Dartmeet & parting with Dartmoor

For our last day, which was shaping up to be the hottest of all of them, we went to another new place. In fact, this time we did so many new things that we didn’t manage to fit in lots of old favourites and ended up not doing or seeing all the places and people we’d intended to. But somehow this holiday felt extremely ‘move on’ and going to new things felt right. It’s the third time we’ve been down since Freddie was born and died and the first of those holidays to not be overlaid with desperate sadness. I suppose an element of that is time and an element of it is new pregnancy. But not looking back felt right for everyone and because of that, we let some things go. I’d intended to let a travelbug go in a geocache through the week with a Freddie tag on it, but felt it would pull us back on that occasion, so in the end I didn’t. I think I’ll do it round here where some friends can send it on its way for us.

Dartmeet – just so beautiful. I have no idea why we haven’t been before; Max knows it from childhood but for some reason we’ve always gone past it on the way to elsewhere. We did more river walks that tor walks this time and this was the best of all of them. It’s not hard going, but it isn’t ‘level’ either so it kept the kids entertained scrambling over boulders and stuff.

Maybe the most fitting element of not having a timer to use for photos is that someone is always missing. Someone always is anyway. I find it easier to look at photos with 5 in it than 6. I’ve yet to manage a new photo of all the living elements of the family since Freddie died 🙁

However, in a nod to optimism…

You woz ‘ere.

The kids loved the clapper bridge but liked this set of stepping stones much more 😆

Max returned to help me across as one stretch was just too much for me and I can’t jump on uneven surfaces; missing several toes means I don’t balance reliably.

For reasons best known to himself, he decided to stand on the one I needed to get to and help me on to it. ANd when I got there, we couldn’t really manage to bother stay upright! We have a very long moment of desperately clinging to each other, wobbling like mad, before a bit of team work got our balance back. After a week of berating mad kids for getting wetted, we could easily imagine being the ones who actually went full length into the water!

There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

It was a gorgeous walk but we were done in by the end, having got a bit mislaid by the book and fields no longer matching up 😆

Max went off down the road to get the car while the girls explored the outrageously twee Pixieland.

There may have been more icecream after that 🙂 I don’t think this baby weighs 5lbs more yet, but I do 😆