"The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world."

We had an awesome start to the summer holiday with a day of rope swings and adventure. Seth's little face that first night was adorable, excited about what the rest of the holiday had to offer. I think we really made the most of the time he had off school and i really wanted the last day of the holiday to be as exciting as the first. It was clear on the build up to the end of the holiday Seth was starting to feel a little deflated and I hoped that some fun, on what turned out to be one of the nicest days weather wise would pump that happiness back up a little.

I loaded the car early Monday morning with a picnic, the micro scooters and Seth's bike and we headed out in the sunshine to Lake Vyrnwy. You may have read our previous post about the lake a while back, when me and Opeie had visited in the pouring rain and had a great time despite getting drenched. This time round though there was barely a cloud in the sky and we couldn't wait to take Seth to the magical place.

Opeie was really excited about showing Seth what he referred to as the boobie mermaid and from what I could remember about the place, I thought the sculpture garden would be perfect for the boys to scoot about and burn off a little energy.

Opeie loves a good grass fight and as soon as he spotted all the piles of freshly cut grass he made it his mission to get as much of it in our mouths and down our tops as he could. I remember being the same when I was little. I'm not sure Seth was too happy about being covered in grass but I thought Opeie's angry little grass throwing face was adorable.

After a grass fight and a brief moment to answer emails (brief is all i get but this mans got to work) we were on our way again and Seth was desperate to walk across the dam and get a good look at the straining tower (or Elsa's castle according to Opeie). Seth was fascinated by the fact that where we were standing would have been under water had we have been the other side of the dam and that inquisitive boy of mine was asking question after question.

Lake Vyrnwy is such a picturesque place and so relaxing, this was magnified by the fact that Monday was a PD day for Seth's school so there were no other children or families about. It was almost like we had the entire place to ourselves. Its really lovely that the boys appreciate places like this as I don't think I did when I was their age. It seems that when we are hanging out together, no matter where we are we always have an amazing time and our trip was one of those effortless days where everyone smiled all day.

After our walk along the dam we headed back to the car to get the picnic out and refuel ready for part two of our afternoon of adventure. While I sat and ate the boys played in the river and built a dam of their own using large rocks and sticks, which sparked an interesting talk about how to completely stop the water and what would happen if we did manage it. The boys are like sponges, soaking up any information they can, it's amazing to be a big part of that.

 (I bet you are not at all surprised that what followed this picture was 'Daddy I'm really sorry to say this but I need a wee!' haha)

The next part of our adventure was to find the waterfall. because of the heavy rain the last time we had been, me and Opeie decided not to attempt it so we were all eager to see it. We were all a little disappointed the first time we made it to the waterfall at Carding mill valley and we hoped that this wouldn't be a repeat. As we walked the trail though we could see the waterfall really far in the distance and it looked beautiful.

Getting to see the waterfall this time showed us another amazing side to the already mesmerising surrounding area and the fact that the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue really added to the experience. The boys got to paddle in the stream and even though mine and Seth's trainers got soaked through it wasn't an issue because we were all having the most amazing time, it was just a shame that Mrs M wasn't there to experience it with us.

Inevitably Seth's muscles started playing up and he had reached his limit with the walking. Although he is getting quite heavy I picked him up and put him on my shoulders and we jogged for 30 minutes down the valley and back to the car. Seth's adorable face went from uncomfortable because of the pains to a huge smile. He said "I don't really know how to thank you but I really appreciate you carrying me" then he gave me a huge kiss on top of my sweaty head. It was a really touching end to a perfect afternoon adventuring with two of my favourite people ever. They make me feel like the most amazing dad.