Ever since our first visit to Cornwall (Mousehole, 2007), we have tried to get back as often as possible. We went back to Mousehole with our friends Meg and Dan in the spring of 2008 and spent Easter being nearly blown off the cliffs in sideways sleet while taking a long coastal walk. Over the years, we have gone from the Southern-most tip of Cornwall to the Northwestern coast. We visited Mawgan Porth in 2009, when Evie was six months old, and had a freakishly warm and sunny June beach week. We went back in 2010 when I was heavily pregnant with Millie and enjoyed the luxury of staying in the Bedruthan Steps Hotel, which caters to families with small children. We visited the Eden Project and went for two hour walks on the cliffs while Evie played in the creche. Then we went back and enjoyed swimming in the heated pool and going to the family events (magic shows, dancing, etc) in the evening. And finally, in September of 2012, we brought Millie to Cornwall for the first time thanks to some generous friends letting us use their family beach house near Constantine Bay for a week.
Our traditional mode of transport to Cornwall is the train. It's a four to five hour journey through the scenic English countryside (except when they oversell the train and you have to sit on the floor or stand). Since we now have a car, we decided to drive to Constantine Bay. We were well aware of Evie's tendency to toss her cookies on long and swervy road trips, so we drugged her up with Dramamine before we headed out. What we weren't prepared for was Millie, who vomited three times towards the end of our trip. It was cold and rainy and poor Millie stood crying and shivering in several parking lots while we wiped her down and changed her clothes. By the time we got to the cottage we were staying in, we were all feeling pretty frazzled (and also had the lovely task of cleaning out and washing the vomit filled car seat first thing). Luckily there was a warm and cozy pub with good food waiting for us just down the road, which cheered us up immensely! Especially when we got to dessert:
The next day, encouraged by a little sun and forgetting just how cold the beach is in Cornwall, we headed down to have a picnic and to stick our toes in the water. 
Constantine Bay is really beautiful with lots of wave pools and pretty spectacular waves in the evening. The girls, being the way they are, decided that sticking their toes in the water was not really satisfying and ended up getting completely soaked and turning a pale purple color. Thus ended our first day of the beach, after which we headed back up to thaw everyone out and put on several more layers.
More food was essential, so we hopped in the car and visited a nearby farm shop full of lots of local produce, delicious cheese, gourmet chocolates, wines, homemade pasta and other overpriced and provincial delicacies. There were also some chickens wandering around and two different people pointed out that our right brake light wasn't working while we were in the parking lot.
Later, kind of last minute, we decided to head back to the beach to watch the sunset. We are good at just missing the sunset, so we had to make haste! Evie led us down the aptly named "Dark Path" which was very narrow and full of roots.
The many opportunities to stop and eat blackberries en route didn't help our 'see the sunset' cause.
And when we finally go to the dunes for the highly anticipated sunset...the clouds rolled in.
But the waves were awesome and huge! Jim and Millie went and sat on the beach to take it all in, while Evie and I hung back (she is not a fan of waves after being pummeled in Cabo San Lucas last year).
Padstow, famous for it's Rick Steve's connection, was our next day trip and since we had been there before, we decided to take the ferry across the bay to Rock. The exciting part about the ferry is that it runs with the tides...so if the tide is up, you get on it in one spot and if the tide is out you have to board in a completely different place. We took the 'tide is in' ferry and enjoyed walking on the beach and climbing through the dunes in Rock.
There were lots and lots of blackberries to eat on the dunes...
But it was a good thing that we bought discounted sausage rolls at one of the bakeries in Padstow because some of us got hungry earlier than planned.
For the first time ever in all of our trips to cold and windy Cornwall, it occurred to us that wet suits might be a good idea. Boy were they! The girls, looking like teeny tiny surfers, hit the beach in style. There was major splashing around to be done and wave pools to be explored.
Wandering into the rising tide with Jim. You can't tell in this picture, but Millie was not very happy about it.
Visiting Cornwall in the off season has lots of perks...one of which is that when you drive down the really narrow road that is basically a one lane tunnel to the "Adventure Park" there are no other cars. The second is that there are no other people in the Adventure Park when you get there!
We basically had the whole park to ourselves, which meant we could ride all of the super exciting rides over and over again! Except for Millie, who was too little for most of them (poor Millie...although somehow I think that she might take after me in the roller coaster department...see below). Evie, on the other hand, is just like her Dad.
This pony ride was hilarious to watch.
And the farm animals around the Adventure Park were a nice diversion from the rides. Not only were there pigs, but there were also horses, sheep, goats, bunnies and chickens (the last two were, disturbingly, also for sale).
We all enjoyed going down the big slides that were all over the park and also riding tandem on the zip lines. There was a fun playground with a pirate ship that had air guns, with soft balls which we could shoot at each other (mostly it was the girls and me shooting Jim). But the highlight was this water ride....
Which ended in a BIG splash!
Some of us got wetter than others.
And poor Millie just needed at nap by that point!
We were wet and tired, but we couldn't leave without going for a pony ride!
And even though Millie didn't want to ride the pony, she still got a ribbon. But she was more interested in picking her nose.
On our last day, we went back to Padstow and rented bikes so that we could cycle the Camel Trail. Jim wandered off to get coffee while I did the bike negotiating and when he came back he found out that I had chosen to put both girls into one bike buggy...which he was to pull.
Being the good sport that he is, he agreed that he was the strongest and best to pull them and off we went. I think we had gone about 10 minutes when the girls started fighting over the popcorn they were snacking on and everyone one who passed us on the peaceful Camel Trail was treated to their banshee-like shrieking. Between their caterwauling and us yelling threats back at them, we were able to enjoy the scenery and the birds. The Camel Trail is known for it's bird watching opportunities (not that we would have recognized what any of those birds were, but they were still very pretty and in abundance).
Some people were digging for something when the tide was low. One woman who was also riding her bike said it was probably some sort of wormy type thing for catching fish
On our way back, just after we enjoyed a nice lunch complete with Cornish ice cream (about which the girls were very enthusiastic) and friendly Cornish people, the bike buggy got a flat. Several kind people offered to help, but all of their and our efforts failed and poor Jim had to pedal ten miles back while dragging the half flat buggy full of two sturdy children. Oops.
At least before all that, he got to hang out on this old school train platform (the Camel Trail used to be a railroad) and to relax in a green field with his favorite girls:
Another great Cornwall adventure. We'll be back!
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