James was up exceptionally early and needed feeding before 7:00am. Good old Grandma Lindsey was on the case though so we had a bit of a lie in.
When we got out of bed we were treated to a lovely surprise – we saw a red squirrel right outside the villa. It dashed across the grass, ran up a palm tree, ran down again and then disappeared. It was brief but magical. We certainly didn’t expect our first red squirrel sighting to involve a palm tree!
Having eaten breakfast early, James was keen to burn off some energy so he set off scooting in his Peter Rabbit onesie. It was quite a sight.
After a small tumble and not being sure if he could make it up to the top of the field, James was soon scooting like a professional. He’ll be doing tricks and jumps before we know it.
He decide he was going to race around the whole field. We set up a finish line fashioned out of two chairs and some palm leaves, but he kept on changing the course so we never knew where to end it. Eventually he decided to come down the finishing line we’d created and proudly smashed through the palm leaves. He was the winner!
During this time there was a fire alarm drama… but it was nothing to panic about. It was just Grandma Lindsey burning some toast. I guess that’s what happens when you put your toast in for a second time… Apparently she was only trying to brown it up some more but forgot it was in the machine.
In true Hobbit fashion, James announced he was hungry again so we prepared a second breakfast for him. The weather was absolutely glorious (unlike the previous day) which meant that Megan was able to enjoy the sunshine and top up her tan (and even out her tan-lines) while James tucked into his food.
After breakfast, Genevieve joined the in with the scooting and became friends with one of the little girls in another villa. She fell over being a bit silly on her scooter and scuffed her knee (and ripped her leggings in the process). It would no doubt be the first graze of many this week, but she was very brave about it.
They soon grew tired of the scooters so out came the new Nerf guns. It took them both a while to get used to the motorised firing, but once James worked it out his face lit up. The downside was having to constantly pick the bullets back up again as they only held six rounds. They shot impressively far and accurately though!
Uncle Ben and Auntie Daisy were coming for a day visit – the excitement from both kids was palpable when we told them. For the hour leading up to their arrival we were having to provide updates on where they were, where they’d be in five minutes, and how long it would be before they got there. We finally got a text saying they were off the ferry – the excitement then reached fever pitch. They grabbed their Nerf guns and ran over to the car park to lay in wait.
The kids did a terrible job of hiding in the bushes but Uncle Ben and Auntie Daisy played along and were suitably “surprised” when they got ambushed. With the initial excitement over and hugs administered all round, we engaged in the usual “how was your journey” pleasantries before Megan and Auntie Daisy got stuck into some serious nostalgia. It was Daisy’s first time back to the site since the Hollingdale clan’s last holiday in the early 2000s so there was lots to assess and review.
The plan for the day was a visit to Compton beach. With everyone suitably slathered in sun cream and the buckets and spades loaded in to the car, we set out in convoy for the seaside. The route took us past Freshwater where we’d had quite a soaking yesterday. What a difference a day makes – the sun was out in full force and yesterday’s deserted seafront was so full of people it was almost unrecognisable.
We headed further west along the coast and took in the full majesty of the cliffs and sea view. The gently rolling hills looked absolutely stunning in the sunshine. Glorious!
We parked and headed down to the sea. The beach was busy but, thankfully, nothing like the pictures of rammed seafronts we’d seen in the media over recent weeks. I had to giggle at the steps leading down – there were no signs to impose this, but the great British public were very politely enforcing a one-way system. People wanting to come up waited patiently at the bottom while those coming down did their best to shimmy along as quickly as possible. Smiles and appreciative nods were shared – it was delightfully charming to watch.
Auntie Daisy found us the perfect spot on the beach so we set up camp and started to have fun. We’d decided ahead of time that it was going to be a paddling day rather than a swimming-in-the-sea day, but we instantly regretted that decision when we saw how calm and shallow the water was. Oh well – we would just have to come back on another occasion! Genevieve resolved the issue by stripping off and running around naked. Brilliant!
I instantly went into “beach mode” and started digging a sandcastle and moat while the others did sensible things like laying out blankets and making sure the children hadn’t run into the sea. The tide was coming in so my initial castle got washed away very quickly, so I moved further up the beach and started again. The downside of this was that I needed a much, much longer moat to reach the sea. I can’t say I minded though – I was having fun. When your job involves being stuck behind a desk all day, there’s a very simple pleasure to be had in just digging a hole, but I was definitely going to sleep very well later!
James decided he was going to help with the moat and, in his own words, he said that he’d “made a big gap for the tide”. He wasn’t wrong – it was a cracking moat.
Grandma Lindsey and Grandad Lawrie went fossil hunting while the rest of us were busy with sandcastles. They came back with their arms full of likely looking stones, but sadly they’d forgotten their fossil hammer so we won’t know what was inside the stones for a while yet.
As the morning wore on we continued having a great time paddling and splashing in the sea, building sandcastles and finding interesting stones.
I disappeared for a while to try and record something romantic ahead of our wedding anniversary tomorrow. You’ll have to tune back in tomorrow to discover what I did.
Before we knew it, the tide had encroached and our blanket was close to getting wet, my castle and moat were almost at the point of being washed away, and Genevieve had finally had enough of rampaging around the beach in the nude.
So it was back to the cars (negotiating the one-way stairs again) and home to the cottage. The kids were hosed down in bath while Grandad Lawrie set up the BBQs for a late lunch.
But disaster – Grandad Lawrie had forgotten the fire lighters for his new toy (a camping cooker called a Cobb). Luckily I was on-hand and made a small fire from sticks and kindling (fire lighting was one of my favourite activities as a Scout), and before we knew it the coals were nicely smouldering. Phew!
The BBQ was a great success and enjoyed by all (apart from Genevieve who spent a lot of the time shrieking because of a wasp). You simply can’t beat a BBQ in the sunshine. We also tucked in to some marinated chilli garlic from the Garlic Farm. Yummy!
I went for a sleep – given my antics on the beach you won’t be surprised to hear that I was down for a solid couple of hours. While I slept the rest of the gang went for a scooting explore around the site followed by a trip to the adventure playground. Genevieve and James utterly adored being swung on the giant swing.
Have headed back to the cottage, Auntie Daisy and Uncle Ben instigated a game of “piggy in the middle” with their Nerf Vortex.
Thankfully the kids enjoyed the game – normally one of them complains about being in the middle. Also, Uncle Ben has a track record of accidentally hitting one of the children with the Vortex, but today they escaped unscathed.
I woke up just in time to say goodbye to Auntie Daisy and Uncle Ben. They headed off to catch a ferry back to the mainland followed by a long drive home. I’m impressed they visited as a day trip but it’s a lot of driving for one day.
Grandma Lindsey was attempting to clean the Cobb from lunchtime. I really cant’ say we’re converts to Cobbs just yet – it looked like a right mission to clean! Grandad Lawrie was straight on the internet buying disposable liners to make it easier for next time. Boys and their toys.
The children ended up having breakfast for dinner (toast and cereal) as they ate lunch so late. Then it was time for baths, stories and bed. They both went down much quicker than the previous two nights as we had given in and officially moved them into separate rooms (thank you Grandma and Grandad).
We tucked in to picky bits for dinner as we were all still stuffed from lunch. We’ve only been here for two and a bit days, but it feels like so much longer. I love holidays!
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