pictures tell.

A foggy and ice cold day in Linn Park spent with exploring kids and a camera. How lucky are we to be in walking distance of this gem of a park.

While I had my lense glued to ice crystals, the kids explored beaches, waterfalls, icicles and how to write on frost. The were fishing with sticks and putting on shows, letting their imagination run free.

I learned how the outdoors (and it doesn't have to be the "great outdoors", call it the "small outdoors" of city greenspaces) are a natural "yes" environment, a place where children can do, a place where parents for once can do without the ever present "no" of indoor spaces. Here the children can touch, can learn, can roam, can hop, can climb, can do everything without hitting constant boundaries.

It's transformational for both child and parent. We both relax, recharge and are able to reset the litany of setting and running into boundaries. A fresh start, a welcome reprieve, a space to reconnect.

And take photos of this special winter landscape of course.

And if you think you may have seen similar, if better, ice photos somewhere else, this is true and yet purely coincidental as we both live in Scotland. I'm just a bit slower uploading and editing ;) I can only recommend you hop over to Slugs on the Refrigerator if you want to see more of such winter goodness.

Choo Choo Twit Tweet

This week's outdoor playgroup outing took us a bit further afield, to Lochwinnoch Nature Reserve. I felt adventurous and decided to take the suggested train, because really the train station is right next to it and Cubling just loves going on the train. It was the first time I travelled into Glasgow Central and out with two kids, and it was definitely stretching my comfort zone. Due to the many steps at our end of the train station, I carried Snowflake in her sling, which meant carrying her all day. That in itself is not so bad, but add a rucksack with a day's provision in nappies, wipes, food, drink, oh, and a camera, and the pram becomes an attractive alternative. There is no way though that I would have been able to manage two kids and a pram up the stairs to our local train station.

So slinging it it was.
Scotrail didn't play game and the train was cancelled. Staff were rather unhelpful, and I called them Dummerchen (silly billies) which Cubling remembered all day and kept telling to any Scotrail employee she spotted which was a rather delightful sort of revenge. Imagine the scenario, 6 kids and 3 mums, kids running riot on a busy city train station, between waiting for train, snacks, drinks, nursing, toddling, running, chasing each other or pigeons amidst hundreds of other travellers. I was glad Cubling wore a bright pink jacket, I'm sure I'd have lost sight of her otherwise. One hour the next train, and the joy to have them finally contained in the enclosed space of the carriage was short lived as they discovered that you can climb on top of the seats and jump off. While the train was moving for added fun.

By the time we reached Lochwinnoch Nature Reserve, I was in dire need of a coffee and chocolate. Which they had, phew.

The centre has great viewing equipment to do plenty of birdwatching, and activities associated with it. Nature trail cards to take along on walks, feeding stations and so much more, a fabulous resource and great to wait out a quick shower of rain if you don't want to get wet. We were lucky though and set off for a walk.

I should maybe mention that Cubling is a bit shy with other kids, very selective about the children she plays with and generally prefers adults to children. All of this worries me a bit at times. It was a pleasure to see then how the walk and exploration with the other children led to her explaining a map to a younger child, how she engaged with pretend play suggested by an older child, how she both followed suggestions and initiated ideas, while at all times making her own choices of what she wanted to do. Throughout the day she was independent in cooperative play and individual exploration. There was such a beautiful balance that it made my eyes almost water. She discovered mushrooms and huts, the first signs of spring and little streams, explored a broken bridge, the streams underneath, and the sound of a train rumbling overhead while stood under the railway bridge.

The wet winter colours were almost magical. We were very tired at the end, smelled of the outdoors and brought home rather a lot of mud. I asked Cubling if she had a good day and her face lit up. I asked her what was better, nursery yesterday or the woods today. "Der Wald!" she exclaimed without even the hint of hesitation.

I was exhausted when we finally got home at half past five. Yet it was so worth it.

This post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday, which is hosted at 5orangepotatoes. Outdoor Challenge Monday.

Parklands, a Feast of Colour and the Woodcutter

Over the festive days, we took things easy, let the days flow and went with it. There was a lot of lying in, with a baby who likes to sleep in the mornings, and a preschooler who likes to join us for a long lie in. It was lovely lazy and slow. We did make it outdoors regularly, to the parklands of Glasgow, which offer nature at our doorsteps. The snow has melted, and the whiteness has been replaced by the grey of the city, which only in the woodlands turns into fuller colours. How we all needed to see the lush colours of nature even in this season, because the city grey just does my head in.

Cubling was right into it, this is her wood, her Wald. She knows the way, she knows what to do with sticks, small or, in this case, big.

The last remnant of the cold winter was the ice in the furrows of a tractor track, well explored it was, and the last icy patches on paths in the woods that retained the cold that bit longer and made for rather a lot of sliding and slipping fun.

It doesn't take much to enjoy being outdoors. While in the house, Cubling often doesn't know what to do with herself and depends on adult guidance and interaction, outside, it is she who is in charge and leads the way. Entertained by anything that crosses her way. A fairy tree, a gruffalo den, a bear pattern on a tree, a heart shaped piece of ice. She'll reinact Little Red Riding Hood and she's the wolf, you know, daddy, you be the grandmother and mummy, you be the woodcutter.
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This post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday, a day late but at least I made Tuesday right? You can join in at 5orangepotatoes if you like, head over anyway for more outdoor fun across the globe.

Chickened out

Well, I chickened out. Last week, I didn't take the girls outdoors on Thursday, even though our destination was just around the corner. There was gale force wind, hail storms, more than saturated ground.

Cubling would have been fine, she has all the gear.

I have not. Let's face it, I'm one of those adults who never learn. I have waterproofs, but they are a) a size or two too small (after 2 babies and little exercise and many cakes in between) and b) even if they weren't, they won't fit over a sling with baby in it. And a pram doesn't go so well in the great outdoors (plus I can't find the adaptors to fit pram onto the carriage anyway - it's been 31/2 years and one house move... so pram is definitely entirely out of use at present).

Worry not, I've got the solution and my eye on a coat that will keep both Snowflake and myself dry and warm when be-slinged. I'm still hoping for a slightly less extreme weather forecast for this Thursday as I won't have this magic piece of garment just yet.

And, let's face it, we spent two days indoors and ended up shouting rather a lot at each other. I lost my cool a few times and didn't like it one bit, and neither did Cubling. The beauty of the outdoors is that kids find stuff to play, they see, talk, comment, play, explore, splash, run, dig, draw, laugh, stop, observe. All by themselves. Indoors, while I'm dealing with baba, Cubling gets bored and demands attention, attention I can't give her all the time. Organising craft activities while also looking after Snowflake - I'm still working on it, but not quite there yet.

You see, going outside is actually making parenting two easy.

:: this post is part of Outdoor Challenge Monday, which is hosted by 5 Orange Potatoes. If you would like to participate, just head over::