When I was a child, my parents loved piling everyone in our car and taking us for a tour. The tour would inevitably end up with us driving past my father’s childhood home, through his childhood neighbourhood..all the while he would share stories with us. Next stop on the trip was always a drive past my mom’s childhood home and neighbourhood. As a kid, I’m not going to lie, it was super boring. We listened, we looked and somewhere along the way we learned a thing or two. So, last weekend when we happened to be in my hometown and near my childhood home, my husband and I decided to take a tour.
We grew up, yes my husband and I grew up in the same town, in a suburb of Toronto. Things have changed a lot since we were young. One thing we knew that would not have changed is the large park we used to play in. When we arrived at the Hydro Park (situated on the land adjacent to the nuclear power plant) we were delighted to see a dog obstacle course set up. We hopped out of the car and watched the dogs run and leap.
Next stop was the small forest that we used to climb through as kids. We followed the trail and kept our eyes open…hoping to see a great blue heron on the water or a beautiful songbird in the treetops. The path was a little more worn, but in general it was just as we remembered. We even had an encounter with a snake…it was pretty funny jumped to avoid stepping on it. Yikes!
We finished off our trip with a visit to the lakeside playground. This playground didn’t exist when we were kids…there was a broken down play structure instead. My girls had a great time exploring, climbing, running and of course, throwing stones in the water. I guess I can understand why my parents took us on those long drives. It was so much fun taking a trip down memory lane with my girls. Especially since it showed my girls how we grew up playing outside, in the trees, in the grass, near the lake…just like they get to do where we live now.
It’s time for the Outdoor Play Party. There were so many great posts linked up last week. I know I totally missed last week’s party. Sorry. I’ve started a new job and I’m just starting to find my way back to a normal schedule. Thank goodness for that. Anyhow, I did have a chance to take a look at all the great posts that were linked up and here are a few I really enjoyed.
Build your own backyard tent with Adventure in a Box
Adventures of Adam had a great time with a barnyard animal themed party
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Coombemill says
What a lovely trip down memory lane for you and fun adventure for the children. Thanks for hosting