After-school adventures at Langley Park

With the evenings drawing in and the weather becoming colder and greyer, staying indoors is often more appealing than heading out for an after-school adventure. On days when there is autumn sunshine though, the call of the outdoors becomes irresistible. We made the most of one of those beautiful autumn afternoons and headed over to Langley Park for a walk.

 

 

Sophie brought her camera with her so the first part of our walk was quite leisurely as she stopped to take photos of trees, autumn leaves and the cows grazing in the field as we headed towards the arboretum.

 

 

We were hoping to find some ‘fairy toadstools’ (fly agaric fungi). Last year we’d found them in the arboretum but we couldn’t find any there this time. Maybe we’ll find some a little later in the autumn.

 

 

The Japanese bridge in the middle of the arboretum is always a fun spot. The children love running back and forth across it.

 

 

They also had great fun playing amongst the trees. The cypress trees were particularly good for hide and seek and just the right height for Sophie to climb too. Sophie thought it was even better there than in the playground! It just goes to show that nature often provides the best play areas!

 

 

One of my favourite things about autumn is collecting sweet chestnuts and roasting them. Sophie enjoyed helping me collect them. The cases are very prickly though so you have to be careful (or wear gloves!) She’s getting quite good though at managing to get the chestnuts out without getting too pricked along the way.

 

 

Nature’s playground might have provided the most fun, but the children’s play area still provides plenty of amusement. Sophie was a little disappointed that the slide and the tunnel have been removed. I’m not sure if there are any plans to replace them with something else. She and Thomas had fun on the swings and the seesaw though. Thomas loves it when Sophie pushes him on the swings and they both have fun together on the seesaw. Of course, Thomas is too little to be able to balance Sophie out (one of the many moments where Jessica is very much-missed!) but Mummy can help, and running up and down the seesaw is fun too.

 

 

It was lovely just to get outside for a couple of hours after school and to make the most of the autumn sunshine. Hopefully we’ll still manage a few after-school adventures here and there over the next few months.

 

 

Visiting Langley Park – what you need to know:

Address:

Langley Park Country Park
Billet Lane
Iver
SL0 0LS

 

Opening times:

Langley Park is open every day from 8.15am. Closing times vary depending on the time of year. Parking charges apply all year round. For more information, click here.