Robin Hood's Bay and York

We've had a lovely time in Yorkshire last week with lots of fun day trips and relaxing time in the beautiful countryside. Wednesday we all drove to the coast to Robin Hood's Bay which is a historic seaside town about 1 1/2 hours drive away from Joe's parents.

We had bad weather driving over there and for the first hour after arriving, so headed straight for a cafe for lunch overlooking the bay. It was a typical English cafe serving baked potatoes stuffed with yummy fillings, sandwiches and home-made cakes and locally made ice-cream. The sun came into town during our lunch so we headed down the really steep, winding cobble street past the little shops and pubs to get to the bay.

Lucy had a fabulous time running through the rock pools and trying to wade into the deep bits and as she was wearing her all-in-one waterproof we were relaxed about her getting mucky...lucky as the sand there is dark, basically looks like mud! Loads of older kids were building sandcastles and hunting for fish and crabs in the pools. It's the perfect beach for little ones as there are no waves crashing on the sand, just a slow tide that comes in gradually and fills the rocks to make the little pools.

We found a lovely playground for Lucy which was right up on the cliff overlooking the bay, so she got a good runaround and we took it in turns to supervise. Lucy loves parks, especially slides. She is really quite adventurous and tries to climb all sorts of tricky steps and ladders which sometimes gives us a worry

Thursday was a big day for Joe and I as we had a full day and evening out on our own while Lucy stayed at home with Grandma and Grandpa. It was SO nice to have some adult time together, to be able to shop and sightsee at leisure, and have two relaxing meals out without need to find a suitable menu and a highchair!

We spent the day in York which is a very historic city in Yorkshire and a really special place. The town is surrounded by an ancient fortified wall, built from the 11th century onwards, it has a castle (built in 1086) which is still standing, and a stunning Minster which is huge and dominates the city centre in all it's ancient glory.

We walked the almost 2 miles of wall around the city - great for views of the town and it was especially enjoyable as it is something we really couldn't have done easily with Lucy due to all the steps and large chunks of it with no railings and high drops to the town below! We also had a good time shopping in our favourite English shops and stocking up on staples like underwear and socks which we like from Marks & Spencer (also where half the English nation have bought their underwear for over a century!).

We enjoyed a delicious Indian curry in the evening - a big favourite of ours which we just haven't been able to match in terms of quality in America yet - and then headed home to Joe's parents to find a very sound asleep Lucy. She had a great day with her grandparents and didn't fuss at all without us around. It was the longest we had ever left her since she was born, so that was a really lovely opportunity for us and even better that everyone enjoyed it so much!

More trips to the park and a visit with Joe's Grandma Mavis (Lucy's Great Grandma), a pub lunch in the village found us at the weekend and packing up our things again before travelling to see my Mum where we are now. Joe just went to the airport to go back to the States and Lucy and I stay here for a lovely long 10 days with Mum (and plenty of family get togethers, cups of tea with friends and shopping opportunities!). More to come when I get more time....