Kessingland holiday

We had a lovely week at Kessingland. We've never had a family holiday before so it was a very special week for us.
How to blog it? That's the question.
I started to blog my favourite bits but they kind of stretched so I might as well do the whole darn thang:
Most of our journey was good up to the point where our train from London was delayed by 15 mins, which led to a 1-hour delay for train from Norwich and then a further 40 minute or so delay for bus from Lowestoft, which was on evening schedule by then - tsk! F was a star and carried her own rucksack with her ponies and Dozy Mog and a few other items in. So we were pretty tired by the time we arrived - thankfully we just about caught the on-site shop before it closed and were able to get some tea, bread, etc.
That evening we looked at the beach and enjoyed a beautiful almost harvest moon over the sea. Our caravan was in the 'Sea View' area and actually did have a sea view, which was lovely for me - I'm one of those people who would pay extra for sea views.
Later, back at the caravan, Alison came up for a quick visit for various reasons including giving J and I our books for the week - am now hooked on PJ Tracy - ta! Nice to chat with her, although I was putting F to bed for some of it, didn't really ever get a proper chance for a chat with her after that, due to timing/parenting stuff.

Sunday - people met up on the beach, ostensibly with a view to sandcastle-making, which did indeed happen to some extent. F enjoyed the sea until she got too cold and overheated at the same time (bad parents - no hat on child! *cringe* - she will not keep a hat on so we've got out of the habit of taking one with us - tsk again!) which resulted in a bit of a heat rash on both cheeks over the next couple of days. However a good time had definitely been had by all. I took off her wet clothes and popped her into my shirt (it's alright I had a T-shirt underneath) and gave her a big long cuddle and she was fine. That whole beach afternoon was lovely - enjoyed meeting Merry for the first time - she and her family appeared over the crest of the beach in the sun's spotlight, like blog-stars should! Chatted with a few people - nice company - I was in lazy mode once I got my arse parked on the sand. Enjoyed watching Mrs MT get truly sploshed and little Teeny doing her ET impression in Mr MT's top. F had busied herself with a moat and various other things before her time in sea with her dad.
In the evening we went to get veggie burgers and saw part of the Sparky show which F liked a lot and we soon became regulars at for most of the week! By the end of the week F was starting to get bits of the dance routines in the dance sessions too (making a vague 'Y' shape for YMCA etc.)! I loved the fact that she had the confidence and self-possession to just spend time out on the dance floor and observe for ages and ages though, looking at the lights, the other people dancing, etc.

Tie-dying on Monday - fab! F wasn't at all engaged during the process, but when she saw the result she was more interested and realized what we had been doing! Will definitely investigate that further, very enjoyable for adults too! In the meantime, F played with a stone collection which might have belonged to C and ran around, as you do. It was nice to sit in the shade and enjoy relaxed company and admire people's tie-dye garments as they emerged.
After that, Mrs MT took me to Morrisons and accompanied me round the shop, probably cringing in the lentil and bean aisle, but kindly showing me where everything was, even the highly visibly labelled 'MEAT-FREE' frozen items. Was able to buy soya milk (hate black tea) and marge and some nice deli stuff along with veggies.
While I was out provisioning, J and F went on a nice beach walk, collecting stones and pootling around to their hearts' content.
When I got back they were still out, so I went down to the tent field with Mrs MT and enjoyed an hour or so there - a time of day when parenting duties were still a major distraction for most, but nevertheless it was nice to sit under the communal gazebo and 'be there'! Met Jax properly for the first time, and saw others come and go. While there, it dawned on me how lucky I was to have so much free time during the day, with our relatively high ratio of 2 adults to 1 child.

On Tuesday, we got up late, F watched some CBeebies Springwatch and schools progs, we pootled around, I took some washing over to the launderette and eventually we made our way down to do kite-making. F spent hours flying the kite with J. I hung out in the tent field, cheering Ady on as he went off to rescue poor Big's lost kite (think he should have worn boots though, with all those thistles!) and roaming around socially engaging anyone who wasn't parenting for a few minutes.
In the evening, more Sparky's!

Wednesday was Africa Alive day, which meant setting the alarm for 8am and getting up! We walked up the long lane playing 'what colour car will we see next'. She was a bit tired by the time we got there, but soon perked up after a biscuit and drink. We had a special group session, at which we held/touched and learned about an enormous cockroach, giant African land snail (J used to keep some of them), snakes and rats. Later, we saw lions, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, ostriches and many more. F loved the train ride best of all, of course! The lemurs were great and very 'King Julian'. Enjoyed the goats too, love goats. At one point a group of us witnessed a tortoise apparently stranded in its enclosure on its back. But it slowly righted itself before our very eyes over a few minutes. My favourites were the lions and the rhinos and Charlie the cockroach (tickly) I think. It was an excellent day out, we very much enjoyed it.
Back at the caravan we met as arranged with another Internet friend from my 2 favourite message boards with her husband and her son, who is not far off F's age. They are localish, so it was a good chance to meet up. It was a really nice meeting, the children played together a bit, with increasing volume level by the end. She and I chatted and had our photos taken for the message board and her husband was intelligent, sardonic and entertaining.

Thursday and Friday were free days for us, with nothing planned. We ended up doing some nice walks out along the shoreline, flying a kite and going swimming. I loved the outdoor pool, but the indoor pool was a bit deep and busy for me.
And in the evening... yes, more Sparky's! On Thursday I caught most of the cabaret down in the tent field - lovely! Well done to all children involved, you did great! And on Friday I wandered down again later with some of Alison's books to return. People gradually ceased their parenting endeavours and joined the circle around Mrs MT's non-utilitarian pink flares for a natter and some chocolate. Very civilized.

We will definitely go again, it was a lovely week, thanks to everyone who helped to make it happen, to all those who undertook craft sessions, who participated generally and organized specifically. Thanks to Mrs MT (for organizational excellence), Mrs MuddlePuddle (for starting it all in the first place), Mrs Portico (for books! books! books!) and everyone.

Journey back was a bit yuk at the beginning due to engineering works but the last bits were fine, lovely proper air-con train down from London and vegan sushi to eat.
Just been transitioning since then, washing, shopping online, etc. Today F and I went into town and bumped into our neighbour, whose cat (much-loved by F) had, she told us, been very excited to receive her postcard from us.
Rest of week will be:
visit to Grandma Julia tomorrow (still recovering from her operation but fine)
yoga on Weds
physio on Thurs
picnic(s) at weekend