a play in the park

It's easy enough to get to one of the biggest, well-known parks in London for me. Hyde Park. Though I usually go to the Kensington Gardens end. There they have the Princess Diana Memorial Payground (aka the 'pirate ship playground' by the boy) which is a wonderful one to play at. There's loads of paths that lead you to different play areas each with a different theme. Of course one is a pirate ship in a big sandpit. I took the boy and his friend the other day.

They have a teepee area too which I never see many kids playing at. It does look cool but not so much to do. More imagination needed I think but with all the other areas having loads to do and climb on and all that they are easily distracted away from this one. There's also a section with a treasure chest, a water play area and a little farm sort of area with huts and a tractor.

The boys played for ages on these big wobbly circles in the general playground area. They had so much fun just jumping across them from one end to the other and back again. They also climbed across the bridges and slid down the slides. Then we went to the music area that has lots of great clanging and spinning things and these cool squares that ding when you walk across them. Quite an excellent playground. We stayed until they closed the playground at 3:45pm. Seems early but it's starting to get dark by that time here now.

On the weekend I dogsat the family dog while they were away which meant multiple walks a day since we have no back yard or front yard or barely any outdoor area here as the squished up houses in London go. So each afternoon I took her out for a long stroll in the park area of Kensington Gardens.

It was brisk but quite enjoyable. Autumn is a lovely season simply because of the colours. And I do like wearing scarves. : ) I was kicking my way through the leaves and admiring the scene and taking photos. I let the dog stop and sniff things and try to pee even when her tank was empty.

I also let her stalk some squirrels. She would have so loved to be off the lead and really run after them. She'd sneak slowly toward them and then run after them hindered by the lead as they scampered up the tree. She'd jump up at the base and I only assume she was wishing she could climb up after them. He he. It was nice to be forced out into the fresh air, into nature and take a little time to enjoy this autumn. Not that I haven't been. It's definitely nice to have a number of nice parks nearby in the big city though. Keeps me sane.