I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside
Today was a good day – Sarah went downstairs with the little one when he woke up at 7am and I had a bit of extra sleep until 9am. We try to take it in turns to get up early with him, depending on what shift we are both on and today was my turn for a few extra zzzzzs! Although a 3 hours lie in would almost be enough to make it a great day all by itself, the other highlight of today was a day trip to Steamer Point.
Highcliffe Castle / Steamer Point is somewhere we’ve been going for many years and is one of our nearest sandy beaches that also has some nice walks around it too – and a decent tearoom at the Castle to boot. If you’ve never been there before it’s down in the direction of the New Forest and takes us about 1hr 20mins from our house in Reading, so is ideal day trip material.
I think it’s easy as a parent to get caught up in the day-to-day monotony of life – breakfast, lunch, dinner, nappy changes and naps, with everything fitting in to a routine culminating in bed time and a slow exhale of breath and something alcoholic. This signifies you have once again nailed this parenthood lark and have succeeded in getting everyone through another day, just about in one piece (physically if not mentally!). So from time to time it’s important to do something different when you can (and the weather permits!).
We got down there just after midday today and, as per usual, realised we had no change for the parking machine! Fortunately these days you can download an app and pay for your parking on that. For some reason, app based parking machines are ALWAYS located in an area where you can’t get Internet signal. So after a few minutes strolling around waving my phone in the air trying to summon the gods of 4G, the app loaded and I was successfully fleeced of a few quid. Boom.
Next up was the Castle tea room. Unfortunately the little one has recently decided that he no longer likes high chairs, so after sitting in it for 4 minutes he said his usual ‘click, click, mummy, click, click’ whilst frantically gesturing at his groin area like a randy, desperate mime artist on a first date.
Once he had been uncoupled from the chair of great heights he spent the rest of lunch wandering around the grass, swinging from things like a baby monkey, falling over his own feet and trying to befriend dogs, while occasionally popping back for bits of cucumber and cheese sandwich!
Fortunately we only had baguettes for lunch today (everything that required warming up would take 45 minutes we were told!!) so we took it in turns to wander round after him, to make sure he didn’t fall in the sea or get eaten by a large dog.
A very pleasant stroll through the clifftop walk followed with a plethora of photo opportunities abounding.
Little one has got confused as to what ‘smile’ means lately so now responds to that request by grinning like a deranged Cheshire cat and closing his eyes tightly. Considering my own smiling face has looked identical for the past 25 years we’ve really got no idea where he has learnt that look from! To get a decent photo now, we have to be far more stealthy and catch him while his smile is just building and before he has closed his eyes – it we were living in the pre-digital age we would literally have returned from the chemist with packets upon packets of the same photo but with slightly differing facial expressions!
Every dog in the local area made an appearance during our 20 minute walk and Joshua made attempts to engage each of them in conversation. Joshua enjoys barking and jumping when communicating with canines and becomes a little distressed whenever the dog wanders off – until the next dog comes along and all is forgiven.
Walk complete and on to the sandy beach we go, conveniently pretty empty and basked in sunshine. We did a nice little family feet shot, as inspired by Finding Our Feet before dipping our toes in the ever-so-slightly chilly sea. And by ‘slightly chilly’ I mean that my testicles shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Fun times were had all round and lots of lovely photos taken, just in case this was the last sunny day in Britain of little one’s childhood.
Not unexpectedly, little one was a touch miffed when we had to leave and he had to consequently stop digging. If you’ve read my previous posts you’ll know he isn’t a fan of stopping digging, resulting in him needing to be carried across the thick, fluffy sand for about 74 miles back to the car, like an almost lame donkey carrying a wriggling sack of potatoes up to the penthouse suite at the Burge in Dubai.
Upon reaching the top of the 92 steps back up to the car park I felt like Neil Armstrong plonking the stars and stripes into the surface of the moon, but significantly less bouncy. I gave a short speech, thanking my family and friends, before collapsing into the car as if the wind machine has been turned off from one of those giant flapping balloon men.
And that was that – lovely day all round and I would definitely recommend a trip down that way if you are near the area and looking for a sandy beach, decent food and a nice country walk!
PS: There’s also a lovely beachside cafe a bit further down, which is called something a bit like ‘The Drunken Crab’ or ‘The Laughing Octopus’ and does a lovely pulled pork in brioche bun. However, given my abysmal memory it could be called ‘The Itchy Crab’ for all I know…
Such great photos!! Thanks for sharing. It's so lovely to get an insight into your days! #bloggerclubuk
What a great day out, I can see why digging all day would be fun, how dare you spoil the fun, least all the carrying classes as weight exercise!? on #BloggerClubUK
Oh what gorgeous photos! Looks like a brilliant family day out. You are brave for going into the sea!! my husband works evenings so we both take turns for a lie in too, isn't it glorious?! #BloggerClubUK
Thanks Ursula! Was a lovely place to go on a rare sunny day!!
I was feeling a bit light headed and heavy chested by time I reached the top!! If that's what exercise is I think I'll give it a miss ?? Thanks for reading!
Lie ins are the most glorious feelings these days!! Even if it is until 9am instead of midday when I was at uni ?? Thanks for commenting!
So funny I love it. Brilliant imagery too. Super cute pics, looks like a fab family day out. I’m following that made me chuckle 🙂 #KCACOLS
It is a lovely place for an easyish day out! Thanks for reading and the lovely comment!
Sounds like a lovely place to visit. He’s a cute little boy. My nephew went through a similar phase of grinning like a psycho for every picture.
I’m not sure where the maniacal grinning comes from!! As with everything else, hopefully it’s a phase!! Thanks for commenting!
He is so cute! I can imagine him grinning all along! #KCACOLS
Awwww thanks!! We do think he’s a little cutie, but we’re a bit biased!! Thanks for reading and hosting!
Lovely photos – I love a trip to the beach! Mine is also a huge fan of digging – even in a park sandpit the other day he had a huge tantrum when we had to leave! Let’s hope that wasn’t actually the last sunny day in Britain! #KCACOLS
Digging and tantrums definitely go hand in hand!! I’m sure Summer will kick in really soon…
Love the picture this looks amazing!! I’m not far from Reading (live in Southampton) but never heard of this place before! Mine love nothing more than digging things up and swinging on stuff too. #KCACOLS
If you’re near Southampton then this is really close to you! Would definitely recommend for a very nearby day trip for you – let me know if you try it!
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It sounds like a great day! Lovely photos too – I especially like the one at the water’s edge, just contemplating. 🙂 #KCACOLS
It really was a lovely day – even the weather was nice, which in itself is a minor miracle!! Little one loved the sea even if he did fall over in it and got soaked! Thanks for the comment
Gorgeous photos, looks like you had a lovely time! #KCACOLS
Yeah we had a great time. Thanks for the lovely comment!
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Fabulous photos! Sounds like a great day. I too have a boy that insists on talking to every dog we meet… #KCACOLS
Have you found one that talked back yet?! Thanks for reading!
Ah what a lovely day! I love the pic of everyone’s toes 🙂 it’s amazing how toddlers dont know how to smile properly haha #KCACOLS
It was a top day out to be fair and relatively stress-free!! I nicked the feet in the sand idea but it turned out quite nice so I’ll take that! Thanks for the comment!
The park and the beach look absolutely lovely! I have been wanting to go to a park lately but it keeps raining here on the weekends. But we do go to the beach next week. It looks like he had such a fun time at the park. And likes the sand between his toes. #KCACOLS
Hopefully your beach trip is sunny and relaxing!! Thanks for the lovely comment!
I really love to be beside the seaside too, you are so lucky you can visit the beach in one day, living in the Midlands means we have a fair trek to any kind of seaside. I love your rendition of the day, it made me laugh several times, I think all children like the eyes closed big grin smile at some stage…I think the next stage is, the tongue hanging out! Just one thing, I really really hope there is no pub anywhere called the Itchy Crab!!
I’m determined to find an Itchy Crab now!! It is definitely nice to be able to get to the coast in an hour or so, especially as you can never predict the weather more than an hour or two in advance!! Thanks for your comment.
I love the trips to the beach too. I used to live near the sea back in Peru so I miss that a lot. Living now in London, I don’t have the time to do this as much and I really miss it. This place looks amazing. I will make a not of it. I love your photos, especially the one of you 3 stand up showing your feet. It is very cute. Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS. 🙂
Thanks for the lovely comment. It is a really nice place to visit but probably not quite as exciting as Peru! Thanks for hosting again – top job!
That does sound like a fab day! I had a lie in today until 9am so know the feeling! The beat trip looks great too. Thanks for linking to the #BinkyLinky
Looks like a fab day out beautiful photos thanks for linking to the #binkylinky