Our family holiday to the Jurassic Coast to see the beautiful arch rock formation at Durdle Door. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and breath-taking views. The calming sound of the sea. A cosy caravan. Three generations together.

An abundance of fascinating pebbles, each one unique. Telling a story. Ready to be inspected with the magnifying glass or used in some game. Giggles under a picnic blanket tent, caves to explore. Hard, ouchy pebbles to endure. Freezing cold sea, shrieking with glee! A dinosaur rock emerged from the sea!

We visited an RSPB nature reserve.

The sound of birdsong as we explored the woods. Two cousins off on an adventure, finding the perfect stick. Poking pond gunk, climbing trees, running and skipping, roaming free. Spotting animal tracks and woodpecker holes.

We even glimpsed a green woodpecker swooping through the trees. Silent deer watched us as we watched them in the evening sunshine. Enchanting.

Although we did find a few in the pebbles, we were all set to undertake some proper fossil hunting. That will have to wait for another trip. Our holiday was cut short due to my son breaking his femur… and then treatment for meningitis. We’ve been in and out of two hospitals for the past three or four weeks… more on that in a future post!

But he’s still managed to enjoy some dino-fun at home! Dinosaur stamping and painting. Lots of play and roaring (I’ve loved the insight into the noises he thinks dinosaurs made!) Sharing books and dinosaur toast.

Making sand playdough. Dinosaur ‘fossils’, footprints and play scenes has been an activity he has returned to a number of times. (We always use the Imagination Tree best ever playdough recipe -my boy loves to help with all but the boiling water stage. We left out the colouring and substituted some of the flour for play sand this time.)

Learning about creatures that no longer exist is such a difficult concept to understand. He likes to know the names of each dinosaur and can remember a few. We have borrowed books from the library to add to our own little collection (see the +button below for the books we have read via Goodreads). It is fascinating to observe how his interests and understanding develop at his own pace, through his play. He describes fossils as ‘shells that the dinosaurs left behind’ which I think is wonderful. This fossil was a present from Granny. It has been studied with his magnifying glass and handled everso carefully.

I have a feeling there are many more dino-adventures to be had!

Follow our journey on Instagram @jenni_isdancingintherain