A Birthday By The Seaside

Thursday the 8th of August was George’s 10th birthday!  My eldest grandson, the first of my three little treasures to come along, is ten years old!   Those ten years (and I know it’s a very overused phrase but it’s a true one), have flown by.

The birthday boy.

So, it being the school holidays and a sunny day forecast for his birthday, a day beside the sea was planned by his mum and happily executed by the rest of us. 

  Uncle Gary and Charlie have a bit of fun together.  Charlie loves his Uncle Gary.

And not something we see all that often anymore, a good old fashioned Punch and Judy Show.

And when it was over Nicholas casually walked over, took a seat and checked out what was going on behind the scenes.   He was the only kid to do that.  It made me smile.

A birthday isn’t a birthday without a birthday cake and candles and also a “happy birthday to you” sing song.

Gary took the boys down onto the beach for a game of cricket.

  

Toward the end of the afternoon the boys all took a walk over to an old shipwreck on the beach and came back covered in mud.  George couldn’t wait to get out of his muddy shorts and into some clean ones.  I think it’s been decided that next time we’re going to picnic and play further along on the beach where there probably isn’t any of this old mud and there are showers to use, lifeguards on duty and this splash pool too.  The only downside is it’s busier.

We’ve all been looking forward for a good while now to be in Cleveleys on a hot sunny day and for the boys to use the splash pool.  Finally they got to use it and wash off the mud at the same time.  They loved it too.

I think I can safely say we all had a grand day beside the sea and George had a happy birthday!

Penrhyn Castle

For the first time in over twelve months William and I left on Friday evening for Bodelwyddan in north Wales to stay with Brenda and Arthur for the weekend.  The sun shone all weekend and on Saturday Brenda had lined up a visit to Penrhyn Castle for us.

Never having been to Penrhyn Castle before a treat was in store for us.  Not actually a castle, rather a very grand des res built around 1820 in the style of a Norman castle.  

Very grand and very big,  I couldn’t get a good picture of the whole building in one shot.  I think the dining room gives a good impression of the grandeur involved.  I can’t help when I visit these grand palatial homes but to compare it in my mind with the poverty that the many endured while the few lived like this.  Such is life I suppose.  Harder for some than others.

Anyway, tour of the castle’s interior over it was time for lunch.  A picnic lunch which we enjoyed in the grounds of the castle.  Views of Puffin Island and Anglesey in the distance.

The visit continued with a tour of the gardens.

After the picnic Arthur hadn’t want to take the cool bag back to the car, instead he chose to cart it around with him! 

This is the bog garden.  I’d never been in a bog garden before and didn’t know what to expect.  The vegetation was gigantic and I definitely didn’t expect that. 

It reminded me of the Swiss Family Robinson story I’d read many years ago. I think I’d like to read that book again. Must look in the Kindle Store when I’ve finished this. Or then again maybe not.

Sunday was spent in Llandudno.  We had a lovely stroll along the promenade and through the town then back to the car.

On the way back to Bodelwyddan we called in at Rhos on Sea for another walk and the obligatory ice cream.  I have decided I really like Rhos on Sea.  Big improvements to the beach et cetera have been made since last I visited this little resort.  Improvements that have totally transformed the whole feel of the place for me.  I don’t think word has gotten out yet because on such a lovely day the beach was far from crowded as you can see above.  The only blot on the landscape, or should I say seascape, being the ugly wind turbines out on the horizon.  Almost unnoticeable in this photo, believe me they are definitely visible in reality.

And so the visit came to an end.  A happy, fun, sun and stroll filled visit.  I hope it’s not another twelve months before our next visit.

School Holidays Continue…

…and for once it seems like we have had more good than bad weather for them.  On Thursday Caroline wasn’t working so we were able to all have an outing to the park together.  Caroline needed to go to a jeweller’s shop in Hebden Bridge so that decided which park we were going to.

 

After play in the park it was ice cream time.  No surprise there then!

George leap-frogged, time and time again, over these posts in the town centre which were not much shorter than himself.  I was impressed.

I was also impressed by all the floral displays in the town.  It’s not just Hebden Bridge town council, nearly everywhere we go these days council gardeners seem to have been put to work to outdo their neighbours in the blooms department.  Public money well spent to my mind.