Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘arcade’

We were intending to go camping for Ben’s 12th birthday weekend this year but the weather forecast wasn’t very good at all so we managed to change that until the May Bank Holiday weekend next year so instead we managed to book a last minute caravan at Devon Cliffs.  We had only been here a few weeks ago at the end of August but enjoyed it so much, we thought that we would book it again, but in a cheaper caravan this time.  As October is out of season, prices were cheaper anyway but we did manage to get a really nice caravan that was only a few minutes walk from the beach at a much lower cost.  So we were pleased with that!

We travelled up on the Friday after school and had a Burger King takeaway when we arrived as they onsite BK delivers onsite as well.  We managed to get there just in time as there was an accident on the road on the way so we were later than we hoped.  We did still manage a quick walk on the beach that evening as well, which was nice during dusk.

We spent the Saturday in the beach with the boys playing in the sea and went to the restaurant for tea.  Aaron ended up, somehow, leaving his tablet on the table so Kelly had to go back in and luckily it had been handed in!  Lucky Aaron!  We then went back to the caravan and played some card games until bedtime.

On the Sunday, we couldn’t sleep at all, so we ended up all getting up for a walk on the beach at 6am.  It was lovely and we were surprised with the number of people that were up and about at that time of day!  We had a nice long walk along the beach and then went back to the caravan and had a cooked breakfast.  We then had a walk around the complex and ended up in the arcade to use up the last of our pennies.  We were meant to get some sandwiches for lunch but we ended up going to the other restaurant and having a nice meal.  We then had to go back to the caravan and start packing our stuff up as we had to drive home that evening.  We had considered staying overnight and leaving really early the next morning but we decided against that.

Once again, we had had a really nice time at Devon Cliffs and it was a perfect weekend for Ben’s birthday.  It is such a lovely place to stay, what with the beach, arcade and other facilities onsite.  I don’t think this will be the last time that we will stay! 🙂

During the August Bank Holiday weekend, we booked to stay at a caravan at Devon Cliffs Haven in Exmouth.  We hadn’t been there before but we loved it there!

The holiday park was brilliant and had it’s own beach, restaurants, takeaways, arcade, swimming pool and other activities to do.  Because of Covid-19 though, restrictions were in place so we couldn’t enjoy the facilities as we would have had normally, i.e. the swimming pool wasn’t open and we had to wear a mask in any indoor areas (such as the arcade) and to get to our table in the restaurants.  Anyhow, it was still great and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We spent a couple of days on the beach as the weather was pretty good and went to both of the restaurants, which were also really nice.  In a way, having the restrictions made things better as the restaurants were nice and quiet and nicely spread out so we could relax more.  I think we spent most of our time in the arcade though and must have spent a bit of money in there!  It was great fun and the boys had won enough tickets at the end of the weekend to get some sweets each.

The caravan that we stayed in was nice as well, although we had to contact the owner as we found items from the previous occupants in there.  Obviously, the cleaners hadn’t done a very good job so the owner got them in again.  We wouldn’t have worried too much but with Covid-19, everything was meant to be thoroughly cleaned down between visitors.  Anyway, the owner was apologetic and we left the cleaners to it on the Saturday morning whilst we went to the beach.

The beach was nice and big as well although there were loads of wasps!!  The water was freezing but it was nice and calm each day, so it was nice and safe for the boys to play in with their bodyboards.  We had a couple of beach BBQs, which was nice, and generally had a nice time.

It was a lovely weekend at Devon Cliffs and we will definitely be going back again although we will probably try and get a caravan closer to the beach so we could just walk the distance next time.

For our main holiday this year, we went camping at a Park Dean holiday park in Mullion in Cornwall for 4 nights from Monday to Friday. Typically, the weather was really awful on our first day and caused lots of problems trying to setup the tent and everything else! It took us a good part of 3 hours to get sorted and it was a nightmare trying to get the tent up correctly in the high winds.  We were slightly lucky though, as it had been torrential rain all morning and early afternoon until we got there when it stopped! If it had been raining as well, I don’t know how we would have been able to put the tent up.

Anyway, we eventually got it up and got everything in and setup before having a wash as we were all hot and sticky as it was still a warm day. We had decided beforehand that we would eat out in the complex on the Monday, knowing we would be tired from the drive and effort with setting up camp. So we went to the pub/restaurant and had a nice meal and afters. The food was delicious, thank goodness, and we all scoffed it all! We then went into the entertainment area and managed to get some seats next to the Pool tables, but they were as far away as possible as it was really busy in there. It did allow Ben and myself to have a quick game though, which I won, but Ben played really well!  Eventually, we managed to get a bit closer but then ended up under one of the big speakers which was very loud indeed! We stayed there for a while and had a drink and watched the shows that were being put on (the usual sort of thing!) before we went into the arcade for a bit. The boys were desperate to go in there and had been going on about it all night. So we had a good go in there and got plenty of tickets to store until later on in the week when we would exchange them for some prizes.  There was only the occasional rain shower at this point, so we did manage to get back to camp and sorted for bed whilst it was dry.  The night was horrendous though and I barely slept, even though the boys slept through everything! The main issue was the wind. It picked up really strongly overnight again and the tent was shaking from side to side and you could hear the wind howling along the treeline until it hit the tent. There were also some torrential downpours of rain, so it was a very interesting night!

The next morning, we were able to get up and take in the surroundings a bit more. Our pitch was in a massive field where the pitches were dotted around the edges.  It was ideal for the boys as they had a very large area of the field to play in so they took advantage of this and spent a lot of their time playing football, throwing the vortex and other games.  We had a small toilet and shower portacabin in our field, with the main facilities in a field next to ours. Apparently, they had only been opened in the past few days so they were basically new, but they were very small and were not brilliant at all really. The only good thing was that the showers were electric which meant we could actually choose the heat instead of the usual showers where you press a button in and a stream of hot water comes out, which is way to hot for myself and the boys. So we were happy with this anyway!  We didn’t really do too much during the day as the weather was showery on and off and also still quite windy. We did have a little walk around the complex and went swimming in the indoor swimming pool, which was really good. It was nice and shallow so was perfect for Coby and the boys (if not the adults), so they were having a great time splashing around and interacting with the water guns that were there (it was a Pirate theme so had a big Pirate ship with various water guns coming from it).  It was very busy when we got there but we managed to get in, just about.  Afterwards, we had showers back at camp and had some food that we had brought with us for tea. We then went over to watch the entertainment again, which was mostly the same as the night before, and then went into the arcade. We managed to sit slightly closer this time, but it was still next to the Pool tables, so Ben and I had a quick match which I won again. 2-0 to me!!  In the arcade, Coby and I did win a Spider-man from the grabber machine, so we were very pleased with that! Aaron had also made a friend in the tent next to us at this point, so he played some games in the arcade with him as we bumped into him there as well. He was called Kane and is the same age as Aaron, so they got on very well! We then headed back to camp and put the boys to bed. I don’t think we left the arcade until past 10pm so it was another late night. But just as Kelly and I got into bed, two search and rescue helicopters started circling over us. They were so close that the tent was shuddering a bit from the blades and I could see the lights on them through the top of the tent. It was an awful sound that was so loud it was ridiculous. This went on for over an hour an eventually stopped just after 1am when they either found what they were looking for or moved on somewhere else. Kelly and I got out of the tent to take a look at one point and were glad that we did as the sky was perfectly clear and we could see so many stars and even the Milky Way. We also saw some amazing meteors as it was the Perseids meteor shower!  Somehow, the boys slept through all of this mayhem, so they must have been shattered as it was so noisy! What a first two nights we had had!

On the Wednesday, we had planned to go to Flambard for the day, using our Tesco vouchers, but we woke up to torrential rain again so we decided against it. However, by mid-morning, it had dried up so we decided to get some discounted tickets to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary from reception and go there.  We got there around 11ish to find a massive queue to get in. We nearly turned around and left it but we hung on and went in and, luckily, it was fine once you got inside. The only trouble was, was that the weather changed completely and was now glorious sunshine and really hot! We hadn’t even thought to bring sun cream with us as it wasn’t great when we left the campsite. So we were all boiling and trying to stay out of the sun, which didn’t happen really! We had a good time there though, and went to a few of the Seal and Sea Lion talks. The boys really enjoyed it there as well, as there were other animals such as donkeys, ponies, otters and more, and also a play area where they could run around and do some climbing on the apparatus.  We had dinner there as well (some nice pasties) and stayed until closing time. We then headed back to the car and decided, as the weather was so nice, to go for a drive to The Lizard, as myself and the boys had never been there before. It was really busy there but we parked OK and walked down to the Lizard Point, which was a bit scary really! We had to keep a tight hold of Coby as he tends to trip over and be silly and we obviously didn’t want him falling down the cliff face! We had a nice walk along there and down to the old Coastguard hut and then back up the hill. The view was amazing and there were lots of Dutch people around, strangely! There was also a guy taking photos on the edge of the cliff with his little boy next to him, on the cliff side of him. The boy was so close the edge of the cliff that we couldn’t watch in the end! We also wandered over to the lighthouse but that was closed up for the night, which was a shame. We then headed back to the tent, all tired, sweaty and slightly sunburnt and relaxed for the evening. We all played catch with the vortex and with the rugby ball until it got too dark and so we went to bed.

Thursday was meant to be the nicest day of the week, so we had planned to stay on site all day, which we did. During the morning, we went in the outdoor swimming pool and had a splash around before heading back to camp for a BBQ for dinner, which was very nice. It was really sunny and hot at this point! The boys had a game of football and threw the vortex around with us before we went back to the indoor pool and had a splash there. At this point, Aaron’s friend had to leave so he said his goodbyes in the pool, which was a shame. We headed back to camp for a wash and some sandwiches for tea before we went to see the entertainment for our final evening.  Before this, we did manage to pack some of our things up, as we had to be off our pitch by 10am the next morning! The entertainment was much better this time as it wasn’t very busy for some reason, so we got a good table with a good view. They even had a Danger Mouse show, which we enjoyed! I had my final two games of Pool with Ben and beat him on both, but he was getting better each day and pulled off some excellent long shots! The final score for the week was 4-0 to me. After all that, we went in the arcade to use up our final few pounds and pennies and intended to get our tickets in the machine to claim our prizes, but one of the ticket machines was broken and people in front of us decided to take bags and bags full of tickets to process. So we must have been stood up for 35 minutes or more before we gave up! The prize desk had also closed at this point so we had wasted a lot of time there! The boys all had great fun in the arcade all week and spent too much money really!  We headed back to the tent and to bed but Kelly and I were kept up, yet again, until the early hours of the morning! This time, by a shrew or something like that burrowing under our tent. We had heard a scratching noise and thought it was outside but eventually we stuck our heads out from the sleeping pod and heard it right in front of us and saw a lump under the tent. The animal had managed to get half way across under our tent, either beneath the ground sheet as well, or above the ground sheet and under our tent flooring. We ended up having to block it off to try and get it to turn around again. It was so slow and we gave up in the end and went back to bed and tried to ignore the occasional scratching! Luckily, it had gone by the morning!

We had to be up very early on Friday as, like mentioned above, we had to be off the pitch by 10am.  We just about managed to do this and got everything in the car (just about) but Kelly and I had to have  shower as we were sweating buckets as it was a boiling day! To do this, I had to leave the boys on their own whilst I had a quick shower but, even though they promised to be good, when I got back, there was tears and shouting, so I was very mad with them. Anyway, we stopped in the arcade again on the way out and, again, had to wait for annoying people to empty bags worth of tickets into the machine, before we could get ours and chose the prizes that the boys wanted. Eventually, we got it all done and they were all happy with what they had got! Phew! So, we made our way to Flambards for the day and had a wonderful time there! We went on loads of the rides and the boys absolutely loved it and wanted to go again very soon! Kelly went on a big swing ride with Coby and Ben whilst Aaron and I went on the Log Flume (I have got a bit braver now!). We did this several times in a row and Kelly ended up making herself feel quite ill! We ate food there as well and managed to walk all around the park, including through the Victorian village exhibition. It was lovely and quiet as well, so we were able to basically go from ride to ride without really having to queue. I also went on the Hornet roller coaster with Coby 3 times in a row, just before closing time, which he loved! The day was really great but went way too quickly for our liking. We then had to get back into the car and I drove home and that was our week camping!

So, we had had a very mixed week! We had some awful weather to begin with but it turned out really nice towards the end of the week.  The facilities on the site weren’t that great though, which was a shame. They could have done with a much better, and cleaner, shower and toilet block in our field. However, the swimming pools were really good and the bar/restaurant was nice as well. The entertainment complex was good apart from they had a little bar there so you had to queue up for ages to get a drink. We probably won’t go there again as you could tell camping was low down on their facilities priorities list but we had had a nice week all in all and the boys really enjoyed it as they managed to sleep through all the dramas during the night!

The weekend after my birthday, we went down to a caravan at Newquay, at the Trenance Caravan Park. The caravan was owned by one of our neighbours so we knew it was going to be in a good state as we had stayed in one of his before in St Merryn. We didn’t tell the boys until the night before, which obviously got them very excited! We didn’t go down until late on the Friday evening as Aaron had a Halloween Party at Beavers which Kelly was also helping at, so we didn’t get there until past 9pm. It was a nice drive down though and the caravan site was very quiet. Coby was so tired that he fell asleep on the sofa in the caravan and we had to practically carry him to his bed asleep! As the caravan was only a 6 berth one, Aaron and Coby had a small bed in a little room, Ben had a double bed in his own room and Kelly and I slept on our camping air bed in the lounge area. We could have slept on a pull out bed but we decided that we would probably be more comfy on our airbed. We had a decent night’s sleep anyway!

On the Saturday, we had a nice cooked breakfast to start us off before we headed to Mawgan Porth for the rest of the day. The weather was stunning with not a cloud in the sky for most part, but we did go dressed up nice and warm, as it was the middle of October! As the day went on, we got hotter and hotter until we were paddling in the sea when the tide was fully in, as it was boiling! The tide was mostly out when we arrived but was on its way back in, so we managed to go as far into the rockpools as we could before the tide started creeping up on us. As usual when we go there, the boys got wet! Every now and again, a wave would come in and come in much further than usual, which caught us out, but one of the boys always ended up a bit slow and either walked into a deep rockpool, and got water all in the boots, or tried to stand in the small wave, with it ending up going in their wellies. All three of them got soaked to the point that when they took their wellies off, they could pour water out of them! It was funny watching them though! As the tide came in, we gradually started walking back in whilst making sand castles, rock pooling, playing football and making pictures in the sand with the fishing nets. It was good fun, apart from having to dodge the occasional lump of dog poo! Disgusting! Eventually, when the tide was fully in, it was so hot that we had taken our wellies and coats and jumpers off and were paddling. We also got sun burnt as well as didn’t even think to take any sun cream! Doh! We were all tired out by the time we had decided to leave, which was past 4pm, and the beach was still busy with people. But we drove back to the caravan, washed and had some food for tea. We then relaxed in the caravan for the remainder of the evening and played some card games. It had been a brilliant day at the beach and a lovely day in general!

On Sunday, we went in to Newquay to look around. We parked up in the normal car park in the centre of town and then walked from one end to the other, stopping in shops on the way. The weather was amazing again! We had dinner in Wetherspoons, which was lovely and tasty, and also spent some time, and pennies, in the arcade.  The boys earned enough tickets to get a goody bag to share between them which had a selection of sweets and some little toys, so they were happy. We also had an ice cream as well and sat overlooking Towan whilst eating it. We then went back to the caravan late in the afternoon as we had to pack, clean up and then go home. Our neighbour had said that we could stay until 7pm, which was great, as it gave us plenty of time to have a nice day out and then be able to pack without having to rush around too much. Typically though, a family had arrived next to us and their boys asked Ben, Aaron and Coby to play with them just as we were getting ready to go. They did go and play with them whilst we were finishing off but it wasn’t for too long.

We had had a really excellent weekend in the caravan in an amazing location and the weather was awesome. We were very lucky with that! We will definitely be going back to this caravan again in the future.

For Ben’s birthday trip this year, he wanted to go camping, so we managed to get a good deal at Perran Sands Haven for the weekend before his birthday. Alex, Josh, Caleb and Sophia also camped for the weekend with us. The weather was good for the entire weekend until the Sunday afternoon when we had to pack the tent away, when it lashed down with rain and the wind picked up quite a lot. It was typical! Before then, it had been nice enough to go out in the outdoor swimming pool that they had, although it was very cold above the water! It was also noticeably dark early in the evenings as we ended up sorting the tent out in the dark on the Friday evening, which was an experience. We also had our new awning to put up which delayed things a fair bit as we didn’t know how to put it up properly. Luckily, our pitch was right next to a play area so the boys all went off and played in there whilst we were setting up camp. We didn’t have tea until late though as it seemed to take ages to get sorted.

On the Saturday, we went swimming in the morning and then, in the afternoon, some family came over to the campsite for some party nibbles. Nan Nan and Pops were staying on the site already in their caravan, and they were only a few rows behind us, and Alex and Josh had the pitch right next to us, so it worked out very well. Mike, Vicky, Charlotte and the kids also came and so did Gramps and Nanny Helen. All the children were playing together and they scoffed all the food, which included hot dogs. Aaron and I also went for a walk with Gramps and Nanny Helen to the main area of the site to show them the arcade, shops and restaurants, etc. Once everyone had left, we relaxed for a bit before we went for tea in the BBQ Grill restaurant with Alex, Josh, Caleb, Sophia, Nan Nan and Pops. The food was very nice, and so were the cocktails! After the meal, Nan Nan and Pops went back to their caravan and we went to the evening entertainment, which was interesting but funny. After we had got back to camp and gone to sleep, we were woken in the night by some rustling in the awning. We knew there were gaps around the edges as we hadn’t set it up correctly but we got up and had a look and found a Badger in there! Kelly started opening the zips to it and the Badger shot off out of the awning, past the park and off into the sand dunes. The rascal tried it again 20 minutes later but then didn’t come back again. The boys didn’t even wake up during it all so we had to tell the in the morning! hahaha

The following day, we went for a swim again in the morning and then went in the arcade for a little while so the boys could spend their change. I had a game of Pool with Ben and he played very well and pulled off some really good shots. I was surprised but it did make me very proud! The boys won a few things from the penny machines and had a good go on the games, before we went back to camp, had some dinner and then started to pack things up again. We didn’t leave until late afternoon so stopped in for McDonalds on the way home. All of the boys were tired out and so fell asleep on the journey home!

We had all had a good weekend and the weather was good for the most part, but our night visitor on Saturday was a bit of a surprise! We would definitely go there again as the facilities were excellent and clean.