Today we took the children out for the day, We had every intention to take them to Cheddar caves and made it to the Gorge Where I used to frequent with my family when I was a child but unfortunately in the past 5 years since any family member went last things have really changed.
It has stopped being the free to cheap day out where you can stroll and enjoy the beauty of the Gorge with a picnic among the rocks and the long 300 odd steps up the ladder to the top and back. The summers of my youth seeing who can run to the top of the stairs has now become about making money, the place has been changed into a tourist rip off site much in the same way Longleat has since Lord Bath handed the reins over to his son.
Anyway after walking down to the shop to pay the £5 parking charge and coming to the realization that what was once a free walk up the gorse now was charged at from the best we could make out from the appalling signage the cost of walking up the gorge was now £15 per person! so we asked a local about the museum to be told its charged too he wasn’t sure but a family member who came to visit them ended up paying £200 to visit the caves and the museum and they were a family of 3! so after that we decided as beautiful as the Gorge is it was not worth the same as a family holiday to Italy so headed back up to the car a little deflated specially with the lack of any WAP service to find something local and fun we decided to do it the old fashioned way ad pulled out the map! Not oof course without first getting in some pictures of the kids in and on the rocks.
So we left the Gorge and got in the ar heading to Weston-Super-Mare and it’s beautifully golden sand beach for some sunny day fun at the beach.
By time we arrived there it was probably not at from 2:30 pm and we still hadn’t eaten our picnic lunch so we found a nice spot on an empty picnic bench and tucked into some food before hitting the little shop for buckets, Spades and of course a ball (even if it wasn’t Emily insisting on the ball this time and instead it was Thomas buying it with his poccket money!).
Now all fully ready with buckets in hand we headed to the beach intending on only going to build castles and heading to the water after the children were still fully clothed dressed for our intended hike not a day at the beach. As soon as they saw the wet sand from the descending tide it went pear shaped as fully clothed they ran to chase the escaping water. So rolling up our trousers we walked after them knowing that all chances of their clothes surviving this was a lost cause.
I don’t actually know who was worse Duncan or the kids!
they spent ages chasing the waves and finding sinking sand, other people’s sand creations and collecting sandy slop covering themselves from waist to toe in wet sandy cement loving the open messy space the low tide had left.
They did eventually find the water even if by then they had come to decide playing in the sandy slop leading to the waters edge was far more fun than jumping waves or swimming in the sea which to Tom’s shock was freezing cold.
On route back up the beach Jessica spotted a little crab trying to hide himeself away in the wet sand.
Once we got back to dryer land Jessica and Emily set about looking for the perfect castle building spot. It didn’t take them long to find it and start their little creations.
So after they had found the right spot and marked “their” work spaces they set about making their castles. Emily had chosen a heart bucket so she found herself with heart shaped castles, I went for a rather simple Volcano while Thomas did a sphinx. Jessica and daddy on the other had did a big 4 turret castle which was big enough for Jessica to sit in.
We then walked along the beach Jessica and Emily stopping to create the odd sand drawing and headed to the boat pond for them to jump in and clean themselves off.
We made it up to the pier end by now they were soaked through and all in their underwear and getting very tired so we headed back to the car.
Just as we were getting back to the car we were passed by some unusual Horse and carts…..
We ended the day in the car in changes of clothes and 3 exhausted beans talking away in the back oof the car about the day.
Emily was so cold that we found ourselves having to pull over and put her in her warmer dress and pulling out the blanket, as soon as she was warm she was out like a light until we arrived home having picked up fish and chips first.
These truly are the moments that make life worth living,
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