walks in parks

wimbledon park

We have two great parks within walking distance to the flat. One, Wimbledon Park is like a city park in the States with community tennis courts, a children’s playground with a water feature for the summer, sports fields and a lake with ducks, geese and swans. It’s full of mother/nannies and prams and about ½ kilometer from our door. The other park, Wimbledon Common, is a wilderness area with mud/gravel paths, horseback riders, and people with their dogs.

We’ve taken Timothy for three walks so far. The first was to the lake in Wimbledon Park. For this outing, we used the sling that Mom bought us. He snuggled down into it and slept through the whole walk. We stopped at Café du Park, about five doors down from us and said hello to the owner, who made a fuss that filled us with pride.

snow suit from Mom

On Saturday, two friends of mine from work, Mark and Gabe, came for a visit. They brought clothes for Tim for when he is 18 months old. It’s hard to imagine him big enough to fit into such things. They include his first pair of jeans. We put Tim in his snow suit and put him in his pram for this long walk through Wimbledon Park to the edge of Wimbledon Common and into one of our favorite pubs, The Crooked Billet. Now that there’s no smoking in public places, pubs are great places to enjoy an afternoon, have a pint, and watch people. Tim made friends with two children ages 7 and 5 who were fascinated with his tiny size. He slept through almost all of it. I nursed him there and was comfortable with that which means I’ll be able to get out more. The pub allows dogs, and Mark and Gabe are dog fans. They want to come again and bring their own precious pooch, Coby.

walking through the common
Today, we went for another walk through Wimbledon Park and up the hill to the Common. We walked through one corner of the common, bouncing over the gravel paths. Tim slept through it all. My body is complaining a bit this evening about the exercise reminding me that I did just give birth.