The one good thing about living in a crappy grey climate like Ireland is that as soon as the sun comes out everyone, everywhere knows that you have to make the most of it.
Pre children this means multiple invites to garden barbecues, girl friends with white thighs walking around in shorts despite the fact that temperatures haven't actually hit double figures yet, afternoons spent in sunny beer gardens, and shiny red noses and shoulders wherever you look.
Post children - good weather simply means 'getting outdoors', because outdoor kids are generally happy kids, and who knew the absolute joy of sitting alone on a scruffy bench in a play park with a take away coffee and the warm sun on your back?
It's the little things.
Now that my kids are slightly older we get to do slightly more adventurous activities, so when the first sunshine of the year appeared the other week I was damn sure we weren't going to miss it.
At 2.30 I whooshed them out of school, into the car and drove up to The Little Sugar Loaf mountain (as opposed to The Big Sugar Loaf, which, you guessed it, is bigger).
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| The Big Sugar Loaf - as seen from The Little Sugar Loaf |
This is such a great walk for little legs. With very minimal effort you get great rewards.
It's a nice gentle climb that the even the six year old took on without a bother, but it's interesting enough to keep them interested. Plus the views on the way up are almost as good as at the top.
Once at the summit you get to celebrate your achievement..
Be amazed when you find some actual fossils...
And then collapse...
Before taking in the stunning views of Bray, Greystones, the surrounding mountains and the twinkling Irish Sea.
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| Not so tough at the top |
And then it's all down hill from there.
We got home just a couple of hours after leaving the school. The kids were refreshed and glowing, while I got to post a nice smug picture to Facebook from the top.
Happy days.
