I’ve finally finished sorting out our photographs from our wonderful Cornish holiday – so I’m afraid you’ve got to read through one final holiday post before it’s back to normal London service (well, not quite, as we’re off to Zurich next weekend!)…

While we spent a lot of our time exploring the beautiful Northern coast, we visited a few wonderful places inland, starting with the glorious National Trust property, Lanhydrock House.  I have vague recollections of visiting on a school week in Bude when I was about 14 (!) but it’s clearly developed a lot since then.  We’d heard good things about their mountain biking woods, so headed straight to the new bike hire hub to find out more.  Within minutes, we were kitted out with excellent quality bikes and helmets and directed to the wide range of trails.

With Alex on his own little bike, we decided to stick to the entry level trail.  It was fabulous – a really well maintained route, in lush woodland with occasional sweeping views of the countryside.  Matt and I loved it – and Sophie was very happy on the back of the bike.  Alex, on the otherhand, really missed his own bike, and found the braking approach on the hire bike too confusing (he had to peddle backwards) – so he got quite upset going around the course which was such a shame.

Thankfully, he perked up a bit when we completed the main route, and had much more fun on the skills course – loving the banks, bumps and “moguls”!  Phew.

Sophie preferred navigating the skills course on foot.  She’s looking so grown up!

Matt and I took it in turns to try a slightly harder route while the children played on the practice area and both loved the short spell of freedom and speed.  Can’t wait to get back to Lanhydrock when the children are a bit older and more bike-confident!

After we’d reluctantly returned the bikes, we wandered down the long path to Lanhydrock House itself.  Thankfully it was downhill as it was quite a trek for little legs.  We searched for pine cones along the way – Alex proudly finding the “biggest pine cone ever”.

The House was as beautiful as I remember although, as usual on our National Trust visits with our pre-schoolers, we weren’t really brave enough to go inside.

So we admired it from the perimeter!  Love the bizarre shaped bushes!

We did make it indoors to the cafe to reward ourselves with a big slab of cake and a proper Cream Tea.  A sweet end to a lovely day.

In the middle of our trip to the South West, the weather looked particularly threatening, so we took the opportunity to visit The Eden Project for the first time.  Matt and I have wanted to go for ages and I’m so glad we’ve finally made it.    It is such a bizarre site on the Cornish landscape, with enormous domes peaking out from beautifully landscaped gardens.

The children were thrilled at the prospect of going inside bubbles, so we started our visit in the biggest one of all – the Rainforest Biome.  Matt and I found it fascinating with some amazing flowers and plants – but the children weren’t massive fans of the heat, so it became a bit of a march to rush two whining children through the route and out again!

They were hot and sweaty by the end and relieved to get into the cooler cafe for lunch!  Not sure we’ll be doing any tropical holidays any time soon (or at least, when we do, we’ll make sure we have shorts and tshirts rather than jeans on!)

They were much more content in the Mediterranean Biome after lunch which was the perfect temperature. I loved it in there – stunning flowers, comfortably warm and the delicious smell of the Italian restaurant adding to the authentic atmosphere!

After the brilliant biomes, we whiled away an hour exploring the extensive grounds.  Dotted around the site were occasional games and things to do – like this lovely xylophone.  And we really enjoyed exploring The Core – an interactive space, complete with a softplay with dressing up clothes.  Sophie transformed into a ladybird but sadly wouldn’t stop running around long enough for her to take a decent picture of her.  She looked hilarious!

Towards the end of the week, we visited Lappa Valley – a haven for little train enthusiasts!  It really was a day for Alex and Sophie, but Matt and I had much more fun than we expected to!  I was expecting a bit of a tacky load of train rides, but clearly hadn’t read the promotional material very well as the site was really beautiful and packed full of history.  We loved seeing the old mining buildings and reading the fascinating history of the location.

Of course there are a few train rides, but they enabled us to explore the woodland on the site – they were rather good fun!

There was much more on the site than trains, including some fun little rides which Alex loved:

And some lovely trails in the woods – Alex and Sophie ran and ran, seemingly never running out of energy all day!

My favourite thing was the little lake where you could pick up a canoe as often as your wanted for a leisurely paddle.  Alex loved his first rowing experience, as did Sophie – who confused us all by telling us repeatedly that she’d lost her bagel.  It took us a while to realise she meant her paddle!  Poor Matt had to scour his route to find it again!

There was an enormous adventure playground which gave Matt and I a very leisurely lunch as the children could confidently explore on their own.

And even a little golf course.  Alex cheated appallingly!

It was a little gem of a park in another lovely location.

We were reflecting last week that we could easily have spent another week in Cornwall, there was just so much to see and do – so expect to have to read about future holidays in the South West!

So we didn’t just stay at Coombe Mill during our week long trip to Cornwall last week – we occasionally dragged the children away from the bunnies and the trampoline!  As usual on holiday, we were drawn to the coast, so we started at nearby Polzeath beach.  The weather was a bit grey and windy, but that made it all look rather dramatic – and provided a lot of surfing action to watch!

The children immediately set to clambering up the rocks which had a really striking purple and green striped pattern! Here’s Alex on his way up:

Not to be outdone by her big brother, Sophie was soon in hot pursuit – given she’s only two, she’s very confident at climbing. I hope she stays fearless!

When we got a bit too chilly, we headed into a lovely cafe for a massive lunch before driving around the coast to Padstow to explore the beautiful harbour.  We couldn’t resist ice cream!

We had much better weather for our second beach excursion, this time to Daymer Bay.  With it being term-time, the beach was practically deserted – I can’t imagine how manic it must be during the school holidays.  The tide was far out, so we spent ages roaming around on the sands, seeking more rocks to scramble on and checking out every rockpool we passed.  It was stunning – and felt truly wonderful getting some sun and some sea air.

Equipped with buckets and spades, the children had a blast – collecting shells and seaweed and as much water as they could carry.

Matt snuck to the little beach shop to finally get the children a kite – I can’t believe we’ve not really done any kite flying with them! Daymer was the perfect place to get some practice – there was loads of space and a perfect amount of wind.  The children absolutely loved it.

Alex did a really good job controlling the kite, and Sophie was expert at collecting it when it crashed into the sand!

I’d been a bit useless and not made a picnic – but thankfully there was a little cafe in the carpark which did toasties and pasties.  The day was really warming up, so Alex and Sophie finally got to model their holiday hats and shades that they had so carefully chosen!  They look so daft – love it!

With it much warmer after lunch, the kids stripped off and finally got to feel the sand in their toes! Alex, in his usual super confident way, immediately made friends with a girl who had a very similar, wacky imagination to him.  She introduced herself as “Super Sparkle” and Alex decided he was “Super Spiderman” – and the pair proceeded to have an amazing time inventing elaborate rescue scenarios!  It was so funny to watch!

Meanwhile Sophie pottered around in the sand and Matt and I enjoyed sunning ourselves and enjoying some peace.  It’s brilliant being at the point where the kids can entertain themselves for a while – and I love watching their independence grow!

We closed our week in Cornwall with one final foray to the sea.  Feeling energetic, we hired bikes and cycled along some of the Camel Trail into Padstow.  Following a disused railway track, it’s lovely cycling – relatively flat, well surfaced and with excellent views.  Coming into Padstow was beautiful – even if the weather was a bit grey.  Alex rode on a bike with me, helping me up the hills brilliantly!

Meanwhile, Sophie rode on Matt’s bike – even managing to fall asleep on the way back.  I did feel bad for her seeing her hed lolling around! It can’t have been very restful.

Locking our bikes up safely, we spent a bit more time enjoying Padstow on this visit.  The children liked looking at the boats in the harbour and laughing at the cheeky, confident seagulls (some of whom were brazenly stole food out of our hands while we were eating)

We popped into the National Lobster Hatchery (who knew?!) and spent ages exploring the place – it became a real highlight of the week for the kids.  They just couldn’t get enough of looking at the lobsters, a couple of whom were behind magnifying glass to make them look enormous!  They had great names like “Elsa” and “Jaffa”!  We all enjoyed looking at the tiny babies and the mummy lobsters in the maternity ward.  And Alex was brave enough to hold a full lobster shell!

We enjoyed it so much, we popped in on our way back to the bikes to bid Elsa and her buddies goodbye!

Of course, while we were in Padstow, we had to have some Rick Stein fish and chips.  We played it safe, not being brave enough to take our rowdy pair into a smart restaurant, so got takeaway from the little fish and chip shop – we were not disappointed.  It really was excellent – and relaxing on benches overlooking the harbour – made for a lovely end to our Cornish week.

I should start this post with a bit of a warning – there are rather a lot of photographs in it!   We took so many pictures on our holiday to Cornwall last week that it’s taken me days to prep the first of a series of posts about our South West adventure.

I wouldn’t normally write an entire blog post about holiday accommodation either – but last week we were staying somewhere special.  I’ve been wanting to stay at Coombe Mill for ages, having read reviews from other bloggers – and the final opportunity we have for taking a term-time holiday before Alex starts school gave me the chance to take my family there.

And I wasn’t disappointed.  Nestled between Bodmin Moor and the North Cornish coast, the peaceful hamlet of cottages and lodges was the perfect contrast to our crazy city life.  With a complete lack of mobile signal and the only background noise the bubbling River Camel, I properly unplugged myself from work.

We were staying in beautiful Water Mill cottage, one of the oldest buildings on the site – complete with a snug wood burning stove and lush, green views.  We were super comfortable, and the children enjoyed sharing a room!

Lovely though the cottage was, we spent very little time indoors. Coombe Mill was heaven for Alex and Sophie with over 30 acres to explore.  Every morning, they accompanied Farmer Nick on the daily feed run around the farm – visiting and feeding a whole range of animals.  Here’s Alex getting ready for his turn driving the tractor, and bottle feeding baby Sprout the goat – a real favourite of all the guests!

Here we are with some of the other goats, including bottle feeding little Rocky:

I think we all would have enjoyed taking baby Sprout home with us – the children are still talking about Sprout now!

We fed our leftover food to the resident pigs and enjoyed guessing which food they’d eat first from the massive pile of scraps:

We held and stroked tiny chicks, fed chickens and ducks, and hunted for eggs – eating more in a week than we have for months!

And we even got up close to a gorgeous group of deer every day!

Every day the feed run ended at the bunny enclosure, which was probably Sophie’s favourite place on the farm.  I loved how we were welcome to visit the animals any time we wanted, so we regularly popped in to see the rabbits if we found we had some time spare, gathering fresh grass for them to coax them close.  I was seriously tempted to bring one of them home – but I’m not sure they’d have enjoyed my tiny urban garden after the freedom of Coombe Mill!

And we visited the resident horses

One day we spotted Sophie having a very animated conversation with the horses – so funny to watch, although I have no idea what they were talking about!

Here are my proud pair posing for pictures in a tree they climbed every morning on the feed run – they insisted we take their photos there every day!

If the feed run was how we started each day at Coombe Mill, the day ended with a trip on the farm’s little railway!  Right outside our cottage, the tiny track was a real highlight for the children.  With driver Guy, one of the owners’ six children, Alex and Sophie loved chugging around the track, and acting as signalman and stationmaster – waving the flag and blowing the whistle to get the rides underway.

It was such a nice way to close each day, gathering with the other guests – and usually joined by Sprout the Goat who loved running along after the train (check out owner, Fiona’s, video, complete with Superman Alex!)

One of my favourite things about staying at Coombe Mill was the freedom it allowed Alex and Sophie.  With several fabulous play areas, and so many animals to visit, the children were able to roam quite freely around the estate.  From our cottage, we could see their favourite play area which included a massive trampoline (always a winner for Family Agar) – and we got to the point where we’d happily let Alex and Sophie head over to it by themselves and play together.  It was such a pleasure as a parent to see them grow in confidence and enjoy the kind of freedom they don’t have a hope of experiencing in central London.

Of course, we didn’t let them play alone all the time – who can resist a bounce?!

Alex and Sophie particularly enjoyed being one of the first guests to experience the new Mud Kitchen, toiling away to make “hot chocolate” and mud pies, sending me on multiple trips down to the River Camel for water!

As well as the mud kitchen, Sophie was quite a fan of the Fairy Garden – a beautiful area in the woodland full of decorations and crafts made my previous guests.  We loved the decorations twinkling in the trees.

And Sophie adored the beautiful animal stones dotted around the clearing.  Alex practiced his reading identifying all the animals they represented.

We visited the Mud Kitchen and Fairy Garden again during the weekly children’s activity hour – but for a slightly cleaner activity!  Led by owner Fiona, the children made colourful wands and collected flowers, leaves and seeds to make a fairy meal!  The addition of a dressing up box was a big success – and Sophie looked particularly gorgeous in her fairy dress and wellies!  She’d fit right in at Glastonbury!

Back at the mud kitchen, the gang of children carefully mixed and cooked the fairy food:

They then headed up to the Fairy Garden to sprinkle it around for the resident fairies!  Sophie was quite dedicated to that, feeding flowers to the gnomes and dwarves!

Meanwhile, Alex turned his attention to helping build a “bug hotel” – perhaps more his thing than feeding fairies!

The children loved everything about staying at Coombe Mill!  They made friends with the other guests, enjoyed the freedom to explore and adored the brilliant play areas and activities.  And as a parent, it was just the right balance of organised, outdoor fun for the kids, and relaxed, independent space for us to spend time as a family.  We even got to enjoy some time to ourselves, Matt getting a couple of (very hilly) runs in and me enjoying some peaceful walks around the estate and beyond.

I loved the bluebell woods, and the fresh, green landscape – clearly all the rain we’ve had this Spring has done wonders for this part of the country!

There were colours everywhere – I snapped all these within a minute of our cottage.

Well done – you made it through all the pictures!  And that’s just where we stayed!  Got a couple more posts to come about what we got up to around beautiful Cornwall.