Friday 29th August 08 - a long hike

We spent the week vaguely aware that there was a beach "within walking distance" of our caravan, but never committing ourselves to actually walking far enough to find it. My sister and I tried to find it on one of our morning runs, but to no avail, and we let it slide after that.

On the last day of the holiday though, we decided to finally give it a try and cajoled the children into trudging the requisite 2.5 miles - which took a lot longer than everyone had promised us before we set off! It was worth it, though. The Pentewan beach was rugged and wild and perfect for a farewell-to-Cornwall swim, which Zac undertook with gusto.

Thursday 28th August 08 - the rain came

So we went to Padstow. Padstow holds fond childhood memories for my husband; but he doesn't remember it raining. Still, we had a nice day, and I bought clothes, which is always good for making me cheerful. In the afternoon we took the ferry to Rock, which had Zac wriggling with excitement as he couldn't remember going on a boat before.

Wednesday 27th August 08 - Kits, cats, sacks and wives

I really love this photo of Z, taken as he watched the tide come in from an upstairs cafe in St Ives. We had an absolutely beautiful day. The sun shone, the children smiled, and no seagulls stole our ice-creams.

I got a REALLY dirty look from the car-parking attendant as we set off back to the caravan, though. I'd handed our parking permission ticket (with about 6 hours still unused) to an arriving driver, and the carpark attendant shook his head vigorously at me with real malice. His glare haunted me for about 10 miles.

Tuesday 26th August 08 - Return to Eden

Making the most of the Annual Passes we'd bought (same price as a day ticket!) we took the children back to Eden to experience den-building, which we hadn't had time for on the Sunday. Our den was excellent, thanks almost 100% to the eager participation of the Daddies. We also bought delicious vegetable stew from the Eden firepit, and subsequently spent a long time in the gift shop looking for a recipe book that might contain the stew recipe. There wasn't one.

The photo is of everyone except me in our den, together with snacks.

Monday, 25th August 08 - Par

Monday's quest, once the sun had appeared, was to find a beach without a coating of seaweed. We drove to Par, which fulfilled the brief beautifully. To my delight Tabitha - a sand- and beach-phobic baby - decided to throw caution to the wind and actually learned to enjoy playing with sand, although she still wouldn't put more than a toe in the water. Here she is being studious about her newfound play skill.

Sunday, 24th August 08 - Eden Project

Yasmine, Zac, Tabitha and their cousin Seb, at the Eden Project. We loved it there - so much for the children to do and see, and pretty awe-inspiring for us adults as well. I wish, however, the wasps weren't as fond of the place.

During the afternoon the sun shone brightly, so we trailed to Mevagissey in search of a beach. We eventually found one, encrusted completely in seaweed, and let the children spend a happy hour becoming Shrek-alikes.

Saturday 23rd August 08 - Travel

So we pretty much spent all day in the car travelling to Cornwall...and I forgot to get the camera out.

It was a nice day, though. After we arrived at the caravan, the sun appeared, and we took the children swimming to get them nice and tired before bed. Great tactic and they slept beautifully despite paper-thin walls and transparent curtains!

Today's picture was taken by Yasmine at the Eden Project on Sunday. Quite an eye, I think!