Thursday 30th July

We travelled to York to go to the Castle Museum. I went here as a child and loved it so I thought the children would like to go.

Excellent value for money (again! That seems to be the key phrase this week) and the tickets are valid for a year so if we lived closer we could visit as many times as we wanted for just £7.50.

We bought the quiz book and Molly took a lot of interest in hunting for the answers and drawing some of the exhibits. We spent over 3 hours there and easily could've taken longer but as buggies weren't allowed in the museum Charlie had to walk and he was walking rather quickly at times!

We had lunch in York then headed back to Scarborough as the children wanted to see the Sparky show. I would have liked to have gone shopping but this year,unlike other holidays, we've done everything for the children. Most times it's worked out well but at other times,when they've been tired,it hasn't kept them (or us) happy.

Friday 31st July

We decided to go to the beach today as it was such lovely weather,the best we'd had all week. We didn't take a picnic as we went on the park and ride bus and we had lots of bags but other than lunch and the bus fares it was a cheap day out. Both children loved being on the beach and Charlie was at his happiest (and best behaved!)

The beach was one of the best I've ever been on. Clean,soft sand and clear water.Plenty of space for the children. The only unfortunate thing was dogs being allowed on a large part of the beach but they didn't bother us.

It's been a lovely holiday. It hasn't gone quickly and everyone seems to have enjoyed it.At times it's been tiring and difficult trying to keep two children happy. Having the grandparents with us hasn't always worked out as the children created so much fuss but it hasn't put us off going away with them again. Whether they will want to come is another matter! We've also come in under budget by nearly £200 which is great. By doing this feature for Heart it's made us look at how we spend our money on holidays and days out and we're realising that having a budget doesn't mean you have to compromise. We've just had to plan a little more than usual but by doing so we've discovered new places and activities and ways of having fun for less or even free.