Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

Today was David's 16th Birthday! He has often been on holiday on his birthday because it coincides with the October schools' holiday and this year is no exception. He was pleased with the pocket camcorder, called a Flipcam, which James and I gave him for his birthday and has immediately set about filming our holiday. It was fine and warm here in Jersey today so we decided to visit a couple of beaches. Grandma recommended a beach called Greve de Lecque in the north of the island. James and the boys set off on a five mile circular walk from there (from the Cicerone guidebook provided in our cottage) while Grandma and I got ourselves some newspapers and magazines and installed ourselves on the beach, which was sandy and beautiful. There were waves breaking on the shore but it was fairly sheltered. It was warm and sunny and we read and chatted until the boys came bounding along the beach with huge pine cones and chestnuts that they had found along the way. We all had a nice picnic in the sunshine, throwing bits of our sandwiches to a couple of seagulls, then James suggested that we visit Plemont Bay, which he, Ally and Davie had passed on their walk earlier. We drove there and then walked down a steep set of steps to the beach. This beach was also lovely and had huge caves at the back of it, set into the cliffs. There was even a waterfall in one of the caves. Despite the warning signs, Ally and I couldn't resist going for a swim in the sea. It wasn't particularly cold but the waves seemed bigger once you were actually in them and even though I was only in the water waist deep the waves were lifting me off my feet! Ally was amazing, he was diving right into the waves as they crested! Davie and Ally also did a bit of dam-building on the beach, which is a family tradition that none of the Anderson boys ever grow out of! After we dried off we went back up the long flight of steps to the beach cafe. I have to hand it to Grandma, she is game for a challenge. She made her way up the steps without wanting any help, at her own pace, and we all had a reviving coffee in the pleasant and old-fashioned beach cafe at the top of the steps. Later on we had a Chinese meal and watched a film "Bad Teacher" which had some very funny moments. A good day for all and a good birthday for David.