Abbey Gate Farm, Axminster

 Saturday 22nd October

    Half term for the kids so we decided to take them away for a few days.  We found it difficult to find anywhere as so many sites were for adults only although they allowed dogs.  It comes to something when dogs are higher up the social scale than children!  However, Abbey Gate Farm near Axminster allowed children and we had a lovely time!

     Time to hook up the caravan but there was a problem.  The tow hitch wouldn't click onto the ball so Mike had to sort that out before setting off.  I mentioned to Sophia that it was such a palava but she thought I'd said Pavlova so that became the saying for any problem throughout the holiday.

     We travelled on Saturday thinking it would be less traffic but we were wrong.  It took us over 2 hours to travel 72 miles.  We set up with the kids helping with water fetching.  They do enjoy coming away with us.  After a cup of tea, we headed into Seaton while the sun was still shining.  The weather for this time away isn't forecast to be very good so we're going to make the most of it!

     Parking at Seaton was expensive at £4 for 2 hours.  The kids saw a play park so we went there first.  Brilliant park with climbing walls, which Josh loved; and a huge variety of other equipment for them both including a large rope swing which Sophia loved.

     After that, we took a look at the sea which was very rough. It was great!  Sophia found a painted stone on the beach which we kept to reposition another day. Then on to the Chippy for a fish supper. It was an award winning shop and the food was OK but again expensive (£63).

     Back at the caravan and we introduced Josh & Sophia to The Game of Great Britain.  They both loved it!  We played 2 games.

     Thunder and lightning overnight and I apparently slept through one lot. 😀

Sunday

     In the morning, we went to back to the park for another sunny experience.  Just as well, as the afternoon was really raining.

    As we were stuck inside, we spent the time colouring and drawing and Josh and I played a game whereby one of us would give the other one 5 words then the other person had to create a story using all the words. We had some really good stories going on.

     Another game of Great Britain and then Exploding Kittens in the evening.  Another good day.

Monday

    We went to Lyme Regis, mainly to go to the dinosaur museum there.  We had to park at the top of the hill where we had to pay by phone with yet another app taking our money.  All these apps will certainly open up the possibility of hacking etc.  Not a pleasant thought.

    On our way down from the car park, Mike spied a play park so we visited there (and had a little sun down for us). Again, both kids enjoyed it. The park had a Jurassic theme with dinosaurs, tall ships and nets to crawl across. All were made from wood and made it look good too.

     Further down the hill, we ventured to the Dinosaur museum. It is a private museum and was absolutely stuffed with thousands of fossils and gems; big fossils, tiny fossils, Ichthiasaurs, clinoids, so so much.  Very informative too with a section on Mary Anning who found fossils around 1811.  There was so much to see.  It was brilliant and well worth the money.

     Lunch time and we found a bench next to running water and a cat.  We decided to do a packed lunch as it is getting so expensive to eat out even just for lunch.  The cat came over asking for scraps so we all gave her a little bit of cheese or ham.  She stayed with us all the time that we were there.  Then we felt some rain so packed away and moved on.  Luckily, it didn't come to much so we ventured over to the beach.  The waves were still rough but not as bad as yesterday.

     The walk back up the hill to the carpark was helped with another visit to the park.

     That evening Mike 'invented' our Dinner which we called Enchisagne. It was supposed to be enchiladas but instead of being rolled up, Mike layered it like a lasagne.  Easy to fit in one dish, easy to dish up and it tasted delish! 

     After dinner, we watched a movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  It was great and both kids enjoyed it. The DVD player played up a bit and I'm sure it didn't play the complete film so we will have to see it again at home sometime.

Tuesday

 Off home.  Again we were lucky with the weather and just managed to hitch up before it started raining - and we saw a rainbow on the journey home.

     Another lovely brilliant holiday with the grandkids.   x