Winter Wanderings: Snowdonia and beyond...

Before we can talk about Christmas, I have a few months of winter hikes to blog about! 

Since it has been such a mild winter, there's been plenty of great blue sky days and we know to take advantage of them! So we've been introducing our little baby hiker to all the prettiest places around! 

We eased her in gently by venturing to the Watkins Path one Saturday, it's one of the easier trails that leads up Mount Snowdon.  We didn't go up that high as it's an all day affair to get to the top, but just gave Ella a little taster! 

As you can see, she was loving it! 

There were plenty of waterfalls to keep me happy!

and some dodgy camera balancing to get this self timer shot of the 3 of us!

Check out the blue hues of that water!

Daddy posing with a fast asleep Ella on him on the way back down! but oh, what a view! and can you believe we got down to t-shirts...in November!

Our next hike took us to Cwm Idwal, we've been here quite a few times in the past but usually only walked around the lake at ground level, and never ventured any further.

It had been a lovely blue sky day when we left our house but as we ventured into the mountains the clouds suddenly appeared! 

It certainly created some atmosphere!

and this little lady was loving it all anyway! in her new Regatta beanie we had got her at Cotswold a few weeks before to keep her warm and toastie on our hikes!

It was quite a climb up a rocky path with a baby on your back! but it was worth it for that view!

If only that cloud wasn't there!

Ella and I took a snack break whilst By went all the way to the top which is known as Hell's Kitchen through that little passage way, it was quite steep and you needed to scramble up some rocks so we decided it wasn't a good idea to attempt it with Ella! 

On the way back down the clouds cleared and we got this awesome view, although I'm not sure Ella caught it with her hat sliding over her eyes!

and a pretty sunset to top it off as we left!

At the beginning of December, when another Saturday brought more blue skies we said 'yessss let's go take the cable car up the Great Orme' in Llandudno.  When we got there we discovered we were out of season and the cable car is actually closed until March! What a disappointment! 

So we took a little walk out to the water's edge instead.

Ella loved peeping at the sheep in the next field!

We got there just in time for golden hour!

and caught another lovely sunset.

The last weekend before we headed on our Christmas adventures By went on a mountain biking trail through some woods with friends so Ella and I had a girls day at the same time.  We went to check out nearby Conwy Falls, and improved a little at our 'sling selfies'!

I was loving all the mossy covered branches!

The falls were less exciting than I had hoped!

but it was quite a nice walk through the woods...

This was Ella's 'I thought they would be bigger' face...me too Ella, me too! 

We finished our afternoon by heading to Betws-y-Coed...

for a mini train adventure! Ella jigged the whole way around the track and squealed with delight! 

I think she loves Wales and is turning into a great little outdoor explorer! 

A North Wales Staycation!

In mid September, the day after we moved to Wales, we had our first little family staycation.  I'm hesitant to call it a holiday, because it was to Wales and I'd like to hope our first family holiday will be somewhere a little more exotic!

but in all fairness to North Wales...being the middle of September, the weather was really quite amazing and we had a great time!

Just check out that gorgeous smile...Ella was born to be outdoors! She takes right after her daddy that's for sure!

 This was our lovely campsite - a place called Llyn Gwynant which is in the heart of Snowdonia, surrounded by mountains!

and our pitch faced right onto this lake.

So Ella got to have her first little experience with sand...

and daddy taught her how to play in it!

She was a fan!

and didn't wipe that little smile off her face the whole day!

After we tucked Ella up for the night in the tent...

we got down to some campfire fun...

and s'mores! because that's the only reason I love camping so much! Haha, just kidding (sort of!)

It's safe to say Ella probably had the best nights sleep out of all of us! There I was worrying about how she'd managed in a tent but I don't think she even noticed she wasn't in her cot! Us on the other hand didn't sleep so well! All my most recent camping experiences have been in freezing cold locations - like in the mountains of Yosemite, and in the wimbledon queue! so I decided I wasn't going to get caught out this time around and layered up something crazy and then was WAY too hot in the night and spent all night waking up and peeling off layers! 

So we gave our plan of hiking Snowdon a miss and opted for a more chilled out day instead!

The view from our tent!

Ella looking all snug in her special camping pj's!

and her little baby suitcase! This baby travels in style ;)

By cooked us up a delicious french toast breakfast!

and we even managed to buy this super cute book at the campsite before we checked out! It was specifically about the campsite we were at and had all the local place names in it and stuff, it will be such a fun little keepsake for Ella!

Finally, after stopping to check out the view on the way out we headed off for the next adventure!

which took us to Betws-y-Coed.

We discovered a cafe that actually sold good cake the last time we came here before we moved, however sadly when we returned this time around all their cake offerings were along the lines of fruit cake and bara brith and date and walnut and all those old fashioned kinds this area seems to love!

We also struggled to find anywhere to eat for lunch and settled on a pub where we had an awful meal.

The place was overrun with tourists, and I don't know why they don't make more of it - it's such a shame!

Stopped to take a pic of this lovely view in Llanrwst.  

and detoured to the Conwy Water Gardens for a spot of hot choc...

and to introduce By to the pancake house!

A coconut, pineapple and banana pancake was the perfect afternoon treat!

We walked around the nature reserve, to show Ella the animals.

This giant rooster gave her the fright of her life when he let out a cock-a-doodle do! I was more terrified by the giant rodent beside it in that enclosure! yes, for real, that is a giant rat like creature.  

Ella was in love with this cat we kept seeing around...

so mesmerised! unfortunately after getting a little too over excited and kicking her little legs that were positioned next to the cats head, the cat was not so keen!

We arrived back home just as the sun was starting to set so we decided to introduce Ella to our local park in Penmaenmawr! Check out those 'picturesque' beach huts in the background!!

A swing with a view!

Love this pic of the two of my favourites together! 

The next day it was still sunny! so we headed to our favourite little coastal village of Beaumaris, which is on Anglesey.  

I pretended it was because we could take Ella to the nicer beach area there...but Byron busted me and knew it was just because I wanted some Red Boat ice cream! It's the best we've had round these parts. 

Ella got busy in the sand again!

The hat and top co-ordination were purely a co-incidence but one I was loving!

Hazelnut gelato accompanied with sunshine and sand and your favourite two people - what more could you want!

It turns out stacking cups make great improvised buckets and spades!

Beaumaris - you can bet we'll be back, several times over!