I love the homeward bound school run. I used to blog about it quite often as lots can happen on that seemingly ordinary part of the everyday. Looking back I love the old school run blog and instagram posts as things change so much. Obviously, the kids have grown and my combination of school runs is now different but also the landscape that we used to take for granted has changed drastically with the ongoing building of the new school. The path that we now take (which is a longer but more scenic route) may be changed also as the building work and new paths to the school are finished so I want to record these photos for memory keeping.
With Caitlyn turning 8 and going into Year 3, she is now allowed to walk home from school on her own. If she still wanted me to pick her up then of course I would but she loves this independence. So morning school runs I just have to take Danny and Isabelle in the car (Danny’s school is too far away for him to walk and with his heart condition he needs to conserve his energy for school).
I always start to feel tired in the afternoon just before the school run, so the walk outside to pick Izzy up is welcomed as it wakes me up and the fresh air gives me energy to get through the second half of the day. We take the woodland path right next to the school.
There are plenty of brambles and blackberries to pick along the way.
There are autumn flowers and colours everywhere too.
Some days Izzy comes out of school tired. The above photo is from one day when she was having a strop and wouldn’t walk. I kept on walking and then thankfully she finally did what I expected and followed me again!
She loves it when it rains and she gets to bring her Thomas the Tank umbrella. She wasn’t happy when her older sister took it to school and left it there!
The railings you see are where the new school is being built in the old field.
Then we walk down some steps. I remember taking photos here of Rebecca when she was little dressed as Snow White. She was always a different princesss.
We both find different things we want to take photos of. I love spiderwebs in the rain- so pretty.
We see lots of butterflies on this walk- such as cabbage white, painted ladies and speckled wood butterflies.
We can see Gelliswick Beach from this walk too.
At the bottom of the steps are some bars that Izzy likes to play on. The kids can no longer swing on the bars in the field like they used to do.
Izzy loves taking photos of the crane flies and small snails on the wall. Many I have to delete as they are not in focus properly but I liked this one. I should bring my camera one day too!
By one house, there are always lots of fallen autumn leaves. I remember Caitlyn used to get down on the floor and do “leaf angels” on the ground here!
On Friday Izzy made jelly in school and brought it home with her. She was going to carry it home and eat it with a spoon but ended up eating most of it on the way home with her finger.
We find lots of sycamore seeds (helicopters) on the ground. We spin and fly them down and talk about how the seeds spread and new trees grow.
We also see dandelions and make a wish. Dandelions are another good natural lesson in seed dispersal- science on the school run.
We also look out for bright pretty flowers. We notice how some days they’re closed and other days open again.
Once home, Izzy enjoys a bounce on the trampoline and then the girls come home and join in too. The tent that we camped in has completely broken in the wind so we’ve had to remove it. We’ll buy another one next summer as it was lots of fun.
I’m sure the school run will change again as winter comes and the frost settles.
Do you have an everyday walk that’s special to you?
