Paddy the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Mush-Mush..!! Poor old Paddy has been charging like a 'Mad Man' around the old woods, pulling a sleigh behind him to the commands and shouts of an enthusiastic three-year-old intrepid Explorer!! Navigating around fallen trees, and over deep snow filled ravines we travelled for 'days' (or so it felt!! haha) charting our course and mapping this unknown and virgin territory. "Watch out for zebras, lions and elephants!!" I was warned, by my little Explorer, though I felt confident enough that the likelihood of our bumping into such creatures was pretty slim! "The snow might just keep them away today!" was my reply.

Then as we entered the 'Magic Woods' the words of Narnia sprung to mind and we stopped to catch our frozen breaths as we imagined characters such as 'Aslan; ' 'Mr Beaver;' 'Puddleglum' and the 'White Witch,' wandering in the whiteness of the woods...

Running with children definitely ignites the child inside of 'me.' And unlocks my imagination and escape from the modern woes of 21st Century living for a little time.

It also reminds me of just how 'unfit' I am, pulling a child in a sledge at a trotting to sprint pace through the woodland with temperatures below zero! Maybe I'm just starting to show my 'old' age!!

Then my little 'charge' was safely delivered back to the arms of his mum and dad, thankful they'd had a little bit of rest for an hour or so, glad in the knowledge that all the Lions, Zebras and Elephants had stayed inside out of the cold for the day...