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Friday 28 October 2016

Devon

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast, packed the car and were off on our way to Devon by 9am. We had a good journey in that we didn't get held up at all anywhere.  We stopped at Gloucester services for lunch & swapped drivers and carried on.  We got to Crapstone at 3.20, so we did make very good time.  We were treated to roast duck, roast potatoes and loads of veggies, followed by crumble - very lovely.

'We have these plants at school!'
Monday, we all headed to the Eden Project, mainly as Tom has been doing rainforests at school and we thought that he would enjoy seeing a real one.  It was absolutely crowded with half term crowds which meant that it was a bit of a bum fight everywhere we went.  It was also a cold and rainy day, so I'm guessing more people went there to get out of the weather.

Family photo
Anyhow, we explored the rainforest, I certainly enjoyed it.  We went on a trail around the biome which took us from South America, to Africa and Far East Asia - with species from each area.  We were hoping it would be lovely and warm in the biome, but it wasn't really, it was mild but not cold.  We found lots of interesting things: bananas, pineapples, sugarcane & native houses for each area.  We climbed up to a viewing area to see the canopy.  Unfortunately the top viewing area was closed as was the waterfall area - all because they are building a new walkway with rope bridges etc, will be great when finished, but in the meantime it meant we had to double back on ourselves.  We stopped for a baobab smoothie (I didn't like it but the others did) before heading out to the link building and the crowds for lunch.

Bananas
I was sent to join the huge queue for the pasty stall to get Tom a cheese pasty (sort of authentic as we were in Cornwall?) whilst the others were more sensible and went for food where the queues were shorter.  We then headed into the Mediterranean Biome which was positively chilly.  We found some great citrus trees, lots of tomatoes (urghhhhhh), aubergines as well as cacti.

Then to The Core to look at some experiments, turn a handle on a Heath Robinson type invention and have tea and bun.  By now it was 4pm, so we headed back to the car and Devon.  Unfortunately nearly everyone else was too and it took an extra-ordinary amount of time to get home.  We were all pretty tired, so we quickly got tea on the go and then collapsed on the sofa.

It really was warm!
Tuesday we left Mum and Dad at home to recover from the Eden Project and headed into Plymouth.  We dropped the car off at the park and ride and got the bus to the train station and had a train day out to Dawlish.  I wasn't expecting much from the day - just a day out with the boys, but I actually had a lovely day - helped by the fact it was a lovely, warm, sunny day (well it was after lunch anyway!)  We got to Dawlish, had a little walk along the front, found a lovely cove where we hunted for fossils for a while (Dawlish marks the end of the Jurassic Coast), we then explored the town.  We spent a while in the amusement arcades playing 2p games (the boys did a bit better than me - Matt even managed to win a Meerkat statue thing!).  We then found ourselves a nice cafe for lunch, Jack Sprats, where we had imaginative, home cooked food - way way better than anything we were expecting.

Then a play in the park, more train spotting and then Tom requested ice cream???!  Tom never requests ice-cream.  We found a parlour which had about 40 different flavours: Tom went for mango madness, Matt rum and raisin and I went for rhubarb and custard.  Tom's was the best - full of fruit, and for the first time ever he ate it all on his own without giving it to us to finish off!!!!!! We then went for another walk along the sea wall.  Get this - it was soooooo hot that we all ended up in short sleeves.  The train track here is right on the sea wall, so we were able to wave at the drivers as they went past.  On the whole, they were all friendly and we got a wave and a toot back.

At 3pm we through we should start heading back home, so got the train back to Plymouth and then back up to Crapstone, where we dropped Tom off, had showers, got changed and then headed back dow to Plymouth and Royal William Yard where we went to Serco for a date night dinner - very nice it was too.
Misty Dartmoor
The River Meavy near Shaugh Bridge
Wednesday, Mum and Dad decided to have Tom to themselves, so Matt and I decided to do a walk nearby around Shaugh Bridge.  Was a nice walk - a bit like Ingleton waterfalls walk, but fewer waterfalls and no mountains.  There was a view point at the top, however the Dartmoor mist had descended and we couldn't see a thing!  Oh hum.  We headed back to the car and had a very quick lunch at the Dartmoor Diner.  We were back in Crapstone for 1.30 - Mum had said that they wouldn't be having a long day out as they were still tired from Monday.  They didn't get back until 4.30!!!!!!  This meant that I could at last sort out my music on my computer - one of those niggling things I never seem to get round to, but has been annoying me more and more, especially as I listen to music whilst running.

Boys working together
Stop!!!!!!
As soon as Mum and Dad got back Tom demanded that Pop Pop got out his trains in the garden (he had been promised yesterday - something he would never forget!) Poor Pop Pop didn't even get to take his shoes off, and headed straight out into the garden with some trains.  Tom was delighted and loved being able to control and watch the trains go up and down.

Jack Rabbit
We went to the Jack Rabbit for tea and then back home for bed.

Thursday we said our goodbyes to Granma and Pop Pop - it went very very fast (as usual) we were very well looked after and Tom was genuinely sorry to be leaving.  Oh well, its only 6 or so weeks before we see them again.  We headed out at 9.30 but didn't get home until 5.15pm - the West Midlands was at fault - there had been an accident and a closed lane which meant a huge queue - of course there was no accident and no closed lane as we went past but all boards were saying to the contrary meaning that lanes were merging and traffic building up - oh joy.  Think I didn't get out of 1st gear for over an hour!

The Milky Way over Crapstone
We got home, unpacked and then went to the Masons Arms for tea - had a very lovely coconut and lime curry.

Then home and bed.  Thanks Mum and Dad for a lovely stay.


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