Cornwall

Sat: Drove down after an 8 am start from Mum and Dad's via the heaving services at Exeter and the Plymouth bridge. The southern route seemed ok - better than sitting in a big queue through the Bodmin section. Got to no.1 Bay View Terrace after 5 1/2 hours or so, which was good going. House is excellent - best one yet is the consensus. Ritual visit to Nauti but Ice in the evening.

Sun: Rainy day in the morning. Kids played Skylanders on the Playstation endlessly, and we did a big Sainsbury's shop. The sun came out so we drove up to the car park at Penrose and walked in the dappled shade to Loe Bar and back. The pool strange and Tolkeinesque as usual.

Mon: Sun out so we hit Porthleven beach for splashing in the surf. Stev provided roast chicken for lunch, which we ate on the terrace with the brolly up, so sunny was it. Rock pooling for crabs and fish with Jim in the afternoon. He swarmed up the Gartul cliff like a monkey this year - I more or less had to carry him in 2011. AP and UA came round for tea and to have a mosey round the house.

Tues: Loraine the Pendennis slash St Mawes event organiser required us to go to St Mawes for a run through of the wedding plans. We went over via the King Harry Ferry, which is something I haven't done for years. Arrived a bit late and the whole thing was a little pointless but it was good to visit the place and get our ideas straight. The weather was kinda cloudy and uninspiring so we made some contingency plans for an indoor ceremony. On the way back we visited Veryan briefly to see the round house in which Amy had stayed at the age of 6 months. Dropped the Authorities off at Truro reg office, and then went to Hayle for wetsuits. Got my first wetsuit at the age of 43!! Wrestling fields walk with recalcitrant Amy, who is alternately delightful and infuriating. M & D arrived and we saw them briefly.

Weds: Sunny morning so we headed to Rinsey car park and then walked down to Praa Sands with new wetsuits. Surf not great but caught a few waves. Wetsuit a revelation in the not getting hypothermia stakes. Not much else - chilled afternoon. Nauti but Ice again in the eve.

Thurs: Jim had a bad dream about spiders, probably due to me reading him Harry Potter too much. While awake at 4am we decided that going to the Pandora for lunch on the wedding day would be too much like hard work with the kids etc, so that was struck off and we went back to sleep. Tired day thereafter, partially due to stress and partially sleep deprivation. Had another trip to Porthleven beach, where it was impossible to surf but fun was had splashing around in the waves. M&D came over and offered to buy champagne for Sunday, which took a bit of the pressure off. Martha and the Gills came round for pizza in the evening.

Fri: Wet day. Bloody weather. Went to the family pool at Pendennis, which had a wave machine and so was declared Fun but which was a slightly stressful event for parents. Then went to Pendennis, where I haven't been since a boy. Everyone thought that was pretty good too, especially as we somehow managed to avaiod paying without meaning to. Made up for it by spending a vast amount in the gift shop, including on some Cornish flag cufflinks which I will wear on Sunday. Had a run in with a strange nasty man in Ponsharden Sainsbury's but the less said about that the better. The Edwardses came for tea, without too much mishap. Jim seems to have decided that Natalie is ok.

Sat: Grotsome weather again, so we bravely set out (at a stressed Caroline's insistence) to Praa Sands for a muddy but happily only intermittently rainy walk towards Prussia Cove with Nat and family. Chidlren did really well fortified with pasties and flapjack, but we didn't quite make it all the eay. Ian arrived after missing his train like an idiot. Had dinner with him, which was nice. Earlier in the day I had gone over to Gartul, probably looking a bit stressed, to explain that we were going to do lunch tomorrow. Of course the Bells immediately went in to organisation mode and volunteered to produce all sorts of food for the day. Made me feel much better.

Sun: Our Big Day. The day started clear and beautiful, so we went for a post-breakfast splash at Porthleven beach. Wedding day started with a swim in the North Atlantic! Lunch at ours was great and relaxed, and the entertainment laid on by the RNLI and RN good and distracting for the children. The drive over to St Mawes was no problem and in fact we were there somewhat early. This was much appreciated by children, who thoroughly explored the castle while we waited around. Ours looked perfect and behaved very well indeed - they really rose to the occasion I thought. The ceremony, held in the lower bastion and therefore open air, was slightly windswept but very moving for us. It was sort of a surprise, after all the rushed organisation. I suppose we had forgotten about the real purpose of it all. Feels good to be married. Put the choldren to bed then had swift pint in the Ship with Ian, Ali, JJ, Simon and JoJo. Those present: the five of us, M & D, Ali, JJ, Bee and Lara, Uncle A and Auntie Prue, VV, Rick and Martha, Simon, JoJo and Natalie, C's Mum and John, Ian, Burl and Svi Solomons and four of their assorted children.

Mon: Bloody awful weather. Glasses back to Sainsbury's, Ian back to Redruth station. Happy Feet in the 1 Bay View Terrace cinema.

Tues: Sun out, so met up with the Edwardses at Mousehole briefly and then parked on Raginnis hill for the short but fairly challenging walk to Lamorna via Kemyel Crease. It was lovely but muddy. A lot of up and down, and the children did very well again, especially Min, who actually was the one who complained the least. My GPS said it was 1.85 miles and 500 ft of ascent in each direction. Not bad. Paid for it in Nauti but Ice later...

Weds: Not so good weather again, so we headed off to Geevor to see the tin mine, which we had tried to visit on a Saturday a year or two ago and found it closed. The sun came out just as we headed underground of course. The mine was fascinating, despite the underground bit being not as interesting as Wendron. The rest of it was very well done. Back in deteriorating weather to Porthleven, where we had tea at Gartul to celebrate Uncle A's 78th birthday. He seems as hearty as ever. Long may that last.

Thurs: Weather looked okish so we decided along with VV that we would go to Perranuthnoe, as the wind was in the north and it was convenient for us all (Simon JoJo and Nat came too). I don't believe I have ever been there before, although Rick picked me up from the village after my walk there from Gartul in March 2009 when it was all happening. The beach is lovely - flat, with nice safe water and surf, a good cafe, and parking near the beach if you get there early enough, which we did at 11am under overcast but clearing skies. It's non-existent at high tide but we got there at low water and there was a vast expanse of sandcastle-friendly beach and some good streams for damming. The sun came out and the Crawford/Bells went in the water. Amy and I did some surfing, with Min and Jim splashing about in the waves. After lunch though, Jim, who is now much more confident in the water, picked up one of the boards and caught a few of the small waves. He's a natural and was immediately hooked. He stayed in the water going back and forth until I ordered him out because he was turning blue. Even more surprising was that Minnie, not wanting to be left out, followed suit. So: the day Jim and Minnie learned to surf. Did a bit of souvenir shopping in Porthleven after warmup baths and had the inevitable Nauti but Ice. Warm slash sunny enough to eat on the terrace yay!

Fri: last day boo! Again with the nice weather, so we went to Rinsey, which was disappointingly devoid of sand. More rock on view than I can remember - at least 4 or 5 ft less sand than last year. Still, there was a small swell running and it was really good surfing. Kids didn't quite have the stamina they had yesterday, and the image of Jim sitting at the top of the beach wrapped in two towels and a sleeping bag is an enduring one. One he way home I scaped the car avoiding a minivan. This annoyed me greatly. Then packing in the afternoon a last visit to Gartul, and fish and chips for everyone but me. I had a deeply unpleasant Chinese from the Moonflower.

Got away at 8.30 the next day and had a good journey via Birmingham. Short queue at Bodmin, but ok. 7 1/2 hours with only a 15 minute stop - the kids did amazingly well.

Jim took this one: