A day in the life of a toddler at Bosinver

A special guest blog from one of our younger visitors. Alex shares her diary of her recent family holiday at Bosinver.

The adventures of Alex, aged 3 1/4

7.30am Everyone’s up and in the kitchen. Gran’s cooking eggs laid by Bosinver’s hens that we collected yesterday with Farmer Dave. One was still warm when I picked it up from the nest box! Dip-dippy eggs with toast soldiers are my favourite, but Gran likes hers poached.

8.15am We’re off on an adventure to the woods. I take along Gruffalo book so I can look at the pictures while we go round the trail and try and find all the animals. Dad knows the story off by heart, just like me, and he does different voices for all the creatures!

9.45am It’s time to help Farmer Dave give all the animals their breakfast. All the chickens, ducks and goats are really friendly and some will eat out of your hand!

10.15am Time for a snack. I’m feeling a bit sleepy now, so I might just close my eyes…

11.15am Awake! What are we doing next? Mummy’s getting the swimming things out – we’re going to the pool! I jump up and down in excitement. I love swimming at Bosinver. The water’s lovely and warm like a huge bath and the fish on the walls are really pretty. Gran likes to float on her back and look up at the ceiling, as she says all the twinkly lights are just like stars.

12.15pm We’re back at the cottage and Gran and Grandad have been down to the shop and bought us stuff for lunch. There’s ham and cheese, big long baguettes and a cake with jam and cream. I run over and give them both a big hug. Having everyone here to play with all together is the best.

“Grandad,” I say. “Will you come to the playground with me?”

“After lunch, Alex,” Grandad says, and ruffles my hair.

1.15pm Mum, Dad and Gran are sitting drinking tea again. They do that a lot.

I finish my squash. “Can we go now, Grandad?”

He nods and I take his hand. We wave goodbye to them. I lead the way to the playground as he hasn’t been there before. It’s a shame Grandad’s too big for all the play equipment. He says he doesn’t mind, but I think he secretly wants to have a go too.

1.40pm When I’ve gone on everything at least twice we go for a walk to visit the ponies. Their names are Secret, Rupert and Kizzy. Grandad lifts me up so I can stroke Rupert. He snorts through his nose and his breath is warm on my hand.

“Hello,” says Helen, as she comes past. She looks after all the cottages and gets them ready for everyone who comes to stay at Bosinver. “Did you know tomorrow’s pony riding day?”

A big smile creeps over my face. “Please can I ride Rupert?” I ask. “He’s my favourite.”

Secret whinnies. “I like you, too, Secret. And you, Kizzy.”

I’m so excited I do a little dance and sing a song I made up earlier about Rupert. He looks like he’s smiling, so I think he likes it.

2pm “Daddy!” I call, as I spot my dad walking towards us. “Up!” Daddy lets me ride on his shoulders on the way to the Playbarn. It’s full of soft play equipment and there are tubes to crawl though, holes to drop down and a whirly slide. I really like it here!

2.50pm “Come on, it’s almost time for Wild Kids,” Daddy says. We go down to the woods again. There are loads of kids here now and a lady called Tatum who shows us how to hunt for creepie crawlies. I spot a frog, too! We play lots of games which are really fun.

Then Tatum calls everyone over to sit on logs in a circle. She makes a fire and hands out marshmallows. Dad helps me toast my marshmallow on a stick till it goes a bit melty. Tatum lets all the grown-ups toast marshmallows too. Daddy and I grin at each other.

“Daddy, you’ve got marshmallow in your beard!” I laugh as he tries to wipe it off. “You need one of my wet wipes!”

4.20pm Daddy lets me ride on his shoulders again on the way back to our cottage because I’m feeling tired now from all the running about in the woods. The ducks are outside the door waiting for us.

“Hello, ducks!” We wave at them and they quack back.

4.25pm  “Look what I found, Alex!” Gran waves a DVD case at me.

“It’s Peppa Pig! Can we watch it now?” I ask. It’s my favourite TV programme. Gran puts it on, and I tell her all about it as she hasn’t seen it before.

“George is my favourite, because he’s little like me.” My cousin Beth is a bit like Peppa. She’s got red wellies too. I bet she’d love to come and stay with us when we go on holiday to Bosinver next year.

5.00pm Tea time! I’ve got beans on toast today and when I’ve finished, Gran cuts me up an apple.

5.20pm I hear the sound of the water as Daddy runs my bath. I can’t wait to get in and play with my toy ducks.

5.25pm I sing my Rupert song again while I’m in the bath. “Can we go to the beach tomorrow, Daddy?” I ask. “I want to build a big, big sandcastle. Bigger than this.” I hold my arms out wide to show him.

“That’s a very big sandcastle,” Daddy says, “You might need all of us to help you build it.”

“And can we have ice cream on the beach too?”

5.50pm “What’s that?” I ask, when we get back downstairs.

“This is the baking box,” Mum says, as she unpacks it. “I borrowed it from the office. Do you want to help me make a cake?” We decide to make Rice Krispie cakes. I watch as she melts the chocolate and it goes all gooey. She lets me stir the Rice Krispies in and lick the spoon while she puts them in to cases. I can’t wait to share our cakes with everyone but Mummy says we have to leave them to set first.

6.15pm I’m starting to yawn now and Mum says it’s time for bed. It’s Gran’s turn to read my bedtime stories tonight. We start with Room on the Broom, which I love almost as much as the Gruffalo.

6.30pm Gran’s read me three stories tonight! “Just one more?” I ask, but she shakes her head. I sing her my Rupert song instead. She likes it too. I yawn again and she strokes my hair as I snuggle down. I can feel my eyes closing…

Toddler friendly holidays at Bosinver

Bosinver is the ideal base for toddler friendly holidays in Cornwall. Just off the A390 near St Austell, we’re perfectly located for trips to all the most popular child friendly attractions, and we’ve got several lovely sandy beaches right on our doorstep. But with so much to do at Bosinver, you might find it difficult dragging your little ones away from all the fun they’re having right here…

Find out more about toddler friendly holidays at Bosinver

We’d love to hear about your adventures with your toddler at Bosinver. Share your stories below, post on our Facebook page or tweet @Bosinver.