Cornwall

To celebrate the end of the term break, we decided to head to Cornwall with friends for a long weekend. Cornwall is a beautiful beach area in the southwest of England we had heard alot about but had never visited. We were able to find a wonderful off season special at a great cottage in Truro, which was about a 3 and a half hour drive from Cheltenham.

Loving ice skating!

Getting the hang of it...

Beautiful skating spot with the Cathedral in the background

We started the weekend with a visit to Tesco (a grocery-type store here) after realizing that we forgot Lyla's winter coat. Oops! Then it was off to visit the beautiful Truro Cathedral, and do some ice skating. Riley tried to venture off on her own for the first time and ended up with a wet bottom and sore ego but she did terrific for her first time skating solo! Lyla was all smiles and thought it was a piece of cake, especially since she had Wayne holding her up and her new coat keeping her warm! After that, it was back to the cottage for dinner and fun, along with birthday cupcakes to celebrate Riley's 7th birthday. We just can't get enough of the celebrating around here! (Both girls celebrated birthdays last week so stay tuned for some posts with pics of the festivities!)

7th Birthday cupcakes

On Saturday we set off to explore Tintagel Castle, a medieval clifftop ruin rumored to have been the birthplace of the legendary King Arthur. While we found no evidence of Arthur, we did find some absolutely stunning views and some sunshine! The girls all had fun playing amongst the rubble and testing how close they could get to the cliff's edge before one of the adults freaked out. What a fun game! Our friend Aubrey blogged about our day in Tintagel here.

Riley & Ella playing among the ruins

Posing

I think this is her, "Man, I'm cool!" pose

Riley & Lyla with their buddies, Ella and Kate

So pretty

Family portrait on the cliff

Not too close!!

That's a workout!

Riley with her man sized Cheese & Onion pasty

Then it was time for a pasty lunch and back to the cottage for some swimming and movie time! The next day we were off again, this time to explore the Minack Theatre, an open-air theatre on the edge of the sea. I think this was my favorite part of the trip! It was such a unique concept and exciting to explore in the winter when there were so few other visitors. The girls loved climbing among the seats, which were each engraved with the names of shows that have been performed there. I have vowed that we will return to see a show there before we leave!

The water was such a pretty shade of blue!

I will go to a show here!

So awesome

Pick your seat

We loved the engravings.

The entire gang

Posing in her wellies

Another family portrait at the Theatre

After the theatre, it was a quick stop at Land's End, the westernmost part of the island, where we waved to our family and imagined swimming the 3,147 miles to NY. We took our picture and then it was off to a pub lunch, as there wasn't very much to see there aside from closed tourist shops. Then it was time for a beautiful drive through the countryside that brought back memories of Ireland and lulled the girls for a quick nap. Victory!

You could pay to have your town posted with the number of miles. We are lucky to be from NY so ours was the featured sign. 3,147? Is that all?

Cornwall in winter far exceeded our expectations and we can't wait to return....without our woolly hats next time!