Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘bbq’

Well, we didn’t see this coming at the start of the year!  

A global pandemic hit the UK towards the end of March which meant that the Government issued a mandatory lockdown throughout the country. This basically forced everything to close, including schools, clubs, shops, pubs, restaurants, leisure facilities and for people to work from home or not work at all and be put on a furlough scheme.  Since the start of the year, there had been rumblings that a virus was ripping through China and moving west throughout the World, and it eventually did unfortunately.  So on the 23rd March, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gave the lockdown order for the entire country which basically meant the country stopped.  Lots of people had started dying so there was really no choice in the matter.  Everyone had to stay in their homes and were only allowed out for a maximum of 1 hour of exercise per day or for essential food shopping.  This lockdown carried on until the 10th May when small changes were introduced such as allowing people out more but having to ensure social distancing of 2 metres between households and the phased reopening of schools, although it was left to the schools to decide when to open.  Everywhere also needed to be Covid secure, otherwise they weren’t allowed to open, so a lot of work had to be done at shops, workplaces and at schools.  On July 4th, most of the lockdown measures ended although people still had to practise social distancing and were told not to hug anybody, especially those people that were elderly.  At this point, over 30,000 people had died in the country and it was the most bizarre and scary thing that has ever happened to any of us!

The boys did really well throughout the lockdown, even though we all missed our usual Easter celebrations, our annual trip to Woodlands Camping, a proper birthday for Coby, Aaron and Kelly and we obviously couldn’t see any family for months.  The main issue was really the closure of schools though, as we were expected to home school the children, even though we were both able to work our usual hours from home.  So it was quite hard, especially as Bickleigh school were quite rubbish with it all really.  They eventually sent home work for them to do but it wasn’t really very planned out and it was quite stressful for us.  We tried to go for a walk after schooling and work every day and actually discovered loads of new places in Woolwell, including paths down to Drake’s Trail, a tramway line and a swamp.  We had lived here for years and didn’t even know all this was here!!

Bickleigh Down School decided that they could open again at the start of June, after the half term holiday, but only for certain years.  So it ended up that Ben and Coby were able to go back to school, as they were seen to be in the more crucial years for education, and Aaron had to stay home and be home schooled.  It was a relief that they could go back and they both wanted to but we had to have a good think first, as the virus was still bad and a lot of other parents kept their children home still.  But we decided to send them back and they both really enjoyed it.  Obviously, it was Ben’s last year at Bickleigh so him going back to school was a very big deal as it was the last few weeks that he would have at primary school.  It was all different though as they all had to take packed lunches, had their classrooms rearranged, on days they did PE they would have to go into school in their PE kit and not change all day as they weren’t allowed to change at school anymore.  There was also a one way system around the premises to drop off and pick up the children and only 1 adult was allowed to on the grounds, so both Kelly and I couldn’t go in and drop them off or pick them up, although we did once by accident and Mrs Conday ‘told us off’.  So it was all a bit surreal and Aaron ended up not going back to school for the rest of the school term, which meant that he had been home since the end of March – 4 months, and missed half of Year 5!

Here are a few of the normal events that took place during the lockdown period.

Easter

For Easter this year, the Easter bunny still came and hid lots of little chocolate eggs around the house but we were unable to go anywhere or visit anyone during the bank holiday weekend.  Instead, we held an Easter games day on Easter Sunday, which we all enjoyed, especially the boys.  The games were nice and simple but were all a bit of fun!

Coby’s 6th Birthday

It was a shame that Coby couldn’t have a birthday party this year but we still had a good day.  I had the day off and so did Kelly.  Coby was very excited in the morning and got up by 7am and we went down and he opened his pile of birthday presents.  His main present this year was a Mario Kart Hot Wheel Track, which he thought was amazing.  He also had some other bits and pieces as usual, which he was very happy with.  We got the track up and running and then went for a walk in the boiling hot, sunny weather.  We went for a long walk around the woods and back along the tramway which we had only recently discovered during mid morning.  We then got home and Kelly started cooking some party food for dinner, which was very nice, and we ate it outside.  We then had a quiet afternoon with Coby playing with his presents and had more party food for tea.  During the day, various people turned up to give cards and presents to Coby, socially distanced of course by them standing on the steps and us by the front door!  Coby had a nice day anyway, even though it was a very strange birthday!

Aaron’s 9th Birthday

Aaron was in the same boat as Coby as he couldn’t have a birthday party either.  We would normally have been at Woodlands camping for his birthday but that was obviously cancelled as well, so we had a similar day to Coby’s birthday.  Aaron was also up bright and early and Kelly and I had taken the day off again.  Aaron practically ran downstairs as he gets very excited when it is his birthday and Christmas!!  His main present this year was a digital motorised Hot Wheels track, which he was very happy with as well!!  He had some other bits as well, including the mandatory Lego set! haha We then went for a cycle up to the field as he wanted to ride his bike around for a bit before coming home and Kelly putting some party food on to cook for dinner.  We ate it outside again although the weather wasn’t as nice as it was for Coby’s, but it was still warm but quite windy!  He played with his presents for the day and we had more party food for tea.  Like with Coby, people popped over during the day to give him a card and present and we had to socially distance out the front.  He had a nice day but was a little sad that he couldn’t have had a proper party with his friends but he will have to have one next year, even though we said 9 years old is the last year to have a party.

Kelly’s Birthday

It was also Kelly’s 36th birthday after the easing of lockdown had started and typically it was on a Saturday!  We didn’t do too much during the day, just relaxed at home and watched a movie in the evening with some goodies as we were still very wary of going anywhere and not everything was open anyway, such as public toilets, etc.  Most places were still shut so it would have been a walk on the beach or up on Dartmoor that would have been our options, but we decided against it still, as there may have been lots of people doing the same.  We did get a takeaway for tea though – our first one for months!!

P.E. With Joe

The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, who has been doing fitness stuff for years, suddenly came into the spotlight when he started doing a live PE session each weekday morning at 9am, for the duration of lockdown.  It was an amazing idea and now the entire country (and World) love him!  It was basically a child friendly HIIT session for 20-30 mins each day where he also had a bit of fun and asked questions on various topics and mixed the sessions up with roulette wheels and dice to determine which exercises would be done when.  It was really good.  He also put together some PE With Joe T-Shirts whereby all donations would go straight to the NHS to help staff who were basically working 24 hours, trying to save people’s lives who had been infected with Covid.  Needless to say, we all got a T-Shirt although they were out of stock for several weeks and our only arrived towards the very end of lockdown.  He made absolutely loads of money, which was great!!  The boys did several of the exercises and it ended up being something to put on at 9am every week day, before they started their home schooling.  They had great enthusiasm to begin with but then it waned a little to the point where Aaron would rather get on with his actual schoolwork to get it done and finish early!  Ben and Coby still kept up with it on most days though.

BBQs

I think we ended up having a BBQ every week of lockdown as the weather was mostly glorious.  It was hot and sunny for weeks which gave us no option but to have a BBQ! haha

What a strange few months it was!!!

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!

Over the bank holiday weekend in May, we camped at Woodlands again. This was our third year taking part in the rally and we all really enjoyed it again. The weather wasn’t as good as last year but it was dry all weekend although cold in the evenings and in the shade. I took a half day on the Friday so I was able to go up with Kelly for 2pm (when we were allowed on the pitch) to set up the tent. There were several other families from School who went as usual (more this year though!) so one of the other mum’s (Faye) went back and picked up her and our boys from School, so we could finish setting up. We also did a BBQ for a few of us that night as part of the arrangement for Faye to go and get the boys. Alex, Josh, Caleb and Sophia came again this year and so did Josh’s brother and family. All of us were in the same field which was great, so all the children were off playing as soon as they arrived again – only coming back for food and drink! I managed to watch Everton beat Burnley 2-0 in their final home game of the season on my phone that evening, so I was happy with that! After the boys had eventually gone to sleep, Kelly and I put out Aaron’s birthday presents for his 8th birthday on Saturday and put a few decorations up (banners and balloons), ready for the morning.

The following day was Aaron’s 8th birthday, so we started the day with him opening his presents (see his 8th birthday post here) before we had a nice cooked breakfast and spent the day in the park walking around and going on the rides. There were a lot of us this year so we were a big pack! Ben and some of his friends were allowed to go off on their own for a couple of hours at a time before meeting us again, as they are old enough to do this now, and have mobile phones in case of any problems. They were all fine, which was good. We did meet up with them for lunch at the very bottom of the park next to the sand pit but they didn’t stay long before wanting to go off again. Most of them were wet at this point as they had been on the water rides! The rest of us spent the afternoon walking around other areas of the park and ended up in the indoor soft play where I went around with Coby and a couple of his friends until I was sweating buckets! The weather was nice and dry but chilly in the shade but I wore shorts especially for the indoor soft play as I knew I would be sweating!  About an hour before closing, Aaron and I went down to the water rides and had a couple of rides on the Twister. We both got quite wet and it was very cold queuing up for the ride in the wind! We then met up with Kelly and Coby and some of the other families that had wandered down before walking back up to camp where we had a BBQ for tea. It had been a very nice day but the evening came in pretty cold indeed!

On the Sunday, we had some normal breakfast, washed and went down to the park again. The routine was mostly the same as the day before apart from we went to different areas of the park that we hadn’t been too yet. Ben and the others his age went off again on their own and met us for lunch in the same place. Ourselves and a few other families then went on the pedalos in the bottom lake and had good fun chasing after each other! haha It was hard work though as I was the only one who could reach the pedals in our boat (as Kelly was in the back with Coby) as Aaron couldn’t quite reach! My legs were tired after that! We had good fun in the Master Blaster zone, where I got whacked on the nose twice by a lady we didn’t know, and got wet again on the water rides. This time, I went on with Coby a couple of times, but he didn’t want to get wet so gave up. On the way back up to camp, we stopped and got takeaway pizza, which was as nice as it had been the last couple of years that we had been.  I then had a play around with the rugby ball with Coby and Reuben’s Dad, Brad. Nearly all of the other children were in bed fast asleep by 8pm as they were all shattered, so it was a much more settled and quiet evening. It was also even colder and there was frost overnight, so not at all like last year when it was boiling all day and all night!

The Monday morning was quite hectic as we decided to pack up our stuff and tent before we went down into the park. We had a big cooked breakfast to use up all of the remaining fresh food and set about packing up. It took us quite a while and we couldn’t fit everything back into the car, due to Aaron’s birthday presents, so we had to send some of our stuff back with other people! haha Once we had managed to pack everything away, it was nearly lunch time, but we walked down to the park and met everyone else in the big indoor soft play. The boys, and I, had a run around there for a while before we split off from the other families and headed over to the Master Blaster and the last few goes on the toboggan with Alex and Josh. We didn’t want to go on the water rides as we didn’t want to get wet as we would have to stay wet until we got home! Ben stayed with us for most of the day today as he had been off with his friends on Saturday and Sunday so we had hardly seen him during the time in the park.  We stayed on the dry rides until nearly 4pm when we had to leave and go back to the car and drive home. Coby even went on the big pirate ship and another big ride and loved it, but then got in a mood and started stamping his feet when it was time to go (he was tired out!).

We had all had a great weekend again, for our 3rd year at Woodlands Camping. All the families got on well and all the children enjoyed playing with each other inside and outside of the park.  The weather was nice and dry although quite cold in the shade during the day and very cold overnight to the point of frost! So not at all like last year when it was boiling all day and all night. We are already looking forward to next year!

Last Friday was the last Beavers of the term and for the final session, they organised a beach clean at Wembury, followed by a BBQ. Nearly all of the Beavers went and Kelly helped with the food.  The weather was nice and dry and warm, which was a relief.  We took our own little BBQ for us whilst Aaron ate from the main Beaver BBQ. All of the Beavers split up into groups with bin bags and went all over the beach to pick up any rubbish they found. Aaron enjoyed it but I am not sure how much rubbish he found and picked up! He then ate a lot of the BBQ and other snacks that had been contributed.

Once the session was over, Aaron changed into his wetsuit and went into the sea for a bit, though it was cold and he didn’t really go in for very long! He then went and played with his friends in the rock pools for a bit and then went exploring with me, further out into the rock pools. We found a crab, a large shrimp and a big feather from a seagull, so Aaron was happy. By the time we had got back to the beach, all the other Beavers had gone and the weather was turning, so we packed up and went home, just as it was starting to spit with rain.

Aaron had a great time at the beach clean and enjoyed the BBQ as well. He had a great term at Beavers and loved every minute of it!

The weekend after Kelly’s birthday, we all went Glamping in a Glampod on a nice camp site just outside of Ilfracombe. It was called Mill Park and it was a lovely place to stay. 

We managed to get the Glampod for a good price as it was a last minute decision so we went straight from work on the Friday, which was a really hot and sunny day. The trip was straight forward and not really busy at all, which we were relieved about as it was a Bank Holiday weekend, so we got there in very good time. We picked up our keys and drove through the site until we got to the ‘Pod and parked up in our space just outside of it and unpacked.

The Glampod was basically just a wooden hut with enough room for us all and a small corner shelf with decking outside and a gas BBQ provided. It overlooked a lovely big fishing lake and you also had a good view back over the campsite. Behind the Glampod was a nice big field which the boys loved as there were lots of rabbits and a fox moving around the outskirts in the early evenings. So they had great fun exploring! It was only a 2 minute walk down the road to get to the toilet and shower block as well, so we were ideally situated.

Once we had unpacked and setup our airbeds for the night, we made some food on the BBQ and enjoyed some nice burgers and snacks in the hot evening sun. It was getting on in the evening at this point but we decided we had enough time to nip down to the onsite bar and get a drink. The seating area outside of the bar also had a really nice play park for the boys to play in, so they had great fun playing there until it started to get dark. We then walked back to the Glampod and the boys changed and went to sleep. They actually went to sleep fairly quickly as well as they (Ben and Aaron) had been to school as well so were tired from that. Kelly and I then got washed and ended up sitting outside in the dark on the decking until well past 11pm. I was still out in my shorts and t-shirt at that time as it just wasn’t cold at all.  It was really lovely and very relaxing! Little were we to know what was in store that night!

After we had gone to sleep, I woke at about 1:30 and wandered down to the toilet block to go to the loo and when I was walking back (still in shorts and t-shirt as it was still that warm!) I noticed flashes of light in the distance that looked like a storm. It was very strange as it was clear skies above us, so I quickened back and got back into bed. As I was still awake after this for a while, I started to notice flashes outside, which I assumed were from people going to the toilets, but it turned out that there was a massive electrical storm going on! It wasn’t long before Kelly was awake as well and we started hearing rumbles of thunder but the lightning was just crazy as it was literally flashing constantly. We had never seen anything like this before. This went on for several hours and peaked at about 3:30am, I think, when the rumbling was louder (but not too loud which was strange) and the lightning was really bright and right over us. We ended up looking through the door windows and watching it for ages as it was an amazing sight  really. We even saw a little fox stalking around just outside!  We eventually managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours but none of the boys even flinched! Amazing! 😉 It turned out that in Plymouth, it was the worst storm for years and was like a war zone in the skies all night and several buildings were hit by the lightning. Thank goodness it wasn’t like that in our little Glampod!

The following day was a mixed bag weather wise. We were originally going to spend the day at Watermouth Castle as Uncle Darren and Grandma were going to come as well, but they cancelled due to the storm, and as the weather turned very foggy and wet just after breakfast, we decided to postpone and go on the Sunday. So instead we went to Woolacombe and Ilfracombe and had a look around. We went in a few shops and arcades (which was fun!) and had a good walk around the places.  Woolacombe was nice and the main street in Ilfracombe was nice as well, but if you went through the main shopping street of Ilfracombe, it turned really quite rundown and dodgy. After this, we went back to the Glampod and relaxed as the weather had cleared up by now. We had a nice BBQ for tea again and I watched the FA Cup Final on my phone. The boys were having a great time just being able to play in the field and around the local area. We then went up to the bar again and had a drink whilst the boys played in the park. It turned really cold that evening so we were quite chilled sat down outside this time. We also had to sort out a lot of our stuff as we needed to be out of the Glampod by 10am in the morning, so we did that and put as much in the car as possible, before settling down for the night. Whilst we were up at the bar, we did ask if we were able to stay the Sunday night as well but, unfortunately, the Glampod had already been booked out. Shame!

The next morning, the weather was much better, so we were up early and had our breakfast BBQ and packed our stuff up and rammed it all into the car, and then drove to Watermouth Castle, which was only a few minutes down the road.  We parked up there and had a great day looking around the castle and other garden areas, and of course, going in the penny arcade and enjoying the many rides. We had a lovely lunch there as well (I had a massive burger that was delicious). The boys had a wonderful time on the rides and watching the water fountain show. The weather turned again mid afternoon and it started raining, so all we did was go on the water rides then, so we were damp anyway! The place was quite quiet by then so we had the pick of the rides and could stay on several times without having to get off. We eventually left right on closing time (6pm) after the boys spent some of their money in the gift shop. By this point, it was raining quite hard and everyone was quite tired out! Coby was asleep very quickly, followed by Aaron and even Ben nodded off! We got home late in the evening and unpacked and took the boys to bed.

We had had a brilliant weekend Glamping in the Glampod and the Mill Park Holiday Park where we stayed was excellent and we would very highly recommend it. It was very child friendly and extremely well laid out. We would definitely go again, and we will!

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