Granny Pepper and Grandpa David have a lovely little boat so to finish off our lovely holiday we went to the yatch club to have a little sail.

Now we have a bit of history with this whole sailing in Suffolk lark. Let us turn our minds back 2 years and a nice day out on the boat.

Look how little they are. We were pootling along the estuary towards the slightly busy ports of Harwich and Felixstowe eating our picnic lunch and enjoying the scenery. All jolly good fun. When we reached the ports we looked at the large ships and the massive container docks. We looked and we looked, and then we realised we were not going anywhere. We were stuck. I knew we were in trouble when Andrew’s mother asked me if my watch was waterproof!!!!!!! We got on the radio and we were pulled into a marina by a friendly coastguard. All very exciting (and stressful) and we had not been sailing since. Hmmmm.

Back to present day and Charlie wanted to go out for a little sail. Brave soul. Andrew took Charlie and Lucy down to the boat with Grandpa David while Emily and I remained on the lawn of the yatch club (in easy reach of the ice lollies). I watched anxiously and then was very pleased to see that Lucy had taken stock of the situation and decided that ice lollies on the lawn was a much safer bet.

That is her in the day glo life vest that is nearly the same size as her. Now obviously Charlie had a wonderful sail in total safety without getting stuck anywhere and we enjoyed our ice lollies on dry land.

We had a wonderful time in Suffolk, a lovely British Holiday and we finished it off with lashings and lashings of fresh lobster bought from the beach. Yum.

P. S. I don’t have any lobster hair clips so the ladybird clips were the closest thing we had.

No English holiday would be complete without a trip to a castle so we drove up the A12 to meet Grandpa Charles at Framlingham Castle.

The castle is really well preserved and presented with a great walk around the top of the castle walls. From high up you get a really lovely view over the mere.

After a really beautiful walk around we relaxed on the lawns and played a game of jumbo chess.

Then it was back to Grandpa Charles’ for a jump on the trampoline. Fab.

I know they are all sitting down but do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph children on a trampoline! They did jump on it, honest.

 

 

While in Suffolk we met up with Andrew’s sister and family in Aldeburgh. The wind whipped the beach but we sheltered in the dip left by a fishing boat and it was glorious.

Lucy and her cousin Alice were paddling in the waves and then there was much excitment.

A pretty little star fish. (I have no idea why Charlie has one sock on in this picture by the way!)

After a lovely day on the beach we all sat on the sea wall and had some yummy ice-creams, complete with ice-cream clips of course.

We have had a wonderful few days in Suffolk. The sun shone and we enjoyed a real traditional british summer holiday.

We are very lucky that at the bottom of Granny Pepper’s garden there is a secret beach on the edge of the river stour. When we arrived the first thing the children wanted to do was head down there.

It was lovely and sunny and when we reached the beach Charlie and Lucy were in the water in minutes.

and we then realised that the lovely Swiss dot bows were getting a full ‘Lucy-test’ being fully submerged, which they passed.

After lots of messing about in the river the rest of the afternoon was spent beach combing. A wonderful start to our holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

‘The sun has shone here all weekend. About blooming time. We have had a lovely weekend. We had lunch with friends and have spent a lot of time playing in the garden. This week it is four years since we moved into our house. It is a great place to live but ever since we moved in there has been a little empty part.

I have always said that we can’t have a rabbit because we had a cat. But our cat sadly passed away recently so Lucy has started on a campaign for a rabbit to join the family.

I do really love a little bunny rabbit but I am not sure we are ready for another pet. Just ask our fish, things are a bit busy around here.

So for the time being Lucy is just going to have to enjoy her bunny rabbit hair clips.

If you see lottie nottie puppy hair clips you know that they have started a campaign for a dog!

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we decided to take a trip to the River and Rowing Museum in Henley which at first might not sound the most exciting day out for children but the museum is home to the most amazing Wind in the Willows exhibit.

We all loved walking through the enchanting world of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad. Lucy was wearing her frog hair clips to get in the mood and fit right in.

There are so many things to look at and it is all done so well. We felt we were actually in the story. We went upstairs next which had interesting rowing exhibits and interactive activities but the winner upstairs is the River Wildlife section. Charlie really enjoyed discovering trays of bird’s eggs and butterflies. This was all presented in a easily understandable way. We enjoyed it but when we went downstairs we had to go through the Wind in the Willows exhibit again. After there is a great cafe where we had yummy cakes and then we took a short walk along the rivers edge to a small park where there are swings, climbing frames and a flying fox. Charlie went so fast on the Flying fox his glasses flew off! Fabulous. The entrance ticket for the Museum is valid all year so we will definitely be going back.

UPDATE – lottie nottie hair clips are now available in The River and Rower Museum gift shop. Another great reason to visit!