Valley Gardens in the Summer

One hot Saturday morning (we've had a heat wave where the temperature has been in the 30s Celsius or high 80s/low 90s Fahrenheit), we decided to go to Valley Gardens. The kids would splash around in the wading pool before it was too crowded and too sunny. We got there at 8:15, and sure enough we were the first ones there. The kids made a beeline for the wading pool which was only just being filled with water. The upside was the cleanness of the water. The downside was the coldness of the water. Kids don't usually mind unless water is ice-cold, so they were happy.

L also brought her birthday roller skates. She went around a lot though she needed to hold hands the whole time.

Holding the fence's hand

Hands-free for a moment!

While she was skating, J was wandering from the zip line to the castle to the fort tower. He found a little boy named Freddie and they played together. Freddie's dad was hovering around the vicinity just like I was. J and Freddie busily chatted about this and that. Freddie's daddy and I busily ignored each other like guys do in such a situation. It wasn't that we were on our smart phones or otherwise occupied; we were just playing it cool. Or maybe aloof?

After playtime was done, we headed back through the gardens to get a snack at the ice cream pavilion. Plenty of flowers were in bloom, attracted rather large insects!

Mothera?

Shelob?

There aren't any famous gigantic bees, are there?

Even though it was only 10 a.m., we still had ice cream cones, because the temperature was already in the mid-20s (around 77 F). The car was a good five minutes away and we needed energy to complete the journey. J doesn't like ice cream but my wife was brilliant enough to pack a granola bar, which he loved.

Soon we were back home sheltering from the bright, bright sun. It was a fun morning.