What we did in Cornwall - St Ives

The summer went so fast! I feel like that's the conversation I've had with every mum since school started last week. Anyway, I wanted to share some pics of what we did when we were in St Ives for the very last stretch of the summer break.
First off the beach of course. I feel like the kids never really get to spend a huge amount of time at the beach even when we go away. Tom's mum lives by the seaside but we generally don't spend whole days there so being able to say we have no plans other than splashing around and building sandcastles was such a treat. That being said it STILL wasn't enough time for the kids, I think they would have slept on the sand if they could have!

St Ives was super (super!) busy, we've never actually been somewhere with so many crowds before actually so we were really thankful to be able to stay somewhere where a walk to the beach was so close. A lot of these pictures were from the beach by the harbour but I think our favorites beaches there were Porthmeor and Porthgwidden.

The two cafes at Porthmeor beach were so so good! (we did eat chips from the other beach which were also good) We had some pretty disappointing chips on the harbour on our first night though!

On our second full day, it was tipping it down so we headed out to The Tate Modern there and stopped for coffee at Yallah (and donuts too!). They had some great kids activities there which always makes it a bit easier and we managed to kill most of the morning there before heading back. On the way there was a huge downpour and we ran into the Rum and Crabshack just as they were opening. It was surprisingly great for veggies and vegans and I had the 'tofu fish' (not quite as good as the one from The Vegan Pyramid but still really great). 

The Island (which is a hill with great views) was a really lovely walk with two littles and we ended up there a couple of evenings past bedtime, flying kites or just having a runaround.

The Island (which is a hill with great views) was a really lovely walk with two littles and we ended up there a couple of evenings past bedtime, flying kites or just having a run-around. Another place I'd defo recommend is the Barbara Hepworth museum and gardens. You can get a joint ticket if you visit St Ives as well so its a bit cheaper. The kids raced through the museum so I can't really let you know what that is like haha but the gardens were beautiful! 

Lastly, a follower on Instagram told me to check out Mount Zion coffee (which was just around the corner from where we staying ideally) and it didn't disappoint. It isn't open super early in the morning but once it is open its such a nice quiet spot away from the crowds.

Plus they use good oat milk ;)

Hope that any of those recommendations are useful for anyone visiting. We'd definitely go back (although maybe not peak summer holidays time haha). Such a gorgeous part of the world.

our accomodation although not mentioned here was gifted in return for an IG collab you can see the place we stayed here)

Reverse Recycle - A day out at LEGOLAND (AD)

The summer holidays are almost over! I can't believe it's flown past so quickly, but we've so far managed to squeeze in quite a lot. The kids were in for another huge treat though when we were invited to the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort for the day by Coca-Cola and Merlin Entertainments.

We've been to the park once before but Mabli was only about ten months old (you can see the post here if you want to see some super cute pictures of how little the kids were back then!)

Coca-Cola has teamed up with Merlin Entertainments to launch their 'Reverse Recycling' vending machines. The specifically designed machines are dotted around lots of theme parks and attractions across the UK, to help encourage people to recycle their plastic bottles. Recycling doesn’t need to be boring, so the idea is that you are rewarded by recycling (as well as that good feeling for doing your bit for the planet). For every bottle recycled, you also get a discount on Merlin Entertainments attractions.

We love the concept and chose to visit the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort and try them out for ourselves there.

You can find the 'Reverse Recycling' machines in the carpark outside of the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort so if you recycle your plastic bottle, you'll receive a 50% off entry to the park.

Scroll down to see how we got on!

We are a family of thrill-seekers clearly ;) but our favourite part of the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort is definitely Miniland - we could all spend hours looking at all the intricate towns and cities. It's honestly so amazing to see and a really chilled out spot. We also love the rides in DUPLO Valley the Duplo area, as this gives us a sense of our bravery – Atlantis is fun too!

These are what the 'Reverse Recycling' vending machines look like. As they’re bright, they are super simple to spot and use.

Told you we love Miniland, I swear I could take 100 pictures of this place! The kids thought it was pretty hilarious that there was a pigeon walking around Holland at one point too.

The machines provide a great talking point for the kids. Wilf knows a lot of recycling as he is old enough now to learn about it from us and school, but Mabli was really curious about the process. That was until she got a bit confused and thought that LEGO came out of the machine once you put your bottle in- not a receipt, haha!

Wilf was such a great map reader. At one point Tom went to get some chips and told us he would meet us in the playpark. I got totally lost in about 5 steps, which isn't a huge surprise as I get lost leaving my own door! In the end, Wilf had to tell me where we needed to go and me and Mabli were left following him. I think he really liked being in charge and was so chuffed at how good he was at it, we left him in charge of sorting where we would visit next.

We also managed to watch the performance of 'Pirates of Skeleton Bay' which was really good. The acrobatics were incredible, definitely worth a watch.

It did rain on and off all day but what would be a British summer day out if it didn't right? We had such a fantastic day out and are so happy to support this campaign with Coca-Cola to encourage recycling. The ‘Reverse Recycling’ vending machines are available at the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort until 17th October 2019.

If you are heading to a Merlin Entertainments attraction this summer, then definitely see if you can spot one of the machines and pick up your recycling reward.

Post in partnership with Cola-Cola