Squelch Squerch!

We had a lovely day out yesterday enjoying a but of sunshine with 'Big kids Go wild' one of the Home ed groups we go to. 

It's aimed at over 8's but siblings are welcome and I think Momo enjoys it more than Squashy! 

Yesterday we met at Leasowes Park in Halesowen and set off for some rambling. 

It was SO muddy, I had left my Wellies in hubby's car so had to dig my old ones out of the cupboard, with holes in! 

Momo was in the stream straight away, splashing about, getting wet and mucky, nothing phases him! 

Squahsy seemed to struggle with his aniexty again a bit, especially at the beginning. I'm not sure why, we were meeting friends he has seen and got on with a fair bit, but there were also a couple of new (to us) families which may not have helped. And he was without his old faithful comfort-his crocs. He wears them every single day, even in snow! When he was at school he would wear school shoes but immediately back to crocs once home. He has been the same for the last few years! So perhaps being in unfamiliar, not-so-comfy Wellies didn't help. But it didn't stop him getting stuck in. He seemed happier once we got into the streams rather than the muddy woods.

Once he was chatting with a few of his buddies he seemed to be ok, he always feels sick when he's anxious so we keep a tin of mints handy as he finds they help, but the nausea wore off thankfully. 

We have been there a few times now but I didn't realise how big the park is. We'd have been completely lost on our own! But it is really lovely, so many cute little steams, waterfalls, and lots of logs and trees for climbing. I don't know a lot about plants and trees, but I could resist taking a picture of this pretty one

We stopped off for a little hot choclate break, we had to share it around as there were a lot of chilly wet children! 

Then once refuelled we were off again, more mud, splashing and puddle jumping 

It was a lovely afternoon, not as cold as I'd expected, messier than I guessed and ended up with Squashy happier than he been in other peoples company in a while. I love to see him interacting and playing with other kids, he spends so much time reading or playing Minecraft on his own, which is fine, but it does really make me smile to see him larking about being a kid. 

One of the greatest things I'm discovering about home ed is how all the different age groups mingle and play so well. Squahsy was the oldest yesterday and there were all range of ages right down to around 2, and they all got on great. Even with other adults too. That's lovely to see and not something that would be encouraged in school. 

It's deffinately been a day I feel really positive and confident that home ed was the right decision for us. 

And it meant the boys were extra tired so I managed an hours peace with cake and crochet after their bedtime ;)