Thankful Thursdays: One Life

What am I thankful for?

I am thankful to be alive.  I am thankful for this hard, crazy, higgledy piggledy, emotional, uphill climb and downhill run that is my life.  I am thankful for all the experiences I've had - even the horrible ones.

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I am thankful for all the times I've laughed, all the times I've kissed my children, all the times I've looked out the window and smiled because its sunny.

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I am thankful for the all the times I've cried in the shower, or sat with my head in my hands or been so angry I could cry with frustration (no-one ever got stronger by being happy all the time).

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I am thankful for all the beautiful things and all the ugly things that are beautiful in their own way.

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Life is the strangest thing.  There is nothing quite like it to find out what kind of a person you are - your strengths, your weaknesses, your motives, your belief systems, the lessons you've learned along the way.

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I am thankful for every second of this life and when I am old and grey I will look back and think to myself 'wow! that was one hell of a ride!'

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I'm joining Thankful Thursday with Kate Says Stuff.

This week I'm grateful for...parks with free barbeques!

Today I'm joining 'This Week I'm Grateful for....' with Maxabella Loves.

As a mum of 4 little boys under 8 our budget runs pretty tight.  On the weekends I am always looking for fun things to do with the kids that won't break the bank.

Sometimes I come up with ideas in advance but being the queen of spontaneous decision making, most Saturdays I wake up and think 'well, what should we do today?'

On our way to Preston Market a couple of weeks ago we had driven through Coburg and seen a nice park with a pretty cool playground.  As the weather was not blowing directly in from Antarctica today I thought that might be a good option.

But what to do for lunch?  Our budget this weekend does not extend to a $45 lunch at Maccas so I googled the local Council website and found out the park has free barbeques.

We packed our sausages, yummy rolls, tomato sauce and drinks into a bag and off we went.

The barbeques were clean, there was at least six of them, they were conveniently located right next to the playground so we could keep an eye on the kids and there were lots of tables & benches near by.

We spent 4 hours at the park, there are 2 big playgrounds there (1 with an awesome rocket slide and 1 with a great flying fox)  lots of interesting public art, a creek with plenty of nice flat stones for climbing on and some gorgeous scenery.

Best of all, our day out cost nothing! - well, except for fuel.

Thank you Moreland Council for investing some decent money into public spaces.  And thank you for the free barbeques!

The entry to Coburg Lake Reserve is off Gaffney Street.  As soon as you cross Sydney Road, the entrance is on the left.  The playground with the rocket is on one side of the lake, the playground with the flying fox is up on the hill on the other side of the lake (its not really visible from the other side).  There is a nice loop walk right around Merri Creek.