Until Next Time, Caswell....

Up early. Packing. Packing. Packing. Procrastinating, doing washing up rather than attacking the bombsite of our bedroom. How can it be so hard to pack Stuff into bags? It was the organising that was the bleh part. Then cleaning and loading into the car. Ben did not want to say goodbye. I think he knew it was a real goodbye. He does not like goodbyes.

So my brother and his family are off up to Manchester to spend a final week with Mum and Dad before heading home to Norway. They set off for home just before midday, and we packed into our car and headed for..... the beach!

We wanted a final goodbye, the weather was too lovely not to go, Charley had had his nap already and was grumbling something about lunch (I had to concur with his grumblings really), and Ben wanted a chocolate icecream. So off we went. Brie and cranberry sandwich for me and Charley (the boy loves brie. Happy me!!) and icecreams for Steve and Ben.

And then an explore of my favourite part of the beach, only reachable at low tide. Down the left hand side and round the corner. Peaceful and full of fabulous rockpools! I'm so pleased we managed to get to that bit at least this once this holiday. Ben had trousers on but it didn't stop him running through pools of water and throwing giant pebbles into the water, shrieking happily. Charley stomped in the water too, and investigated the barnacles on some rocks.

They have LOVED the sand. Ben asked for his "normal" beach quite a lot last week but the other evening he really discovered what was special about sandy beaches: it's not the sandcastle-building, although in future years I'm sure that will play a bigger part. It's the sheer freedom of being able to run barefoot on the damp sand, chasing and being chased by daddy through the water trickling back to the sea. Stomping and splashing through warm pools of trapped seawater. Conquering fears of running water. Fishing for shrimps. Digging holes and building sandy hills and jumping off them.

Charley has loved eating fistfuls of sand, wriggling his toes in it, splashing in the shallows, swooping and diving with his Daddy on Ben. I think he is going to be a Bum-Shuffler rather than a crawler, although he prefers walking (holding our thumbs)! He directs where he wants to go by a series of different cries or yells until you're helped him do the circuit he wanted, or got him over to a toy he had his eye on.

He gets HUGELY excited when he sees Ben. They have played amazingly together this fortnight. Ben clears a space and picks up the stacking cups. Charley sees him and starts squawking excitedly in anticipation, arms flapping, face split by a big happy grin. Ben sits down in front of him and stacks the cups up in a tower, grinning, then slides them closer towards Charley. He holds the top cup to stop it toppling instantly, and Charley reaches out to grab and pull one from the middle. The cup tower explodes and they both shriek with delight and laughter and the process begins again! Precious, priceless, happy moments.

We took the journey home easy, having learnt from the journey out. Stopped at The Crown, a very nice little pub with fairly expensive but very good food just outside of Bath, nestled between the M4 and the A46. Saw a young hedgehog who just appeared after a bit of rustling in the undergrowth, and who stumbled around the beer garden for a bit. Charley and Ben ran off some cooped-up energy as we ate. Back on the road, next stop was a Fullers pub in Stockbridge along the A30 for a stretch and a breather and a G&T, Ben's "create chaos and carry on" teeshirt was much admired, as was his utter inability to hide and his delighted laughter when Daddy found him and turned him upside down! The next stop was once we'd got onto the A272. We saw what could have been a glorious pink sunset, hiding behind a strip of cloud, looking beautiful, and stopped for a look. Then the boys fell asleep for the final leg of the journey.

We left the chalet before midday, and arrived home at gone ten at night but now we've recognised life is just as much about the journey as the destination. It's been a good holiday, seeing family, eating together, spending time together. It's been a good journey home, even if I have spent the entire drive wedged between the two carseats in the back! I have bruises in many many places now, but there has been ZERO crying from the boys. I'd say that was a worthy sacrifice.

I am so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight!!

Might email the chalet park owners tomorrow and book next year's holiday.....