Taking the boys to the North Coast

After I walked out of my parents’ house on Saturday, I proceeded to do exactly what I’d promised the boys. I took them out and we had an excellent day together.

I had taken Daniel to a little harbour round the coast called Portbradden earlier in the week. While the weather wasn’t wonderful, we managed quite a lengthy walk that revealed some interesting little places along the coast. It was then that I resolved to come back at the weekend for further adventures.

The next stop along the coast was a secluded spot known as Dunseverick Harbour (close to Dunseverick Castle). We had unspoiled blue skies and the day was warm with a cool Atlantic breeze coming in from the sea.

We parked and the boys quickly bundled out of the car. Remember, they’re both almost 5 (Jake) and almost 3 (Daniel), but they’re surprisingly sure-footed given the terrain along the North Antrim coast, which is particularly rocky.

As we explored the harbour area, we watched a man in welly boots drag a little row boat down to the water and two women got inside and sailed off. That’s something new on my list of things I’ve love to do – row around that stunning coastline.

Being consigned to land, the boys and I set off along the coastal path in the direction of Portbradden. Of course, we had to stop and spend a good half-hour throwing stones in the water, but I used that as an opportunity to mess with my camera and experiment with the macro settings to take pictures of some of the flora in the immediate area.

Anyway, as we headed round the coast, we explored some of the high stacks along the way. These are huge mounds of grass-covered rock, and they have interesting ‘stepped’ sides that make it easy to scale them.

The boys walked without complaint most of the way, and both chatted and played all along the way. We talked about the people who lived on the coast long ago, and the castles they built on perilous cliffs. I really hope they pick up an enthusiasm for this kind of walk, because it’s a great way to bond, away from the distractions of everyday life. There were points where even the sound of the sea seemed to fade away and the whole world was peaceful for a while, the area is so tranquil and relaxing.

We proceeded as far as the great archway in the cliff which leads to Portbradden. Unfortunately, at this point, Daniel’s legs gave up the fight and he decided he wouldn’t walk any further. So I took Jake up to see the archway while Dan sat at the bottom of the path in clear view.

Back at the bottom, a passer-by pointed out a fledgling that had somehow escaped its nest and was hopping around the bottom of the cliff. The poor thing wasn’t able to fly, and we wondered what we could do for it – grounded in that way, a fox or dog could have easily caught it and killed it. However, there was nowhere to move it to that was safe, so we had to leave it to fate…

After the walk, we headed back to Ballycastle and had a quick and easy meal in the local chippy, then headed down to the seaside for an ice-cream to finish the treat. We strolled over to the little park and the boys monkeyed around on the climbing frames for a little while, then we got in the car and headed for home.

We’d left our house around 1:00pm that day and were heading home again at about 8:00pm, and we’d packed quite a bit into the day. So, in the car on the way home, I asked the boys what their favourite part of the day was. The unanimous response? “Ice-cream and playing in the park, Daddy!”

But we know they really loved the coastal walk too…don’t we?

Family Of Six

Well, we were a family of six for the last week or so. Lisa’s mother and stepfather went over to Italy for her sister’s wedding, leaving the younger brother in our protective custody!

I’ve heard it said that once you get past a certain number of children, one more doesn’t make a difference. However, with a ten year old, he’s more help than hindrance anyway and while I was out at work during the day, he’d be helping Lisa around the house.

I found it a bit harder in some respects because making time for a 10 year old is different to making time for our younger kids. Nathan wants to do different things and sees himself as more of an adult than a child, so he was a bit high-handed with the young-uns! I don’t think when ours are that age it’ll be a big deal, just with the age gap between Nathan and the others it’s hard to play to both audiences!

Regardless of that, we had a pretty good time – went out a couple of afternoons and had some fun in Antrim town and up the North Antrim coast at the weekend, stopping in Waterfoot to be sandblasted on a very windy beach (or exfoliated, to put a positive spin on it) and then over to Kinbane Castle to view the always-breathtaking ruins that stand there.