Seeing Family in Llandudno

It was decided a while back that the Smiths (my family not the band) would converge on Llandudno during August. Three of the Smiths already live there of course, so there was free accommodation for me! My parents stayed in a B&B because they wanted it to feel more like a holiday, as they havent had one this year. I stayed with my sister in law Sioned in her new house. It was so beautiful and compact - just enough for her and Gruff, my nephew. I stayed in Sion's room which looked out over hills and fields stretching ahead, whilst she slept with my nephew because he wasn't coping well during the night. Sioned really has an eye for design - simple but beautiful, and on a budget. Plus, her mum made all the curtins, cushions, blinds and so on for the house for a teeny tiny fraction of what you'd normally pay! (I have already put my order in!)

So I arrived the day after my parents due to having to work. We decided to go for a trip along Llandudno front for the afternoon. The weather was slightly overcast but the place was buzzing with holidaymakers, so there was a nice atmosphere. It's a great place for older people and kids - it's really traditional with its pier and promenade, Punch and Judy shows and donkey rides too of course.


I noticed how much Gruffhad changed straightaway. It'd been a good few months since I'd seen him - the last time I was there he was still shuffling around on his knees, and suddenly he's running around on his own two legs! Apparently he still keeps getting mistaken for a girl though - must be the blonde ringlets!

That evening we went to Sioned's mum and dad's house for tea, it was lovely. Everyone was pretty tired by the evening so after Gruffy's bath, mum and dad went back to the B&B, Gary set off and Sioned and I watched a bit of TV before bed. Probably shouldn't have chosen "Crimewatch Solved" for our evening's entertainment mind you - traumatising. Despite this I had a really good night's sleep in my temporary bed. I'm not sure Sioned did with the baby though!

The next day we all piled in the cars to go to Colwyn Bay Zoo! Now if you're not familiar with Colwyn Bay, you might not realise how small a town it is. So I expected the "zoo" to house things like rabbits and maybe some horses, but that's it. In fact it has camels, bears, monkeys, alligators (which I insisted weren't real until one blinked), penguins, birds, tigers etc etc... although there were some rabbits there too. I'm still not sure how I feel about zoos, but it was a nice morning nonetheless.

We went out for dinner in the evening which meant Gruff could have a go on the soft play area. It was a nice chilled out day all in all, and the weather staed nice until the evening when we went for a walk along Deganwy beach. It's the opposite side of the town from Llandudno front as has a quiet sort of beauty about it. It's not popular with holidaymakers as it's not a sandy beach, but I prefer it because it's peaceful. I imagine a setting for a Jane Austen novel there!
We were leaving the next day, but we made sure we did something during the morning so as not to waste it. We went over to Conwy, which is a really picturesque little fishing village with a castle and city walls and stuff. We had a little walk around the shops and stopped on the front to watch people catching crabs in nets. Although it had threatened to rain, the weather stayed nice for us until we left. We bought some scones at a bakery ready for cream tea later and went to Bon Bon's, a handmade chocolate shop which makes the most amazing chocolate in the world. We had to set off fairly earlier because Ma and Pa Smith were giving me a lift back to Manchester then heading home. It always makes me upset to leave because we can't be together that often, and time goes so fast when we are together, but we had made the most of our mini holiday! I'm looking forward to going away to different places when Gruff is a bit older and can cope with longer days. And here's to my next holiday... New York? Fingers crossed.