والسال الزهور

I wasn’t going to, but I did! I went right into the water at the Splash Park at Walsall Arboretum with my grandkids. I got completely soaking wet. I don’t think I remember laughing that hard ever in my life. My cheeks were sore when we got home to drop the children off with their mum.
I love being surrounded by nature. The trees are beautiful. There isn’t much in the way of flowers, but the Walsall Arboretum is really brilliant with over 10,000 types of trees and shrubs.
There’s over 32 hectares (80 acres) of land in the park area, which includes the Hatherton boating lake. I have heard stories about the poor past in the park where it just can’t seem to make enough money to stay afloat since the 1860s.
I knew that E. A. Foden was the first to suggest the idea of creating a park. In 1873, the Walsall Arboretum and Lake Company had a lease to create the park. But it wasn’t until the next year in May 1874 that Lady Hatherton opened the Arboretum. I guess they named the boating lake after her.
The children’s play area is really an attraction. There is play equipment aside from the splash pad, but on a hot day the splash pad is really brilliant. It’s only open from 26 May to 2 September this year so it missed a few hot days in early May. The kids loved the equipment and also played football in one of the big, open fields for a time with some kids they met there.
We saw the dog show in one area of the park, too. It was terrific! Nothing formal, just prizes for dogs with waggy tails and cute rescue dogs. The dogs were all well behaved and it really was a sight to see them all together like that. Now my daughter- in- law will have to deal with the children begging for a dog!
It was a great day. My son gave me flowers to say thanks for taking the kids out for the day, but even without those I am ready to go again!