SUMMER IN ST. FLORENCE WITH COASTAL COTTAGES: HEATHERTON WORLD OF ACTIVITIES

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Today I’m cheering myself and thinking sunny thoughts about our holiday in St. Florence last August.  The boys have had so much fun looking at hilarious captures of their baby brother escaping in his birthday suit as fast as he could down to the sea.  We call them cinnamon bun shots [don’t ask]. Heatherton World of Activities

And so, the day after we arrived, we all awoke and after a breakfast of donuts and other suitably naughty treats, we had headed down to one of the many beaches near Rosemary Cottage – there were so many to choose from that we could have visited a different one each day of our stay.  Please note that there were so many that I have NO idea which one was which and will have to ask my mom and dad as they are very probably the only ones who knew where we were – our sat nav kept taking us down “The Road” as we followed it blindly to sandy shores.

So, yes, we had headed to the beach.  However, what we hadn’t thought through very carefully was that a] it was beautiful weather, and b] it was a Bank Holiday weekend.  The car parks were so full at our chosen beach and as we only managed to get one space, Granny and Grandad circled like goldfish in a bowl for around fifteen minutes and with no luck, we gave up our space and headed back instead in the direction of the cottage and instead spent the morning at Heatherton World of Activities.
The boys adored it at Heatherton World of Activities – digging in the sand, riding little cars around a pretend road system, barrel train riding and then being let free on a children’s 4×4 course.  Watching the poor attendant on the mini cars telling Lyoto time and time again that he needed to stay on the left to drive, watching Yotie nod and agree, and then drive willy-nilly wherever he thought best was just too much – but I don’t think any of us laughed as hard during the holiday as we did watching Jensen try and steer the little yellow vehicle around the trail while Lyoto cheered him on and threw his hands in the air like a rodeo champion – seconds before Jensen would crash spectacularly [and slowly] each time.  

My heart thumping moment came watching Hero decide halfway around the barrel train ride, wayyy out in a field, that being alone in a barrel actually terrified him.  I watched as he knelt up to turn around and cry out for his big brother in the cart behind.  I had visions of him leaping out to his doom, but Jensen managed to calm him until the train returned to the station.   We bought a family ticket bundle to use for our morning here and although they loved it, it was very expensive and there wasn’t a great deal for Hero to take part in except for the train – although we did return to play at Heatherton World of Activities across the other side of the road later in the week, as you’ll see.  Our boys loved it here – and so did Grandad when we returned for mini golf!  I also enjoyed a sneaky hot chocolate in the café!  Early afternoon, the little cowboy above headed back to beautiful Rosemary Cottage with us for an alfresco lunch and a little relax, and the boys loved being able to eat outdoors on the very sturdy picnic tables whilst playing football in between mouthfuls.  Hero and Lyoto decided to buddy up and share a sun lounger at some point which made us chuckle. After lunch and a bit of a kick about, we decided that we could stay away from the beach no longer and we headed out, following our trusty Sat-Nav to a different beach.  I wish that I could remember the name of it – but I’ll be honest and tell you the truth, that I had to show photographs to the lovely team at Coastal Cottages to see just where we were [Freshwater East] – but it was just perfect for the evening.  A little stream had been left by the outgoing tide and we headed off in search of crabs.  Jensen found a friend in the car park by accident as we were waiting for everyone to take their socks and shoes off!The beach was absolutely beautiful.  A little wooden bridge for photographs, a stream for little boys to paddle in and a view that was nothing short of completely breathtaking as we looked out to the horizon.

 It didn’t take the boys long to head off in search of crabs and little fishies or other sea creatures – and find their own desert island apparently.

Besides crabbing and rockpool hunting, the boy managed to spend most of their time just running backwards and forwards, leaping in and out of the shallows as we watched the sun set. I say that, but in all honesty I think we either actually missed the sunset and we were into the blue hour [my favourite] or we just were too happy sploshing about and finding sealife that we paid the sun no notice at all.   The hours seem to pass so swiftly when we’re at the beach.  It quite literally seemed to go from the light above, to the light below.  I don’t often take photographs of the outdoors without my boys in them, but the combination of the blue hour and the deep blue with the rocks, the sailing boats and the trickling waves was too pretty to resist. And I love the photograph of my mom on the outskirts of the incoming tide – she adores the beach, and if I ever win the lottery [that I surely should play in order to do so but never do], I’d buy her a pretty coastal cottage of her own, that backed onto the beach. If you follow us on instagram you’ll have seen the sweet picture of our Super Hero as we told him it was time to go home [cue crossed arms and curled lip], but before this he was racing backwards and forwards as a free range boy, enjoying his holiday and new found freedom to the maximum.  He decided at some point that he was a crab too, a juicy crab apparently, running from the seagulls; except Hero couldn’t manage to say “crab” and named himself “Juu-cee Kyab”, which turned to “Bar-buh-Kyab” [bar-b-crab] later in the week when we planned a backyard bbq at the cottage.  He still calls himself Juicy Kyab at home sometimes when he sees his holiday photographs!

Anyhow, eventually we really did have to leave the beach and Daddy led the parade to the car, head down and kicking rocks.  Two out of three boys were snoring by the time we reached Rosemary Cottage – and all three slept soundly until the next morning.