More Cornwall

I'm on a roll, so I might as well keep going.

On Mondays, I tend to have some spare time in the morning between E's school drop-off and the beginning of C's sports class. Right now our schedule seems just right. C goes to playgroup Tuesdays and Thursdays and we do varying activities (library, park, etc) on Weds/Fri. Obviously this will all come to an end in late June, but I'm enjoying it while I can. And I'm sure I'll get into a similar groove in N. London.

One of the cool things we did in Cornwall was visit a miniature steam railway. It had a good amount of things for kids to do. Miniature golf, other miniature train tracks (all ride-on), go-karts, pedal tractors, canoes for paddling around the lake, and an adventure playground. Unfortunately, rain arrived and got us pretty wet, so we didn't enjoy it as much as we could have, but we still had a good time.

Yeah, it says minimum age 6 years, but E crossed it just fine. And he didn't get wet. This was part of the smaller, initial playground next to the station where we caught the steam train.

Cousins and children and dog all waiting to board.

E enjoyed watching the locomotive on the turntable. Found out later that the guy driving the engine was the owner of the place.

Little Red Riding C getting a hole in 20.

Rainy go-karting. These things went fairly fast!

After we got back to the holiday cottage, we built up a nice fire in the woodstove and played cards. E and I (and B) have been reading 101 Dalmatians, the original unabridged version. It's a long book for a 5 year old. He sometimes reads independently, sometimes takes turns with us. He's enjoying it.

E's school sends a lot of books home. Six per week. So he has a lot of books to read, but he's always up for a challenge. Besides, I have great memories of 101 Dalmatians.

So, that's pretty much it for Cornwall. We had a fantastic time, rain or shine, and are planning to go back in two years.

When we do, we'll probably visit the Eden Project again. We had a good time there! Those domes are biomes. One's a rainforest and the other is a Med-type climate.

C and her cousins took most of their clothes off partway through our walk around the very hot rainforest biome!

I must say, being inside felt a bit like walking onto the set of Logan's Run. Minus all those cool zippy gadgets and the very 70s garb.

There was a small natural playground outside and a fair amount to do here. Things tended to be quite hands-on and child friendly. There was also a very neat (and long, and high, and terrifying) zip wire, but that was for adults and you had to pay. Maybe next time...

Big Changes, and Cornwall

It's been a bit busy around here. Our landlady gave us notice earlier this year, and we're due to move out in early July. We looked hard at renting another place around here, but prices are high... too high for us to be comfortable in the long term.

So we're moving further afield, to North London. In with B's parents, to be exact. We're excited about it, although we'll really miss this area (and E's school...). At the same time, we'll be close to family and B has old friends in the area. In any case, living in a house will be nice... and, ironically, we'll have slightly more floor space than we did in this flat. We'll see where we are in a year and then reevaluate.

Anyhow... Cornwall pics! We decided to visit Cornwall with B's parents, S, a family friend, and B's brother and sister-in-law (and their two kids). We were all under one roof and it worked out splendidly. Oh, and we had a dog with us as well.

Our first visit to Perranporth beach. The kids were excited. This beach was a three minute walk from the holiday house and had a wonderful lagoon (dependent on tides) that the kids enjoyed splashing in. And that rock in the distance? E and I climbed it.

See that pole on the top of the rock? We went up there. Pictured is a (mostly) natural seawater pool. We didn't swim in it because it was rainy that day (despite being sunny when we arrived, and then sunny later on). Maybe next time we will.

My favorite part of the trip was a three mile coastal hike we took with all the kids. The youngest (2) was in a back carrier, but E (5) and C (3) both made it the entire way! There were lots of cliffs like these, with tin or copper mines here and there (safely capped off or collapsed), so we had to be careful not to run or slip.

Along the way we found lots of neat things, like this nearly-hidden entrance to a mine.

By the end, even E's formidable energy was dented.

We also had plenty of time on the beach, and some sun as well.

The kids loved every minute. We mostly stayed outdoors but we also went to an aquarium in Newquay and to a big indoor swimming pool with waterslides.

I'm out of time, but I'll post more pictures next time. Coming up: our trip to a steam railway in Cornwall, and a lovely, impromptu weekend in Norfolk.