Week 5

Following this post that I wrote at the start of the week, Week 5 of the summer holidays was (deliberately) pretty quiet and understated.

I slowed everything down for both myself AND the girls (who were pretty pooped after the busy-ness of last week anyway).  As a result we had no plans whatsoever and simply enjoyed doing what took our fancy on the day rather than trying to tick things off the list.  The girls made ‘potions’ in the garden while I baked in the kitchen.  Lots of imaginary games were invented and then played.  Oh, and we started getting things ready for a/ our mini-holiday in Cornwall and b/ going back to school.

We did manage to make a trip to the local library though, which is a firm favourite with the girls, and chose some new books to snuggle up on the sofa and read together:

Week 6 – Mini (family) honeymoon in Cornwall!

After it took us 6 and a half hours (instead of the usual/expected 4 hours) to reach Cornwall, everyone was pretty tired.  I felt the need to stretch my legs and get some fresh air so I left my husband and the girls to relax while I went for a lovely long stroll over Summerleaze Downs in the early evening sun:

We hiked ‘over the top’ from Crooklets Beach to Summerleaze Beach, hunting for shells, exploring rockpools and taking in the views:

We joined in with the Lifeboat Day festivities in town:

We went bowling to escape the torrential rain:

We had an exciting day trip to Tintagel to explore the land of King Arthur:

We played a fun game of crazy golf (and for once I didn’t lose!):

We spent another morning on the beach collecting more rocks and shells:

We walked down the canal with my Mum (who came to visit) and my aunt (who lives here):

Plus, on the not-so-sunny and rather more chilly/rainy days we had fun playing cards and games, reading, colouring, watching DVDs, braving the weather and pampering.  I also completed my ‘ice bucket challenge’ (though I’ll spare you the video of me shrieking like a banshee!):

And then suddenly our time in Cornwall was over 🙁  It went so fast and despite the somewhat mixed weather we had a wonderful time.

Our #happyfamilysummer and the #summerbucketlistchallenge is now over.  We did most of the stuff we set out to do, and got plenty of new ideas for next summer!  More importantly, we’ve got many happy moments to remember, and that was the whole aim of the project – to give the girls (and us!) joyful memories of time spent together as a family.

My littlest girl will soon begin her school adventure – she starts in Reception class in a few days time, and my two older girls are each moving up a year.  They’ll all be faced with new challenges and learnings, and will have to navigate the increasingly complicated social scene that is the classroom.  I hope that the fun we’ve had together over the summer (and, well, whenever we can manage it really) fills them up with enough security and confidence and self-assuredness and love that they continue to shine throughout the new school year.

Now, what shall we do in October half term…? 😉