Saturday 1 November 2014

The Hottest Halloween Like Ever - A Day To Get Out in the Great Outdoors for an Adventure

The minute I heard Halloween was to be 20 degrees HOT on Friday, I was like that is not a day to be indoors. So Carolin and I made arrangements to meet for a fun filled day out. It actually got to 21 degrees in the end, and last night on the radio I heard that places like Kew Gardens reached 23.6 on the old mercury.
A temperature of 23.6C (74.3F) was recorded in Gravesend, Kent and Kew Gardens, Greater London, surpassing the previous record of 20.0C.Other parts of the south of England and the north coasts of Wales and Norfolk also broke the 20C mark.
I started off in a cotton mix jumper, but whilst I hung washing on the line I felt very hot, so before leaving had to change into a t shirt (and I was able to remain that way all day even in the shade). I left Aaron in a long sleeved t shirt and he was fine.

On arrival at the farm, all he wanted to do was feed the ducks (for 20 minutes) so half my crusty french stick was gone, just like that.

It tickled me (and my followers on Instagram) when his duck feeding was interrupted to exclaim...

"It's a Gruffalo!" at the top of his voice:
He soon had company feeding the ducks:
And after that, that's when the adventures began. They led the way, and Carolin and I followed. They really got off the beaten track our adventurous pair, and we ended up in what appeared to be a kindergarten Forest School, which was lovely.

This photo there kind of took my breath away as it gives me a glimpse of the man Aaron is to become:
Most trees are too tall for Aaron to climb so I was very chuffed to see them both scamper up this one with ease, and confidence:
What an adventurous fearless pair they are.

They followed each other everywhere and got to see much more of the place by doing so:

They'd climb to get a better view of animals, and just because...
There are actually too many nice photos so I think I will need to make a slideshow. I finally did, it is at the bottom, please take a look.

The best part of the day was making a carved pumpkin, not because it rivalled all the climbing and many adventures, but because it was SUCH a great keepsake, we had it lit by the door when gifting all the trick or treaters who came knocking last night, and because it is the first time I have done it, so a real memorable occasion!
Aaron drew on the face and I cut it exactly how he'd drawn it. The meltdown of all meltdowns ensued because he wanted to use the knife, but the lady on duty was quite strict that kids couldn't. Rightly so as the knives were incredibly sharp; all the better for pumpkin carving with.

He loved the finished result:
He was very proud of his pumpkin indeed:
We spent the last couple of hours of the day in the adventure playground, and despite being in the shade, despite the sun going down, we still were not at all cold. Amazing weather for the last day of October. Thank you weather Gods.

The pumpkins were glad of the rest whilst the adventurous two played:
It was a long journey home, but thankfully there were still trick or treaters out and about.

When we arrived on our road there was not a soul in sight but I didn't even have chance to put a pizza in the oven before the door started knocking.

After the first few we put our costumes on, so we could greet our trick or treaters like this:
So so so very glad that I reviewed these costumes for Aldi a few weeks ago.

We set a table up inside the door with our pumpkin (which now had the addition of a candle) and a selection of sweets, so that we were all set up for our visitors. I think they probably started visiting before we got home, but we had more than enough visitors with the ones we did see.

I'm glad I popped my carving a pumpkin cherry. Love it so much will definitely now be an annual tradition:



I will send you in the direction of #CountryKids
 Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall 

10 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the lovely day. We had so much fun and it was great just letting them explore and be little adventurers x

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  2. Looks like a fun day. Great pumpkin. I couldn't believe how warm it was. Normally I have put loads of layers on the kids for trick or treating. #countrykids

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  3. What a lovely day and what a treat to enjoy the warmth. I remember a parent commenting during our crafting sessions that they could actually feel the sun beating down on the back of their neck. Definitely the best Halloween I can remember and certainly worth being outdoors to enjoy it. I love the energy of your little ones racing around and climbing everywhere and what great pumpkins they made. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.

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  4. It's been lovely weather for half term hasn't it? Looks as though you had a fantastic day.

    #countrykids

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    1. Thank you. Yes the weather was a complete God send. xx

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  5. Looks like you had an absolutely fantastic Halloween. I love all the pictures. We were so blessed with the weather this half term, allowing us to get out and about and have some outdoor fun without the need for coats or brollies. xxx

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    1. The blessings made up for those poor kids who had August off school only to have it a big wet squib, and then for it to get nice in September when the poor things were at school. At least with Aaron he enjoyed the Summer before August having not started school till now.
      It really was a marvellous welcome half term though.
      xxx

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  6. Sounds great! It's nice when they take the lead having fun with friends and you can stand back a bit. my wee man would have been the same about using the knife. Your wee man looks more like you as he grows by the way. #CountryKids

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    1. I thought about you a lot when writing this post as I know you love photos and a post that tells a story of a day like this. So glad you visited to see this. Yes I can see me too :-)
      Must get over to your blog tonight or tomorrow.
      Much love, Liska xxx

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  7. What a stunning slide show - truly lovely pics. You're not so bad at these videos yourself you know!! We enjoyed some of these on Sunday - the kids said how much Aaron is growing up (and hope you saw my comment in reply to yours!) So glad to see you had such a lovely day with Carolin - as well as all those others X

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Drop me a line, and I will visit you right back - as soon as I get chance. Thanks for your comment.