Today started out very sunny, so we got a touch of spring fever and thought it would be great to go out for a picnic. There is a great lake near by called Rutland Waters that is pretty popular for bicycle riders and it had been a place we had been wanting to check it out. So we packed up the kids and headed for Stamford to pick up Subway (we have been eating way too many Saturday lunches at McDonald's). Now it's great that we have Subways in the UK, but so of them are darn tricky to get to. We found one in Stamford which is only about 5 miles from Rutland Waters, but we had to wind all the way into the city centre and Kevin hopped out while I waited for the kids in a restricted car park hoping not to get caught.
When we finally got to Rutland, in true English form, the weather changed on us, and as we got down by the water it was darn right freezing. We laid out our blanket and started eating. Poor Harrison is a real trooper because his baby food got really cold but he's not a fussy eater so he mowed it down anyway. Addison, who was fearless with the big geese at Ferry Meadows, was now terrified of the little Mallard ducks that waddled up to say hello.Kevin was "super dad" and help ward off the ducks away from our picnic by taking Addie down to throw them bread down by the water. 
Determining that this wasn't the best idea, we quickly finished eating our lunch, packed the crying children up and headed to the car....just to drop off the blanket and diaper bag!!! Yes, we are cruel parents and were going to make our children suffer some more by taking them on a walk on the trails. Actually it got much warmer once we got away from the water. As we got walking I had another epiphany moment that I was really happy that we were able to be doing what we were doing...living in England, being in this place, really it was just being able to be together as a family (and finally out of the house). I kind of get all emotionally when we get to go do even the littlest things anymore, wondering what I'll be like when we get to start traveling again. Well after trudging through a lot of mud and attempting to cross a cattle grid (when the sign specifically tells cyclists to dismount and not cross it) we found a really nice play area for Addison to finally have some fun.
We met a really nice British couple from near Nottingham who were "caravaning" (camping in a camper) for the weekend. They had a little boy who was "two and three quarters" - I thought it was cute they added the "three quarters," and the two kids had a blast playing with each other. We found that Addison has absolutely no fear. Kevin helped her up the ramp and across the wood bridge and down the slide just once and then she was doing it on her own. She would be up and down twice before this other little boy would get around just once....I felt sorry for the little guy.
Addison had a lot of fun playing and we even got her to "hang out" a bit.
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