A visit to Wales

Faced with the August Bank Holiday (which somehow we had managed to forget about), we quickly decided to take a last minute trip to Wales.  The first time we were in Wales, I was 7 months pregnant with Evie and we stayed on a farm in the Brecon Beacons. It was breathtakingly beautiful so we decided, with our two kids in tow, to head back that way.  This time we stayed in Porth Mawr, Crickhowell in a self-catering flat on the bottom floor of a big house.  Our neighbors were four pigs that were so ugly they were cute.  It was great fun to feed them our fruit and vegetable scraps and they were enthusiastic about getting to know us and would squeal with anticipation at our approach.

Wales is known for being a very rainy place, but we got lucky and had a lot of sunshine (unlike our Welsh beach glamping trip which was mostly rainy and cold).  We took advantage of the nice weather by getting out into nature as much as possible.

This is what happens when you take two city girls out into the country:

And this is what happens when the city girl doesn't want to walk anymore. Lots of exercise for me!

We took an easy and beautiful walk along a canal, where friendly people floated by in their houseboats and waved.  We definitely want to have a houseboat adventure at some point. 

We splashed around in a creek and later got caught in a torrential downpour, while darting across a field full of horses.

Everyone was a little worn out after our walk, so lunch in a pub was required (sorry for the lack of detail in this blog---it's been a while since August!)

The next day, after a good night's rest and multiple pig feedings, we headed to Pen Y Fan, the highest point in South Wales and Southern Britain.  Well supplied with a packed lunch and lots of snacks, we started our ascent (me, with Millie on my back).

The sun was shining and there were lots of other people heading up--some of whom made it and some of whom didn't.  There were points when I wondered if we would make it to the top, I have to admit.

Especially once Evie decided she needed to ride on Jim's back! After about 25 minutes, she was back on the ground again. It's no easy feet to walk up a small mountain with a 45 pound child on your back! 

Taking a lunch/snack break:

At this point, we were getting there, but still had a long way to go:

But we made it!  All around us people were looking pleased with themselves and enjoying the spectacular views.  There were some steep drops off of the top and some daredevil hang gliders were taking some pretty treacherous leaps out into nothingness. The spectators would run from one side of the mountain to the other to watch these crazy people go hurtling towards the ground, only to catch some wind at the last second and coast to a stop at the bottom. It was really scary!

The girls mapped our route back down:

Meditating:

And at the end, a well deserved ice cream cone for all:

Random shots from our first rainy afternoon.  This was the playground! What a view!

Every time I visit Wales, I want to move there (this happens a lot during our travels).  The people are nice and the scenery is spectacular and the kids love the space and we all enjoy the peace and quiet.  We'll definitely go back again some day!