So, I’ve told you about the Christmassy fun we had at Coombe Mill and I’ve shared some of the experiences we enjoyed on the farm during our week’s stay – but we did, occasionally, leave the farm and see some of Cornwall!  The weather was pretty dire, so our excursions were quite limited, but we still had a fabulous time!

We took my parents to visit Padstow for the first time on one clear day, enjoying a quiet walk around the harbour and a rather chilly ice cream.  We thoroughly enjoyed some obligatory Rick Stein fish and chips before Mum and I sneaked a quick visit to Seasalt to stock up on clothes in the sale!

We also made the most of our annual passes to the fabulous little National Lobster Hatchery.  The kids were so excited to be back to see some of the same lobsters they’d met in the Spring!  Here’s Sophie saying hello to “Charlie” and Alex proudly showing “Elsa” his Thunderbird 3 (Elsa seemed genuinely quite interested!)…

On the sunniest day of the week – Christmas Eve – we visited beautiful Lanhydrock House which looked stunning against the bright blue sky.  It was such a treat to be there at Christmas.  The decorations were gorgeous and there were loads of activities for the children around the house.  I’m normally nervous taking my crazy pair into stately homes, but they were completely engrossed in completing their activity challenge to find little robins hidden around the rooms that I didn’t need to worry!

They adored the dressing up station – and Sophie in particular enjoyed trying on hats and dresses – although she didn’t look particularly ladylike!

Grandpa introduced them to slates in the little Victorian classroom and Alex did some nice writing on his (I suspect a bit confused that there wasn’t an on button on the tablet!)

We also stopped in a little craft room to make Victorian Christmas cards and do some colouring in – it was perfect for my duo.

With it being Christmas Eve, we decided to visit the local Santa. We optimistically joined the short looking queue, but our enthusiasm dwindled when we realised how slowly it was moving.  Santa must’ve spent at least 5 minutes with each child which meant for nearly an hour of queueing for us.  But he certainly seemed very authentic when we finally got to see him.  Sophie immediately got ridiculously shy and wouldn’t talk to him, but Alex made up for it, chatting away and reminding Santa to find us at Coombe Mill and not London!  Here’s a terrible photograph of us with Santa and his helper just before Santa gave Alex and Sophie lovely National Trust gifts!

During our week in Cornwall, we also made a couple of trips to the beach!  Early in the trip, we ventured towards Newquay, stopping in a rainy gale for a delicious lunch at the brilliant Beach Hut at Watergate Bay.  I couldn’t resist the “Extreme Hot Chocolate” – yum!  After lunch we popped into the little Newquay Aquarium and watched the surfers on the beach outside.  Even in the rain and wind, it’s a gorgeous coastline.

On Boxing Day we ventured to Trebarwith Strand as it was actually dry and we fancied a wander along the beach.  Sadly, the wind was incredibly strong and with every gust we got slapped with stinging sand – so it was a pretty short lived walk!

We found a slightly sheltered spot for some scrambling and cave-exploring.

And Sophie even managed to make some sand castles – so it felt like a proper trip to the seaside!

Despite the wind, it was really beautiful with very dramatic rock formations – perfect for clambering over!

Matt and Alex decided to walk a portion of the South West Coastal Path together from the beach along to Tintagel – about 2.5 miles.  Not far for us, but long for Alex! Sophie and I drove to the Tintagel end of the path with my parents to meet them with a packed lunch and cake! When they arrived, Alex was so proud to have done a proper walk with his Daddy!  Matt’s already planning another family walk!