It was half term last week and we started by heading down to Cornwall to see our new niece: Isla Ashton. The journey down was as slow as you’d expect at the start of the school holidays. We were staying at the nearby Premier Inn to give Ian and Sarah a bit more space. We dumped our bags there and headed over for a Halloween party which the children enjoyed immensely. Emma particularly enjoyed ‘pass the pumpkin’ (anyone would think she didn’t get sweets at home) and the doughnut on a string competition! It was great to meet Isla although, at only three weeks there wasn’t much interaction. I’d forgotten how light young babies are, until you’ve held them for more than five minutes!
Unfortunately Duncan was then sick in the night (nothing to do with the doughnuts – he hadn’t eaten any!) and proceeded to sleep for almost the entirety of the next day. In the morning, Emma and I went swimming with Ian and Megan and then, in the afternoon, Christine went out with them on their bikes. Duncan rallied at dinner time, shortly after we hadn’t ordered him any!
On Monday, we headed to the beach at Porthtowan in the morning. In the afternoon, as the rain arrived we headed in Truro and, whilst I went shopping, the others went to see The Enormous Turnip at the Hall for Cornwall theatre which was a hit with the children.
Duncan was sick again that night but ate his breakfast. Still, we decided not to risk the 45 minute drive over to the Eden Project. Instead, we walked/scooted to the local garden centre/pet shop/Xmas decoration outlet. After lunch, we ventured a bit further to Heartlands. There was a slightly bizarre exhibition in the art centre with stalls from lots of local health providers/charities all seemingly running activities completely unrelated to their usual work. For example, the children potted up some bulbs with a voluntary services organisation! The massive adventure playground certainly went down well even if it was busy.
By Wednesday it was time to move on. We dropped Christine off at Exeter St Davids (she was going in to work on Thursday) and continued on to Monmouth to spend the next couple of days with the in-laws. We had a fun day out in Pontypool on the Thursday. The location was selected by hospital appointment but we then went swimming and for a stroll around Pontypool Park in the sunshine. Friday was freezing but thankfully the rain moved on as we took the children out for a go on their bikes. Duncan wasn’t in the mood but Emma finally got the hang of getting herself moving. I finally went for a run before lunch as the sun was shining and then Sue took the children to the playground whilst I did some shopping. Christine was reunited with us before the next step of our journey…