Puzzlewood Forest

We just visited the coolest forest.  Stepping into the woods felt like we were stepping into a magical realm with fairies, goblins, and wizards.  It took us a couple hours to drive to Puzzlewood and we even drove through a corner of Wales, but it was worth it.  I knew we were in for an adventure when the kids walking out of the forest were wearing their wellies and were coated in mud up to their knees.  Well, we didn't have any wellies but we did have ponchos with us and soap at home, so in we went to get muddy.  I was really hoping that the forest was as cool as the pictures suggested, and it was.  Every step was a new view and I wanted to get a lot of pictures of the kids in this really, really cool scenery.  

Cambrie quickly grew tired of stopping to smile, but luckily there were so many fairies in the forest we could photograph who didn't mind smiling for the camera.  Both girls saw fairies who were too shy to be seen as they flew behind a tree branch trying to hide.  I was happy that there were some brave enough to let me see them.

Apparently the forest has been used to film quite a few shows (and not all of them I recognize), Merlin, Atlantis, Jack the Giant Slayer, Dr. Who, and parts of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  JRR Tolkein used to spend a lot of time in the woods and used it for inspiration when writing the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.  It's not hard to believe any of those stories.  There was a meandering trail that took us through the woods, up, over, through, and around giant trees draped with moss, lichen covered rocks, and mushrooms aplenty.  The girls were having so much fun that they kept running ahead, and once or twice I wondered if they had been snatched by goblins since I couldn't see them through the undergrowth.  However, their ponchos made them pretty visible so that helped a lot.

Can you see the forest creature in the tree above Cambrie?

  The boys loved being boys and went running through mud puddles, across logs, and climbed up things they probably shouldn't have.  There was no way either boy was going to get through there clean, especially since Daxton refused to be held as we wandered through. 

Right at the beginning when his shoes were still clean. 

We took our time walking around and really enjoyed every moment hiding in there.  

Ultimately our tummies pulled us out and we were able to see how successful we were at keeping ourselves relatively clean.  Muddy shoe contest!  

There was a cafe on site which was fabulous since we didn't have to take our muddy selves anywhere public.  We all found something tasty, even Daxton who learned he likes melted brie cheese.  Such a fun excursion!