Tuesday 15 September 2015

Farewell to Summer: our beachy weekend in Wells


Making the most of the later start of school for the Reception intake, we went away for a long weekend on the first weekend of September, to Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk.

This is a part of the country we'd never visited before; we've always automatically headed to the south west, to Devon or Cornwall, so it was quite exciting to try somewhere new.  We stayed in a caravan park, right next to Wells beach.  After a really good journey, broken up with a pub lunch and a run around the adjoining soft play area, we were delighted that our caravan was really luxurious and spacious.  M insisted on opening every door and exploring our new home first, and was so excited to be there. It felt really cosy, so we didn't mind that it was raining and blustery outside.

On our first full day, we rode the little train that runs along the estuary into Wells, where the locals had put on a pirate festival.  The atmosphere was fantastic; there were loads of people in costume, greeting each other with 'AAAAaaaarrrrrrr!' when they walked past. We had a lovely pub lunch in the company of a room full of raucous pirates and then a wander through the high street with all its quirky little shops before heading to the stalls and bouncy castle laid on for the pirate festival.  F finally fell asleep in the pushchair, so I had a lovely bracing walk along the estuary back to the caravan, whilst Two Boy Daddy returned on the train with M.  It had been a lovely day, but we were really hoping that the wind would die down and that we'd see some sunshine on the Sunday, because we had hired a gorgeous beach hut for the weekend and were desperate to try it out.

Going for a stroll along the estuary

On the little train.  (Yes, I am wearing a very similar coat to my boys!)

How cool is this little dude?!


Well, Sunday didn't disappoint! We were so lucky to have the perfect blue sky and lots of lovely sunshine all day long.  We spent the whole day at the beach, paddling in the chilly sea, making sandcastles, playing boules, and just enjoying our cute beach hut.  I've wanted to hire one of these huts for ages, and this one was the perfect choice.  It was equipped with everything you could need for a family day at the beach, with lovely stripey deckchairs and windbreaks, balls, buckets and spades, a kite, binoculors and loads of other fun stuff.  And I enjoyed playing house making cups of tea on the gas stove.  Even F thought it was so comfortable he had a little nap on the padded bench!


Boo! Hiding in the beach hut storage cupboard

Ahoy there!

A quiet cuddle with Daddy

We fetched a picnic from the Beach Hut cafe and munched it behind our windbreak, feeling a little smug that, for once, we were the ones with all the nice equipment (we're usually the family who forgets the towels and brings the wrong clothes!).  I had a whale of a time snapping away with my camera, and got some nice shots that capture our lovely day.

It really felt like a day to mark the end of the summer, and the end of an era, before M started school.  One of those happy days that you know you will remember forever.  That bluer than blue sky and the tang of the sea air really was good for the soul, and I made sure I drank it all in before we headed back home to start school and Autumn.

Us four

All snuggled up in the Mei Tai

Beachcombing
 
Just us

 
Sunflare behind Beach Hut 66

Our little gang





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