50 things to do before you're 11 ¾

In a bid to help children reconnect with nature, The National Trust (UK) asked more than 1,700 kids to vote on their top outdoor activities and reasons why, and then set about finding the ultimate places where they could be enjoyed. My parents bought us the book for Christmas and we have loved reading it and doing some of the activities in the book (which can be done anywhere, not just the UK, as long as you have a few trees and stuff!).

Climbing a tree is the number one activity and is something my daughter loves doing, so when I read that the National Trust have named a tree at Wallington Hall, Northumberland as the best in the UK to climb, we just had to visit. The tree was fab and Olivia fearlessly climbed to the top on her own. Hubby, not wanting to be outdone, also had to have a climb! I took lots of photos of Olivia climbing and had fully intended to use one for my blip but I keep coming back to the photo above as I love the way Dexter is leading my Dad and niece to the den that they were building (which is number 4 on the list).