A Day On The Beach

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Over the course of the Summer, we've been to many different places in a bid to have a 'great family day out' and they've all been pretty damn near perfect. We've garnered many memories and had a lot of laughs along the way, but the one place which is always guaranteed to make us feel at ease as a family is the beach. And while we've been to quite a few spectacular beaches during the past two months, it's the one that is on our doorstep that always brings out the child in all three of us.

Barry Island.

barry island

For most it's synonymous with Gavin & Stacey, or Butlin's holidays in the 1970s, but the holiday camp days are long gone, and most of the programme wasn't even filmed in the locality. Barry Island is so much more. A blue flag beach with golden sands and clear water, protected from strong winds by the rocky peninsulas at either end of the Whitmore Bay, the sounds of the funfair fade once on the beach and the sandcastle building begins.

A fortnight ago we decided to pack up for the afternoon and head down to sate The Boy's incessant pleas to visit the Island. It was August Bank Holiday Sunday, and it was sunny. I expected to have difficulty finding a car parking spot, let alone a spot on the beach. However, it may as well have been a weekday in December, it was so vacant.

And we did all the things that you should do at the beach; built the most enormous sandcastle fortress, buried each other in the sand, ate chips, splashed in the sea, kicked sandballs, flew a kite, and then washed our bits off in the sea afterwards (that might have just been The Boy though).

A day on the beach

Gavin and who?

barry island 1

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country kids

Days 237-243 of Project 365

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237-243 of 365

237. Fortress (A beautiful Sunday afternoon on August Bank Holiday weekend, saw us pack up our beach stuff and venture to Barry Island for the afternoon. And for once it wasn't crowded! We decided to make the biggest castle ever, and this was our finished product; gargantuan isn't it? This is the castle I've always wanted to make and it was brilliant fun, people along the beach stopped to take photos and comment.)

238. Practise (The biggest concern that I have for The Boy going to school is coping with lunchtimes. He currently has a cooked meal at lunchtimes, but won't be having school dinners as I don't think he'll eat them. I decided it was time to practise eating from a lunchbox, as I know how chaotic it is at lunchtimes in a dinner hall with minimal staff around. We packed up our tea and took it to the nature reserve for a picnic practise. I don't want The Boy to struggle with anything so we've spent this week practising opening and not spilling food, eating things in the right order, and working out what type of yoghurt is the best to send in for him.)

239. Climbing Boy (We headed out for another picnic lunch, this time in the park. And what better way to burn off that energy afterwards that tree climbing?)

240. Squelch (We had a very exciting morning visiting somewhere special in Cardiff, but I can't disclose any information about it until later in the year and it's under embargo until then! We had lunch in Pizza Hut and I spent the whole time staring at The Boy, absorbing ever cell of his face, trying not to cry about missing him in school. Then we went down the beach for some plopping fun, although The Boy has discovered sandballs are far more fun to throw than pebbles, filthy child.)

241. RUN! (My mum was looking after my niece and nephew for the day, so we took all three children to Barry Island, somewhere they don't go very often. Reluctantly at first The Boy's cousins entered the water, then his Boy Cousin came back out to remove his trousers so he could paddle more freely, while Girl Cousin just sat down in the sea fully clothed instead. All three had a whale of a time; all you need is sand and water, and they're happy!)

242. Ritual (Today was the last day of our old routine. Our last day together, just me and him, without being stuck in the rigmorale of bowing down to the constraints of school holidays. Our last day of him being my little shadow and us having the freedom to not rush and just do what we want. Just typing that makes me cry. I know we'll have half-terms and school holidays, but it is not the same. Every day for four years and two months, he has waited on our bed (sometimes with or without Mr. TBaM, depending upon age) while I shower and get dressed. Then Mr. TBaM goes to work and we have cuddles in bed for half an hour. Every week day (that I've not worked) for four years and two months. This was our last day doing this. And I am counting down the days until October half-term until we can do it again.)

243. ARGGGGHHHHH! (We took The Boy to Peppa Pig World for our last Summer treat and had a brilliant time exploring old favourite rides and new treasures. This was an old favourite and I took about fifteen photos of them on this ride, from top to bottom. I can't show later ones as Mr. TBaM would divorce me, but this was right at the top, just as they both realise how steep the drop is!)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 167-172 of Project 365

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167-173 of 365

167. Drip! (We spent the day at Legoland Windsor as guests of the MAD Blog Awards for their family fun day. Late on the Saturday night, reviewing the purchases and outgoings over the previous week, we had actually realised that we weren't able to pay for the petrol to get there! Luckily a sponsored post opportunity came in on the Sunday morning and we were able to peg it up to Windsor before you could shout, 'I'm a MAD blogger!' I'm so pleased we did, because we had a brilliant time, and The Boy thoroughly enjoyed the Duplo Valley waterpark.)

168. Horsey, horsey (We spent a very quiet day playing in the house and garden to recover from the weekend's events. The Boy adores his new hobby horse we're reviewing from Great Little Trading Co.)

169. Squidge! (The one thing that The Boy asked for on his birthday list was the PlayDoh bakery playset which he'd seen in countless shops and on television. Mum bought it for him and he was over the moon, and spent most of the morning making cakes and icing them.)

170. Joy! (This is my favourite photo of the week, and possibly of this year's project. On Wednesday we took The Boy to his new school for an induction session. He adored the facilities and wanted to get stuck in to everything. Afterwards, the three of us walked home hand-in-hand and decided to go to Barry Island. It was a glorious afternoon with temperatures at 27°C at 4pm! We anchored the kite to the parasol, played frisbee, football, built sandcastles and ate chips on the sand. It felt slightly bittersweet to go from the introduction to the school – which will put a stop to these spontaneous afternoons – to being so carefree, but the sunshine soon wiped that feeling away.)

171. I will fit! (Packing for Britmums Live! and The Boy was trying to squash the important things into his rucksack, like him!)

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172. Contortionist (Today was the first day of the Britmums Live! blogging conference. I took a lot of photos of yummy food and various bit and pieces, but thats not what my 365 is about. Instead I've chosen a photo of my shattered boy who went to the Maritime Museum with daddy and spent a restless night in his Premier Inn bed.)

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173. Famous? (Another full on day of blogging advice in excellent sessions, and also brand schmoozing in The Hub. Coca-Cola have a stand here offering personalised labels; this makes me chuckle!)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
akiltandacamera.com

Days 146-152 of Project 365

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Project 365

146. Manipulation (We took The Boy over to Techniquest in Cardiff Bay as we'd recently bought a yearly pass, there's so much to explore there and he loves it. Transferring the cargo from the quayside to the ship proved quite tricky, but he managed it!)

147. Pondlife (It was Nana's birthday today and so we took her over to Dyffryn Gardens as she hasn't been there in a decade or two. I surprised her by meeting my sister there with my niece and nephew, and the three children had great fun racing around the grounds, much to mum's delight. The ponds have wonderful examples of pond-skaters, water boatmen and newts there so we got to cross off another of our 50 Things!)

148. Splosh! (A tiresome day today with many things which needed doing before packing to come away on holiday, a tired little boy and a crotchety mummy. By the time Mr. TBaM came in, I handed The Boy over to him for half an hour's splashing fun/peace and quiet.)

149. Fountains (On the way down to Bridport on holiday, we called into Montacute House, a National Trust place in Dorset. Beautiful venue and stately grounds were in abundance, unfortunately there wasn't a huge amount there for children, despite the advertised adventure playground. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs though.)

150. Engine Driver (We returned to Pecorama, a place we'd first been two years ago, to explore the gardens, play areas and most importantly the miniature steam railway. The Boy was very intrigued with how it all worked.)

151. Snappy Dresser! (A morning walk down to West Bay beach at 10am and a straw hat was already a necessity with the blazing sunlight, long may it continue. Maybe The Boy is actually surveying the cliffs at Broadchurch?)

152. From Where We Stand (Or should that be sit? A rare photo of the three of us, even if it is only my feet. No trip to Dorset is complete without a few hours on the imported sandy beach at Lyme Regis! We built sandcastles and ate fish and chips on the beach, followed by an ice-cream on the promenade. The perfect end to our holiday.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
akiltandacamera.com

Country Kids: New Year's Day On The Beach

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The weather has been foul for the best part of the past fortnight. It managed to not pour down on Christmas Day (which was kind of it), but by and large it's either been pouring down as if Armageddon was about to occur, or it's been devoid of all colour. I'm not sure which I dislike least; I think the incessant rain was preferable as at least then the wellies get used!

It was beginning to feel like we'd never see the sky with any form of vibrancy in it again, until we woke up on New Year's Day to a world of blue skies and brilliant sunshine! As Mr. TBaM said, "It's almost like the weather's trying to make a New Year's Resolution!"

We donned our wellies, coats, scarves, hats and gloves and headed down to Barry Island.

Along with every other person in south Wales!

I seriously cannot remember the last time I saw the island so chockablock with traffic; not even on the hottest day in the Summer was it that bad (and I'd know because I was there then as well!). However we persevered and did actually manage to park on double yellow lines find a parking space quite close to the beach!

The Boy and I set to building a sandcastle, only the little monkey soon demolished it repeatedly at which point we decided to dig a hole instead. It was to be of epic proportions!

new years day 1

We were quite a way up to the top of the beach but as you can see, after a while we hit the water table. Did this stop us? Nope, we kept on digging and in the end The Boy took his bucket down to the water's edge to increase our supply.

new years day 2

It was at this point that I went to get some chips for us. Again, I wasn't the only person with that idea: six chippies on Barry Island and three had run out of chips, with a thirty minute wait in all the others. In the end, thanks to 'Big Dave', we did get our supply and we sat in the car with rosey cheeks and drippy noses munching on big, fat, chips!

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coombe mill

Also linked up to No Such Thing As Bad Weather's Outdoor Play Party

Learning for Life

Country Kids: Sandcastles

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I've noticed recently that we've stopped making the effort to go and do things on the weekends. We saunter along from household chore to supermarket trip to ironing pile, and at the end of the weekend have very little to show for it. Enough now! The year is passing us by and we're missing out on family time together.

So when Sunday dawned and I excitedly drew back the curtains, I saw… rain. Yet again. Bored of this I decided we'd hit the beach anyway and put The Boy's waterproof trousers and wellies in the porch next to the bucket and spade. We did a last minute toilet trip and the sun came out. A quick change of clothes later (with wet weather gear firmly in the boot) and we headed off for Barry Island.

By the time we'd managed to find a parking space (four laps of the island!) the sun was blazing down and we had a really pleasant two hours building sandcastles, paddling in the sea and eating chips!

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Weekend Activity: First Weekend of Spring

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Saturday morning beckoned, bright and sunny. It was a refreshing change to the grey drudgery of the past week and so, after a slow start to the day, we headed down to Cardiff Bay Barrage to get some fresh air and blow the argumentative cobwebs away.

The Boy is becoming so confident on his scooter, it's fabulous to see. I just need to get daddy to have more confidence; he rushes over everytime he stumbles or crashes, whereas I'm the one who is standing back and saying "stand up then, brush your hands down!" to The Boy. It's hard work, but maybe it's the teacher in me, he'll cry if he's hurt himself and he's got a helmet on to protect his head. It's working too, so those parents who smirk at it can bugger off!

While on the barrage I managed to take these two photos, which I'm quite proud of. There's a lot of interesting angles and lines down there: the whole barrage is a real work of art. In the right hand picture, the 1950s style hut is actually a bright pink, but it didn't come out properly so I desaturated it.

And so to Sunday: I declare the 2012 season of sandcastle building well and truly open!

We built sandcastles, we went paddling in the sea (in our wellies), we played football, we ate sausage and chips on the beach (I had cheese and chips), we scooted along Barry Island promenade and we had a Mr. Creemy ice-cream. It was a balmy 15°C; madness for a Sunday in February!

When we came home, we decided to get a head start on planting some seeds we'd been sent.

I have a feeling that The Boy is going to love gardening this year.

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I'm linking this up to Country Kids

Sunday 26th February 2012 – 'Sandy Feet' (57/366)

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One of my favourite photo projects that gets linked up to Project 366 is from Peg at 'The Tao of Me'. An American photographer, married to a Scottish builder and living in Brazil, Peg has come up with the fabulous theme of 'From Where I Stand' for her own photo a day project. I love the editing style and the different photos that she comes up with, of basically her feet.

Hopefully, she doesn't mind but I've decided this week's theme is going to be emulating hers. And so I bring you my first 'From Where I Stand', or in this case; 'sit'!

Sunny, Sandy Sunday

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There's not much more relaxing after a long, hot afternoon at the beach that a cool shower to wash away the salt, sea, sand and sun-cream. Even more relaxing is knowing that your little one is dropping off happy and clean but exhausted next door on nice, fresh bedding.

It has been sweltering today, a marked contrast from a fortnight ago on The Boy's 2nd birthday when it widdled it down torrentially all day. The sky has been azure blue with a few wispy clouds here and there, accentuated by the criss-cross of the jet planes ferrying holiday makers around the world.

Of course on a day like today there is only one place to go: Barry Island (our nearest blue-flag sandy beach).

Only that's where everyone else in south-east Wales had decided to go. The road leading in and out was chockablock with cars crawling along at a snail's pace. I veto-ed the decision to go to the usual Whitmore Bay (the Island's main beach) and the alternative Jackson's Bay; instead we ventured into the unexplored Watchtower Bay and Old Harbour. At the top of the bay lay the skeletons of old boats ready for exploring by curious little boys at low tide, at the entrance to the harbour is a huge expanse of silky soft, golden sand.

Better still there were about ten families over the entire ares! Whereas around on the main Barry Island beach, we'd have had to fight the seagulls, rubbish and chavs to find a metre square to set up on! The cross is where we set up 'camp', in the protection of the harbour walls.

We had great fun! The Boy, daddy (especially his ears) and I were slathered in our new sun-cream (UltraSun Professional Protection) and built a whole load of sand-castles, trotted down to the fast-receeding water's edge and paddled away to our hearts content.

Definitely going there again as opposed to the usual beach; no chavs and no fairground noise!

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