A Walk in the Park

Before moving to the country, from Dublin, we enjoyed living within a mile of the beach and a lovely public park. Both wonderful amenities for the local community, especially for the likes of us with kids (& a puppy at the time).
So when we moved we really missed being able to go for walks in the park, and the kids playing on their favourite fallen tree stump or in the playground.
But little by little we began to explore our new area. There is Dun Na Ri forest park not to far away from us in Kingscourt, open to the pubic all year round and it has a river running through it! Our boys favourite part of  the park.
They have already discovered its bridges/stepping stones and we think we have found all of its paths.

Pic taken early last year on one of our first visits

We love going to this park, and thought ourselves very lucky to have found one with more things to explore than in the Dublin park.
Then we found another one....in Bailieborough.
This one doesn't have the river flowing through it, but it does have a lake instead!
The boys prefer the river to the lake to play around but our dog prefers the lake lol
Yesterday we took a trip to it while the rain stayed away, to get the boys/dog out for a good walk.

Rusty going for a swim!

The Bailie park does have one feature that the boys love.......their very own 'climbing frame' (who needs man-made monkey frames!)
So while they were climbing, (or attempting to climb) I explored a bit and found these gorgeous fruit!

Wild Raspberries

I couldnt believe it! I have never seen Raspberries in the wild before, and they tasted yummy too, myself and second son had a taste, first son not so brave.

And of course what kinda park would it be without the good auld Blackberry?? they are here in abundance (in flower).

I think we will be back when they ripen, as the only Blackberries around us are on the main road, with the traffic fumes on them!

We wandered on (after the boys had enough of climbing) and went on the hunt for Foxgloves, but we found a field of these purple flowers instead..

After much 'googling' I cannot find the name of this wildflower/weed, and its everywhere around here at the moment, in full bloom.

Our walk took an adventurous turn when the heavens opened and the huge drops of rain threatened to drown us if we didn't take shelter. And where better to shelter than in among the trees. Now Conifers are not the best for shelter but we managed to find a good auld Beech tree off the beaten track.
This was our 'view' for the 10 minutes it rained...

While we waited for the rain to ease off, I spotted some Foxglove in among the trees right behind us!

Think a visit to Dun Na Ri is next, wellies and rain jackets on! Dont ya just love our Irish summer?

And today, as a sounvenir of our walk, I have an infected bite the size of a 2 euro coin on my left elbow!! I hate those pesky mosquito bites, but could be worse, I've only one.