Wednesday, 2 August 2017

Day two in Devon which involved marbles and no loss of them

Rain, rain and more rain greeted us today.

We had expected some rain today but when we looked at the forecast yesterday, we had thought that this would just involve a few showers allowing us to enjoy the sun shine later.  A bit like yesterday really where it had rained earlier only to be followed by spectacular sunshine and warmth.

But that did not happen. It rained and rained and rained.  So while we would have loved to visit somewhere local, instead we drove for an hour to see some glass blowing. When we arrived in the dismal car park, we found no spaces. It appeared that almost everyone in Devon had decided to come here.  

Starting on the positives, it did have a bit of educational information for the children to learn about glass and they got to was some glass blowing. In addition to that, it has a gift shop geared to kids, and some great machines using marbles.  And it is free. So considering that, it was value for money, but it was not what we were looking for to spend time learning about glass and spending time indoors, especially after an hours drive.  But the kids loved the things that they got, a memory game and a marble each (and big ones at that).  After this, it was a trip to Dartington crystal, which was further away. Sadly, when we arrived, we found out that the trips were all booked, so the children spent some time painting glass instead.  While my wife went shopping afterwards, while we waited for the paint to dry, I bribed the kids into learning things by paying them to find out bits of information. It worked, and they seemed to not resent having to wait.  On the long drive back, bribery was used again, this time in feeding them snacks.


We went to eat later, and sadly this did not come close to matching the superb meal that we had last night at Glebe House.  But we are back now, the kids watching some Pokemon before they get sent to bed.