Been there, done that?

Have you ever seen a photo online, checked the location and thought 'hang on, I've been there but I've never seen THAT!'

Recently, I posted on social media about a walk we did on our local hill (Cleeve Hill) and I have honestly never had so many comments and DMs telling me that they loved the hill, but had never seen the spots in my photos! So how can you have brand new experiences when you've already been somewhere? 

1. Just get out there!

The first time we walked there, years ago, we just followed the path to the masts and then directly back to the car. That's how most of our 'new' adventures start, with the most obvious.

2. Explore more.

After a couple of walks there, we started noticing adventure spots. Hedges Honey could get inside, little rock formations she could climb and then small quarries where we stacked stones, made words out of rocks and searched for fossils.

 

3. Go further.

Fast forward to lockdown and we started extending our usual walks. Our old end point became our halfway point and we found Prestbury Hill Nature Reserve, a gorgeous cluster of excellent climbing trees, complete with rope swings (which have since been taken down) and stunning views over Cheltenham. 

4. See what you're missing! 

Lastly (although perhaps this should have come first), I checked the location tags on social media and we had a good look at the map in the car park. Turns out that there were still some landmarks that we hadn't seen and we made our way to The Washpool, the best spot yet!

We're not done with Cleeve Hill* yet, there are still paths we haven't been down, which means more new places to discover. Remember not to discount places just because you've been there before.

*Parking charges will apply from 24th July onwards.

Jump...

This week on our tour de Gloucester, Honey and I ended up at the inflatable theme park at Over Farm. For £7, your child (aged 2-14) gets a wristband that gives them all day access to most of the activities within the park (bumper cars and zorbs are extra as they're run by an outside company).

Within the site, there are some basic but well stocked portaloos, as well as a small food stand for emergency drinks and snacks! The theme park is cash only but if you're like me and never remember to carry cash, the lovely farm shop offers cashback when you spend over £5.

Lots of families had come prepared for the long haul, armed with picnics and sun shades. We only had a couple of hours, while Ace was at a nursery settling in session, but still felt that it was good value based on the usual price of around £1 for a 5 minute bounce elsewhere!

Honey felt very grown up when the young man who served us came round, popped a wristband on her wished her a great day and she absolutely loved racing round the field visiting the different attractions. I don't think she could believe that she was allowed to keep going back on her favourite bouncy castles. Typically, her favourite one was the tallest, fastest slide in the field which she climbed up and whizzed down at least 10 times!

The inflatables are there until 4th September, so you've still got time to go along if you like the sound of it. Check out Over Farm's Facebook page for information about their other seasonal events and activities.

Honey wears... Dinosaur top by Mini Boden