My sweet Forrest, you had quite a restless night and needed boob for most of it. I'm so happy I'm able to bring you comfort like that when you are poorly.  Your cold doesn't seem to want to go away and the nights are the hardest for you. We ended up getting out of bed around 6/6:30 and this included Nixie and daddy too.  You were being so sweet and gave Nixie the best morning cuddle,  just wrapping yourself around her to help her wake up and then she did the same to you and then we were all having cuddles before making our way downstairs. 

After making our morning coffee it was all about making lunches and packing for another day out at Charmouth Beach. And of course the two of you did your own packing and filled a couple of shopping bags worth of stuffed animals that just needed to accompany us on the car ride. We had such an amazing time last weekend…the lure of sea glass is too strong to keep us away!  As a special treat on our way out we headed to Gregg's for our breakfast. We love their vegan sausage rolls. 

The drive didn’t take as long as last weekend which was really nice but you, Forrest, weren’t as happy this time around and which made the last 30 minutes or so a bit stressful but as soon as we got out of our cae you were as happy as could be! We headed in the same direction as last time and I carried you on my shoulders so we could get to our spot much faster. There were quite a bit of people here which didn’t surprise me considering it was one of the hottest days of the year but we managed to find a quiet spot away from people a bit further along the beach.

Nixie, you lagged behind finding so many pieces of sea glass including the first blue piece of the day! Once you reached us you were straight into the water but Forrest, you were more interested in eating our bourbon chocolate biscuits. Once again sea glass was everywhere and Nixie, you think it’s the most  amazing thing that they are mermaid tears and how lucky we are to find them. You told me that this is your favourite beach.

Today was just a perfect day, from the moment we arrived everything felt absolutely blissful to me. The water felt incredible. Being in the water with you, Nixie was amazing and we had so much fun together, but trying to teach you to swim or even float is a very challenging task because you believe you know how to do it better, telling me that “I have my own way of doing it.” and you refuse to accept that there may be other ways (daddy had the same issue too). But we still giggled and laughed our way through and agreed to disagree. We kept spotting bees and other insects in the water so you rushed to the shore to find a stone so that we could fish them out. You were so proud and you kept doing this throughout the day.

While Nixie spent most of the day jumping in and out of the water trying to learn how to swim on her own you, Forrest, were having fun just dipping your toes in the water and filling all of our shoes with sand. At one point you said you needed to do a poo so we put on your nappy but you never actually did one. You weren't your usual self though and needed to boob a lot through the day and even fell asleep, we had the sweetest snuggle in our tent and I felt so relaxed listening to the waves and your breathing, that I almost fell asleep too.

Since we had arrived, you, Nixie, had asked if you could go back to the fossil shop. You absolutely love it there and have turned into someone who really loves to go shopping so we took the opportunity when Forrest napped to go there so you could get a few things. You chose some shark teeth necklaces, some pieces of agate, fossilised wood and a crinoid fossil and I got us some quartz geodes to crack open (but I’m saving them until we do our rock study). When we got back to the boys we were greeted by a very unhappy little Forrest but once he had some boob he was happy again. Me & daddy kept taking turns to swim in the sea with you and playing with Forrest. At one point me and daddy really wanted to build a balancing tower but you guys had other ideas and wanted to build a place to sit inside instead. 

Daddy found an amazing little barnacle washed up on the sand and we got so excited when we could see it’s little legs going in and out. After some photos we put it back into the sea. Forrest, you really loved playing and writing in the mud and you were so in your own little world, I would catch you giggling to yourself. It was so beautiful! 

We ended up just having chips for tea which were eaten very quickly and then we all continued to play in the water and collect even more sea glass. I love that collecting sea glass has become a family affair! I just can’t believe how much we found! Nixie, you kept running to me with both of your hands full!

Slowly slowly throughout the day, you Forrest, got braver and got yourself more and more into the water. You love seaweed and it was this love of yours that made you super brave. I had asked you if it was ok for me to hold you while I walked into the sea and you said yes which was a huge step for you. As we walked deeper and deeper you noticed all the seaweed and wanted some, I managed to even put you down so that you could grab it yourself (as long as we held hands you were ok with this). You made it all the way to your waist! It was such a moment and I felt so excited for you! 

When we arrived it was high tide and we stayed until after it was low tide. Both of you loved playing on all of the seaweed covered stones and right at the end of the day Forrest, you, got even braver and went in all the way to your chest it was incredible! You were so pleased with yourself and even did a little happy dance. 

Getting ourselves packed up took a  little while because it was hard to get both of you rinsed off so you could get dressed but we had a slow walk back looking for sea glass at the same time. Nixie, you were tired and refused to hear anything we said. When we finally made it to our car it was past 19:30. Forrest, you eventually fell asleep on the drive home and we carried you to bed. You, Nixie and daddy both ended up getting a little burnt so we had to put on some after sun which you absolutely hated. I ended up reading a tiny bit of our book, The Seekers of the magic realm but in the end we decided to just go to bed as it was so late. We made our way into the family bed and gently massaged you to sleep. I went to bed so happy and with my heart overflowing.