31 May 2009

Tom woke first, at 6.30, and Emily soon pricked up her ears and got up, on hearing him squealing. The children played continuously for three hours as we all gradually ate, washed and prepared for the beach. In bright sun but a cold wind, we parked at West Cliff and walked down to the patch of sand left dry following the recent high tide.

We pitched Fi's play tent near the crumbling clay cliffs and the children were soon exploring.

After a while Nick found the allure of the surf irresistible and went in, though even he admitted it was too cold as he emerged bright pink.

We left the others after an hour or so as we were due at Larpool where Nick's family were gathering for the afternoon, primarily to see us. We had a lovely three hours there. After eating we decamped to the garden since it was such a nice day. Emily played with the 'children' (that's pushing it, since the quads are now 16) and they were all very good with her, especially Michael.

Nick's gran loved having her family all around her. She is lucky that they all get on so well. Emily was quite cute, trying to do headstands on the lawn.

She is changing so much and seems so grown up sometimes. Being around her older cousins is doing her a power of good developmentally and eating with them will hopefully encourage her to expand her limited repertoire of food. She has decided that when she doesn't like something she blows raspberries. It is quite comical so it is hard to keep a straight face and enforce what we are trying to do.

After dinner we went for a wander down the lane to Falling Foss, a waterfall about 30 feet high in an attractive wooded valley. Pam, Kate and I played poohsticks from a footbridge over a stream. An old house next to the water, called Midge Hall, was very aptly named and we soon beat a retreat back up the hill.