Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘camping at woodlands’

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!

During the 1st May bank holiday this year, we all went camping for the first time together and we went to Woodlands. Each year, families from Ben and Aaron’s year groups get together and go each year in a group to get a very good discount, and this year we were asked if we wanted to come along as well. So we said yes! 😉 The two nights of camping at Woodlands also included free entry into the theme park for both days, which was great! 

We were going to borrow Nan Nan and Pops’ tent but it turned out to be too small for us all, so we ended up having to buy a brand new one from Go Outdoors, which was recommended by Josh and Alex. It wasn’t cheap so we had to see it as an investment and so would make sure we would go camping as much as we could in the future!

So we went straight from work on the Friday and got there just after 5pm. Josh, Alex and Caleb came as well and Josh had taken the day off so he had swung by in the afternoon and picked up some of our stuff to take (we had a lot of stuff!) and Alex would drive there with Caleb after she finished work. So when we arrived, Josh had already put their tent up along with other families of Ben, Aaron and Coby’s friends that were going as well. In fact, it was all the boys best friends that went, so it was perfect for them! We got out tent up in a decent time (with the help of Josh and Alex!) and unloaded our gear into it and setup camp. We were on the end so next to us was a great big open space for all the children to play in, which they did, and they all loved it!

The weather on the Friday evening wasn’t too bad and once it had got dark, the stars were an amazing site! Before then, we had pizza for tea (from the onsite takeaway) and a few cheeky cans with Alex and Josh. Throughout the evening, the boys were out playing with their friends and having a great time. They were really in their element! We didn’t really sleep very well that night as it was our first ever night in a tent, although the boys had obviously worn themselves out with all the playing and the fact they had a very late night for them, so they slept fine! Kelly and I were awake most of the night and at dawn, the birds seemed to be singing very loudly! It was nice listening to them but it didn’t help us get any rest!

So we decided to get up pretty early and Kelly went for a very early wash in the shower block (I had had a shower the previous evening). The showers and toilets were nice and clean and in good condition although it was cold in there! It was a lovely morning, although a little cold, but we still sat out and had our breakfast. We then spent the day walking around Woodlands and got some food there for dinner from one of the cafes.  We found the park to be quite run down in places unfortunately, especially down the bottom end where the pixie houses were. The top end with the animals seemed to be the best looked after. We all had a fun day though, and the boys loved it. The best thing for all of us was the Toboggan Run where we all had several goes on it!  It was great fun, and Ben managed to get on it without an adult several times, which was handy for the rest of us as someone had to stay with the buggy! Towards closing time, we made our way back to our camp and got ready for tea. We had a nice BBQ with some of Aaron’s friends (as this weekend was part of his 6th birthday celebrations) and he had a birthday cake given to him with everyone singing, though he was very shy at this point! Unfortunately, the weather had now started to turn and it was freezing cold and windy. It certainly wasn’t the best weather for a BBQ but we made the most of it and all seemed to enjoy it.  We all went to bed tired out and slept a little better but still not great.

The next morning, we woke up to awful weather and we had to take out tent down in it! We got completely drenched doing this as the rain was torrential and I didn’t have a change of clothes either so had to stay in them all day until they dried out. Just as we had filled the car and were ready to drive out of the camping area to park in the main car park we found that the car battery had died. We had no idea how this happened as it had been find so Josh ended up having to drive it down the hill from camp (luckily we were at the top of the hill!) whilst we pushed it to get it going. Thankfully, the car started and Josh drove it back up to us. So we kept it running for a while after that whilst Kelly got dried and changed into her dry clothes and it was find thereafter.

So eventually, we went back into the park and went in the indoor play area for most of the day. The indoor soft play was suitable for adults, so we put our bags in a locker and all went in for a bit of fun! The rain did eventually stop so we did venture outside for a bit and went down for a few quick goes on the Toboggan Run, which was great fun again, before having to leave and drive home.

Generally, we had had a great weekend and the boys loved camping and going into Woodlands each day to play. It was a shame the weather was so bad on the Sunday though and the car battery went, but thankfully we got it working again. We will definitely be doing this again next year! 😉

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