We’ve only been here
for one day and it really feels like we are on holiday. We left a particularly
grey and dreary Oxford yesterday. This morning when we came down from our hotel
room for breakfast on the balcony, it was to a cloudless blue sky, bright
sunshine (I’m going to buy sunglasses tomorrow) and a view of the sea. We were
so very obviously newbies as Sophie yelled out “I can see the seaside”. All the
other diners (many Germans, some Italians and Brits) turned and smiled. A
couple of minutes into breakfast Sophie reached up to touch her hair, “My head
is hot” she says. I don’t think that she remembers experiencing such lovely
weather before in her lifetime.
We went straight to
the beach after breakfast and all spent a lovely couple of hours playing in the
sand and splashing in the crystal clear water. I don’t think that Sophie
remembers much about going into the sea (expect maybe some paddling in
Pembrokeshire last Summer) so it was as if we were seeing her first responses
to walking out into the waves. The joy and excitement on her face were great! I’m
looking forward to more of it during our Summer in Melbourne this Dec/Jan. I’m
afraid that I turned and said to Andrew that this was better than an Australian
beach…….no mosquitoes, not too hot, warmer water….. do I lose my citizenship
now?
After a bus to the
local town (which turned out to be closer than we’d thought – we walked back
along the beach in 15 minutes) for lunch (giant chocolate milkshakes beforehand may have been a parental tactical error as they didn't eat any food!) we returned to the beach by the hotel
for the afternoon. Sand and water really do supply endless entertainment!
I did, however, wonder whether it was worth coming all the way here at the end of the day, as we lay in bed talking about the events of our day. I asked Sophie whether she enjoyed being here on holiday and what she liked the most about today. She replied "when we went and saw Thomas" referring to a trip to Didcot a month ago to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Cue the large parent SIGH.
Some good quotes from Sophie today:
“We need that camera
to make people say ‘Cheese’”.
“I do it all by my own”.
I think that William used this same turn of phrase at the same age, perhaps it
is a common stage of learning?
