The Ordinary Moments 2016 #31 – Detour’s, Ponies & Memories

There are certain parts of the UK that I absolutley love; partly because of the picturesque scenery and how lovely it is, how happy I feel to be there and then partly because of the nostalgia I feel when there… you know those treaured memories of childhood fun and adventure from school holidays or family days out, the ones that make me happy to return and thoughts that just make that place a little extra special. Some of these places I have been to many times, others maybe just once or twice, but for whatever reason to me they feel special to return to and make me a little giddy too. They create for me a strong desire to take my kids to them or make new memories there with Nath and our little family and remind me of how much of this beautiful country we have yet to discover together!

One of these places is The New Forest in Hampshire. When I look back I think we only went there once on a camping holiday as kids, but I have very vivid memories of its beauty, our adventures and the excitement I felt as a child with the wonderment of wild ponies trotting all over the place and just the lovliness of our surroundings when there. It was so many years ago but I remember sitting on a log eating our picnic when out of nowhere a team of horses came galloping down the hill, one fell over and then got back up and continued. At the time I was scared of both horses and cows and so felt somewhat anxious, but it didn’t take away from the beauty I saw and felt when there on that trip.

We have just returned from a gorgeous week in Cornwall (which I will write about in another post) where I realised midweek that we could possibly take a detour on the way home and take the kids to see the wild ponies of the New Forest – it would only be an extra 60miles and as it wasn’t far from Winchester where Mr Smith had previously lived and so we decided it would make for a great trip home and some lovely sights to stop off at and reminisce together to break up our journey, not to mention that living in Yorkshire I don’t know when else we would have such an opportunity to visit with out planning a seperate trip there.

After the 3.5hr drive I was begining to wonder if it was the right choice or if we should have just headed up North straight away. But then as we turned into the forest and immediately saw ponies every where and a herd of deer grazing in the distance, the awe on the kids faces followed by squeals of excitement and giddiness was not only beautiful but completely worth it. I sat and fed Alice whilst they walked to see the deer and then we followed the cutest little ponies and found futher down some baby donkey’s and ponies who stopped and let us stroke them.

It was everything I remembered in the beauty it offered and whilst nervous, my fear of horses seemed to have somewhat subsided and provided an opportunity for me to encourage the kids to stroke them and for us to make those new memories together. I loved the brief moments we spent there, it was lovely and I am happy they found such a tremendous amount of happiness in a place I have loved since being a child too. I wish I could have captured Ethan’s amazement and Megan’s Joy, her delight to be so close to ponies and animals she believed to have “Special Powers” to turn into unicorns and “My little Ponies” , and to literally be living the dream, (How wonderful are children’s imaginations and innocence??) I love places that hold special memories and I love that a simple detour can create such wonderful moments and new childhood and family memories! How beautiful is England? I love it!

Linking up with Katie @mummydaddyme for #Ordinarymoments