There's something about kicking autumn leaves that is very freeing! As Rob Parson says, it's really important to take time to do it every now & then! There really isn't anything else like kicking about in crunchy leaves on a crisp, sunny October afternoon for blowing away the cobwebs & getting life into perspective! It's a lot of fun too!
In amongst all the leaf throwing I tried to get the boys to pose for an autumnal photo. It took quite a while for Luke to grasp that I wanted them to crouch down but put their heads up! Every time he knelt down I would say 'Look up!' & as he looked up his bum would rise up too so I'd start again & say 'Bum down please!' & then his head would go down too!!!
Most Sunday afternoons we go for a walk in a park. Often we go to Sefton Park & make a visit to The Palm House. It's a Victorian botanic garden that was restored just before Jordan was born so it has a special place in my heart as I used to visit the Palm House a lot when he was a baby. We all love to go there...
...we always say hello to Olive, the oldest palm tree in the house (although last time we went she was looking a little peeky!)....
...& admire the sculptures. This one is called The Angel's Whisper & almost always prompts Jordan to ask why the baby is so big! All the boys enjoyed stroking the baby this visit!
We always try to see if we can spot any bananas growing in the plants & marvel at the enormous leaves & exotic flowers. One time we went there Timmy was a little too keen & grabbed a rather lovely looking but extremely prickly cactus! Our trip to the park that day ended abruptly as we had to take him to the children's minor injury clinic to get hundreds of painful prickles removed from his hand! Since this incident the Palm House people have put up a large sign alerting visitors to the fact that the cactus plants are sharp!!!!!
Having learnt his lesson about touching the plants Timmy found a much less painful use for the foliage on Sunday- it's a nice new hat!!!
Around the outside of the Palm House are statues of various influential men throughout time like Darwin & Captain Cook. This man is Mercator, the inventor of cartography (map making! A trip to the park is even educational!!).
We all love this bronze statue of Peter Pan & spend ages looking for the different animals all around the bottom. I am glad that the statue is safe in the Palm House grounds now as it used to be somewhere else in the park & it kept getting vandalised which was such a shame.
The highlight of the visit for the boys this time was a huge puddles all around the Palm House. They splashed in them for ages & got SO wet! Jordan didn't like being wet at all but Luke even sat in the puddles at one point! He had so much water in his wellies when we took them off!!
I love the old lamposts in Sefton Park. I think they give the park real character & they remind me of the Narnia Chronicles...
We are so lucky to have all this lovely nature on our doorstep even though we live in the middle of a city. ;O) 
2 comments:
Yes I immediately thought of C S Lewis too!
I do hope Olive survives. The palm house is a very special place isn't it? Lovely pics as always.
We think you had a picnic there in 1979 with the Ashbys of South Drive!
Thank God for parks.
love mum xx
ps it's a good job you've plenty of wellies!
Wow what a great park! And in the middle of the city too! How cool is that! It looks like you had a great time there~it is great enjoying the autumn weather isn't it! I bet it really looks like Narnia in the winter too! Ah it takes me back....! xxx
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