Summer Solstice 2024

Summer! I live for the warmer weather... I'm waiting on my refund for this year though, because it's been shocking so far!

We started off our morning with our Summer box from The Adventure Gang so that Bear could wear his new shirt for the adventure we had planned! The box was pirate-themed and Bear was all in - he loved the shirt and wanted to have a go with everything despite knowing we were on our way out.

We had plans with our little home-ed toddler group for an adventure in Sherwood Pines to go looking for the Gruffalo! I packed us a picnic, threw in a summer book, and off we went...

The summer weather did us a solid and came out to play, meaning that we actually got to celebrate the solstice with the sunshine! It was lovely to spend some time with other home-ed families at the same stage of their journeys, and in a setting that gave us the opportunity to chat and get to know one another as usually it's somewhere for a paid for activity that keeps us busy.

We met up with our home ed besties, ph, who am I kidding... they're all-round besties now, not just our home ed ones, and a few other families that we either had only met briefly or not met yet at all. The kids all ran riot on the playground and gave us chance to talk for a while, then we headed out on the Gruffalo Trail in search of Mouse and all the other forest friends. 

Bear was happy getting to know the other children as well as spending time with his little bestie, The Cub loved the freedom to explore and meet new people. They both ended up filthy, just as kids should be, and by the time lunchtime came around, were more than ready for the picnic.

We ended up sat on our own for our lunch as Bear wanted to sit on the grass somewhere on our big rainbow blanket, whereas the others headed back for the play area. I had no issues with his choices as I'd rather them concentrate on their lunch without the distraction of the playground.

We had our picnic, read our Summer book, (check out my Book Recommendations page for my go-to books) and had a little time to ourselves before heading back to the playground to find the others.

The kids had loads more time to just play, and slowly, families headed home until there was just us and our besties left. We went for ice cream and stuck it out a little while longer until we all had to leave to head home for some tea. A day well spent, thoroughly enjoyed and plenty of memories made!

We didn't get around to our scavenger hunt like we'd normally do, looking out for signs of the season as I'd made it up with typical 'summer' nature finds before we made plans to be in Sherwood Pines, and once there it became apparent that we weren't going to find most of what was on the list. It wasn't particularly missed as the boys had so many friends to play with and so much to do.

Bear, The Cub and I will do our scavenger hunt another time, somewhere that the flowers etc are more likely to be growing!

What did you do for the Summer Solstice this year?

Momma Bear x