I guess we have what is known as a tradition. Every year on Mothering Sunday we head to Painshill Park. My reasoning? It’s free for mums, I like it, and it’s MY day. We went five years ago when H was around seven months, and every year (apart from 2012) I’ve chosen to go back. In the past we’ve had sun, rain, snow, picnics and most importantly of all, fresh air.

I love Painshill. I love you can do as little or as much as you want and still get a good walk with new things to spot. We decided on a picnic as the weather was good, so headed to the Amphitheatre area which is a large flat section of the grounds, near the Gothic Temple and not too far from the start.

We stopped by the Vineyards as H wanted to read the sign at the top of the hill. That’s a new one – with the new words she’s picking up daily she wants to read everything! So she did pretty well with the information provided, with of course plenty of questions asked about everything afterwards.

We had our picnic, courtesy of whatever I could pick up in our local M&S, and of course some Quorn Scotch Eggs. H had her Bundlebean to sit on – which is still getting so much use several years since we got it. Afterwards it was compulsory for H and Shaun to race around the amphitheatre, though I declined!

A wander to the Gothic Temple, one of the best areas of Painshill to see the whole park, and one of the worst for taking photos as it’s the same colour as the sky, even Mr Tumble has sat in there. H is now tall enough to slide off the edge and run around, so devised a new game to keep herself amused while I tried to straighten out my back!

After that we headed towards The Grotto which unfortunately was closed. Instead the two bridges provided some lovely reflections in the water and photo opportunities. We had a quick play around the Mausoleum and a ‘spot the water wheel’ competition too.

After that H and I had our photo taken on ‘our’ bench. I found four other pictures from Mothering Sunday through the years when we’d gone which was nice to see… see, tradition!

After that we wandered back towards the main buildings, via the Ice Store (which I’d never been into), and past fields of daffodils, and woody areas. It was lovely, peaceful and calm. Possibly lesser so when H and Shaun decided to play frisbee with her hat.

After that it was a walk back to the main entrance and a drive home – all of us tired. We’re a bit run down at the moment and I pulled something in my back – not ideal!

I’m linking up to Country Kids!

Painshill Park is open every day. The Grotto is open at weekends from 1-3. Painshill costs £7.70 per adult, children under 5 go free. For more information head to their website. I’m now seriously considering having H’s 5th birthday party there as it’s somewhere I feel completely calm with the world. H does too. Perfect.