Valentine's Weekend Trip

Max and Blake have been off school this week for half-term break. We have been keeping busy and they really do just enjoy being together and playing at home. This past weekend we decided to take a quick trip to the South of England to visit a couple areas called Devon and Cornwall. They really are places to visit in the summer because there are some beautiful beaches but we have heard that the crowds are horrible! (It is sad that the last 2 summers haven't even been warm enough to enjoy the beaches. The first summer we lived here it was really hot for a couple of weeks but that has been it!) We couldn't enjoy the beaches much at all, but did have a nice time anyway. We stayed at a place near Okehampton, which is in North Devon. For some reason, we decided to leave on Friday afternoon after picking the boys up from school at 3:20p and drive for about 4 1/2 hours. We didn't get to our "self-catering" cottage until after 9:00p. The cottage was a converted barn (picture above) and honestly wasn't the most updated place we have stayed in for our travels...but it worked out fine.

Do you think this chair has had a little bit of use?!!

The people that ran the farm, which had a B&B and 4 cottages, where extremely friendly and helpful. Max and Blake both slept for awhile in the car so were wired when we arrived and not wanting to go to sleep right away!

We walked across the car park to the B&B for breakfast each morning. Max loves to take pictures these days!

Since Sat was Valentine's Day, we started it off with some presents...and I will have to give Dan and Max credit, they did an excellent job on mine this year! Max helped him pick out a locket and Dan selected a great handbag!

The boys were very excited for their gift bags and were thrilled with their "adventure" lights. (Thanks for the idea Holli!)

They wanted to go on a bear hunt every day but we just didn't find one! After a great breakfast from Margaret, our host, we decided to just tour the area a bit. Our first stop was a town called Tavistock. It had a great market but nobody has any interest in shopping but mom! Dan did purchase some bread, cheese and a new hat!

Buying fresh bread at the market...a hat picture to come later!

Blake enjoying his "hot" chocolate. We have learned to just order chocolate milk from now on because neither one of them like the "hot" part!

Our next stop was Plymouth and then Torquay (pronounced "tor-key"). We walked around both towns a bit and then decided to take the boys to the aquarium in Plymouth. They loved it! In Torquay we found a rock beach and the boys were searching for the perfect stone for Dan to throw.

A view of Plymouth...both boys were sleeping so we didn't explore this area very much.

Checking out the huge crab!

Having a great time just being together!

Getting ready for the 3D movie at the aquarium.

Searching for stones in Torquay

Not quite a bear hunt but it will do for now... We made our way back to the cottage and found a place to have a "romantic" Valentine's dinner. It ended up being at a good pub and we got the only table left in the place!

On Sunday, after another great breakfast, we decided to drive further south into Cornwall with some more recommendations of places to visit from our host. We stopped in a very unique fishing village called Clovelly. It is a village set deep in the hillside with a steep cobbled street leading down 400ft to the ocean. There are no vehicles allowed. The village has been owned by the same family since 1738. It has been owned by only 3 families since the 13th century. We had to be very careful on the walk down and we just knew it was going to be a challenge for Blake on the way up. As soon as we started up, Blake said that his legs were tired and he couldn't walk anymore! Needless to say, neither one of us were going to carry him! We started singing songs and counting to keep his mind off of it and finally made it to the top! This is how they transport all of their goods, including groceries, furniture, etc to their homes, restaurants, and hotels. I would not do very well living here!

Beautiful views!

The pictures don't really give you a great understanding of our journey up and down the cobbled street, but let me tell you, we won't be doing that again anytime soon. Our next stop was Bude, which had a beautiful beach. (What do you think of the hat!!??) There was also a fishing tournament taking place but not one person had caught a single fish! Dan and Max would have loved to sit there for hours and watch but Blake and I couldn't take it for long. Our finally stop of the day was Newquay ("new-key"). This area is extremely popular in the summer time as it has several beaches and is the best area for water sports. It was beautiful! We did a little hiking on top of the cliff. Dan is terrified of heights when there is no barrier in place so he was quite protective of the boys getting too close to the side. Except for the beaches, the area is very commercialized which was disappointing for us. It takes away from the beauty of the English countryside. On Monday, our plan was to get on the road early and stop at the Motorcycle museum in Birmingham, which we passed on our way to Devon. The GPS, which we had to borrow since mine died with the Volvo (thanks Holli and Andy!), took us on a different route home and we couldn't find it! We didn't try extremely hard to find it as we were ready to get home. Dan was able to take Max to his swim lessons, which they both enjoyed! It was a great relaxing weekend touring the beautiful English countryside.