The [not] secret holiday
diaries of Emily Cobb,
aged [nearly] four,
June 2006.
Saturday.
It was very hot today, so I had a snooze and woke up for something to eat and drink when we were half way there. We stopped again at Wolds Way lavender for an ice cream. I ran about in the gardens and wouldn’t let Mummy and Daddy catch me. I thought this was a great start to the holiday but they didn’t! Daddy was just in a bad mood because England were playing football and he had to listen on the radio and not watch it on telly. If he thinks he’s watching the world cup all week he’s in for a shock. He should know better because I can work televisions, videos, DVD’s and digi-boxes now. We drove through the moors and through Goathland on the way to the caravan, I saw the first sheep and trains of the holiday. The caravan is nice and I have my own room with two beds pushed together to make a big trampoline, I mean bed. Daddy said I was not to jump on the bed because I might hit my head on the overhead cupboard. Bad news on the evening entertainment, we only have ordinary telly and that only has football. It looks as though me and Mummy will be playing with my toys in the evenings.
Sunday.
Very hot again. We went into Whitby and had chips. We looked at all the little old fashioned shops and walked along the harbour watching the boats and some children crab fishing. I had a go in some rides in the arcades. There were some I hadn’t seen before which I went up and down in as though I was in a plane. They were good. Daddy won a Tigger out of a machine for me and I won a little dog like Kipper all by myself.
In the evening we went to Sandsend beach. Me and Daddy ran through the waves and found some nice stones. There was a dog whose owner had a tennis racquet to hit a ball for him to chase. He was very quick [the dog, not the owner-he was very old and slow] and could swim a long way too. I had my bucket and spade but it was more fun running through the waves than building sandcastles. Me and Daddy were soaking wet, but it was great. Daddy spotted a broken lobster pot that had been washed up and kept looking at it. We were so wet and sandy, that Daddy drove back with no shoes on.
Monday.
It was a bit cloudy this morning and Mummy thought it was going to rain. Mummy doesn’t like rain because it makes her hair go funny. We went to Grosmont station and caught the train to Pickering. This takes over an hour, but I don’t mind because I like trains. My buggy had to go in a special van and we were in the coach next door. This was very posh with little lamps on the table, posh upholstered chairs and curved ceilings. The guard was very nice and kept talking to me in another language, which Daddy said was Yorkshire. He let me use his special scissors to stamp a hole in our ticket. There was another nice man who talked to me too, who was the security man. Daddy said that this must be a new rule, but was a bit silly because the only terrorist on this train was me. It rained a little bit when we were on the train, but when we got to Pickering it was very hot and sunny again.
At Pickering we walked through all the old fashioned shops and the market and started to walk towards the castle. We had passed two bakers, so Mummy and Daddy did a quick u turn for some sausage rolls and pizza slices. We had passed two shops with toys in the window too, but we didn’t go back to them until later.
The castle was great fun. The man gave me a map of the castle that had lots of pictures and information on it, especially for children. I ran around all the grass, climbed up the steps and learnt all about kings and castles. We explored the remains of a big oven where they used to cook food for the king and his friends. Mummy and Daddy said that now I am older I am taking more interest in things, as well as playing. I wish they wouldn’t talk about me as though I am a child. I am nearly four now after all.
It was very hot now so I had a cold drink at the station while we waited for the train back. We were in the posh carriage again. There was a funny man a few tables along from us. He kept putting his head out of the window for a few seconds, then scratching his head with both hands. Then he would look out of the opposite window for a few seconds and scratch his head again. He did this all the time. He must be on holiday too because he is not from Yorkshire. Daddy said he is from somewhere called Headscratchers Anonymous. I was very tired now so I put my head on the table and had a little snooze until we got back to Grosmont.
At Grosmont there is a little shop on the station, but there is a better one next to the engine sheds. This is better, because to get to it you have to go through a long dark tunnel, which Mummy doesn’t like and it is sometimes a bit grubby because the smoke and dust from the engine shed gets inside. Guess which shop we went to. I came out with several toys and two grubby stripes down one arm.
In the evening it was a little cooler, but still nice so we went to the beach again. Lots more running through the waves and finding stones. The dog was there again too. Me and Daddy walked a very long way to where a tractor was parked. We ran all the way back through the waves. The broken lobster pot was still there. Daddy showed Mummy and said it would make a good garden feature. Mummy didn’t say much at all. If that lobster pot doesn’t get washed away by the tide I can see trouble coming before the holiday is over.
Daddy is right. I need to be careful when I use my bed as trampoline. That overhead cupboard is a bit low.
Tuesday.
We went to the Scarborough Sea Life Centre. There were loads of fish, turtles, seals and penguins. A man gave us all a talk about crabs, star fish, mussels and things that I might find in rock pools. You have to be careful how you hold a starfish and not hold them by their legs, because they might think you are going to hurt them and will make their leg fall off so that they can escape. It does the same thing with its tummy if it has eaten some nasty food. It can grow a new stomach in four days. The man said that this could be useful for humans if they have drunk too much lemonade on a Saturday night. I don’t like fizzy drinks so I think I will keep the tummy I have now. There were some big sea turtles and sharks in one of the tanks. These were a bit scary because I could look through the sides of the tank, or walk under it through a big tunnel. The penguins and seals were my favourites, especially the seal who kept rolling over in front of us and showing his belly. We had some food while we were here. Mummy and Daddy ate all of theirs, but I didn’t eat much because I was too busy in the soft play area. I spent lots of my pocket money in the shop. I bought a Nemo balloon, a set of turtles, a box of sea animals and a keyring.
In the afternoon we went to another “castle” called Rivelaux Abbey. This is where the monks used to live. There were some big walls and lots of little bits of wall on the grass. I led Mummy and Daddy through all of these because they didn’t know where to go. In one place there was a little river going through the ruins. Daddy thought this would make a good garden feature but Mummy didn’t think so because it used to be the Monks toilets. I found the kitchens, which were a bit like the ones at the castle. I told Mummy that this is where the monks cooked their chips and that the cooking monks were called chipmunks. I am becoming a bit of a castle guru now. I really liked going through all the little rooms and up and down steps, but I didn’t like it when I slipped on the gravel and cut my knee. I wasn’t even running and felt a bit embarrassed so I wouldn’t let Mummy and Daddy clean my knee until later. We had a drink in the tearoom and then I bought some juggling balls with pictures of kings on them.
On the way back to the caravan Mummy phoned Nanny and I had a snooze, because we went back the scenic way, which took a long time. I woke up when we were going through Whitby because we had to wait for ages at the bridge. I had forgotten that the whole bridge swung round to let big boats through. I think I might suggest that Daddy builds one of these as a garden feature.
Wednesday.
I started the morning by washing all the stones that we had collected from the beach and playing with my sealife animals in the sink. Caravan sinks are a bit small though so I made a realistic tidal wave too.
It was a bit cooler and cloudy this morning so we went to Whitby Abbey. I got another map to follow and spent another morning guiding Mummy and Daddy around the ruins. The shop and display area were the best of all the castles, with loads of brass rubbing and stamping to do. There were some gargoyles on display too. When we went back outside I kept hiding in the ruins and pulling my best gargoyle faces, so that nobody would realise it was me.
It was much warmer at lunch time so we sat by the harbour in Whitby and had some chips. I liked watching the boats and feeding the seagulls. When we had finished we went for a scenic drive and Daddy took some pictures while I had a snooze. Then we stopped at Goathland station for an ice cream. I watched the trains go by from the footbridge. This was great fun because the trains went right underneath me. One came in from each direction and then they both left the station, all within a few minutes. We had a walk into the village, where they film Heartbeat, but they were not filming today, which was a bit of a shame now that I have got the hang of pulling gargoyle faces.
Thursday.
We went to the beach this morning and I had a couple of hours running through the waves and building sandcastles. The lobster pot has gone, but I think that is probably a good thing really.
After the beach we bought some food for a picnic and went for another scenic drive. This one was through forest tracks and we stopped for our picnic at a tiny railway station. They had a coach like Thomas’s with a face on it.
Friday.
We went into Whitby again, for some more chips and to get biscuits and presents for everyone. Later on we drove through the moors for the last time to see all the sheep and trains again.
In the evening Aunt Lav, Sean, Jo and Rooney the dog came to see me. They are staying in Whitby for the weekend so they came to see the caravan. We took Rooney for a walk and I held his extending lead. Then I let go and he is only small, so he ran away because the lead scared him and then came back quickly when the lead wound itself in. He didn’t laugh about this as much as me, but perhaps that was just because dogs don’t know how to laugh.
Saturday.
We called in to see Aunt Lav and everyone before we went home. Their apartment is very nice with views over the harbour. I played hide and seek with Sean and after he had pretended not to see me behind a chair, I moved behind the door instead. Then he came back and sat down and got a shock when I appeared from behind the door and not from behind his chair. He stopped playing hide and seek after that so we went to the shops to top up with sweets for the journey home.