Making the most of it

I've been feeling very poorly of late and haven't really felt like doing much at all, but with the beautiful weather we've been having I really didn't want to waste a day sitting indoors. So I suggested to Mr P that we get out in the fresh air with the children and the dog, as this may well be the last sunny Saturday we get for a while. We decided to head for Heaton Park. It's a lovely park with so many different areas to explore. We packed up a picnic and got everyone into the car and headed off. We got to the park and set up camp near the shade of a tree, so hard to believe that it was the 1st of October!
There were so many families and groups in the park all enjoying the unusually good weather, it was lovely to see.

Heaton Hall in the distance

Changing colours in the October sunshine

Hazy day 

We spread out the blankets and took off our shoes. The breeze was so warm and yet still refreshing.

My view as I lay in the sun on our blanket

A little boy named Alfie took a shine to Bruno and we soon got chatting to him and his Mum, Lynsey.
We asked them to join us for a game of rounders.

Hot dog enjoying the breeze

A new friend

I wasn't up to running so I bowled. We all had a really good time, it's nice to make new friends and Alfie and Lynsey really seemed to enjoy having some other people to play with.
Our new friends headed off and we were joined by Mr P's parents, who arrived with a bag full of goodies to add to the picnic.

We did lots of eating, chatting and people watching. The children rolled down the hill, played all kinds of ball games and wandered through the wooded area collecting acorns and other bits of nature.

Rollin' rollin' rollin!!

Catch!

Nap time!

The sun dipped behind the clouds for a while. We decided to pack away the picnic and go for a walk.

Last game of cricket

We headed off for our walk and the sun came out again, which was lovely.

Monkey's in a tree!

Cattle in the park

Crossing the stream

We walked through the park with it's horses and cattle and the shady woodland areas. There are many squirrels and they are so tame. The tropical foliage we saw on our last visit had all gone and the paths were covered with fallen leaves from the trees, still beautiful, just different.
The sunshine had certainly made me feel better and the fresh air had worn us all out, so after a final stop at the play area we headed for home with the in-laws in tow. While the children showered I made a simple tea of pizza, pasta and salad. It really was a lovely day.
On waking this morning I noticed the lack of sunshine peering through the blinds of our bedroom. Sadly I'd been right. The sunshine of yesterday had been replaced with grey drizzle, more typical of this time of year. But that fact just made yesterday even more special and I'm very glad we made the most of it.