Five go on an adventure with their cousins

A 5.30am start this morning, which is a bit better than the 4.50am yesterday, I have to say that the clocks going back has been of absolutely no benefit to our household because child 4 is still working on last weeks time!!!!! Still the dark morning gradually lit up, our bedroom sits in the north east of our home so the early morning sun always finds the gaps in our curtains and this morning I smiled because my brother and his children were visiting, so a trip to our favourite beach called. Whilst the kettle boiled I nipped out to wake my hens and enjoy those early morning rays that just take the edge off an autumn morning. By the time our early morning caffeine had been consumed the sun was wide awake and ribbons of icy blue sky sparkled. Breakfast and a picnic to make, not even the dog stealing 5 slices of defrosting bread could dampen my spirits too much, although having to make different fillings for my children's sandwiches is a pain, guess I'll have to take my sisters advice and get the older ones to make their own!!!
Before I knew it, it was time to load the car with a picnic lunch, 4 children, 1 dog, 5 pairs of wellies,5 coats, 5 sweaters and bags full of dry clothes. And we were off. Leaving civilisation behind we journeyed into the country, surrounded by fields and woods, child 4 on the look out for his beloved cows. The sun shone through the clouds making dappled patterns on the fields and through the trees, autumn is definitely here, the trees that lined the way are now dressed in hues of red and gold. This could be our last visit to the beach this year, so we intended to enjoy every moment.

What I love about this rugged coastline is that every time we visit it is different, the storms that hit earlier this week have impacted the cliff faces and our huge rock has moved further up the beach.

 We squelched and squerched through the mud just as Michael Rosen did on his bear hunt from the car park to the beach itself and wow the tide was out and the rocks looked so flat and smooth encouraging us all the way over to where the waves washed foam over the rocks and for the first time the children and the dog could jump the waves and run away from their foamy fingers up a pebbly beach area

child 1 and 4 crossed a narrow waterway to climb on an island while the others hunted for crabs and jumped on the wraiths of seaweed that decorated the rocks to make it pop and parp.

The pools were overflowing so child 3 and her cousin spent ages daming up miniature waterfalls and rivers, oh and the fossils there were hundreds of them, just sitting there in the rocks. With so much to explore and having a two year old our ramble over the rocks and through the pools took a lot longer than usual, especially after a couple of tumbles into the pools but we did make it to the cliff path where the last few surviving blackberries were picked and eaten to stave off the hunger pangs until we made it back to the picnics.

Child 4 had a marvellous time and a picture I will carry and always be disappointed that I couldn't capture in time is of child 4 not wanting to leave my brother behind when it was time to go. My brother was on the phone to work as mum and I loaded the cars and as I turned to check where child 4 was he and my brother were strolling towards us hand in hand, my brother still on the phone and completely oblivious to the picture of uncle and nephew. Perfect.