Summer Adventures in Whitstable

There is so much I love about the summer - waking up to the sun already in the sky, washing drying on the line, summer dresses, iced coffee, dipping my toes in the sea, children in the paddling pool, cider in a pub garden, and of course how easy it is to explore.  

You don't need to load up the buggy with raincovers and coats, you don't have to worry about it getting dark and al fresco eating is ideal with a toddler (or two) around.  Last weekend we hopped on the train to Whitstable, which is only about 20 minutes from us, for a change, and the sun was shining for us all day.

We have a sandy beach on our doorstop, and our buckets and spades are hung up ready to go at a moment's notice, but the pebbly beach in Whitstable needs none of this.  It is amazing how long two boys can be entertained just with water and stones.  They made piles, they had a tea party with them, they practiced skimming and they searched high and low for their favourite ones.

We wandered along the promenade first, looking at the stalls selling their homemade wares, and kids toys, and then found the fish market.  Lunch had to be fish and chips, but we went for freshly caught prawns and crayfish as they are the boys' favourite.  

The only toy we had brought with us was an inflatable ball, and Archie loved kicking it around, although there were some boats parked on the beach near us, and it kept getting stuck on top.

We walked down to the sea, and found puddles to splash in with our hands and feet. 

Daddy and Finn spend some quality time together . . .

. . . as did Dylan and Archie. 

 I love listening to these two when they are on their own, they have such crazy conversations, with Christmas being a big topic at the moment.

No beach trip is complete without ice cream, 

and Archie got completely stuck in to his.  Sometimes I wonder why I buy him nice clothes, as he is the messiest child ever, and he was wearing more mango sorbet than he ate by the end.

Whitstable is such a sweet little town, the shops are all small and full of unique and quirky things.  There are very few traditional high street stores and instead more boutiques and independents. I love browsing the kids clothes, the bags and scarves and the seaside trinkets.  The shops are not designed for a buggy, let alone a double buggy, so I took Finn in the sling for a wander, whilst the bigger boys and the bloke found somewhere shady for a rest from the strong sun.

This is what summer should be like, sun, sand (or pebbles) and plenty of ice cream.  Dylan starts school in just over two months, and we are planning on having as many little adventures as we can before then.