jelly shoes walking to see the sea

Buckets and spades, beach fun at Weston-Super-Mare

Living in the middle of the country, there’s not much opportunity to go to the beach.  N’s been a couple of time, but only for a short time – a quick paddle, and walk on the beach.  He’s been keen to go to the seaside this summer, so when I was looking to go away, I wanted to be near enough to visit the beach.

Staying in Bristol meant we were near enough to go for a day trip while still being in a bustling city if the rain came, rather than being stuck on the coast where there’s probably not a lot of indoor activities going on.

So on one day of our holiday we did a visit to Wookey Hole in the morning, then drove on to Weston-super-mare.  Being a Sunday (on a bank holiday weekend), with dry weather, I shouldn’t really have been surprised at how crowded the promenade car park was.  We ended up (after a long wait due to the single file lane down the parking) parking on the beach.  I think N was a little surprised to see us parking on the sand when he woke from his nap.

filling buckets on a sandy beach

The beach wasn’t that busy and we found a spot.  I managed to distract N from wanting to go on the swing seats, and he wasn’t fussed about the donkeys.  He just wanted to dig and build sandcastles…and ‘drains’.

revealing the sandcastle

I got roped in to help, although he really wanted to just dig.  Until he decided that it was time to go to see the sea.  It was quite a way out, and we only saw a few people making the walk and then head back.  So we packed up and put our bits and pieces in the car (damn only having the 2 of us means we can’t leave stuff on the beach unguarded).

jelly shoes walking to see the sea

I did get a tad concerned seeing a few people returning from the direction of the sea, with mud up to their knees and thighs.  I knew we’d have to watch out, but thought we’d be ok.  I’d got us both wearing jelly shoes to go in the sea anyway, and we didn’t seem to be squelching at all.

paddling in inlets on the beach

After yet another person appeared, covered in mud, I decided that was as far as we’d go, and we’d have to live without seeing the sea.  Instead N got to paddle in one of the ‘puddles’.

I took a quick look round and our route back…then spotted to the left of me a couple of muddy holes where someone had sunk into the muddy sand.  Uh oh.

‘N, let’s head back now.  Come to me, straight’. I thought as long as he came straight to me instead of up the beach, he’d avoid the muddy bit.  But of course, he didn’t follow instructions, and next thing I knew, he was sunk into the mud.  Luckily, not too far from me, so I could pretty much reach over and pull him out without sinking myself.

muddy sandy jelly shoes

All fine, until I looked down and realised he was minus his lovely blue jelly shoes.  Gross, I had to pull those out quickly managing to avoid sinking too much.  They were coated and filled with the drying concrete like mud.

mucky muddy beach feet

We headed quickly back up to the beach, and debated where we would get N cleaned up, and the shoes.  Ah, boating pool.  Yes, there’s no shower or tap on Weston-super-mare beach as far as I could see, but there was a pool for people to use radio controlled boats on.  Although it did seem to be more frequently used by children paddling in it, despite the signs saying otherwise.

A dunking for N’s feet and legs, and a swoosh of the shoes, and they were cleanish again.  It looked like others were doing the same, but I don’t think I’d have wanted to paddle in it like some of the children were doing.

We then had some more time on the beach digging before N decided he wanted to fill his drains with water.  He was happy to make his own way over to the boating pool (mummy being too lazy to get up) and it was good to let him have a bit of free rein in public as it wasn’t too busy on the beach.

bucket of water on the beach

He was very focused on his task, only stopping when the little train came down the promenade.

watching the train by the beach

It was a lovely afternoon relaxing on the beach, and I’m pleased that N’s finally had a decent amount of time to spend on one playing.  Just next time we need to find a beach where the sea’s nearby and paddlable!

bucket-of-water-weston-super-mare

Have you been to the beach this summer?  What do your children like to do when you’re there?

Why not take a look at these similar posts.

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16 Comments

  1. We go to Weston on the train for a day trip every year – it’s become a family tradition now, and we always enjoy it. I do remember watching someone getting rescued form the mud so we don’t venture out too far. #pocolo

  2. Such lovely pictures! Beach in UK is a lot different than the one in Romania that is for sure 🙂

  3. i LOVE the beach, its by far my favourite day out. we like building sandcastles and paddling the best. it looks like you had a brilliant time and your pictures are just gorgeous. #LetKidsBeKids

  4. We went the beach in Skegness this summer. It was a lovely beach but it was freezing cold. My monkeys didn’t seem to mind though 🙂

    1. I always forget that Portsmouth, Poole, Hayling Island etc are only really 2 hours away if that. Should make more effort really! But I just know that doing a day trip on a sunny day would likely mean sitting in traffic while everyone else heads to the same place!

    1. I hate walking along them where you don’t know what they’re like. And if the sea’s coming in – my mum made us walk from Sheringham to Cromer one evening as kids along the beach. I wasn’t impressed!

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