Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘bens birthday’

We were intending to go camping for Ben’s 12th birthday weekend this year but the weather forecast wasn’t very good at all so we managed to change that until the May Bank Holiday weekend next year so instead we managed to book a last minute caravan at Devon Cliffs.  We had only been here a few weeks ago at the end of August but enjoyed it so much, we thought that we would book it again, but in a cheaper caravan this time.  As October is out of season, prices were cheaper anyway but we did manage to get a really nice caravan that was only a few minutes walk from the beach at a much lower cost.  So we were pleased with that!

We travelled up on the Friday after school and had a Burger King takeaway when we arrived as they onsite BK delivers onsite as well.  We managed to get there just in time as there was an accident on the road on the way so we were later than we hoped.  We did still manage a quick walk on the beach that evening as well, which was nice during dusk.

We spent the Saturday in the beach with the boys playing in the sea and went to the restaurant for tea.  Aaron ended up, somehow, leaving his tablet on the table so Kelly had to go back in and luckily it had been handed in!  Lucky Aaron!  We then went back to the caravan and played some card games until bedtime.

On the Sunday, we couldn’t sleep at all, so we ended up all getting up for a walk on the beach at 6am.  It was lovely and we were surprised with the number of people that were up and about at that time of day!  We had a nice long walk along the beach and then went back to the caravan and had a cooked breakfast.  We then had a walk around the complex and ended up in the arcade to use up the last of our pennies.  We were meant to get some sandwiches for lunch but we ended up going to the other restaurant and having a nice meal.  We then had to go back to the caravan and start packing our stuff up as we had to drive home that evening.  We had considered staying overnight and leaving really early the next morning but we decided against that.

Once again, we had had a really nice time at Devon Cliffs and it was a perfect weekend for Ben’s birthday.  It is such a lovely place to stay, what with the beach, arcade and other facilities onsite.  I don’t think this will be the last time that we will stay! 🙂

For Ben’s birthday trip this year, he wanted to go camping, so we managed to get a good deal at Perran Sands Haven for the weekend before his birthday. Alex, Josh, Caleb and Sophia also camped for the weekend with us. The weather was good for the entire weekend until the Sunday afternoon when we had to pack the tent away, when it lashed down with rain and the wind picked up quite a lot. It was typical! Before then, it had been nice enough to go out in the outdoor swimming pool that they had, although it was very cold above the water! It was also noticeably dark early in the evenings as we ended up sorting the tent out in the dark on the Friday evening, which was an experience. We also had our new awning to put up which delayed things a fair bit as we didn’t know how to put it up properly. Luckily, our pitch was right next to a play area so the boys all went off and played in there whilst we were setting up camp. We didn’t have tea until late though as it seemed to take ages to get sorted.

On the Saturday, we went swimming in the morning and then, in the afternoon, some family came over to the campsite for some party nibbles. Nan Nan and Pops were staying on the site already in their caravan, and they were only a few rows behind us, and Alex and Josh had the pitch right next to us, so it worked out very well. Mike, Vicky, Charlotte and the kids also came and so did Gramps and Nanny Helen. All the children were playing together and they scoffed all the food, which included hot dogs. Aaron and I also went for a walk with Gramps and Nanny Helen to the main area of the site to show them the arcade, shops and restaurants, etc. Once everyone had left, we relaxed for a bit before we went for tea in the BBQ Grill restaurant with Alex, Josh, Caleb, Sophia, Nan Nan and Pops. The food was very nice, and so were the cocktails! After the meal, Nan Nan and Pops went back to their caravan and we went to the evening entertainment, which was interesting but funny. After we had got back to camp and gone to sleep, we were woken in the night by some rustling in the awning. We knew there were gaps around the edges as we hadn’t set it up correctly but we got up and had a look and found a Badger in there! Kelly started opening the zips to it and the Badger shot off out of the awning, past the park and off into the sand dunes. The rascal tried it again 20 minutes later but then didn’t come back again. The boys didn’t even wake up during it all so we had to tell the in the morning! hahaha

The following day, we went for a swim again in the morning and then went in the arcade for a little while so the boys could spend their change. I had a game of Pool with Ben and he played very well and pulled off some really good shots. I was surprised but it did make me very proud! The boys won a few things from the penny machines and had a good go on the games, before we went back to camp, had some dinner and then started to pack things up again. We didn’t leave until late afternoon so stopped in for McDonalds on the way home. All of the boys were tired out and so fell asleep on the journey home!

We had all had a good weekend and the weather was good for the most part, but our night visitor on Saturday was a bit of a surprise! We would definitely go there again as the facilities were excellent and clean.

Ben had his usual birthday party at the local Scout Hut on the Saturday before his birthday, and Aaron had a great time playing and eating! We also went to Pennywell Farm on the Sunday (Ben’s actual birthday was the Monday).  Here are some photographs of him at the birthday party and at Pennywell Farm holding a little pig.

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