My Three Girls...and Me: We're Going On A Bear Hunt....

It is Wednesday morning and we're all laying around in PJs watching tv. Girls are quiet for once and the atmosphere is relaxed.
I had told Sian (my cousin and best friend who also has 2 girls of her own) that we might go for a walk down the woods and have a paddle in the stream if the weather was nice but at that moment in time i had considered cancelling after our busy day on Tuesday, and having a day in.

This quickly changed an hour later when the girls suddenly woke up, began bickering and becoming their usual delightful selves.
So being that it was another exceptionally nice day, and that we probably wouldnt get alot more, i agreed that we would go for a walk down the woods.
After stopping at the local and extortionately expensive garage for drinks, we got on our way.
We quickly reached the woods, which is set alongside a huge golf course and a lovely country park and passed under the dark and quite spooky train bridge.
This bridge/tunnel is very dark and at night, something you would picture in a horror film. It has been a place of quiet fear among everyone in Denham for years no matter how old and grown up you get. Most people walk quickly through and if you are unfortunate enough to have to pass through on a dark night, you find that most grown adults will run.
Anyway, Sophie seemed to pick up on this fact straight away and refused to walk through it. Cue me carrying her while pushing the pushchair heavy loaded with bags and trying to referee the others who had come across a couple with several dogs and as we all know, a gaggle of kids plus a pack of dogs all excitedly leaping all over each other doesnt bode well for their owners.

That drama over we headed on down to the famous river that runs through the country park and golf course. It is a source of history for my family as for many years we have all been going there. First my own mum and her 4 (yes 4) sisters, my dad and his brothers, and then our generation. Me and my many cousins were taken there every summer by our parents to paddle, walk and live the idylic childhood that all the childrens books write about.
This place holds very fond memories for all of us. The hot days, the cool water, the running across the wooden bridges, seeing the boats at the end of our long walk on the canal, dogs chasing us and jumping in the water for their sticks, our Grandad taking 9 out of 11 grandchildren down there every Sunday morning for a walk where after, we would be rewarded with a drink and chocolate bar of our choice from the corner shop.
I am keen for my children to have this same experience, the one that two generations before them have enjoyed and i love the way that despite all the other changes in Denham, this one place has remained the same. Its ours, our little unspoiled, untouched piece of the world.
I have a picture somewhere of my parents standing in the same spot my children stood in by the stream, together with my mum's youngest sister when she was about Tayla's age and all that has changed are the people in the picture and of course the quality of the picture, the clothes, the hairstyles and so on, but the background is exactly the same. I love that picture and will recapture the same one someday, just 30-40 years later.

So once there the kids are itching to get into the water. 'Go slowly' i warn, and 'dont go out too far' i say to Tayla who has alread gone in much further than i would have originally liked. The water is only knee deep really but i am one of those very overly cautious mothers when it comes to children and water.
Meanwhile, Sian had decided to get in with the kids while i took some pictures and everyone was having a nice time, trying not to get their clothes too wet as id cleverly forgotten to bring any sort of towel when of course, it had to happen... Sophie fell over head first into the water. She was soaked.
She began to panic but Sian had quickly grabbed hold of her and hoisted her up onto the bank with me. Great. Here we were with a soaking wet child, no dry clothes and no towel.
I dried her as best i could with her blanket (well it was sort of like a towel right?) and got everyone else out of the water. (Hey at least it was a hot day, theory is she would dry out in the sun anyway).
We walked along the bridge taking a few more snaps of the kids and then on through the other part of the wood. The children ran off ahead exploring every avenue and leaf and bug they came across and it really was lovely to see them enjoying something so natural and unspoiled by man.
Here is a photo of them all running off into the woods to see what they could find -

After walking some way into the wood, and getting very hot and tired, we decided to walk back the way we'd come and to have one last paddle before going home via the small park along the way.

This time i got into the water too and it was cold but very refreshing. We paddled and cooled ourselves down before being moved on by a man with six dogs who was afraid they might upset the children.

Sophie had had enough by this time and was sitting in her pushchair letting me push her through the bumpy paths and overgrown bushes (as if i wasnt hot enough already).

We stopped briefly at the small park which the kids all enjoyed for half an hour or so and then made our way home.

As soon as we got through the security doors all hell broke loose. Katie was in meltdown mode because her cousins had gone home, Sophie was in full tantrum scream mode because she wanted to play outside with her sisters (but cant because understandably, she is too little to be left unsupervised out there alone) and Tayla who had already escaped with her friend Jack who lives a few doors down.

Poor John had not long got in from work and instead of being greeted by a happy mum and kids, was faced with bedlam and chaos.

Everyone was very hot, tired and grumpy and it was a relief to be home, albeit with the screaming and crying children.

Everything soon calmed down, although i was very glad to get them into bed that evening!

Some more pictures of our day below -