Walking with my family.

Walking with my family has been a highlight of lock-down. We have covered miles just pottering along the footpaths local to us. It’s become a bit of a habit that after dinner we will go out, and walk.

To be honest, we have always gone on long family walks. I remember from my own childhood going on long walks – especially on a summers evening, when I probably was refusing to go to sleep!

Walking with my children.

Youngest I don’t even try to get him to walk, I think aged 2 it’s a bit much to ask, plus he happily gets into either the backpack or the BabyBjorn. The biggest boys enjoy walking long distance, they enjoy running cross-country so they find it quite easy. Yo is still only 5 and she has struggled a bit on a longer walk, until this week! This week she looked at me and asked if we could walk just a little further than normal? I replied of course!

With Yo leading the way we worked out a route which added another 2 miles to our walk. She was delighted to see how far she had walked. “You didn’t need to be carried at all today!” I reminded her, and her face lit up!

So much more to walking…

Our walks aren’t just about endurance, although I think we all are enjoying a challenge! They give us the opportunity for learning while we are out and about. Talking about plants, trees, animals and insects. Seeing, hearing and smelling different things. Basic map reading – such fun to use an actual paper map! We’re looking forwards to blackberry picking – now there is an incentive for a long walk! Walking with my family has become a wonderful habit, which I hope we continue for many years. It provides good exercise, and keeps us all busy – and best of all, it is free!