After a busy morning doing weekend chores Sam decided it was time to go out so we headed off to the lovely Kesley park again, excited to be able to show it off to Rich.

We dashed round quickly when we first arrived trying to find the cafe so that we could give Sam his mid afternoon bottle only to realise that the cafe seems to be in the process of being refitted… not to worry though as the sun was shining and there were plenty of picnic benches to sit at. After Sam got his milk he calmed down a little and allowed us to look round the park properly in a more leisurely fashion.

Our first stop was to the play ground that is just next to the picnic area/cafe where Sam had a go on the swings with both his dad and me. Sam also had a quick go on a little roundabout while sat on his dad’s lap but had to call it a day after that as there really isn’t that many rides that he is big enough for yet.

On our way round we saw a good few of the friendly squirrels that I had noticed some of on our first trip. These little furry guys seem so much tamer than usual and a few were very happy for Rich to get up close to take a few photos of them. There were also some of the young herons out on the lake as well as swans, curious geese, sleeping ducks and a handful of playful bright green parrots flying about our heads.

We looked wistfully at the little putting course and passed it by as we thought Sam wouldn’t get much enjoyment out of it yet. However, just being out on a sunny Saturday afternoon with my little family was very lovely – I’ll just have to learn a little patience and not wish Sam’s baby time away!

Sam and I decided that as the weather was so beautiful this morning that we should go out for an adventure and find a new park (which wasn’t called Morden Hall park) to explore. I had a quick look at our local council web pages and was again unable to find any useful or helpfully laid out information on it so I had to resort to doing a search on google maps. Well google maps certainly didn’t disappoint as it found me a couple of possibilities including a place called Kelsey park.

Kelsey park is just so lovely. I had no idea that there was such a beautiful park relatively close to where we live – if I had done then I think I would have probably spent the last few years going on to everyone that I know about how it is the best park ever – and I wouldn’t have been exaggerating.

When you first enter the park you think to yourself how lovely it is – but little do you realise what lies further down that path… a little out of sight from the entrance is a wooded path way which when we were there was next to some slightly flooded ground. The flooding is caused by some of the water from the river that they’ve dammed at a few points in the parks to create a lake for the wild birds that visit there. On the lake there are geese, ducks, swans, coots and even a number of herons who have a few nests there.

While walking round the park we also discovered some other animal life, one very tame and friendly cat (who perhaps belongs to the park keeper?) lots of squirrels and a good few pigeons and other non-water birds. Apart from the wildlife, beautifully tended green areas and flower beds there is also a great children’s playground, a putting course and cafe (which only open at the weekend). There are also events held through out the year which hopefully Sam and I will be able to join in at soon.

After our visit over to Portsmouth to meet up with my Grandfather we decided to spend the Sunday relaxing after all the train travel that we did so by Monday we were all a little tired of being in the house so we set off to Morden Hall park as there was going to be a Craft fair going on. When we arrived we found the park to be at it’s busiest that we had seen it with no space for us to sit down to give Sam his food and worrying about being stuck outside in the rain. Thankfully we did eventually manage to cram into the National Trust cafe but after that trouble I didn’t fancy trying to crowd into the very small craft fair thing that was going on – especially as the stalls seemed to be starting to close.

So our trip out didn’t go nearly as well as I had hoped it would on that Monday and I ended up feeling a little cheated out of my enjoyment of the park. Because of this Sam and I decided to make the trip out again today as the weather was just beautiful and we wanted to enjoy the park without the crowds.

With a little preparation I brought with me one of Sam’s feeds that enabled me to have a few extra hours at the park and really gave me the chance to have a good amble around the various foot paths and enjoy myself. Sam chatted away while being pushed about in the buggy and seems to be enjoying being outside as much as I do now – when I look down at him his eyes are always looking about him all that is going on.

We stopped for some lunch in the cafe  – and this time it was much quieter. I treated myself to a tasty cup of hot chocolate while Sam feasted on a jar of baby food. After finishing up in the cafe we headed back out and had a nosy round the outside of the old snuff mill as well as popping into the little secondhand bookshop where I treated myself to even more books including a very old looking one by Rudyard Kipling called “Humorous tales” which I had not heard of before. All in all a great trip out 🙂