When we arrived we discovered that we weren't the only ones to have had this idea and we drove around for a bit before finding a parking space. Happily, the roads around the park have free parking on them, although I'm sure the local residents must get a bit fed up with all the visitors coming to park on their roads. But then they do get to live right next to a wonderful park, so I guess that should kind of make up for it.
It was lunch time and we were hungry so we headed straight for the fenced-off grassy area on the west side of the lake (this area does probably have a proper name, but I'm not sure what it is) to enjoy our picnic.
After we'd eaten, my oldest daughter made friends with a couple of other girls and they had fun doing cartwheels and handstands together, while I wondered how long before all her lunch came back out again.. Fortunately, it didn't.
This summer, we've been taking part in the Big Butterfly Count with a handy app on my phone. Basically, on a sunny day, you just count how many butterflies you spot in 15 minutes and then submit your results via the app. You can do it as many times as you like and in as many locations as you like.
We'd spotted a few small white butterflies over the flower beds while we'd been eating our lunch so we decided it would be a good place to do a count. However, once we started the count, I think most of the butterflies had decided to take a siesta so we only spotted a few, but it was still fun.
Next we walked past the lovely rose garden, around the lake, stopping briefly to say "hello" to some ducks, and over to the play area, which was absolutely heaving with kids.
Sadly, the big rope climbing frame with a slide was still shut (I do hope they fix this soon - it's my five year-old's favourite thing there!) but both girls still had fun on the other slides, swings and other play things.
We then treated them to an ice cream at the cafe and (I probably should have been a bit firmer here) both girls chose the lurid blue "bubblegum" flavour ice cream. I tried very hard not to think about how many artificial colourings and flavours were in them, and, needless to say, they both ended up with blue tongues, chins and cheeks, which they both thought was hysterically funny. When I tasted a little of one of them (just catching a drip) I really couldn't see why they liked them so much (besides the hideous colour, I mean). My pistachio cone was delicious though, so I can recommend at least that other flavour.
After our ice cream there was time for a short last play on the play area again before walking round the rest of the lake and back to the car. It had been a lovely afternoon.
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