Pinecone Construction

I took this picture back in 2024, during our holidays in the Isle of Wight, at Robin Hill. There was a whole section of the theme park looking like a building site. I thought it looked kind of funny, something as mundane as a construction company, turned into an attraction for children. For little boys at least: my son Wolfie used to love, and loves still, any construction vehicles. Also, I love pine cones. Pine cones are cool. And it makes for a great name for a construction company. I wish it really existed.

A walk through the maze

I took this photo in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. It had many attractions and fun games for children and grownups, including a maze. This is its plan. It seems so simple when you see it like this. I love mazes, big and small. This one wasn't the most difficult to get through, or the fanciest, but it was great fun.

Cow Express

 This picture was taken in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. I was looking through the pictures of our time there and it made me want to share some of them. This was one of Wolfie's favourite ride, the Cow Express. Kind of fitting for a name: in real train journeys, you often see cows at some point, cows that watch the train going. It makes sense to have a train named after them. Even if it is a park ride. I found it very cute, in any case and I love all things trains and railway, so I had to share it.

Trouvez le paon

Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, dans le parc de Robin Hill.Je regardais mes pohotos de voyage, qui datent de 2022, et je me disais qu'il fallait bien en partager quelques unes. Il y a un paon qui se cache sur celle-ci. Le voyez-vous? Bon, il n'est pas si difficile à trouver, mais quand même.

Duck Down Village from above

You may remember from this post that when we visited Robin Hill, one of the theme parks on the Isle of Wight,one of our favourite place was in Duck Down Village. It was like a mansize, or at least childsize, playset, like a real timeless village, except run by kids. Wolfie really enjoyed it. I took quite a few pictures there, including this one from one of the building's attic rooms. You can see the village clock and the cute duckling on it. I just loved it.

Last day of school

This picture was taken in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. A place Wolfie liked a lot. I might be wrong, but I believe it was taken in Duck Down Village. I share it because it goes well with today's topic. Today is Wolfie's last day at school in year one. The school he goes is not nearly as small as this one, but it is a fairly little school, with only a few pupils per year. I will not repeat what I said last year, except that the year does go too fast. I will add oe thing though: the school year is far too long here. I mean it ends in July, when the month is two thirds done. It is really too long and exhausting for the children and their parents. And it makes for far too short holidays, even though the year went too fast. Being a parent creates all sorts of paradoxes like this one.

Jardin chinois

Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, dans le parc de Robin Hill. Parmi toutes leurs attractions, ils ont un jardin chinois. Nous avions vraiment l'impression d'entrer dans un autre pays, même si je ne crois pas que ce soit vraiment authentique (je me trompe peut-être). Mais authentiques ou non, je trouve les jardins orientaux en général assez calmants et toujours très plaisants à voir. Ils ont le sens de l'esthétique.

Duck Down Village

I'm sharing another picture taken in the Isle of Wight, in Robin Hill. It is a theme park which Wolfie really enjoyed (although to be honest I cannot remember a theme park he didn't like). One of my favourite sections was the Duck Down Village, because it looked like a cute little timeless idyllic village. Not sure exactly what made it si endearing, but it felt like a place made for and run by children. It seemed like adults were intruders there. We pretty much followed Wolfie exploring and doing his make belief games, making friends with other kids he will never meet again. Oh and I love ducks, so I find the name cool as well.

L'éléphant de Robin Hill

 Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, dans le parc de Robin Hill. C'est bien entendu un (faux) éléphant africain qui a l'air de la vraie affaire. Robin Hill, c'est comme un immense terrain de jeu pour un enfant comme Wolfie, où on a l'impression d'être dans un safari quelque part en Afrique plutôt que sur les côtes anglaises. Il faisait chaud comme en Afrique cette journée-là aussi,  ça ajoutait à l'illusion. Wolfie a un petit côté africain (son daddad vient de là), alors c'était parfois comme s'il découvrait ses racines.

Un gorille

Photo prise dans l'Isle of Wight, à Robin Hill pour être exact. Robin Hill est un parc pour enfants que petit loup a beaucoup aimé. On y trouvait notamment de faux et de vrais animaux, dont des faux gorilles qui avaient l'air très vrais. Celui-ci en tout cas nous a beaucoup impressionnés. Par une journée chaude (beaucoup trop chaude) d'été, nous avions l'impression d'être quelque part en Afrique. S'il avait bougé, je n'aurais pas été étonné.

Une promenade dans les arbres

Lors de notre séjour dans l'Isle of Wight, nous sommes allés à Robin Hill, un parc pour enfants avec des jeux et des activités. Parmi celles qui ont beaucoup plu à petit loup, il y avait les passerelles dans les arbres, qui nous permettaient de nous promener d'un coin à l'autre. C'était à la fois mystérieux et exotique, comme jouer à un jeu de rôle grandeur nature. Je l'ai dit et je vais le répéter: l'avantage d'être le père d'un jeune garçon, c'est que l'on peut vivre une deuxième enfance.