St. Ives, Cornwall

We spent the past weekend just outside St. Ives in Cornwall with our neighbors, Gill and Pete, and their 3 kids. They have a house there that we all stayed in - a little bit of a squish with 4 adults and 6 kids under the age of 6 - but it was really fun.
We drove down Friday afternoon and went to the beach on Saturday. We were totally unprepared for how nice it was going to be and the kids got all wet and sandy on the beach. We should have stripped them down to their underwear from the very beginning and kept the clothes dry but they didn't really seem to mind. Poor Aoife had to be in the stroller on the beach because any time she was on the sand she was shoving handfuls in her mouth and swallowing it! Most kids do it once or twice and then stop because it is disgusting but she just kept going so we had to put an end to the fun.
We had a lovely lunch at a really nice restaurant right on the beach and then played in the sand some more. The dads took the kids home and Gill and I stayed to shop. The town of St. Ives reminded me of a mix of Provincetown and Martha's Vineyard with water the color of the Caribbean.
On Sunday it rained - a lot. We stayed at the cottage and had a lazy morning. After lunch we packed up and drove to Exeter where we all toured the cathedral and then had dinner. We got home around 8:00. Everyone was exhausted but we had a great time. Emmy especially loved the beach. She keeps asking if we can go dig in the sand when we go back to America!!
Aoife - before she discovered the culinary delight that is sand:
The kids and Gill digging in the sand:
Emmy in her Cinderella underwear and sunglasses - she told me that she looked very glamorous!
The kids building a dam:
St. Ives harbor:
beaches at St. Ives:
The kids on the wall of the garden outside the cottage: