Tricycles and Tractors

After the long drive back from holiday on Friday we decided to have a relaxing local weekend. On Saturday Steve spent hours washing the cars - they looked a lot better after though he's going to be miffed tonight when he comes home and sees what a bird has done to one of them! While out on the drive doing that, Beth and Toby were pottering around the garden and out the front on their bikes. Toby had go on the metal Radio Flyer trike we bought for Beth. For the first time ever he got the hang of pedaling and managed to go both forward and back. He was very pleased with himself and very eager to get back in the pedaling seat.

Beth isn't so happy with her biking situation. We decided it was about time she learnt to ride without her stabilisers. We tried at the park but it's just too hard to ride on the grass - she couldn't get enough speed up. The road and pavements on our street are very rough and there are quite sharp stones and other bits so we don't really want her embedding that in her knees. I think we'll get her some knee and elbow pads but in the mean time Steve has taken both the stabilisers and the pedals off and she is using it like a balance bike. She is actually getting quite good on it but she's not impressed as she can't go as fast as she'd like. Her balance is certainly getting better so it might not be long before we can put the pedals back on and see what happens!

On Sunday we met cousins Adam and William (along with Auntie Janet, Uncle Andy and cousin Lydia) at Clumber Park where there was a steam fair. It wasn't nearly as large as the one we went to last August in Pickering but it was just enough as it was pretty hot and by the time we had done one circuit we were ready for home, the paddling pool and a cold one. Toby, of course, loved all the tractors and steam engines along with a VW Beetle he saw - his favourite film at the moment is Herbie (the old ones not the new one). Beth, unfortunately, has become a little more commercialised and just wanted to go on the fairground rides. They all started off in the huge bounce house which had multiple rooms and obstacles. After lunch Steve took Beth on the bumper cars to challenge Adam and his cousin Lydia. I wasn't sure how much she would enjoy it as it was pretty violent. It seems I needn't have worried, she loved it and went back on with Lydia for another go.

Toby was just a bit small for those but happily went on the car ride (twice) and much to the owners amusement refused to get off. I had to climb in with him and haul him out mid-fit. After an ice cream stop we headed home for a lazy afternoon and evening by the bbq.

Devon Holiday

We got back home on Friday from a weeks holiday in Devon (south west England) with grandma, grandpa and Auntie Jane. We were super lucky that the weather was perfect all week and our only gripe was that the pollen count was really high so we all suffered with hayfever.

We had rented a holiday cottage just outside of a little village called Appledore. It looked a little bland from the outside but was really lovely inside as it had been all refitted and was just very family-friendly. The cottage was less than five minutes walk to a little beach. It wasn't particularly sandy but had loads of shells and rocks and enough sand to make lots of pies! You could actually see the cottage from the beach - overlooked by horses, hens and lots of rabbits (and there was a great area for flying kites).

During the week we visited three other beaches. Westward Ho! was the big sandy beach only a short drive (or long walk as grandma found out) from the cottage. We went there on one of the first days. It was massive and when the tide was out it was pretty hard to actually see the sea. Unfortunately with it being so flat, when the tide came in, the beach totally disappeared. We got an hour or so playing before that happened and Beth tried her hand at bodyboarding. I think she liked the idea more than the reality but I think she'll be happy to try it again on our next beach holiday. Toby was happy just paddling around and of course did his trademark fall in fully clothed; something that was repeated at least twice more during the week!

The next day we ventured a little further to Croyde (sorry, no decent pics), a beach well known for the surfing. It was a proper sandy beach with sand dunes behind and a little river perfect for paddling and splashing. The surf did look pretty good but as Jane pointed out, it's horrible to actually surf in as there are so many people. At one point there were seven surf school groups each with about ten people in them then all the individual surfers too - even worse than round Huntington Pier!

On Wednesday we took a break from beaches to visit the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Rosemoor. All of it was beautiful and made me want to race home and plant something. We only explored a fraction of it but did get to see their fruit and vegetable gardens, the orchard, formal gardens and the play area. Beth took time to smell the roses and Toby the opportunity to escape and get himself lost. It was lovely though I suspect it could be appreciated more fully as the designers intended without the delight of chasing the kids. Perhaps when they leave home I'll venture back there to explore on my own.

Our last day was spent at Bucks Mills Beach at the bottom of a rather steep cliff (that we manoeuvred down complete with picnic, blankets and all the other accoutrements needed for a day out at the beach!). It was beautiful and I think our favourite beach of the week. There were plenty of rock pools to fish in (Steve caught a shrimp), sand for pies and lots of opportunity for Toby to fall in, which he did, twice, in spectacular fashion - if I had been holding my camera I would have snapped a pic before extracting him. :)

It was a great week, the kids have tons of fun and got to know Auntie Jane (and her big red van) a bit better, and we all enjoyed a week of overindulgence, sun and good company.

Half Term Summer Fun

Today is the first day back at school for Beth after a week off for half term. It seemed to fly by, probably because the weather was nice and we had lots of plans.

A lot of the time was spent in the garden in the new paddling pool (Beth wearing her new swimming cossie), eating ice creams and playing on the Fifi sprinkler mat.

We got in visits to both sets of grandparents. At grandma and grandpa's a digger turned up, much to Toby's delight, to fill the hole outside their house. The rest of the day was spent in the sandpit and paddling pool. Unfortunately they both burnt their bums since we lotioned them up before they decided to totally strip off and it never occurred to us to reapply! At gran and grandad's the paddling pool was broken out along with the bubbles.

We had a couple of days catching up with friends we hadn't seen for ages. On Wednesday we met up with Carl and his family at Clumber Park and had a lovely picnic in the sun. Even though Beth and Carl haven't seen each other for a long while, it only took a couple of minutes before they were off together with Toby and Mo tagging along joining in the fun.

On Friday we met up with Maisie and her family at Thrybergh County Park and Reservoir. Again it was a beautiful day and the kids had great fun in the two playgrounds chasing each other around. We found a quiet spot to eat our picnic and blow some bubbles before continuing at break-neck speed around the park.

Back at home we are a little late with our planting. Our kind neighbour gave us some of his spare tomato plants, six went into a newly cleared bed in the back garden and Beth planted two tumblers in Toby's old wellie boots. Hopefully we'll get around to planting our sunflowers this week though I'm not quite sure where they will go - our garden is a little wild at the moment!