Our Holiday Day

Last Monday (just over a week ago) we had a one-day family holiday. We didn't get any kind of holiday last year, and don't know what we'll manage this year either, although it would be very lovely to have something. So we wanted to make sure we did something before our baby arrives. We had hoped to stay somewhere for a few days where there is a sandy beach and it would feel like a holiday, but even one night stay in a travel lodge costs loads. So we decided on one day at a sandy beach instead. We tried later the previous week, once everything was here from the house sale and we'd had a day to work on clearing some of it. Everybody was so grumpy that day though, the traffic was awful (last day of school Easter holidays), and then the weather forecast changed to rain later in the afternoon, so we gave up and came home!! We did a couple more days work at clearing and organising some things, and on Monday we tried again (we hadn't realised before that Michael didn't need to be back at uni. until the Tuesday - good job!)

So we went off to Bournemouth for the day. It was a two hour drive, which is longer than we ever drive anywhere now, and it was a little challenging for the children because of it. Good job there was something nice to look forward to at the other end though!

It is SO different being at a sandy beach. You can actually run around and play, or sit and relax and just feel comfortable, and it just feels like being on holiday. It was a nice warm day, and although the sea was still freezing, that didn't stop all four girls getting in it the first moment they got, and then deciding that they wanted to be properly in it - so on went the swimming costumes! Peter was not so sure about being in the freezing water, but loved the sand, and didn't mind the waves so much as he has done in Brighton.

The girls just loved playing in that cold sea.







Peter loved digging, and making a sandcastle was just EXCITING!






Michael remembered something he used to do when younger, and Sarah thought making a squiggly sandcastle like that was fantastic!





Rachel and Hannah made a sandcastle,



Peter played,



Sarah turned into a mermaid for a while,


Rachel dug for water


and Rebekah dug to make puddles. :o)


Michael dug down deep, and Peter was pretty impressed by this. It was best of all once Michael had built a ramp for him to get in and out by.







Hannah stuck by their castle to the very end as the sea demolished it,


and Rebekah did her best to protect Rachel's pool of water from the sea.


Peter was very protective over that hole - he only happily let Sarah in to dig for a while when he was otherwise engaged in demolishing a juicy plum.


He also tried to bury himself in the sand.


When I saw what he was doing and went over to him he said he couldn't do it, so I helped out a bit and made a sand car around him. :o)



This is Hannah dancing in the sea! She was dancing for ages, clearly just loving being there.


I also made a sandcastle in between other things (including taking pictures of everyone!) Then of course I had to wait for the sea to come and get it before I could go!



Michael realising quite how cold the water was!


We had tea there, and hoped to have fish and chips by the beach. It was warm enough still once everyone was wrapped up again.


The outdoor places were all closed by then though, and the only place we could find that was open was Harry Ramsden's chip shop. We worked out a way to just keep the total at around £50! It was nice having tea out together, even if chips and fish for some, chicken nuggets for others, cost that much.
Peter loves sitting properly at a table, and likes having a glass to drink from with us on special occassions. I think he liked it.



We had a very late drive home. Michael and I were exhausted, and we had to stop on the way for Michael to sleep for half an hour (I was too uncomfortable to sleep, so I read a book on childbirth for a while!!) We had to recover for a couple of days too(!), but it was well worth a lovely family day by the sea. :o)

A postcard from Wales (sort of!)

To all our lovely family and friends,

We had the privilege of having a very unexpected holiday in Wales. In Corris to be precise, a little village in mid-Wales, down in a valley, right beside a river. We got there very late Saturday night having really struggled through that day and getting only as far as Solihull for a picnic tea and a play in the park before setting off after the children's bedtime for Wales! It was very dark and we were very tired when we finally managed to navigate the right windy roads to take us down the steep hill to the valley floor. The cottage that we stayed in was actually Coventry Mountaineering club's "hut", but with that and a reduction it meant we could just manage it. Getting people into beds that would work at 11.30 at night was a bit tricky as it was a bit short of safe beds for young children, but we eventually got that one sorted (most of us slept on matresses on the floor in the end) and got back to sleep. It sort of sounded like it was raining all through the night but I was never really sure. Only when I could see in the morning where we were did I realise it was the river I had been hearing all night long. :o)

SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST

We visited the Aberystwyth Branch, just over 40 minutes from where we were staying. That was really good. Rebekah went to Primary with the other girls and was in a class with Hannah and Sarah throughout (they have no Nursery or youth classes). They had some wonderful lessons and it was such a friendly place to be. Then we drove high up into the hills and found a quiet lake to sit by and eat our lunch and have our family home evening. It was so quiet there, and we just loved it. The sun was warm and relaxing, and there was hardly a sound anywhere other than us. We enjoyed a lesson and activity based on our Heavenly Father's creations, and spent some beautiful time truly enjoying those creations. We were all very tired, but it was a lovely day. Hannah especially seemed to enjoy the flowers and started her normal activity of making little works of art on the ground with the natural things she finds around her (something we did together early last year that she just really enjoyed).







MONDAY 27TH AUGUST

Was meant to be a beach day, but was so packed we couldn't even find a place to park in Aberdovey. We'd forgotten it was a bank holiday! Then the weather got quite cloudy and windy and we passed a sign for the Tallylyn railway so decided to go there instead. It was fun travelling on a steam train again, this time a good sized one rather than a narrow guage railway. Rebekah, who since her traumatic railway experience on holiday last year has come to love trains, was a little worried right by the edge, but I think just because we were on the edge of a valley again so were looking down. Peter couldn't believe it when this thing we had climbed into started to move! He enjoyed himself a lot, especially when he realised that there was a dog travelling in the same carriage as us! We went up to the end of the line, watched the train moving to the other end, and then cam e back one stop to where there was an adventure playground. We all enjoyed a go (or few) down a very long slide that ran down the hillside (it was even wide enough for adults, so yes we had a go!) They also had a wooden train there to play on with balance beams, a wooden train track, a pretend signal box which linked to a telephone from by the train, and signals that the children could move themselves. Everyone had a nice play before we travelled back again. Expensive fish and chips nearby for tea so we could eat on time, and back home in time for bed!