Tin Box Traveller Diaries: June 2017
June was a big month for Tin Box family adventures, brimming with fun, travels and days out. Now that we are half way through the year I’m thankful that I’ve taken the time to write monthly round-ups. I think so many of the small details would get lost in the general mayhem of family life if I didn’t.
Each month there are little achievements, milestones and things to be grateful about that I want to remember – although maybe not the trip to the dentist that happened last week!
Anyway, more on that in a bit… Here’s a taster of what we got up to at home, away and on the blog in June:
Home
- My day job took me to Plymouth ahead of the Devon Business Show in the first law of June. I stayed in The Duke of Cornwall Hotel with colleagues and ate dinner at the Barbican, which was a real treat and recommended if you’re ever in our closest city.
- We had one weekend at home in June and filled it with DIY jobs and catching up with friends. One afternoon we invited our old neighbours round for a BBQ to thank them for helping us move house. They are amazing and we miss them all already.
- Tin Box Tot is starting school in September and began transition mornings at her new primary. She’s absolutely loving it. I, on the other hand, have been a bit more emotional than I expected. Tissues at the ready come her first proper day at school!
- Tin Box Nana and Grandad visited later in June. The girls and I spent a touristy day with them and TB Grandma and Grandpa in Paignton. Then at the end of the month they joined us for a caravan weekend in East Devon. We love, love, love grandparent-backup!
- If you caught any of my Instagram Stories towards the end of June and you might have noticed I had a slightly swollen left cheek. I hadn’t walked into a door – although my spacial awareness is shocking – I had a molar removed, ouch! I managed to crack it from top to bottom with too much teeth clenching. I’m still feeling slightly sorry for myself…
Travels
- We began the month in sunny France where we were invited to experience a camping holiday at Yelloh! Village with Al Fresco Holidays. The girls and I were joined by friends (Mr TB sadly had to work) and we had a fabulous week. While we were there Al Fresco Holidays were making new marketing video and we helped with filming. Watch this space for our film debut!
- Hot on the heels of our French adventure we headed north with Mr Tin Box and Dog to Darwin Forest Country Park on the edge of the Peak District in Derbyshire. This was a seriously relaxing break. We also got to see one of my cousins and her family, who live in the north. We wished we’d had a lot longer in this beautiful area!
- Back in Devon we were invited to review Woodovis Park – an award-winning caravan and campsite on Dartmoor.
- As if one caravan weekend wasn’t enough, we also towed Tin Box to East Devon where we stayed at Andrewshayes Holiday Park. This was a great staycation in an area of Devon we feel we have so much more to see.
Adventures
- Our camping holiday in the Vendee region of France gave us plenty of options for beach days. We enjoyed miles of sand and Atlantic views all to ourselves.
- Just down the road from our Yellow! Village site Pin Parasol was Le Grande Defi – and outdoor adventure centre were Tin Box Tot got her first taste of a tree top rope course. She was thrilled and I was so proud of how she picked up the instructions.
- In Derbyshire we were invited to visit Hardwick Hall, a National Trust property steeped in history from Elizabethan England.
- During our weekend off travelling we hiked to Scabbacombe Sands near Hillhead in Devon. It was a great find and somewhere that we’ll definitely return to when we want a dog-friendly summer beach day.
- Next up was a family cycling day at the Tamar Trails where we hired a bike and trailer to explore the old Devon copper mines in the valley. Keep an eye out for my review.
- While we were staying on the Devon-Cornwall boarder we took the opportunity to explore a local National Trust property that was new to us. Cotehele is a stately home with grounds that encompass a quayside and historic flour mill. We walked around the edge of the estate stopping for a picnic at the quay and for an ice cream at the mill.
Blogging
- Mid-way through June I found out I’d made it to the finals of the Britmums Brilliance in Blogging Awards for a second year running. I am so grateful to everyone who nominated and voted for me. It really does make me warm inside to know that people enjoy my blog posts and are inspired by our travels. The winners will be announced at the end of September, so I’ll be crossing almost everything until then!
- It was a lovely surprise to be listed among some top international travel blogs by the people at Globehunters and Feedspot.
- My most popular posts of the month was my top tips for a sizzling summer barbecue
- A couple of my social media accounts reached milestone follower numbers in June: I now have more than 1,000 Facebook page likes and over 9,000 Twitter followers. Thank you if you also follow our adventures here!
- In June, I worked with Hawkshead, Netflights, Go Outdoors and Gas Safety Register.
- We were invited to review: Al Fresco Holidays, the National Trust, Darwin Forest Country Park, and Freeloader. And I have stays at Woodovis Park, Andrewshayes Holiday Park, and Tamar Trails still to write about.
- I’ve also posted about our visit to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, which is a catch up from our trip at Easter.
Need to catch up? Here’s my diary post from May 2017. And if you’ve got time you can skip forward to July 2017.
As ever, thank you so much for reading! I love hearing what people think about my blog so feel free to leave a comment below or browse around. You can also find me on Bloglovin’, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube and LinkedIn.
Ouch about the tooth – I am very bad at clenching mine. It sounds like you had a busy month all round!
Cathy (Mummytravels) recently posted…Films al fresco: testing the BenQ GS1 portable projector