Aaron's Blog

Archive for the ‘Holiday’ Category

The weekend before last, we went camping at Whitehill Country Park which is just outside of Paignton, with Alex, Josh, Caleb and Sophia. The place was great and the weather was awesome!

I had the day off work so Kelly and I arrived for 12pm (when we could setup on the pitch) and got the tent up nice and early before I left Kelly to finish off setting up and travelled back to pick up the boys from School and Bumblebees.  The sun was out and there were hardly any clouds in the sky, so it was really hot. When I got back with the boys we went for a swim in the onsite outdoor pool before we went back to the tent and had a BBQ for tea. The boys were loving it there and were playing all the time with Caleb. 

On the Saturday, we went swimming in the morning again, which was great, though cooler as we were earlier in the day.  Ben was fine in the pool on his own and Aaron was OK as well, though he seems to forget that he can swim now! Coby was doing very well as well, as he was in the big pool with just armbands on, and he was kicking around trying to swim and was doing a very good job of it. We then went back to camp and had some dinner before we went for a walk around the site. We went to a playground and along a woodland walk, and then had a look at the onsite shop, arcade and bar/cafe area, before getting a milkshake or ice cream.  We then went back to camp and relaxed for a bit before going back to the bar and ordering some food for tea. The food was great. It was very well priced and there was plenty of it! Everyone enjoyed their food. We then went to watch the evening entertainment in another area of the complex, which was in an old barn. The barn was boiling hot though and we were sweating buckets! The entertainers put on a show for the evening that comprised of children’s games and disco for the first hour, then Bingo (which we didn’t win) and then a Disney show where they sang several Disney songs.  Coby was up dancing and taking part in the children’s disco and games and loved it! It was great watching him dance and play. We didn’t leave there until nearly 10pm when the boys were starting to get really tired, so we then walked back to camp, after a 5 minute play in the park, and got the boys to sleep. We stayed up well into the night with Alex and Josh and we saw some shooting stars, which was great. The weather was still really warm even at 11:30pm!

Sunday was our final day so we started off packing some of our bits up. We didn’t have a set time to leave as we had booked for 3 nights so we didn’t take the tent down and do the majority of the packing until later on in the afternoon. We had a cooked breakfast and then got ready to go down for our last swim. The water seemed colder again though! The boys were again jumping in and having fun in the splash pad (that was working this time) and in the toddler pool. We then went back to camp and got washed and changed before heading back to the bar to get some food for dinner. We were going to have sandwiches but decided on getting some proper food as we wouldn’t be home until late in the end. So we had some nice food again and a big milkshake and a last play in the park before heading back to camp to pack up. We left at about 5ish in the end and drove home hot and tired out from a great weekend. The weather was amazing all weekend, which stopped us from sleeping though as the tent was boiling from about 6am, and the facilities on the site were excellent and we would definitely consider going there again.

Over the final Bank Holiday weekend in May, we stayed at a Lodge just outside of Tiverton. It was basically Kelly’s birthday present. The lodge was on a farm and was part of 3 other buildings that were rented out but we were on the end next to a large field with sheep and a pond. The farm also had a proper tennis court and a games room, so it was very nice really. The only problem that we had was that our Lodge didn’t look to have been cleaned down on the outside as it was covered in massive spiders webs and there were quite a few cobwebs in the corners of the rooms inside. Oh and the sheep woke us up at 4am each morning by ‘baa..ing’ extremely loudly! 😉 There was free wi-fi though, even though it was quite sketchy and kept cutting in and out.  We had a good weekend there though and visited several places. 

On the Saturday, we went into Tiverton and had dinner at a Wetherspoons before having a walk alongside the neighbouring river before heading to Wimbleball Lake, which was on Exmoor. The weather wasn’t great unfortunately but was dry enough for us to have an ice cream and go for a walk along the lakeside path. Ben managed to get stung along the way though so wasn’t very happy and Coby was moaning as he didn’t want to walk. So the usual then really! On the way back to the car, we had a look at the campsite and the boys had a play in the outdoor wooden play area for a little while, before we headed home. It had come out really hot in the evening, especially as we were trying to play Tennis, and then we started to hear the rumbling of thunder in the distance (which had been forecast). Typically, the thunder and lightning started as the boys went to bed, although Ben, who was in his own room, came out to watch it with me as he was a little worried being on his own. Aaron and Coby managed to sleep through most of it though. It didn’t last too long and Ben went back to bed, although it did come back a bit again in the night.

On the Sunday, we didn’t really know what to do as the weather was quite iffy and rained each morning, but we eventually decided to go swimming in Tiverton. It was a nice pool and the boys all enjoyed it there. We then ended up at Bickleigh Mill, just outside of Tiverton and had a look in there and had an ice cream. The weather was quite hot and sunny by now, which was typical! At the same place was the Devon Railway Centre, which is where we had hoped to go before we woke up to rain that day. The boys really wanted to go in but it was way too late for that so we decided that we would go there on the Monday instead, even though we had planned to go home in the morning. After leaving here, we stopped off at the Great Western Canal (as it was on the way back to the lodge) and had a very short walk along the canal and the boys played in a brand new play area there, before driving home for tea again. We did some packing in the evening and we all went to play Tennis again and the boys in the games room before heading to bed. Luckily, there was no thunder or lightning that night!

On the Monday, we had to be out by 10am but for some annoying reason, the owner came over to us at about 930am and asked if the cleaner could go in and strip the bed as ‘they wanted to get them washed and dried in the nice weather’. We weren’t very impressed by that but couldn’t really say no. So we eventually left at 10am, after making sure we had picked everything up, and drove to the Devon Railway Centre and spent the majority of the day there. It was boiling hot with not a cloud in the sky, so the weather was too perfect really! The place was really nice and we had lots of rides on the steam and electric trains and the boys had a good play in the soft play area. They also had a model village and a nice picnic area where we had our sandwiches for dinner. They had lots of little model railways in an old train carriage, which was great, but so hot in there due to the weather! We had to make sure we put plenty of sun tan lotion on all day! Whilst we were having our picnic, Ben got bitten by a horse fly, so he was in tears again. Luckily, Kelly has some cream on her to put on it. On our way out, we stopped in the shop and the boys bought something each with their money. It took ages for Aaron to decide, but he eventually settled on something! We then got back in the car and drove home.

We all had had a nice weekend and enjoyed the quietness of the lodge (apart from the sheep and thunder) and went to some nice places. The lodge was OK, although it had lots of cobwebs outdoors and a few indoors, and the farm was nice with the tennis court and games rooms. It was a shame that the owners were a bit strange though!

Over the first Bank Holiday weekend in May, we camped at Woodlands again, but for 3 nights this year. The same families from School (plus a couple new ones) stayed as well and we all had a great time. The weather was perfect all weekend – clear blue skies and hot! We were in a different field this year though, which was a shame as we were actually on a slight hill which meant we had trouble sleeping and not sliding out of the bed! It was a nightmare really as Kelly and I had hardly any sleep at all due to it! Hopefully next year, we will be in the other field again.

The boys had an excellent time all weekend, especially as it was actually Aaron’s birthday on our first night there. So we took some party food with us and, once the tent was up and sorted, we put the food out so Aaron and all of the other children from school came and had a good scoff! There was hardly any food left at the end! Kelly also brought the cake that she made for him, but we held off eating that until the next day, as it was nearly 21:30 by the time everyone had stopped snacking on the treats.

On both of our full days there (Saturday and Sunday), we spent the entire day in Woodlands, looking at the animals and going on the rides. Towards the end of the first day, myself and Aaron plucked up enough courage to go on one of the big water slides – even Coby came on! It was the twister that Coby and I went on and we got absolutely drenched when we reached the bottom! It was good fun, though I did think we were going to slide out of the tube at one point before a massive splosh of water went right over mine and Coby’s heads! The poor boy was crying afterwards as he was so wet! 😉 By this time, Aaron was happy going on the other water rides (which was a complete change for him!) with other adults. We also went on the Toboggan Run, as it is a firm favourite for us all, and the boys went in the climbing frame areas. We had a BBQ on the Saturday night for tea and then we got takeaway Pizza on Sunday evening, which was delicious. We also had a good game of Rounders on the Sunday evening and I ended up being the last one standing (men vs women), so Ben and I were pleased with that!

The Monday was our final day so we had to start packing the tent and the other bits and pieces up and cramming it all back into the car. We did some of it in the morning before leaving the rest and the tent itself until later on in the afternoon. We had until 4pm to leave the pitch, so we had plenty of time. So we went into the park again and into the indoor soft play area where I ended up climbing around with 5 of the little ones (inc Coby) as they were too small to go in there without an adult. I was absolutely sweating by the time I got out! The children were fine though and were still full of it and wanted to go back in, so one of the other Dad’s took them back in again! Phew! After we had finished in there, we went and got some food and then ended up on the water slides again. This time we had come prepared for getting wet though! I went on one of them with Ben and all of the boys went on with their friends as well, apart from Coby, who went on with one of the Mum’s. Coby loved them even though I, and even Kelly, wouldn’t go on two of them! They all loved it! By this time, Kelly and I had to go back to camp and finish taking the tent down so the boys stayed with the other parents and carried on having fun. We eventually got the tent down in the searing sun and packed it all away into the car.

We had had an awesome weekend and were sad to be packing up and going home as we could have easily stayed the week, especially as the weather was so perfect! Roll on 2019! 😉

During the first weekend of half term, we went and stayed in a caravan at Tencreek in Looe. We were originally going to camp there but a huge storm was meant to hit us over the first part of the weekend (and it did!) so we decided to upgrade to a caravan, which was a very wise move!

The caravan was very basic as we only wanted the cheapest one but it was fine for us.  The only problem was that it was a little small really, as Kelly and I had to sleep on our airbed in the main lounge area and it got really cold there overnight! We did take out little camping heater, but it was too small for the caravan so it didn’t make much of a difference. Aaron and Coby had a single bed each in a little room and Ben had a double bed to himself and another room, so they were fine!

We couldn’t hardly sleep during the first night as Storm Brian hit, so the caravan was shaking and the wind was gusting around outside making loud noises. I think Kelly and I had about 2 hours sleep in the end but Ben and Aaron slept fine (though Aaron did fall out of his bed at one point) and Coby ended up coming into our airbed half way through the night. This meant that I ended up on the sofa trying to sleep which was actually more comfy than the airbed! It was even colder for me there though, as there was an awful drought coming through the window right behind me, so I had my trousers and hoody on as well, trying to keep warm! There was a gas fire in the lounge but our bed was too close to it and would have caught alight. We survived the night anyway and all slept much better on the second night.

Each evening there, we went to the clubhouse and met Kelly’s friend Bridgette and her family there, as they were staying for the weekend as well. We ate there on the Friday and Sunday for tea and the food was actually quite nice and not too expensive. There was then a children’s disco at 7pm, followed by Bingo and then either Karaoke, or a band playing or something else depending on the day. There was also an arcade there, so the boys spent some time in there whilst we were around and enjoyed it.  We took part in Bingo on the Saturday and Sunday night’s but didn’t win, which was a shame as the jackpot was £130 on both nights! We stayed to listen to the Karaoke as well and to a Welsh band playing cover songs on a couple of the nights, which was interesting!

There was also a swimming pool on site, so we took the boys swimming a couple of times, and they all did very well. Ben showed off what he could do now and he is very confident in the pool. Aaron was less confident but we managed to get him to swim from one side of the pool to the other, which was the furthest he had ever swam in one go. Coby was jumping in as well into the inflatable ring and had his other inflatables on as well, and he wasn’t too scared really, which bodes well for swimming lessons in the future. The pool was only a basic thing, but it was good enough for us, though it would have been nice to have had a couple of slides in there.

On the Sunday afternoon, we ventured into Looe to have a walk.  It was surprisingly busy there with lots of people walking around.  We stopped in the arcade and the boys went on the 2p machines and won a few prizes, before we walked out to the beach and into the RNLI centre, which had an open day.  We managed to go into the locker room of the coastguards and the guy there showed us all of their uniform and Ben even tried on one of their helmets. It was very good really. We stopped in a few shops and had a look, but there wasn’t really anything to buy, apart from our usual fudge! It was a nice bit of fresh air though.

We had booked the caravan until the Monday morning, when we had to be out by 10am, but due to the lack of sleep that we had had, we decided to pack up and go home on the Sunday evening.  It was a very late decision as we only decided this at 22:15! So we packed up and were home again by midnight.  The boys were sleeping in the car, so it didn’t make too much of a difference to them.  We asked Bridgette to hand out key in on the Monday morning, which she did, so all was OK.

Overall, we had had a fun time in the caravan. It was just a shame the weather was so bad as we were all looking forward to camping really, as it would have made things a lot cheaper. We would definitely go there again though as the facilities were pretty good, as were the prices for everything.

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, we camped at Diggerland in Devon for the 3 nights. We couldn’t have picked a better weekend weather-wise either, as it was roasting throughout though not quite as hot as when we camped at Monkey Tree. We all had a great time and enjoyed every minute.

When we first arrived on the Friday evening, the electricity wasn’t working for some reason, so we were worried that all our food was going to go off. Luckily though, it seemed to turn itself on after about half an hour of the cable being plugged in, so we were quite relieved.  We got the tent up quite easily between us whilst the boys were already making friends with some of the other children who were camping or caravaning as well. It was great really, as we could keep an eye on them but not worry about them as they were happy playing. Whilst we were putting the tent up, the Red Arrows flew over as well, so that was an unexpected treat!

On the Saturday, we had tickets to go into Diggerland for the day. It was another hot day and we were sweating! Diggerland was good fun and it was actually quite quiet, so we didn’t really have to queue for very long on any of the rides. We all had lots of goes on various diggers – Kelly, Ben and Aaron even had a go at driving a full size digger around a dirt track – and had great fun. We had bought dinner from the cafe there (burger and chips) which was nice enough and stayed until closing time. Unfortunately, as the day went on, Coby got more and more teasy as he had a late night the night before and it was so hot, so he was shouting and crying a lot. Just before we left, we went in the shop as Gramps had given the boys some money to spend, so they all bought something each, so were happy with that. We had all had a nice time and were quite surprised that we spent the entire day there as it wasn’t really a very big place but, as there were no queues, we were happy to go on the rides multiple times.

We then walked back over to the campsite (which was just beside the main car park) and cooked up some food to eat. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing at the tent whilst the boys played with the other children again.

On Sunday, we didn’t really have anything planned, but it turned out to the hottest day of the weekend, so we decided to go for a ride to see if we could get a small, cheap paddling pool for the boys. We weren’t able to find one anywhere, but we did end up in Taunton at the Grand Western Canal and had a lovely walk along it.  We didn’t know this was there but will definitely visit it again properly. Whilst walking along, a barge came along that was being pulled by a big Shire Horse as apparently this is the only canal where horses still pull the boats along. It was very interesting and the boys loved seeing the massive horse! We also had an ice cream by the canal and it was just beautiful really.

We eventually made our way back to camp and relaxed for the afternoon. A lot of the people on site had left for the day so it was very quiet for us, which was great! I had a game of football with the boys and they played with some water guns that they had bought earlier that day, so the day ended up passing quite quickly. We had some nice food again for tea, cooked on our gas BBQ, and relaxed for the evening. The boys were again playing with their new friends by this time and stayed up playing until nearly 9:30pm (the same as he last two nights!). It was the best evening of the weekend to see the stars but it was much colder as it was a clear sky.

On the Monday, we had to pack up and leave the site by 12pm, so we got up and had some food and then started putting away our camping gear and tent into the car. It was absolutely roasting again so Kelly and I were both sweating buckets doing it! We managed to get it all packed again a little after 12pm, but we didn’t really rush it (due to the heat!). A lot of the other visitors on the site had left by now apart from a family that the boys had made good friends with, so they were happy playing with them until it was time to go.

We had all had a lovely weekend and had some good fun.  Again, we were very lucky with the weather, although it was too hot really in the sun! The facilities were quite limited and basic but it was only a cheap camp site and perfectly fine for what we needed, so we will probably go back again at some point next year. 😉