I took the girls back to the museum again last week. They had been talking about the ferris wheel since the last time we were there, so I decided to take them on it. The views were lovely, but I’m still scared of heights 🙂 It didn’t really help when the man spun us on our way back up! But I tried to focus on taking pictures and spotting buildings instead. The breeze was nice and it felt like we escaped the intense heat for a while 🙂 Afterwards, we found a shady spot under a tree in Botanic Gardens and had a picnic. There were lots of people sunbathing and having picnics on the grass and I liked the atmosphere 🙂 The girls got an ice-cream and then we went for a walk in the park. The girls love the little bridges and rock throne 🙂 We walked through the rose garden and and looked at the wildflowers too. Botanic Gardens is one of my favourite places in the summer 🙂
On Saturday, the girls were at a club in the morning so I went on an “artist’s date” (from the book The Artist’s Way) with myself. I wrote some of a book I’m working on in a notebook and had some strong coffee and a mini fry 🙂 It was strangely peaceful for a Saturday morning. It seems to be the girls’ most hyper time of the week.
After I collected the girls, we went to a little beach near us. We parked outside it and walked in, stopping to look at the views on the way. It was perfect weather for paddling and there were a few people swimming in the sea 🙂 We found a spot on a rock and had a drink and then collected some shells. We went for a walk along the shore until there were complaints of tired feet 🙂
The girls got a new playdoh set for one of their birthdays, so they spent Sunday morning making toasties with it and sandwiches and serving them to me 🙂 Then, we went to my parents’ house and they helped my dad to pull up some carrots he had grown in his garden. We went for ice-cream with my mum and sat in the little patio area outside. I’m happy they finally serve dairy-free flavours that actually taste like ice-cream 🙂
Today, I took the girls to the Cave Hill and they went to the playground there. We had a picnic and went for a walk around the castle and the gardens. They loved the water fountain and found little seats to sit on at the edge of it 🙂 I had to persuade them not to use it as a paddling pool though 🙂 I took pictures of the views (which are never the same in photos as in real life.) The flowers were so colourful and we sat on a bench for a while and just enjoyed the surroundings.
I wanted to try one of the trails. We’ve been to the top before, but we cheated by driving to the upper carpark and walking the last twenty minutes 🙂 There is something about walking around surrounded by nothing but green that makes me feel at peace. The girls enjoyed it too, even though the walk was a little steep at points. They liked the number of steps and exploring somewhere unfamiliar to them. I tried to take some more pictures but it was quite cloudy. We had a pause at several benches and viewpoints so the girls could rest their legs 🙂 We didn’t go to the top but we were still pretty high up 🙂 The signs were a bit misleading and we had to guess where we were going a few times. I think we ended up on the steeper trail at one stage. But it wouldn’t be a normal day if I didn’t get lost, and at least we managed to find our way back again 🙂
We stopped at the coffee van and the girls got a mango frozen lemonade. It was so nice that for once I wished I’d ordered it instead of coffee 🙂 We had a final visit to the playground and then headed home. With the weather changing, I’m hoping to fit more crafts in the next few days and some baking too 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 