Our last day....Sun at last!

....and the sun is out in full force. The hottest day of our stay - typical! To see off the holiday in style, we went to a local pub and enjoyed some time frolicking in the river and of course eating and drinking! Who said holidaying at home had to be boring - we've had a fantastic time in good old Blighty!

'Pippi' the kids grandmother


Playing in 'granny Pat's (their great-grandmother's) garden

That's more like it!

The weather today has been so much better - we had a fantastic time in Dartmouth (gorgeous seaside town) and a great time at Blackpool sands, where the views looked like they came right out of a brochure for some exotic location. Don't let the pretty views fool you though, the water was arctic of temperature!

Ben consults the map

But Jasmine isn't so sure he know's what he's doing.....

Blackpool Sands Beach

I did say the water was freeeezing!

I had to brave the arctic waters to rescue my flipflops from the tide!

Some local kids showing us the difference between whelks and mussels and the like

A rainy day at the beach

There's nothing quite like a British Summer. Rain, rain and, oh yeah, more rain. Despite this, we braved the cold and took the kids to the beach to try out their new body boards. We British are good at making the best of crap weather, and we weren't the only ones determined to have a good time. Nick, bless him, actually went into the sea with ben and Jas, whilst I remained at the shore citing Camera -sitting as my excuse for not getting wet. Not so British after all! We did put up our tent though and this proved ingenius as we ate our picnic. The kids had a great time though and that's what it's about after all.

National Aquarium, Plymouth

Jasmine's favourite of all the fish - Clown Fish, aka 'Nemo'. Interesting fact, all clownfish are born male. They live in communities, and one male will turn into a female and bare all the baby clownfish. Urrrgghh!

Having a rest

On a boat

Enjoying some time with Granny Pat, the kids great-grandmother


And look, Ben isn't scared of Hannah! In fact, he even took her for walks in the woods with Nick's little cousin Rosie. Here he is with Rosie's sister Jess.

Visitors!

We had our first non-family visitors thi week. My friend Cheryl and her two daughters, Rhianna and Melissa, came to spend a few days with us. As the weather was so glorious, we took the kids to Cogges Farm, where they got to pet animals, feed the ducks, dress up as Victorian Schoolchildren and do some arts and crafts. It wasn't all laughs though - we had some tantrums and some fights during the stay, but it was nice to see some old faces!

Friends for tea

We used to live next door to Matthias and Zoe, and often enjoyed play dates together. Today, they came to visit us and they all enjoyed a little picnic and some dressing up - how cute are they?!?!

A very English holiday by the sea

Our first family holiday (all four of us together) since Jasmine was 5 months old and we went to Canada and St Lucia in the space of 2 months. How lucky we were! But alas, how times have changed! No longer being parents of infants who travel for free (bar taxes), we have had to put the longhaul holidays together on hold and look closer to home for our holidays. Hence Devon. A place every bit as beautiful, admittedly, as some of the places we have seen abroad. And as Nick's grandmother Pat lives there (and his aunt and her family), we had the added pleasure of being able to visit less often visited family as well as have some much needed and deserved time together as a family.

In the run up to our time away, we really got the kids enthused with stories of the seaside (they can't remember the beach very well as they were much younger when we last went to one) and Nick bought them the cutest little body boards and wetsuits - here they are practising......

Bourton on the Water

This is the prettiest little village you ever did see. The river runs right through the main street and in the summer the local men get together and play football in it! The weather wasn't the warmest, but that didn't stop the kids from jumping in!

To the Dead Sea, via Shobak Crusader Castle

Today we left Petra first thing and made our way to the Dead Sea. Along the way we paid a visit to the Crusader Castle ruins at Shobak, and as you can see from the pics below, it is quite impressive, though I must say, Kerak is still my favourite of the two.

If you ever visit Jordan and are looking for a little taste of luxury, one word: Kempinski. This is the most luxurious resort i have ever had the pleasure to stay in. First things first, we went to the beach and oh my gosh, the temperature! It was in the low 40's! The sand burned my feet and even though I love the sun, and my skin was already 10 shades darker than usual, I took refuge under a large umbrella! The sea was something else though. I thought I'd be the first ever person to drown in the Dead Sea! It took a little getting used to all that floating :-) I got the hang of it though and it was an amazing experience! We then did some lounging around the pools and later on me and Donna had a mud wrap and massage at the Anantara Spa, then dinner at one of the many restaurants. Absolute bliss and the perfect end to a fantastic holiday!

this is supposed to be Lot's wife?!

Sea creatures!

infinity pool bliss!

my final night