Santa at the Dock #countrykids

I know, i know christmas is over but this little outing happened just before the big day and so now is my chance to blog it. So hang in there for the last little remnant of christmassy-ness 😉

We are family members of the local canoe and kayak club. It is a fabulous club that is SUCH incredible value for money and puts on some fab courses/events and challenges throughout the year. The kids, in the winter, are often in the pool with the club and their kayaks practicing all sorts of techniques and drills. They really do love it and for what they charge ( a minimal once a year fee) for the whole family. It is probably the best value thing we do.

On the sunday before christmas (which happened to be our wedding anniversary) the club held their santa paddle in the docks. The idea for a fun and social paddle up and through the docks for mince pies and hot mulled wine and then return to the marina bar for some hot chocolate and cake. The kids were keen to have a go and we ventured off with our santa hats.

The problem was a little that my OH, who is normally super prepared, had under-estimated the weather, which whilst was glorious sunshine was really really cold! So they were a little unprepared for an hour and a bits kayaking in cold water! As i watched them go off i did wonder how long they were going to cope with being so cold!

But they did pretty well, apart from my eldest girl who ended up taking a swim! eek! and so got a ride in a long boat wrapped in the coats of some generous other rowers. They all really enjoyed it. it was fun to get down there myself and see them row. Often the events are in the evenings and so the OH, who is the keen rower, takes them and i stay at home with the younger ones.

It was lovely to see it for myself. The little girls and i wondered along the seafront, bracing ourselves against the cold before we retreated to the boat house for some lovely hot chocolate and warm up.

We spied them returning under the bridge and ran out to shout and wave at them. My boy had managed the row completely , something he was really chuffed about but both the girls had ended up hitching a ride, our youngest daughter managed to row half the distance to the mince pie stop but i think after that the thought of rowing all the way back was too much for her. I have to say i was really proud of how well they did. Im not even sure i could manage it!!

They got to get into their warm clothes and then sit snuggled in the clubhouse, hands clasping a large, frothy hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. Rosey faced, they told me their stories of the trip including the ‘swim’ 😉

We had just enough time to see the last of the sun setting on the boats in the marina and then we headed home to really get ready for the big day!!

 

 

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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A bit of a dis-aa-ster #countrykids

Its that time of year isnt it when there seems like an endless list of things to do and none of them are remotely interesting to a bunch of lively little over excited kids. This week at school has been a whirlwind of trips, nativity plays, gymnastic displays and parties. It seems like we have been rushing from one event to another. So we thought it was really important to get the kids out of the house for a bit of a run one afternoon. It was starting to get towards dusk a little.

I cannot wait until the evenings get longer!!

But we headed out and it was one of those occasions (that im sure we all have) when i thought it might have been better off staying inside! We had planned to go to a local forest but it is a bit of a drive and it wasn’t going to be doable with me needing to get back to work so we had to go for a local park that we don’t often go to. When we got their, within a couple of minutes, I remembered why we didnt go there very often!

The park is very close to a large housing estate and so get a LOT of dog walkers. Which whilst i have nothing against dog walkers, unless they don’t pick up their dog’s mess then i have a really BIG problem with them. No, we have a dog and to be honest he isnt the best with other dogs. He is fabulous with the kids and people in general but with other dogs it is all a bit handbags and whilst i dont think he would actually fight another dog..what inevitably happens if things it a bit agro with another dog is that my kids in their well meaning ‘lets help the dog’ way start to run up to him, especially my three year old who has NO fear of dogs at all.

I have told them all so many times the dangers of getting in between dogs that are going for each other. But they seem unable to help themselves which properly freaks me out.

So…we started out trying to head round the park and we ran into a whole bunch of dog walkers and one particularly snarly dog that wanted to have a bit of our dog…once we got past them we then headed to a hilly part of the park. One of my girls decided to roll down the bank and came back to me a few minutes later saying she thought she had rolled in dog muck…!!!

It started to rain and so we decided to make a u turn and head back to the car..we spied a pretty little plant on the way back and ventured into the leaves to see it when ….squissh..you guessed it..more dog muck and our three year old fell over in the dirt just missing it.

A little frayed around the edges..and angry at people who don’t pick up their dog’s mess. We headed back to the car and then home to recover with a movie, pyjamas and tea.

Phew.

A bit of a country kids dis-a-ster..but we made it out there!!

🙂

 

Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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Autumn with a hint of winter #countrykids #fridayflashback

It is getting colder isnt it? That snap of winter is in the air and the gloves and scarfs are starting to litter the porch and the shoe cupboard. It is no use trying to hold it of. I am not a massive fan of winter but im trying to embrace it a little and not grumble too much.

So in a bid to enjoy some of the first frosts of the season, i went and took some autumnal pictures!! 🙂 lol

Catching the colours before they really do change!


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Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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Bubbles, flip flops and windfalls #countrykids

This week has been a strange one, the come down from a crazy run up to the girls ballet show, a horrible flu like cold thing and our car needing some attention ‘dans le garage”  😉

We scheduled in the car for its day of treatment on a day when i didnt have quite so much to-ing and fro-ing. Me and the littlest one got on with getting used to a day at home. Which is not something that happens very often. We have visitors this weekend so we did some baking and she did lots of ‘helping!’ We did some washing (yeah exciting stuff for a toddler) and i got her to help me sort out clothes into piles. It is amazing how well she knows everyone’s clothes!! Then we made ourselves some toast and jam and headed out into the garden.

Our garden in the winter is a bit of sorry state of forget…its not a whole lot better in the summer if im honest (sshhh) but at least spring and summer getting her glad rags on and giving them a bit of a shake covers up our ever-so poor horticultural skills!

But anyway we had about half hour of bubble blowing and digging in a random, bucket of earth before she discovered the hose and it all went a little down hill quite quickly! You will notice that she has the completely appropriate footwear for November…as always 😉

I did do a bit of a dizzy dance this day though…as you might notice she is wearing a cute little dress…which she has refused to wear for months and months. I had lost the receipt and resigned myself to the fact that i would just have to hand it down to someone else and ta-dah..she appeared wearing it!

Thats worth a celebratory piece of cake!!

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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the ordinary moments
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A-MAZE-ING! #countrykids #flashbackfriday

One of our favourite places to go that is local but good for a few hours of getting the kids outdoors is the National Trust property. It really is one of those places that we know inside out, its like a local park. But we love it. It has little hidden gems and is a perfect way of spending an ordinary weekend afternoon or a place to go with a group of friends and a large picnic for a special time.

I have to confess that we have only ever once ventured into the house. A lovely lady said that we could have a little handy hip shelf thing to pop our youngest on instead of using the buggy (there isn’t room). Which i did use, probably incorrectly as it was really uncomfortable and then we spent about 30 minutes running after lively toddlers and telling them not to touch anything. So i can’t really vouch for the house. Im sure its lovely. 😉

But we know the grounds really really well. Recently they have added a Maze. They have planted smallish trees and so at the moment the maze is actually quite handy as the kids run off and yet we can still see them and not spend hours trying to work out which corner they have gone round.

By the time the trees are going to be big enough for us to actually loose our kids in the maze, the kids will be old enough to not be bothered by it. I think its a fabulous addition to the grounds and the kids love it. Especially the bit where they get to the last bridge.

Our other favourite bit of Speke Hall is the fact that it basically backs on to the airport and we have, since my son was young, walked round the perimeter and watched a few planes land and take off. Lately they have added another walk which means that you can walk along side the works access to the runways and then sit on a disused part of the runway.

The new walk means that we can get down to the estuary, which was fun until we pretty much got stuck in a load of mud and had to make a swift about turn and get back to the track!

I love the new walk though. It feels a little unkempt and wild, which doesn’t really fit the house and the grounds that we know…but i think it really adds a new dimension to the place.

We still love it there and no doubt we will be back soon!

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