For as long as they can remember, Arianna, 8, and Sophia, 6, have been a part of their grandparents Jenny and Russell Boylan’s community at Halcyon Waters.
The girls love visiting the community with its duck pond, huge parkland, big swimming pool, tennis court, library, friendly neighbours and wide, quiet streets – perfect for riding their scooters and bikes.
Jenny said Halcyon Waters was like a big backyard for their energetic and inquisitive granddaughters.
“We came here when Sophia was two-months-old, so she’s grown up here, it’s her second home,” she said.
“Everything’s here and it’s nice and safe.
“This is an extension of their playground and it’s just great for them - it’s like a big backyard.”
Jenny and Russell often take Arianna and Sophia on bike rides to the community’s duck pond or to one of the dog parks close to Halcyon Waters.
The girls keep a second set of bikes at Grandma and Grandad’s to save bringing their bikes from home.
“They learnt to ride their scooters and bikes here because the road is so quiet,” Jenny said.
The girls sometimes visit Jenny and Russell’s neighbour Alan Rawnsley, whose garage airspace is filled with his model aeroplanes.
“They call him The Aeroplane Man,” Jenny said.
“And when they ride past his house and he’s in the garage they call out ‘Hello Mr Alan’.
“Alan and Frances buy them chocolates for Christmas and Easter. The girls are like their surrogate grandchildren.”
Jenny and Russell’s next-door neighbour, Di Kharbanda, has even looked after the girls while their mum Andrea was working, and Jenny and Russell were busy.
How often do you visit or stay over?
Arianna: We visit Grandma and Grandad every week and mostly on weekends.
Sophia: We have sleepovers too.
What are your favourite things to do when you visit?
Arianna: We go swimming and eat ice blocks that we make with Grandma.
We do dance concerts on the steps in the park and we play tennis.
Sophia: We sometimes go to the library, we get games out and my favourite is Bob the Builder.
We go swimming in the pool and go on a bike ride to the duck pond or the dog park. We feed bread to the ducks and some of the ducks fight over it. We climb trees at the dog park.
Arianna: We go to the duck pond and the ducks remember us.
