Tonje Lilleås

Family outing to the local forest – and how renovations and restrictions raises the threshold of adventures

With renovations, pandemic restrictions and a lot of work, we haven’t really had a lot of adventures lately. However we did recently revisit one of our favorite spots in the local forest. And it was every bit as relaxing and exciting as we remembered.

Did you miss our outings and adventures last spring? Check out the Corona Chronicles project.

Spring is late this year

What I can see outside our magnificent new windows right now more resembles fall than spring. Cold, harsh wind plays rough with the few springbulbs and plants that are starting to show up in the garden. Every now and again I can see snow in the air. The lawn is still more yellow than green, and the sky is one pale, boring shade of gray.

Spring is late this year. Even if I’m trying to convince myself otherwise with all the seedlings and plants that are growing in our windowsills. Since I was looking forward to all the life and adventure that spring usually brings, this is somewhat of a setback.

Renovations and restrictions

A few weeks before Easter we started renovating our house. Long story short we’ve been “living” in our small basement family room since. At first it was exciting for the boys, but now I think they’re fed up with it. They want their normality back, and I can relate.

Luckily we’re not that far away from moving back into the rest of our house, while the basement is getting renovated. Then it’s time for a house tour I think. Not because that’s anything to do with the theme of this blog, but simply because I want to show off the result. We’re really happy with it so far.

Renovations and restrictions due to the pandemic still hanging around have no doubt added to the threshold of getting outside adventuring with the boys. We try to get outside every day, but mostly we’ve stayed in our local forest and playgrounds. Not too much to post about I think. But the thing is, if I stay in the mindset that the experiences we have in the local forest isn’t worth sharing, then we never do stuff that is worth sharing. And so I brought my camera along when we revisited one of our favorite spots in the local forest yet again.

It’s all about starting to shoot

Inspiration doesn’t magically appear. Sometimes I just have to decide that today I’m shooting to document this outing. What I’ve found when I do take my camera out, is that the activity itself gives me inspiration to create and lifts my mood. I don’t depend on amazing motives. It’s all about just starting to shoot.

Enjoying the moment in the local forest

We had a great day in the local forest. We didn’t walk far. But we stayed in the same spot for hours, wondering about and exploring what was hiding under the moss, and the rocks and the rotten roots on the ground. Fantasizing about where the mouse that lived here last spring had gone. Baby Boy was sure he heard an owl, and kept asking me if the fox was coming. We had snacks and a bit of candy as it was Saturday. Got to have some candy on as Saturday right?

It wasn’t a big adventure. Nothing especially exciting happened. We didn’t push any limits or try anything new. Actually we did just like we have done time and time again over the last 12 months. But because we were enjoying the moment so much, it still became a magical outing that made it possible to “live” in a small basement family room for a bit longer. And that’s pretty great if you ask me.

If you really want to make my day, please head on over to my Instagram and give me a follow. I’d love for more of you guys to get to see the images and videos I share on there as I share it! If everything goes to plan we’ll be heading out west next week, meaning there will be new images and videos from somewhere else than the local forest coming soon. I can’t wait! And even if I forget sometimes, remember; there’s always more to explore locally.

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