We don’t often get the chance to spend time at the beach so we have to grab the opportunity where we can. I did wonder if Storm Ciara was going to scupper our planned beach trip during our recent weekend in Torquay. But the morning was a beautiful sunny one and we made the most of the calm before the storm arrived.
For once I’d been organised and remembered to bring some beach toys with me. Sophie was soon busy with the bucket and spade, building sandcastles.
Thomas isn’t yet old enough to join in with building sandcastles. He much prefers to knock them down and pick up handfuls of sand left from the destruction, much to his big sister’s frustration. We soon distracted him with the other toys at a safe distance away from Sophie’s creations.
Paddling in the sea in their wellies was something they were both able to enjoy together though. Watching them both made me think of our last trip to this beach with Jessica and Sophie. It had been a cold sunny day then too. I remembered the beauty of the sunlight bouncing off the water; how the girls had so much fun paddling in their wellies; Jessica holding out her hand, trying to stop the tide from coming in and destroying her sandcastle.
As lovely as it was to watch Sophie and Thomas having fun, it was bittersweet too, as all these days out are. Always wondering what it would have been like with three of them. I could just imagine Jessica holding her little brother’s hand and watching them paddle together at the water’s edge. Building sandcastles with Sophie; trying to keep Thomas away from them. Oh yes, they would have had such fun together.
Thomas particularly enjoyed having the space to run around. I spent a lot of time chasing him across the beach. He can be quite speedy when he’s heading off to explore!
We stopped to examine a crayfish skeleton that we found and brought it back for Sophie to look at. She was fascinated by it.
She had fun making herself a sandcastle with a moat, and had several trips back at forth with her bucket to try and fill the moat with sea water, or find seaweed and shells to help decorate her castle.
It was lovely just to spend that time together on the beach, watching the children have just as much fun on a winter’s day as they would have done in summer. The wind was gradually starting to pick up during our visit, reminding us that the storm was on its way, but I was glad we got to enjoy some beach fun before it arrived.
The never ending battle against the tide! The kids are wrapped up warm which shows it to be a cold day but sun plus palm tree give it a much warmer feel. This looks like a great day for a shoreline welly splodge! #countrykids
It was a cold day, but they were well wrapped up and enjoyed being able to spend time on the beach. It was lovely to have some sunshine too 🙂