Dawlish holiday

We've just got home from our family summer holiday in Dawlish in South Devon,
we are very lucky to get to stay for free in the father out of laws house,
last year we were really lucky and had amazingly good weather
we were not so lucky this time
but to be honest there is so much to do locally it wasn't a problem

if you click on this photo you can see a steam train coming into Dawlish

it was a bit wet but the beach huts still look pretty!

the go-carts at Dawlish Warren

i've meaning to get this design stitched up for ages
i knew the evenings would involve a fair bit of *yawn* tv
so i took along all my cross stitch gear

my son had good fun trying on all the helmets at Torquay Museums summer exhibition

my daughter with i think a Celt
the exhibition had props from loads of films including Gladiator
it's a really lovely Museum and very child friendly

my brave children going for a dip!

we had a lovely but tiring day at Paignton Zoo
six hours of walking!

finished my spool strip tease!!!

this was taken at the play area in Teignmouth
luckily Grandad warned us about the water play!
Wish our local park was as good as this one, it was really fantastic.

Wednesday was the worst weather day
forcasted torrential rain all day
so we headed off to the BIG CITY of Exeter on the train
my credit card got a battering!!!

here are my lovely new shoes
{i'm a croc addict!}
perfect for rock pooling!

'tis serious business!

my partner found these star fish
i've never found one before
they were so sweet

loved the hermit crab too!

Grandad found a fish - my son picked up loads of shell fish
it was a lovely day :)
and a lovely {if soggy} holiday
so nice to spend time together without the distrations of home.

Holiday Diary!

So we just got home from our family summer holiday.
We managed to pack in loads but i think we could've easily found another weeks worth of things to do!
We are very lucky that that my partner's Dad has recently bought a holiday home in Dawlish, South Devon which our family and our {unfortunately VERY NAUGHTY} dog* can stay in

saturday
***
on Dawlish beach

colourful beach huts

sunday
***

We met up with the rest of the family for sunday lunch
note all the girls hiding from the camera
I of course always hide behind the camera!

monday
***
a trip to Paignton Zoo
***
today was cloudy and we had very light drizzle
so we decided this would be the perfect day for a trip to the zoo zoo ZOO
much walking my poor legs had had enough after 6 hours!
we saw loads of great animals, it is a lovely zoo

monkey heights

prairie dogs

tuesday
***

On Tuesdays, Grandad Dave and his partner Sue,
look after her grandchildren,
so we all took a short trip on the train to Teignmouth
and then another very short trip on the ferry to Shaldon,
on our way up the hill to the smugglers tunnels and Ness Cove beach we found these fantastic hub-cap teepee's

wednesday
***
today we had a day out with Grandad Dave
first we went to see the caves at Kent's Cavern
which we all enjoyed my daughter especially
unfortunately all my photo's were rubbish
so you are spared photo's of stalagmites and stalactites!

we stopped off at a lovely pebbley beach for a pic-nic


and then we went to the Museum at Torquay
because they were having a sci-fi exhibition
my son went totally star struck when he was confronted
with props from his beloved Doctor Who
so although he looks likes he's miserable in the photo's
he was really happy honest!

"erm there's something behind you"

even Storm Troopers need hugs!

Tardis

"very scary monsters"

thursday
***
we had a much deserved lovely lazy day on the beach
picking through pebbles and shells
and building sandcastles and paddling
and watching the trains go by

Dawlish's famous Black Swans

friday

***
after a lovely week on holiday without a single arguement
and lots of fun and beautiful sunshine and cakes and icecreams
it was time to pack up and come home

my son as ever the joker
decided to steal various items and dress up
me and my daughter were creased up laughing.

*due to the naughty dog there was a bit of paintwork to repair!

"Dawlish"

we went to Dawlish in South Devon to test out my {not quite} father-in-laws holiday let

we had a great time despite the weather - which was no where near as bad as the forcast

these first two photo's were of the model village at Babbington, my son really enjoyed it the was loads to look at including a big train layout and a room of models of film characters, there was also a 4-D theatre which was fun! There were quite a lot of the model houses still under snow from the christmas display and as soon as you walked into that part you felt freezing!

after that we went to the Riviera Center in Torquay, my sons favourite thing to do is go swimming and there is a lovely pool there with a wave machine and a huge water slide, unfortunately(perhaps!) he is just a little too young to be allowed on it but he had a great time anyway.

***

Sunday was a lovely sunny day so we went down to the beach to build some sandcastles and collect shells,

i even found some sea glass.

my daft dog loves to jump in the sea - even in January!


it's a really pretty beach - in fact Dawlish is lovely.


we all had fun on the beach then went back to pack and then my son came down with a temperature , he slept on the way home and was off school monday/tuesday with i guess a virus - i controlled it with nurofen and kept my fingers crossed it wasn't an ear infection.
He was NOT happy to miss school and was quite cross with me!
on wednesday he was fine again and back to school with just a bit of a snuffle.
There seems to be more nasty than usual viruses about this year.

***
"watch the birdy"



i made this new brooch about a week ago but forgot to show it off!
i really like it so i'm keeping this one but may well make one for the shop too!


***
well i'm SO addicted to making felt brooches at the moment i even took some to sew in the evenings in Dawlish too - here's a couple i finished and i also finished off another but it's TOP SECRET for a swap - i love it and can't wait to post a picture!