I know it is usually Danny that writes about food but I'm going to take a line or two to talk about the loveliness that is the breakfast at the Duke. English breakfasts are hearty...to say the least. Pippa, a co-manager, made a breakfast that was to die for. I had poached eggs and toast. Danny decided he was just going to do cold cereal because he was feeling "full" from the night before. Maya had a great time choosing between the mini boxes of cereal--Frosted Flakes became a quick favorite. Of course, the instant my food came out Danny was feeling a lot less full! :) I'm not a big breakfast eater but in England and at the Duke...hell yeah I'm going to eat breakfast!
Now back to your regular scheduled programming...
Then went to Paradise Cottage (yes, that is it's real name) to explore the abode of Matt and Jane – communed with the Chickens then strolled down the lane to commune with the sheep and cattle…
This was shortly after releasing the beast from the car. This pic is shot from Matt and Jane's house and down the lane (yes, a two-way road). She was intent on locating the moo's and baa's that she was hearing.
She found a fence gate and hopped up to make googly eyes at the cows and sheep. They kept their distance and stared back curiously and a bit frightened (a good choice on their part).
We went back and looked at Matt and Jane's chickens (including the cheeky chicken who constantly escapes) but didn't document the meeting. A deal was made the night before between Jane and Maya about going to sleep "easily" and if she did that she could feed the chickens in the morning. Needless to say, Danny and I were sleepy and Maya didn't feed the chickens.
after gathering ourselves together and getting motivated we drove to the Sea at Bude (I think that’s the spelling)
It was a lovely day--sunny and warm--but the breeze definitely had an April chill. Here is the crew making our way down to the beach. I should add that we hopped on the chance to go to the sea on a "nice" day because we weren't sure when / if we would get another. Little did we know we would have sunny, warm weather the entire week! (Lucky us.)
Maya, of course, was ready to disrobe and get in the water. She grabbed Uncle Matt and dragged him down to the water. Danny followed while Jane and I sat and enjoyed the sun and sand with Fin.
There were several trips back and forth. Even Fin got a trip down the water--although she didn't get dipped.
Even Auntie Jane got in on the "cold feet" action! The things Aunties do! (The weird arms / hands are because they dipped their hands in as well.)
We did have a "tragedy" at the ocean. Jane, through no fault of her own, lost her cell phone to the salty water of the sea. After much drying and putting together / taking apart, the phone was pronounced dead the next morning. This tragedy continued to haunt us the remainder of the week. (I should add that there was quite a bit of giggling and smart-ass jokes re: aforementioned tragedy.)
Fin and I enjoying the scenery, looking a bit wind-blown.
One of the beauties of toddlerdom (can I still call Maya a toddler?) is building sandcastles in your underwear.
we had a nice time it was sunny and gorgeous but windy and cool we played for a short time on the sand and in the water and then Maya and i found the playground.
Another task that only toddlers would willingly repeat...sliding down a metal pole with no pants on.
She went for an encore performance when all of us (Matt, Jane, Fin and I) made our way up. She realized that it really is quite a bit fast and less painful to try this trick with your pants on! :)
We all gathered for a tasty lunch and then wrapped things up with a final romp in the tide. Matt and I drove the little ones home and they both passed out on the drive so Matt and I could get our full gab on – the ladies went and picked up a few necessities at the grocery store (and got our gab on as well), and we all ended up back at Paradise Cottage for a lovely dinner of Roasted Venison and chicken, mashed potatoes, cabbage and spinach…
As we had plenty of little odds and ends to attend to, including two daughters who we were hoping to get on a regular sleeping schedule and Uncle Matt had schoolwork to do we called it an early night and came home to get the girls in bed and get caught up on pictures and journals and stuff like that…
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