A Thoroughly British Holiday

There were a lot of changes here in The Mummy Diary house during the summer holidays, with life so busy it meant I hadn't managed to plan any time away for us.

I knew I wanted to take the children to the coast though, so I decided to take them back to one of my old childhood haunts, Mablethorpe on the Lincolnshire Coast.

It was busier than I had expected, with the streets, arcades and shops bustling with people. The beach was packed and it was hard to find a space that wasn't occupied. Although this would normally have bothered me, it made my heart swell, that so many people had come back to a place I once loved and that for some years had lost its appeal to many.

We spent a good few hours playing in the arcades, eating ice cream and playing on the beach. However, before long it was time to head back to our chalet to clean ourselves up, so that we could head out to the local fish and chip shop for some traditional seaside food.

We were staying in Trusthorpe just between Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea, it is a quiet little village with a few caravan parks dotted along the coastline.

Our chalet at Seacroft Holiday Estate was every bit the 70s classic from the outside, however it had been refurbished on the inside, with a new kitchen, sofa and telly and comfy beds to sleep in. The bath was another story, with my 5'10 frame being unable to even lie down, but I laughed about it and there was a shower block just across the park which I didn't realise until it was too late.

I managed though and it was the perfect place for us to stay, with the beach just a short walk through the estate it meant there were no roads to navigate and instead we were just straight onto the sand.

We headed down to the beach about 10am and spent the whole day on it. Running, jumping, making sandcastles and playing in the sea, we even spotted some seals in the sea. We had a picnic and my son made friends, it was just perfect and the archetypal British holiday of my childhood, it seemed it was equally as great for two of todays technology loving children.

We went back to the beach after we'd had some tea just as the sun was setting, it was empty apart from a few people having an evening dip and some curious seagulls and crows digging through the scraps of the days visitors. The unforgiving wind off the North Sea was still there and as our hair whipped up around our faces it was difficult to get a family picture of the three of us.

So instead I just sat and watched my children running, laughing and jumping over the holes that we had dug earlier that day. It was great to see that this holiday was as fun for them as it was for me back when I was their age.

With summer days slipping away and autumn tip toeing in, I am making the most of my sandals, and until I have battered out the last few grains of sand from our beach bags and buckets then summer will remain in my heart. What did you get up to  this summer holidays.

Crabbing in Appledore

Living in Nottingham means we are very rarely able to visit the coast, it's at least a two hour drive in every direction. So when we are at the coast, we like to make the most of our time there, our recent adventure in Devon took us to the beautiful village of Appledore where we did some crabbing.

This isn't an expensive activity and gave us about three hours of fun for less than a tenner. We ate lunch of fish and chips shared between us, sat on the harbour walls waiting for a crab to bite. It was the perfect way to get outside and all enjoy an activity which connected us back with nature.

If you have never been to Appledore, then I can highly recommend this wonderful little town, with it's beautiful harbour front, cafes and antique shops and plenty of small alleyways leading to wonderful little houses and seaside craft shops it is well worth a trip.

For the crabbing itself, all you need is a line, a bucket and some bait, all in this cost us about £4 for the bucket and line and we had some bacon from breakfast, so we bought that along.

You pop the bacon in a little bag on the end of the line and then cast out into the sea, it took a while for us to catch our first crab but we did and named him Bob. Shortly after we caught two more and then whilst the boys were off getting chips my daughter and I caught another one.

It was an absolutely wonderful experience to show the children how things work, that this is how food is caught and the patience needed for something like this. We did put them back, I for one don't eat fish and these tiny little crabs needed to go back home.

With so many wonderful days out on our trip, it is hard to choose just one but this was a free activity that meant we got to spend time together without interruptions.

Black & White Photo Project Wk 12

With the sunshine still upon us, we used the warm weather as an excuse to take a trip to the coast, I wished we lived closer as the children both love the beach. 

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