Saturday 24 August 2013

Free your mind


This little blog has been held in my holding bay for several weeks as I struggled to master efficient uploading of all the beautiful photos that I snapped. As the weather is so rubbish today (damp and windy where I am), I thought I'd share some of our lovely adventures in Cornwall in July.

Enjoy!!

For weeks now I have been longing for a holiday, time to be free from the rigours of routine and the confinements of the house. Having said that things are always easier in the Summer months when the weather is warmer and your can leave your doors and windows open all day and feel the fresh breeze of the air circulating and sense the bright warm rays beaming in at different times of the day. Aaaaarrrr  find myself gazing into space at the mere thought of those dreamy days.......

Well a couple of months back I saw an advert in 'The Mother Magazine' (THE best parenting magazine that exists), for a caravan on a family site in Cornwall, £120 a week....well you can't go wrong for £120, can you?
I enquired straight away and got the ball rolling on a couple of potential dates and then before I knew it, my holiday was booked and upon us.
Well now, jet setting to a caravan in Cornwall with three children is quite an adventure as a single parent but not one to be deterred from, I mean, caravanning is quite a different experience from my usual tenting pursuits, tenting to me is camping, staying in a caravan is most certainly not :-)

It's four hours to where we were going in Cornwall, four long hours trying to concentrate on road signs and ensuring that you take the right junctions on and off the various motorways, four hours after a night out with friends until the small hours....four hours spotting Eddie Stobart lorries (did you know they all have names?) and REAL Dubbers (the old type VW camper vans), am I only only person who looks for these?

The excitement brews as the little people try to be the first to spot the sea, then there it is.......'It was me.......', 'No I saw it first......' Arrrrrrrhh

When I'm away with the children or out for the day, I do try to give myself to them completely. It's much easier when you are free from the distraction of the computer and the telephone, but oh it can be exhausting. I ended up in bed with the children at 9.30 each day playing 'In my holiday suitcase I packed....' and doing a back massage train......we did chuckle!

I do love being free from the safety of my home, free from my 'stuff', living the simple life with only the basics. You improvise often when in this situation and make do with little. Really makes you appreciate everything.
My first moment of improvisation was not being able to take the table off the wall at one end of the caravan to make a bed. (The table fits between the seats). One bed had been left set up for us so we all crammed in, it was cosy, but fun!!

There are sooo many adventures to be had in this country. Cornwall is especially good with lots of mystical, magical connections especially in the area we visited which was supposedly connected to the legendary story of King Arthur.
It is so easy to spend vast amount of money visiting tourist attractions,but there really are sooo many things that you can do for free that can be enjoyed by all the family, it just takes a little bit of imagination.

So where did we go? Well......



Pottering about on the beach was fun, there are always things to find, sandcastles to build, mud to squelch in and of course the sea to wade and swim in (if you're brave enough!)







Then there are pretty villages to walk round and seaside harbours to explore.....





The accomodation provides entertainment and adventure too!
 




Pasties to eat, crabs to catch and naughty seaguls who steal your bait but don't expect small boys to challenge them and win it back!!







 
Rocks to climb, caves to explore and flowers to smell.......






 
Fairies to find and magic to create......




 

 
Family members to love and cherish........
 
 
 
Memories to last a lifetime.....

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2 comments:

  1. Hi Kim,
    I'm so glad you had such a lovely holiday. It was extra exciting for me to read this post as we are going on holiday to the same caravan in the first week of September! Can't wait we are so excited, it is the first family holiday we have ever been on, the kids have a countdown chart and there is talk of caravans and beaches every day!

    Your photos are so lovely and cheered me up this evening x x x

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  2. Hi there
    Love this post. Family holidays are just wonderful. Your children looked like they had such a lovely time. And good on you for making an effort and creating more childhood memories for them. Loved your photos too. Thanks for sharing xx

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