Remembering how much fun it is to bounce with trees. B does more climbing practice and we discover mud art.
354 – Tree bouncing
Sunday 12 January. Weather: dry and sunny. Temperature: 7°C
An unexpectedly brilliant day this. It didn’t start well. I was feeling lazy and B got side tracked into other things so we finally made it round to the park about midday. Officially we were getting the last few of the Twinkle lights down from the trail but I was hoping to finally get B feeding the squirrels. She loves squirrels and there’s an over population this year. That completely failed to happen for the third time (maybe she’d got too old for them?) because we got distracted. Fresh from her tree climbing adventures on Friday, B was suddenly seeing all sorts of possibilities in the trees. They’re really wonderful at the square– big and old and with lots of interesting branches and crannies and places to hide. During the covid lockdown (when B was five) we spent hours there working out different ways to play. We hadn’t done it for ages and suddenly I find B, while potentially too old for squirrels, is ready for this on a whole other level.
Before I even looked, she was about a metre up and finding ways to move from one area of tree to the other. She uses one tree as a lookout, climbing high and trying to see things on the ground nearby. I told her how, in lockdown, we worked out you could sit on a strong branch and bounce it gently up and down. She loves the idea and we’re off, moving from tree to tree, looking for the best options. I love hooking my arms over the top of high branches and leaning on them but B not so keen. She prefers going up and down and sideways. She gets scared if she gets stuck but gets used to the idea of going back and trying again. We’re both far from being dare devils but we really enjoy working out what we can do and how far we can get.
I set her the task of doing the number for the day and she has a great idea with pine needles but struggles to make it visible against the ground. In the end we try something different, finding a particularly squelchy bit of mud and a stick. Then head home both happy and invigorated. I am so chuffed. This is what the challenge was meant to be after all. Finding fun stuff and playing and exploring. It’s not easy to get going always when its cold, but today was a great reminder of how much fun it can be.
Back at home we start thinking about a plan for next week. I’m realising that its going to be a lot easier if I can plan a bit more in advance, while also being open to last minute changes and events. Realistically, with the full schedule of clubs starting up again this week I’m realising we’re never going to have more than about thirty minutes on week days. It should be do-able but definitely better with preparation in advance. B has an idea for Wednesday and I get a great one for Monday. Roll on week #2!
