A Welsh Getaway

It's the moment we've been waiting for - our first real getaway of the year and my first holiday in Wales!

But let's rewind a little. 

So last year, mid pandemic, my sister was supposed to go to Wales. It was obviously cancelled and (mostly I suspect so they could keep the cash) she was offered a upgrade very cheaply to move the booking to 2021. Said upgrade meant an extra room and a dog friendly option and so we were invited to help with the child wrangling and have a proper chance to hang out and catch up (within guidelines, of course).

Sunday we commenced the 6 hour drive. Missy has recently been upgraded from travelling in the boot to on the back seats these days (safely harnessed, of course). With the heat, that was definitely a good idea as she got to enjoy the AC with us and we started our road trip.

Our main stop on the way down was a small detour to the Wirral

Ren is going to be a big brother to a baby of the human variety, so we were excited to see my friend. Owing to her being pregnant, we kept it very covid safe and stayed outside (thankfully the good weather made that a pleasant experience!). After a nice walk, we were back in the car ready to surprise our neice and nephew (7 and 4).

Llamagedon had begun!

Neice and nephew had figured out we were coming to surprise them, so we had to up our game and launched the alpacalypse for them to wake up to. Needless to say, I think my sister was the most smitten of them all!

Monday was spent enjoying the park facilities. We took neice and nephew swimming whilst Missy got to spend quality time with her aunt and uncle. The evening was rounded up with a good run around on the beach for Missy.

Not a bad first day to ease into things!

Tuesday had been earmarked as a big adventure - tiny trains at Llanberis Railway. Due to Covid they aren't operating the usual hop-on-hop-off, so we had prebooked a coach in advance. On the train ride we clocked a castle in the distance and decided that, after lunch, we'd go for a walk and check it out.

Dolbadarn Castle was an unexpected hidden gem. We had spotted the sign for the castle walk in the car park and decided that a nice stroll in the woodlands was just what we needed. Imagine our surprise when 5 minutes later we found the castle - our earlier sighting was less a castle far in the distance, and more a very small castle in the relatively near distance! 

The kids enjoyed both parts of the day, so I chalk that as a good success! 

Wednesday we took to ourselves as a doggy day. The weather, whilst still very warm, was damp and less sunny, which suited us all better.

I had scoped out Coed Y Brenin before the trip. Part of the Snowdonia National Park, it offered a chance to see some stunning scenery whilst staying in a clearly marked path. We did the red Cain Waterfall walk which, at two hours, was ideal. It was listed as "strenuous" on the board, and I agreed with the description as we climbed up steep slopes and scurried down shale paths.

Afterwards we enjoyed a well deserved cup of tea and some cakes in the cafe. A glorious way to spend a morning. 

We went dragon racing in the afternoon. Our red dragon against my sisters green dragon. My sister can be a little anxious about water, but we managed to talk her into it. The kids had little life preservers, so everyone was quite safe as we set off. 

Missy was quite happy to sit and keep watch for pirates and other dragons. 

There was a bit of drama we had to tow another family off the edge who had managed to beach themselves! 

Our last big adventure was another family day out at Sygun Copper Mine. In preparation for a dark and scary walk, we put Missy in her bright coat and I gave both the kids a torch each. Missy originally took the lead but was defeated by the steep metal stairs mid way through. Hubby resorted to carrying her up and she sulkily conceded defeat. 

There was well deserved Cornish Pasties and tea in the cafe at the end. 

We finished the day with a mooch around Porthmadog and all tried our best to delay the inevitable about the fact that the holiday was over.

A tremendously good week, and we're already putting plans together for another cross over holiday next year.