Ahh Swansea, how I love thee. It may not be the prettiest of cities and it may desperately be in need of a massive cash injection but this city is surrounded by some of the most beautiful beaches Wales has to offer.
Swansea bay beach is only a 5 minute walk from the city centre. Quite often if me and Leo have been shopping we will just pop across the road and go for a long walk in the sand, collect shells and run away from the waves. Yesterday was one of those days.
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| Leo loves the beach. |
After an impromptu trip to Boots to buy Leo a potty (more about that soon), we decided to head on down to our favourite place. As we hadn’t planned a trip to the beach I was not very prepared, we had no bucket for collecting shells and my pathetic excuse for a picnic was two oranges and a couple of goodies snacks for Leo. We sat down on my cardigan (no picnic blanket either, so unorganised!) and ate our so called lunch. The sun was shining and Leo was in a lovely mood, there is nothing Leo likes more than a run around on the beach.
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| Rock pools! |
Leo was in his element, splashing in the ‘puddles, mummy!’ and climbing over rocks. I was of course a nervous wreck and there were a few trips and stumbles but thankfully no harm done. Once I realised Leo was ok just wondering around the rock pools, I started to relax and enjoy this experience with him. It was so amazing watching him explore and getting so excited every time he discovered something new. I remember exploring rock pools as a child and finding it really fascinating, I have always been a bit of a beach bum!
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| Best..puddle..ever! |
When we had finished our search for sea creatures and shells in the rock pools, we carried on down to the sea. Leo was a bit dubious at first, as he always is, but then he ran on in and started stomping in the waves. Normally he would stay by me at the waters edge but yesterday he was feeling adventurous, inspired by the fun of the rock pools. In no time at all we went from happy Leo to a full on tantrum all because I wouldn’t let him run off to sea, how evil of me. Like I said, I was not prepared at all for this trip so I had no wellies and I am pretty sure converse weren’t designed for walking in the cold sea.
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| Definitely not waterproof. |
He soon cheered up and after another walk through the rock pools Leo was ready to go, ‘Home mummy, bye sea!’. The beach is definitely my favourite place to take Leo, we always have so much fun and he really enjoys the freedom of just being able to run around. The only down side was that I had to carry Leo all the way back to the car, as I always do – that was something I was prepared for!
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| Mummy and Leo beach time = the best times! |
*UPDATE* – Since writing this post my family and I have relocated to Hampshire. I really miss living by the seaside and having walks on the beach. There really is something special about living by the sea. Hopefully we will find a new favourite place in Hampshire soon.
It looks like an amazing place to place to explore, I love beaches, but we live in Central Scotland where it's a bit of a drive to get to a decent beach. We only manage a couple of times a year. I would love to live near the sea so we could visit more often! It must have been hard saying goodbye to such a lovely spot, but hopefully you'll find some new favourite spots in Hampshire!
Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂 x
We love living near the sea too, little Leo looks like he had a blast! I'm sure you'll have a new fav place to go in Hampshire too really soon!! #whatevertheweather
Ps hope potty training is going well 🙂
Awww he's get on so well with my daughter. She is obsessed with the sea and says hi and bye to it too. I'm sorry you're not close to the sea anymore. I hope you've found a new favourite spot now. This sounds like a lovely little spontaneous adventure together. It sounds like a lovely little place to go and Leo looks like he had so much fun.Thank you so, so much for linking to #whatevertheweather xx