There is nothing nicer than coming home from a wonderful holiday to a clean home and that is where this pre-holiday cleaning checklist comes into its own. I am in no way suggesting that as a mum you take full responsibility for everything on this list, but with the help of your family you can experience the joy of coming home to a fabulous clean home.
Growing up by the sea means that I have an affinity with beaches and they are somewhere I gravitate too. We lived in Landlocked Berkshire for 14 years and I craved the sea, so when we came back to North Yorkshire I made it my mission to explore all the local beaches and now I am going to share them with you my best North Yorkshire Beaches.
Over the October half term we spend 5 days at the amazing Potters Leisure Resort and I have been wondering just how to put into words how much fun we had and that is why this review has taken so long to get live! Everytime I re read it I wanted to add more. So if you are currently thinking of a holiday take a read and see just what we thought.
My boys are big Blackpool fans. We went back this summer for second year running and had a great time. There is so much to do and enjoy and this summer for the first time since I was a child we visited the Blackpool Tower Circus and each year they have a panto which runs from 22nd November 2015 to 17th January 2016.
During 0ur recent weekend at Blackpool we stayed at Ribby Hall Holiday Village which is ten minutes outside of Blackpool and is amazing. For us it was much better than staying on a B&B or a hotel as we had the freedom to come and go as we likes, plus coupled with fab onsite activities and leisure pool it has something to suit every family. Accommodation
We are fans of spending family time together and have come to love holidays where we can take all the family including Alvin the dog. At Half term we went to Sand le Mere on the Yorkshire coast, 2 hours away from our home on the Yorkshire coast (Hey Yorkshire is big and we live in North Yorkshire and Sand le Mere is in East Yorkshire). Now I am going to preface this post with the fact that it was WET, very wet, it rained every day bar one when we were there and then Mini got tonsillitis, but inspite of all that we had a lovely time and I can […]
I know I might be repeating myself a little here, but we are off on the holiday of a lifetime to Florida with my brother and his family in November and I am so excited. My boys will be 7 and 8 at the time we travel and I know we are going to have an absolutely fantastic time.
Sunday
Sunday morning was a little more leisurely. We had breakfast and then made our way down to the pool where the boys were booked in to have a go at water walking. Both of the boys thought it was great fun, but were pretty tired out after their allotted 15 minute session.
Overview
We could have stayed at Kielder for a whole week and still had more to see and experience. We were amazed at the dark skies and the amount of stars that could be seen from the balcony of the lodge. The lodge really was a home from home with everything you could need including a washer, dryer, cooker, fridge freezer and a dishwasher. It really was an epic experience.
Disclosure: 7 nights accommodation in a Lodge at Leaplish Waterside park ranges from £349 a week. Special offers and discounts are available at certain times of year, see the Kielder Website for details. We received 2 nights free accommodation, free meals and activities for the purpose of this review. You can see more photos of our trip on Facebook.
Details: 7 nights accommodation in a Vivaldi Mobile Home at La Croix Du Vieux Pont, which sleeps 6 and Eurotunnel Crossing for one car costs £1214 for 2 adults and 3 children on August 17 2013. Special offers and discounts are available at certain times of year, see the Al Fresco website for details. We received free Eurotunnel crossing and accommodation for the purposes of this review. You can see more photos of our trip over on Facebook.
Win an iPad, Wii U, iPad Mini or iPod Touch with Butlins
Butlins are call for all bloggers to tell them about a special childhood holiday memory that still makes you smile and you could be in with the chance of winning one of these 4 prizes: An iPad, WiiU, iPad Mini or iPod Touch.
Once you have thought about which childhood holiday was most memorable to you, all you need to do is write and post on your blog a short description and conclude the entry with the end line “Competition sponsored by Butlins Holiday Parks, helping your family make memories.” Then email us at blogcomp@butlins.com with link to your blog entry to let them know!
How to enter
Our Top hints and Tips for Visiting Disneyland Orlando
Make sure you book a table for Dinner as the restaurants get busy
Always buy your tickets online. They’re usually cheaper and save you the headache you’ll get waiting to purchase at the gate
Download the free Disney Magic app – you can plan rides and check show times and once you’re inside the park it will let you check how long the lines are on different rides
Bring your own water bottles. It will save you time and money! If you don’t want to carry a water bottle, just ask for a cup of water at any food or drink vendor
Have your children look for Hidden Mickeys is a great way to keep them occupied especially when queuing
When the park opens at 9am, go first to Toy Story Midway Mania, which has the longest lines in the park, and FastPasses are usually gone for the day by noon.
Plan a show for the hottest part of the day, but be aware that the air conditioning can be fierce!
If it’s your first visit, get one of the “first time” badges from Guest Services
for getting the most out of Universal
Take some american stamps and postcards to use the owl post in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This is where you can send a letter with a Hogsmeade postmark. You can buy usable Harry Potter stamps but they were rather overprices at $15 a pack especially when we only wanted to send three postcards.
Frozen Butterbeer is much nicer than regular Butterbear (which tasted like cream soda). If you want to get a souvenir cup with your butterbeer you can and ask for the butterbeer to be put in a regular cup so you do not have to wash out your tankard for putting in your bag. Also you can bypass the cart and buy it straight from The Three Broomsticks which is a lot faster.
The mixtures of movies and rides is fantastic. The Despicable me experience is fantastic, we loved being turned in to Minions. Oh and the fart gun does smell of bananas!
The temperature really hots up around lunch time, so make a beeline for the indoor rides like Despicable Me, The Mummy or Spiderman during this time. Alternately why not take a trip to Jurassic Park and be prepared to get VERY WET!
Take a refillable water bottle with you. You need to keep drinking as you can dehydrate really fast.
Check what rides your children can and can not go on before you visit to avoid disappointment.
Consider a Universal a Express Pass which costs around £30-40 per person, and allows you to go to the front of the line once on each ride, although you get this sort of ticket for free if you’re staying at a Universal hotel.
Make sure you arrive early for the park opening at 9 am. Rides open at 9.30 am
The park is 45 minutes from Downtown Tampa and the other Orlando Parks
You can exchange your own LEGO Mini Figure with any of the Model Citizen’s (LEGO Employees). They have theirs on their name badge. Also keep an eye out for the Mini Figure Ambassador as they have a shirt covered in Mini Figures.
Go to the back of the park either LEGO City or Technic first
If it your birthday, then collect a badge from a Model Citizen (A LEGO Employee) at Guest services at The Beginning
If you want to visit a show, try and turn up 30 minutes before the start time
Make sure you take plenty of sun cream and hats as it is much hotter and sunnier in Orlando that the UK. We actually purchased Maxi a pair of sunglasses and shorts strap in LEGOLAND
The park also has many attractions for children and adults that prefer gentle pace including Safari Trek and Duploland
Download a Park Map before visiting, it shows you all the height restrictions, so you can set expectations before visiting
There is a large selection of places to eat all catering for children, but you need to try the parks signature dish of Granny Smiths Apple Fries
It gets very hot in the middle of the day, so eat inside if possible as the restaurants are air conditioned
The LEGOLAND Florida water park reopens in March and you can upgrade your tickets for $12 each and this would be the perfect place to cool down
The park closes earlier than other parks around 5.30 each day
The Big Shop is the largest LEGO shop in the world
I have to admit that I was really skeptical about Seaworld. I was unsure about using animals in shows, however, I have to say that I was completely won over and we had an amazing day. First things first, there is no way you can see everything in a day (unless you opt for one of the excellent VIP tours, which cost from £172 per adult and child in addition to park admission and includes a freshly prepared lunch) . I would advise you to plan your must see’s before you get to the park.
Maxi and I are spending the half term holiday in Orlando, Florida thanks to Visit Orlando. This is perfect timing for us to explore it all prior to our family holiday there in November with my brother and his family.
We will be exploring the major attractions including including Walt Disney World, Sea World Parks and Universal Orlando Resort.
I have taken a look at the Orlando Holiday Planning tool, so I know that the weather is going to be great and have packed our swimming things and the sun cream and for the first time I will not be taking prescription sunglasses on holiday and I am looking forward to being able to see things from the top of any rides we go on and not worry about my specs falling off.
If you had asked me BC (before children) what my favorite holiday was it would be a lot different to my favorite family holiday now we have children, so when the Tots100 was asking bloggers to post about their favorite holiday in order to win a summer holiday from Thomson Al Fresco. I decided to tell you a tale of two holidays.
As I was going to be at TheMads we decided to make it a family break and take the children to Butlins, now I have never ever been to Butlins and the last time MadDad went was over 35 years ago, so I think we had preconceived ideas. We stayed in the Shorline hotel and I have to say I was super impressed with the size and layout of the rooms. The boys room area had junior bunkbeds and a TV and DVD player, which showed children’s TV channels. The room had a big fridge and also tea and coffee making facilities. It was perfect. The only issue we had was […]
We had a caravan when I was growing up. No, not one of those wonderful static caravans, no we had a box on wheels, so summers were spent setting off in the dead of the night to the English Riviera. Well before seat belts became compulsory, my parents would pack the cool box, the pillows and the duvets to make the back seat in to a makeshift bed for my younger brother and me and once we were asleep they would gently lift us to the car and start our adventure. Often the we woke to the sound of cars thundering by, as my parents had a cup of tea from […]
I have been tagged by The Musings of a geriatric Mummy and I am sure someone else too, to do the Photo Lottery Meme, the rules are: 1. Open the first (oldest) photo folder in your computer library 2. Scroll to the 10th photo 3. Post the photo and the story behind it 4. Tag 5 or more people to continue the thread OK the oldest digital photographs I have on the laptop are from 2003 and our trip to South Africa. This is the tenth one and not all that stunning in its imagery, but as a part of modern history it is just beyond my comprehension.For this is the […]
