Starting at Thompsons Square at the top end of Windsor the kids saw another family walking across the Windsor Bridge, and hadn’t realised they were allowed to walk on the bridge so off we went.

There’s viewing platforms on both sides of the river with some great interpretation in the square about the river and it’s long history. We spent some time reading the signs about the traditional people through to present day and the River and its highs and lows (literally). Even the children were quite interested to learn about the flood levels over time.

The kids pointed out some birds swimming in the water and made crazy guesses about how high the bridge is (before actually finding out) and how many fish might be in the river. If you enjoy the interpretation throughout Thompson Square make sure you check out the exhibitions at the Hawkesbury Regional Museum, just around the corner in Baker Street. The exhibition includes all kinds of objects and subsequent stories discovered from the Hawkesbury River and in Thompson Square. It’s free to visit and open 6 days. We had only a brief look at the exhibition, before the ice-cream started to call, but I do plan to call back in at a later date to give it the time it needs.

We headed to Windsor Ice Cream Cafe , the small fry ordered a scoop of rainbow and cookies and cream. With the huge multitude of flavours no one would leave unsatisfied.

Wandering with ice-creams in hand, we crossed the road into the mall and like magnets the kids both dashed over to check how much money was in the paddle wheel water feature before begging for their own coins to throw in and make wishes of their own. Once $5.85 was counted and 80c surrendered to the wish gods, we finished our ice-cream and went wandering down the Mall.

There were several other families out and about, enjoying the school holiday sunshine in the mall. The walk through reminding us of great dining options nearby or throughout the Mall.

There are also some really great stores selling everything from clothing to homewares, floral arrangements and artworks, gifts and all kinds of treasures. We spent quite a while window shopping and wandering and even did some spending. I may or may not have been a little too long in By A Farmers Daughter, where the kids and their father got sick of waiting and kept on wandering. Sorry, not sorry. This pleasant retail therapy reminded us of the Windsor Mall Markets. Held each Sunday the Mall is lined with market stalls from 9am to 3pm, we vowed to call in on a Sunday again soon. A great addition to the Mall area in recent years are the wall murals, the kids delighted in seeing them as we continued down the Mall. Some are so big you can’t miss them, but make sure keep your eyes peeled down the side streets and paths too.

Still with icecream barely digested the kids still marveled at the dessert creations of a couple outside Delicious Desserts as we looked back up the Mall. With doe eyes, both looked at me “can we go to that place next time we come?”. Closer inspection and a conversation with a passing team member who knew our stunned questioning look all too well, revealed there was a room of ingredients laid out for customers to create their own desserts. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many options in one place! I replied “Yes, of course” only after seeing they had a very reputable looking coffee machine.

Seeing my line of thought, my dear husband rolled his eyes but smiled smugly but I could tell he wanted to create his dessert as desperately as the children did!

The Lollies N’ Stuff is just that - lollies, and lollies and lollies and stuff. The “stuff” covers ranges of sauces, cereals, and things like pop tarts that aren’t easily come by and some great handy must haves (I found some long sought after re-usable straws) and various gifts including custom name items. The requested fairy floss was located and as anticipated the selection of colours, flavours and sizes was astounding. With a bucket of pink and blue fairyfloss in hand, Miss 7 accompanied her brother to the register himself clutching a huge lollypop. Dad was not to be found initially, but soon surfaced red faced with a basket half full of ‘must haves’.

It wasn’t until we walked out of the store I realised both children while excited about their purchases, had no intention of actually  consuming them today, as full of sugar as they already were. By mutual agreement we decided to head to Governor Phillip Park for a play on the play equipment and used some of the recently consumed energy to play with a ball we had found in the car. We went for a walk down to the boat ramp and watched all the boats coming back in after a day out on the water. It had really been a nice day out.

Having thought our day was coming to an end as the sun began to sink the debate began between what to do next.

For more information and ideas on things to do during the school holidays keep an eye on the What’s On section and check out all the family friendly things to do on Discover the Hawkesbury.