Day two UK tour 2021

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When you're ready starts with 'oops, splash, mum, it's fallen in the toilet' you do wonder what's in store for you..... This time it was Seth's eco friendly, travel friendly, and apparently easy to knock off the side with a towel friendly soap and shampoo bars which were swiftly rescued and rinsed. Trying not to focus on having my hands down the loo before 8am, I tidied up and the boys went for a swim. After a swift shower, we headed out into the sunshine. I've been here many times and it's *never* sunny so I was a little baffled. We made our way to Tynemouth aquarium, (I think every holiday we have had an aquarium featured, I'm aiming for at least two this holiday!) It's small but perfectly formed and the seal show was an added bonus.

After exiting through the gift shop and purchasing the obligatory fish based tat, we headed for the beach cafe. There was a choice of walking on the path or on the beach. We took the beach. Spoiler alert, it was a very very poor choice. Not only was walking on the (admittedly golden med like) sand harder than walking on water but a certain small boy wanted to stop and play. Every six steps. It was hot, we were hungry, we narrowly avoided stepping on done broken glass, there were no years but there was relief that the cafe wasn't rammed and the threat of no ice cream sped the boy up a tad. Tummies full and legs aching, we headed up to the road and back to the car, at least twelvty miles I'm sure....

The next beach was Seaton Sluice. Delightful beach with a pretty grim name! Once we'd walked through the undergrowth (with hindsight, we too would be apprehensive about a match through head height marram grass and should probably have been a little less gung ho with Seth about 'just push through it'...) We settled down for some kite flying (Ash is convinced he now needs a stunt kids after all of fifteen minutes life time kite flying experience), home digging, burying and paddling. The paddling was over in seconds due to the harsh reality of the North sea being almost the Arctic but the rest was a success. Less so the ice cream on the way back. Ash had the meltiest 99 ever, looking like a toddler within seconds, Seth had a blue lolly which turned him into a sticky smurf (coupled with sand "everywhere*) and unusually I was the cleanest.

We made our way to see my oldest and best friend who, thanks to covid, I've not seen for eighteen months. Seth got out all the things in her house and followed the cat around, Ash shot me with a NERF gun twice (once on the forehead, great shot.....) And we drank tea, ate pizza, watched sooty and put the world to rights.

Tomorrow we're off to the zoo for a meet the capybara experience. There is a chance we will be awol after that if I have to work out how to bail ash our after he's carried out his threat to try and smuggle one our in his t shirt... Watch this space......

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