Scarborough

On the second day of our York trip we took the train out to Scarborough for a day by the sea. The train station is at the top of the hill so there views on the way down over the bay were lovely.

After a quick fish and chip lunch (at the beach you have to), we hit the beach.

Hiding from the sun

We took it in turns taking the kids to the sea which was quite some distance away. The kids had great fun splashing in the sea and made me wish I had brought my swim suit. On the way back to the tent, we found some jelly fish on the beach, so decided to the stay on the beach after that. So the kids buried each other and then Clare. So good time had by all.

We had an early dinner on the train and then the kids were ready for bed when we got back. We had more S'mores while watching a film. Best way to spend an evening.

On the Monday morning, Clare and I both had trains at midday so we all went for a really good (and large) breakfast before Matt, El and the kids headed to the transport and Science Museum to wear them out before going home. My train was amazingly on time and not packed. So lovely weekend all round.

York

In August I meet up with Clare, Matt El and the kids in York. Clare and I spent Friday night at a lovely B&B, catching up over a bottle of wine before the meet up with the others on Saturday morning. The weather was gorgeous so we wondered around York a bit, got some lunch and found the York Gardens to have a picnic.

York Cathedral

View for our picnic.

In the gardens, they had a couple of birds of prey on display which you could hold briefly for a few pounds. I held the giant European Owl and Livvy held the little Digger owl. I think she picked the right one. The European owl was quite heavy.

European owl (looking quite small here)

In the gardens, there is the York museum which had a dinosaur trail so we spent the rest of the afternoon in there.

Livvy practicing her spelling.

Getting the trail info

Something Roman

Matt playing dress-up

Little dragon attaching daddy dragon

Sword

Dino

We dared Matt.

Real dino bones

 After getting our luggage, we headed to the AirBnB on the outskirts of the city. We spent the rest of the night chilling and making the most swamping S'mores. 

Crocs of the World

During a weekend with friends in the Cotswolds, we finally went to Crocodiles of the world. Here are some photos.

Donkey Sanctuary

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend with Matt, El, Clare and Olivia in Oxford. The cottage we rented was again a lovely place and thankfully not as hidden as the last place. On the Saturday we went into Oxford to look around. The weather was cold and miserable so we had lunch, went to Primark (Olivia get a Mikey Mouse out of me - she looked so happy when she saw him!) and then headed home. 

On Sunday before heading home, we found a donkey sanctuary. 

Nice donkey.

Olivia was a little cautious at first but seemed to enjoy. 

There wasn't much there but we had look around at the donkeys (though a few were getting quite amorous so we moved on quickly before there could be any awkward questions from little people).

Cotswolds weekend with friends

This weekend was spent in the Cotswolds with Matt, El, Clare and little Livvy. We had a different cottage to previously which of course meant we got horribly lost trying to find it. (The GPS wasn't nearly accurate enough at the end.)

The weather was a bit miserable on Saturday so we went to Gloucester Quays and got some lunch.

Because we can.

Loves her pasta

A lot.

Livvy was quite happy feeding herself so we could also eat.

After lunch, the weather had cleared up enough to take a walk along the cannel before doing some shopping. Although you wouldn't think it from some of the photos. At least it stopped raining.

Day time, I promise.

It was a bit windy.

We had fun getting Livvy to walk in the wind. She loves it and giggled as much as we did. But she does only have little legs so went in the carrier.

The gang

After a walk we did a little shopping (I think I am completely finished with Christmas presents now) and Matt and I had fun putting hats on the kid. (We were left unsupervised!)

Not a fan. Though so cute.

We had a quiet night in, with snacks (no dinner needed after a giant lunch), DVDs and a fire when Livvy had gone to sleep. We really are party animals. 

After cleaning out of the cottage, we stopped at Stow-on-the-Wold as it was only a 10 min drive away and wondered around.

Our cottage.

Chilling.

We stopped in a cafe and got Livvy some lunch. She really enjoys looking at pictures of herself on the phone.

Waving at herself

Giggles. 

Not sure how this one happened.

Matching jumpers.

The trip back wasn't too bad though I hit some nasty traffic on the way back Clare's. Looking forward to the next catch up.

And today I managed to get my USA visa approved so looking forward to some travel next year. :)