You might think that living in Portugal means mojitos and poolside dining every day but with work that always needs doing on the farm it’s all too easy to watch the time pass by without getting out to enjoy where we live.

We’ve decided to make sure we leave at least one day at the weekend where we spend some time getting out and exploring, and as the seasons turn to Spring the weather is warm, the birds are singing and the flowers start to open up.

On Saturday me and Elvis decided that for the afternoon we were going to head out for a walk, normally we would leave from the quinta on foot but we fancied somewhere different. After all, there is so much to see and enjoy within just a few minutes drive.

Elvis loaded his mountain bike in the car and we set off down the road towards Meimoa which has a beautiful river beach and just down the road there is another river beach with a riverside cafe and crystal clear water.

Instead of sitting and drinking coffee we figured we could get a nice walk in and take a rest half way before heading back, so we parked up at Meimoa and set off towards Benquerenca.

The road was flat all the way since it’s a long-side a river and I walked the 3km while Elvis rode his bike. The weather was warm, the sun was shining, and we enjoyed our little chats in between Elvis speeding on ahead on his bike and waiting for me to catch up.

When we reached Benquerenca we stopped for a cold drink and sat by the river with our feet dangling over the edge dipping our toes in the water. When it was time to make our way back we crossed the bridge and walked back to the car, we did a huge loop and it ended up being just over 7km.

Once we were back at the car with hungry bellies we figured we needed to eat. So it was back to Penamacor for a ham and cheese toastie, sat in the sunshine outside our favourite local cafe.

As you may or may not know being active is really important to me, for my mental and physical health so it’s days like these that really keep me on top. And getting to spend it with Elvis chatting and having some precious mother and son time filled me with so much joy.

There’s not much more that I want from life than for Elvis to grow up with happy memories, spending quality time with family and friends. I know I cherish all the memories I have of days out with my familywhen I was growing up and it’s important for me that Elvis has this too.