After 24-36 hours stuck in the four walls of our small apartment due to my daughter’s stomach bug I was getting cabin fever bad. It was made worse when the wintery showers we woke up to passed and made way for blue skies and gorgeous sunshine…a sure way to make me feel guilty for being inside on the couch!

So, on a mid-afternoon whim we decided to pack a few snacks and head to the beach in the hope that the fresh salt air would help blow away the cobwebs of the last few days….and that it did.

We collected shells and felt the cold sand between our toes. We made shadows of our bodies with the setting sun and drew pictures in the sand with sticks. We built a sandcastle with an enormous moat and chased seagulls along the beach.

With the sun starting to fall behind the buildings we wandered along the length of the beach, trying to put off getting back in the car to go home. The evening light on the water was stunning and none of us wanted to leave… so, despite having groceries at home for dinner, we laid out the picnic rug by the Beach Volleyball poles and ordered takeaway fish & chips for dinner instead.

With the girls happily shooing away the assembling seagulls and the night sky turning from golden to pink then blue, I couldn’t help but look at the planes full of tourists taking off and landing from the nearby airport and smile at our spur of the moment afternoon family holiday fifteen minutes from home.