Sometimes (most of the time) my afternoon walks are not about me. They are all about a little girl and taking time out to see the world through her eyes. I love that even though we live in the town of Wadi Musa that within 10 minutes of walking out the door we are out in the countryside. The mountains around Petra are Alia’s playground and we are surrounded by nature and the great outdoors. Lots to see and do.
There are flowers to be picked.
Dandelions to be blown.
Take a breathe…..
and blow……
Ummmm it’s still there. Take a bigger breathe and try again.
Stop and smell them instead!
There are butterflies to watch. Alia calls butterflies flybys.
These “flybys” were making baby “flybys” and way to busy to fly off much to Alia’s delight of them staying still rather than her having to chase them as they flit and fly around.
All sorts of creepy crawlers to poke and prod.
Alia loves saying “hello beetle”. Not long after this photo was taken “hello beetle” changed to “sorry beetle”. Maybe this beetle was inspected and prodded just a bit too closely.
Grasshoppers to try and catch as they hop and jump and each time they do gets a squeal of delight from Alia.
Wild peas to be foraged and eaten. They are super sweet and the the perfect snack whilst out exploring.
“Tigers” and “Tunnels” to play in the tall growth of the crops.
Shepherds to talk to and sheep and goats to see.
And hens to watch as they scratch and squawk.
Other animal that we see when we are out walking are turkeys, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys and all sorts of birds. We don’t live on a farm, but with all this within 10 minutes of home I think we certainly have the best of both worlds. Â I’m happy that Alia is getting a pseudo experience of growing up on a farm as it’s certainly something that I valued about my childhood was the experiences that came with growing up on a farm and having the space to roam free and explore.
Middle East Moments 
How lovely. It looks so idyllic !
It really is. I love watching Alia explore and be fascinated by her surrounds and the fresh air always clears my head! 🙂
Oh Andrea. what a beautiful Sunday norning walk with the oh-so fast growing Alia and your wonderful camera!! You are very good at being able to capture her so naturally with her almost not being aware of it!! Lovely, lovely photos – and some of us may file them as ‘keepers’ as well as you!! You contribute ‘flyby’ – Ok, I still remember ‘hopgrasser’ and ‘heffalump’ from my younger daughter: similar mindsets methinks 🙂 !
It’s wonderful the word mashes that kids come up with! Fortunately Alia is still at an age where she pretty much ignores me when she’s out exploring so I can just snap away and come up with candid shots of her. So much better than posed photos in my mind. 🙂
This is an amazing post Andrea. It’s wonderful to see the natural environment that Alia gets to explore… complete bliss for a little girl! She’s beautiful. Your photos capture everything about childhood so perfectly. Hope that you, Atef and Alia are well… any progress on the foodie tour idea? xxx
Thanks Laura. I really love that this is all on our doorstep and that Alia has a great love of exploring. It is a delight to watch her when she’s out and the excitement that she expresses brings a huge smile to my face! No real progress as yet, but watch this space…..! xx
Adorable, love it.
Thank you – it’s a great reminder that the the simple (and free) things in life are really the best! 🙂
What a delightful time you had and were able to capture to look back on in the years ahead. The experiences Alia is sharing with you (and us) are simply wonderful but have to say I’m green with envy over your wild peas, what a great exploration snack!!! 🙂
Thanks Joanne. Alia is most disappointed that the wild peas have now finished. I do love that she finds so much joy in the simple things and is more interested in mummy finding more peas than wanting sugary food. The last few days I’ve been showing her how to chew on the fronds of the wild aniseed which when they are young have the most sweet and beautiful flavour. Always something new to see and explore when we head out! 🙂