Going Ape Again!

Our family found ourselves once again at Go Ape…only this time we were at the Leeds location in Temple Newsam. This special occasion was in celebration of Titus’s friend’s 11th birthday! Titus’s friend wanted to conquer the Tree Top Challenge (a towering experience where you clip and unclip your harness trolley), but unfortunately due to height restrictions was unable. But this did not phase us as we collectively moved our reservations to the Adventure Plus course. And this change was not a worry to me as I had not done this before. 😉(However, Ryan postponed his reservation for a later time since not as many adults were needed per child on this course.)

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It wasn’t long before we each donned our harness with attached (koala) trolley; after receiving proper instruction (COVID-19 sanitising and social bubble sorts of guidelines) and trying out the instructional course, we were on our way to the tree tops!

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Much of the time we were there, I couldn’t help but reflect upon play and just how many years it had been since I had done something like this?! My husband had taught on what the Bible says about men at play earlier in the week and I think (given proper boundaries) I need to introduce more of it! 😉

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The zip line was one of my favourites! I felt free!

There were many obstacles which were less than exciting, but if you trust your harness then it’s amazing what you can accomplish! (I could draw an analogy to the Lord in that is well!😉) I was thankful for what my body allowed me to do, considering my dodgy hip! After all, there was much to do on knees as well as balancing and climbing.

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We all were thankful to be a part of this fun experience (especially amidst COVID-19) and we enjoyed helping our friend celebrate!

Happy birthday!

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Thorn in My Flesh

For years now the staircase wall in our loft extension has been (as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:7) a thorn in my flesh! 😆 This is because, despite its cheerful green colour, the paint began chipping. My husband needed a place to hang his map of Leeds. Therefore, I had the (not so brilliant) idea to paint the wall with black magnetic paint. My thought was that then my husband could use magnets to display this map in his home office. However, after about five coats of black magnetic paint, which was not easy to apply, it still proved NOT to be magnetic! 😩

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Since then, I have searched for a remedy. A dear friend of mine graciously donated some beautiful forest wallpaper. It took me over a year to acquire the knowledge and headspace to complete this task which I had not done before! After watching many DIY YouTube videos, acquiring supplies, and borrowing a wallpaper table from a kind neighbour, I talked my husband into helping me. After all I am rubbish at measuring!

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Together we muddled through measuring and matching up the forest scene. However, not before we realised the first strip of wallpaper we inadvertently installed upside down! 🙃 After a while we managed to turn the wallpaper around and pasted it once again! 😆 Despite measuring two and three times, somehow the middle wallpaper got off of our guidelines a bit. But the Lord is just teaching me to leave well enough alone…especially since we are out of wallpaper. 😉

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Despite our installation not being perfect, we have been rather pleased with the result as our loft has brightened immensely! We thought about placing a wood or cork border between the wallpaper and the green paint. However, we hung the map and think it looks fine without. Either way we are thankful for overcoming this daunting task and not allowing it to continue as a thorn in the flesh. 🤗

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Brightening Kirkstall

Sparking Community brightened Kirkstall Bridge today! Sparking Community is a local project aimed to use artwork to enhance the area in which we live. A friendly neighbour began this project by painting electrical boxes on various streets. This has made us smile immensely on our many COVID-19 walks since we know the artist as well as see less tagging. 🤗

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Today’s project on Kirkstall Bridge is part of a scheme to encourage people to walk locally since the art we are creating is best viewed on foot. By encouraging people to walk, the hope is to reduce air pollution along this heavily polluted area. Therefore, wearing face masks was not a hardship whilst painting due to all the car exhaust. 😉

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My children helped out, along with their friend, and had loads of fun painting. They enjoyed knowing their time was well spent painting a bridge they, and many others, will see for years to come! What a great idea our friend had for the film strip theme where you can pause to take a photo!

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Much of the painting today was the background white with black edging. Yet Titus got to paint the white on the bubble wall below. 🥰The children look to be back soon painting more details in colour!

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Wildlife World at Lotherton

Yesterday we enjoyed a sunny weather day out as a family at Lotherton Hall. We had not been here since the kids were about four and five years old; therefore we did not know there was a whole outside world to enjoy! Much to our surprise, this manor home has a larger animal exhibit than Harewood House. The kids enjoyed seeing deer upon our arrival and after we parked our car they enjoyed the adventure playground amidst the forest and grounds.

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Wildlife world was home to some beautiful birds, including a white peacock! We also saw bleeding heart pigeons for the first time.

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As usual, Cora loved the flamingos and Titus the penguins…well, we all really enjoyed the humboldt penguins!

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There were many other amazing animals to see, including a beautiful buck!

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We enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch on this sunny, warm summer day.

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Afterwards we went inside to tour Lotherton Hall. Unfortunately much of the Hall had limited viewing (due to COVID-19 and the one way system), but the ornate rooms and furniture were a sight to behold. We even saw Florence Nightingale’s writing desk, portrait, and gowns!

There were many people there, but respectfully keeping social distance. We treated ourselves to delicious ice creams and slushies (although we stuck to pre-packaged as the ice cream man wears gloves but takes cash in the same hands as he uses to give out cones 😯). We were thankful we walked Wildlife World in the morning as the afternoon queue was quite long. 😉

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Mid-afternoon we left for Junction 32 (an outlet shopping centre) to purchase the kids school shoes. We were pleasantly surprised the foot measuring and shoe fitting queues at Clark’s ran like a well oiled machine. We were blessed to buy two pairs of shoes for a great price; they even guarantee the shoe fitting until February 2021 or you can exchange the shoes! Woo hoo!

Titus and Cora were also blessed to use gift certificates and other shops and it felt somewhat “normal” to be out…except for using face masks. It’s difficult to not see everyone’s smiles anymore, so we try to talk more intentionally. By now I was completely exhausted and over my 10,000 daily steps so we retread home for a family movie. We are very thankful for another lovely day out! 🥰

Sherwood Forest Goes Ape

Yesterday, in the unusually hot English weather, we enjoyed a much needed day out in Sherwood Forest! Here we met friends whom graciously treated our children to Go Ape after we enjoyed hiking in the forest together. Along our hike, we came across an Adventure Playground entitled “Robin Hood’s Hide-out”. This was the first time our children had been allowed to play on a playground, with other children, since March (due to COVID-19 our local council had locked playground gates across our city)!

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Go Ape is a ropes course high up in the tree tops. The kids had training in how to wear their harness and kit appropriately on a lower level course which was closer to the ground. Once through and they were off for the higher level course and even made it all the way through the bonus level!

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Titus, however, was not fond of the zip lines. But, it was therapeutic for his to be coaxed through completion anyway so he could overcome previous trauma. Even though his knee has fully recovered from injury, stitches, and near blood poisoning; he is a bit fearful of some activities…understandably. Therefore, it was a joy to see the Go Ape staff encourage him to lean back into his harness as we watched from below. And away he went flying through the trees!

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Cora said it was a bit nerve-racking at times to use the wobbly rock climbing wall so high up, but she adapted and overcame! It also helped that two older friends were able to join in and be with them. And they must have enjoyed it because I think they were up there for two hours! However, we lost track of time as we visited with our friends and enjoyed our picnic.

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This being our second visit to Sherwood Forest we had never been to this side where we had hiking trails, adventure playgrounds, cycling, a café, segways, and more. We had a fabulously uplifting day out with our friends and chatted together (whilst kids played football, etc.) until early evening! Sherwood Forest is definitely more than Robin Hood’s hideout! 😉

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