active family month; week four, go for a splash!

This week was the fourth and final challenge as part of the Mark Warner active family month I have been taking part in. It's been such a great challenge to be part of, not that we need much encouragement to be out and about being active, as that's fairly normal for us, but it's been fun to have a bit of inspiration as to what we can get up to and something to focus on. I hope that somewhere along the way we may have inspired someone to plan a little family trip, be it either for a bike ride, playing games together, a family walk or getting together with friends.

This weeks focus was 'enjoy a splash about'. I wasn't worried at all about what we would get up to this week as we've always enjoyed playing in water, the only thing I was worried about was the weather! Luckily for us we have seen a fair amount of sun over the week and have just managed to be in the right place at the right time to enjoy a little splash. (But saying that jumping in puddles is always good fun!) First off last weekend when my sister visited we made a little trip to the park which was near deserted, strangely enough (it was 5pm on a Friday!). Theo had a little play in the park but before we knew it he had made a beeline for the paddling pool which is filled up with water in the summer months. He was already attempting to strip off his clothes when we reached him, so I quickly whipped out his trunks (that I keep handy for these exact occasions!) and he had a paddle around. It wasn't the warmest of evenings but he seemed to be having a whale of a time. Over the bank holiday weekend we had amazing weather, so of course out came the paddling pool and an hour or two was spent in and out of the pool, playing with toys and watering the garden. On Tuesday we attended our usual  swimming lesson, which actually went better than it has been going in recent weeks. Don't get me wrong, Theo loves swimming and is pretty good for his age in skill and confidence, but he just doesn't want to listen to the teacher. But this week we made a deal, he could jump in all he wanted at the end if he listened to what the teacher was saying and join in with the activities, and he did....mostly.

On Friday we took a trip to the zoo (to once again make use of our membership!) and as it turned out to be a pretty hot day we spent a good chunk of time at the 'Splash' play area. Because really when it's hot what better way to entertain your toddler than letting the run around in their pants in water? Theo and his friend had a great time paddling in the pools, climbing rocks and playing in the fountains, it's such a good idea to have a play space like this for children at the zoo.


This weekend we had planned to visit Rob's grandparents again in Devon, and I was delighted to see that the weather was looking like it was going to be good! By the beach in Teignmouth they have an excellent play park with water features, which you may remember from our visit to last year. I remember when I was pregnant and visiting before we walked by the play park and talked about how we could imagine bringing our child here to play in the summer, and nearly two and a half years on there we were! So went spent the morning splashing about running under the fountains before we headed to the beach across the way. Theo has been the beach quite a few times before but has always been a little unsure of the sea. The last time he went near the sea was in Madeira this time last year (yikes that has gone quickly!) and he definitely wasn't too happy about going in the sea, so I was surprised when as soon he we arrived he made his own way over for a little inspection and a paddle. He was then happy for us to go in with him, holding his hand and holding him to jump over the waves. I'm quite impressed that we actually managed to go in the sea at all! My feet were numb...



So it's been a pretty action packed - water based fun week! I can't wait for the good weather to continue (it will continue right?) and for us to spend a lot more time in the water! For now I will just dream of lying by the side of the pool in a hot country and swimming in the warm sea...

Here of course is a little video of our week:

splash from Abigail Oliver on Vimeo.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for Mark Warner for hosting this challenge, as it's been such fun to be part of! We are definitely motivated to make the most of our time together as a family, and to spend it being active is really important to us. I hope that you have all enjoyed reading and seeing what we've been up to and I hope that you are planning some fun activities together and staying active as a family together! 

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