I remember the very first time I set foot in Devon.
I was 12, and we had finally arrived for our family holiday after a horrendous 7 hour car journey from Liverpool - everybody was grumpy and tired, and I was cursing my parents for insisting on a change from our usual holidays spent in North Wales which was a much more convenient half hour drive!
But as we pulled up at Torquay seafront and I stepped out of the car, and looked across as the beautiful white sand beaches - I knew we were in for a real treat!
Ever since that trip, Torquay became our go-to every single year - it was on one of those annual family trips that I met a Devonian boyfriend, and that was what brought me to finally up sticks and move to the county once and for all.
The boyfriend is long gone now, but I've remained her ever since - and since our children came along, I couldn't imagine them growing up anywhere else.
Their childhoods are so different to my own - I grew up in a very small village on the outskirts of a major city. Everybody in our village knew each other, and to be honest - a lot of the children weren't all that pleasant. I hated going to school in the village, there was a real snobbery that I felt even as a child - if you didn't attend church every Sunday morning with your family and your Grandfather didn't own village land then you might as well not exist.
The nearest beach to us was New Brighton, which was over the water where my Nan lived and I so looked forward to our visits there - we'd spend the day playing rounders on the sand, eating ice creams and playing in the penny arcades. In my mind, the seaside was the very best place to spend the day - and that was a mindset I never grew out of.
There's something about the seaside that soothes me, I can be in the worst mood and just driving up to watch the sea go out with a coffee in hand can put everything right with the world again.
Now we live just 5 minutes away from several beautiful beaches and we can see the sea from our house - our local park is on the beach, and the children spend at least 2 or 3 afternoons every week playing on the sand and paddling in the sea.
I'll always have a soft spot for my home city in my heart, but I am in love with where we live - and I couldn't love our beach afternoons any more.
I am so happy that my children get to grow up here.
For us, beach life is the best life!
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