Showing posts with label daysoutandtravel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daysoutandtravel. Show all posts
Last year, when all the craziness started to relax a little bit and Boris announced that the lockdown was easing in July, we booked a trip to Paultons Park / Peppa Pig world for Halloween. Little did we know at the time the madness was far from over as much as we all dreamed it would be however we just managed to sneak our trip in and came home the day before the lockdown kicked back in.
Since then, Erin has asked me approximately 20 times every day if we can go back. Peppa Pig has been the one programme she’s religiously loved from the start so to be able to take her to somewhere so magic like that was great.
We decided to chance booking another trip when Boris annouced the lockdown date for June so in March (unknown to Erin because I couldn’t deal with the is it today question for 4 months) we booked to go back in early July as an extended little holiday and last treat as the 3 of us before baby no2 arrived.
We booked (as we did last time) through Paultons Park who do a fantastic offer of 2nd day in the park free if you book a short break through them. There is a whole range of hotels to choose from and we chose to stay in the Holiday Inn in Eastleigh which is 9 miles from the park itself.
The break itself included breakfast as part of the package and we chose to stay for 2 nights instead of the standard 1, choosing to stay the night before we went to the park due to the long drive. The great thing about booking is you can customise your stay and chose how many nights, what day you want your park tickets etc - the whole booking process was incredibly easy!
The hotel itself was fantastic and really well equipped for a stay with little ones. The choices at breakfast catered really well for toddlers. They had a great selection of food options including fruits, cereals, small pastries and even frubes (which Erin was delighted with). They even had smaller plates, cups, bowls and cutlery (ikea ones) for them to use at breakfast which if your a toddler parent is often a great relief as it is little things like this which can really enhance a stay and make life easier.
Erin is already asking to go back again so I definitely think another trip will be on the agenda once baby is old enough to go on things and enjoy it too. If you haven’t been add it to your family visit list as it is definitely one to do!
♥
Both myself and Adam have very fond memories of holidays with haven when we were younger. For years as a child, we spent time working our way round some of the 40 parks haven have - our favourites being Caister on Sea and Ayr but we’ve visited probably about 8 or 9 of the parks. In fact it was at Caister in Sea back in 1999 while on holiday with our families that myself and Adam actually met.. proper childhood sweethearts come holiday romance if you like.
When we had Erin, we decided that rather than going abroad, we would love to do what we did as kids, and work our way around the different parks that around the UK. I’ll be honest, the idea of going abroad while is little makes me twitch with the amount of stuff we would have to take with us plus the worry of keeping them cool, out of the sun too much... I also want Erin to be able to appreciate the places we take to around the world.
What I love about booking with haven is the ease of everything. It’s all done online which means you can browse holidays in your pjs.... and you can easily move and look at the different parks and accommodation options. Depending which park you stay at, you can stay in a caravan, apartments or lodge and when you pop in your choice of park and dates it gives you the different options to chose from along with the price. Another handy option thing I found with haven was the different payment options. You can either pay for your holiday in full when you book, pay a small amount then the final balance on a set date before you go, or you can pay monthly which is the option we chose.
We chose to stay in a Prestige caravan which is one of the higher quality caravans that haven offers (second only to a prestige) which offered a few more home comforts such as a DVD player which we found handy to have during the afternoons when we had a bit of chill time before going out on the evening.
Hafan Y mor itself it situated 4 miles just outside of Pwllheli. The camp itself used to be one of the original Butlins sites (I think) and is split over 2 sides with a small bridge in the middle over a train line. Haven have just spent over £12.5 million on the camp in the last 12 months and you can really tell that they have done a lot of work on it.
In terms of travelling with a little one to haven we could not fault the service at all. Adding things like a high chair and bed guard onto our holiday was easy to do on the online system and both were delivered to our caravan shortly after we arrived. We also had the option of hiring a travel cot but when I looked into booking this, it said you couldn’t put these up in the little bedroom and would have to go up in the lounge area. As our plan had been to put Erin to bed and keep her in as much of a routine as possible we decided to try a bed guard so she could sleep in the bedroom however I spent more time awake worrying the would climb over it on and eventually since Adam found the bed too soft and favourited the lovely corner sofa, she spent the rest of the week in bed with me.
We didn’t use the entertainment much at nighttime only staying out for the tots disco, seaside show and the bingo so I can’t comment on the main entertainment however the bits we did see were really good. They also has some good bits on in the day however you could defiantly tell the end of the season was nearing as there didn’t seem to be as much on as I thought maybe there would be.
We really enjoyed the park. The only thing I could really pick a fault with (if I had to) was I thought the Indoor play area could have been better. We did venture once however it wasn’t really amazing. On a rainy day I’m not sure it would be good enough entertainment for little ones. If you love swimming though the pool is amazing. Defiantly one of the best ones I have been to.
All in all it was a great week. We have already booked to go back to haven next year - this time to Caister on sea where Adam and I met and my mum and dad are coming too! I’m also hanging on for haven to release the flood dates for 2021 breaks so we can book somewhere for then. What can I say? This girl loves Rory the tiger!
When we had Erin, we decided that rather than going abroad, we would love to do what we did as kids, and work our way around the different parks that around the UK. I’ll be honest, the idea of going abroad while is little makes me twitch with the amount of stuff we would have to take with us plus the worry of keeping them cool, out of the sun too much... I also want Erin to be able to appreciate the places we take to around the world.
What I love about booking with haven is the ease of everything. It’s all done online which means you can browse holidays in your pjs.... and you can easily move and look at the different parks and accommodation options. Depending which park you stay at, you can stay in a caravan, apartments or lodge and when you pop in your choice of park and dates it gives you the different options to chose from along with the price. Another handy option thing I found with haven was the different payment options. You can either pay for your holiday in full when you book, pay a small amount then the final balance on a set date before you go, or you can pay monthly which is the option we chose.
We chose to stay in a Prestige caravan which is one of the higher quality caravans that haven offers (second only to a prestige) which offered a few more home comforts such as a DVD player which we found handy to have during the afternoons when we had a bit of chill time before going out on the evening.
Hafan Y mor itself it situated 4 miles just outside of Pwllheli. The camp itself used to be one of the original Butlins sites (I think) and is split over 2 sides with a small bridge in the middle over a train line. Haven have just spent over £12.5 million on the camp in the last 12 months and you can really tell that they have done a lot of work on it.
In terms of travelling with a little one to haven we could not fault the service at all. Adding things like a high chair and bed guard onto our holiday was easy to do on the online system and both were delivered to our caravan shortly after we arrived. We also had the option of hiring a travel cot but when I looked into booking this, it said you couldn’t put these up in the little bedroom and would have to go up in the lounge area. As our plan had been to put Erin to bed and keep her in as much of a routine as possible we decided to try a bed guard so she could sleep in the bedroom however I spent more time awake worrying the would climb over it on and eventually since Adam found the bed too soft and favourited the lovely corner sofa, she spent the rest of the week in bed with me.
We didn’t use the entertainment much at nighttime only staying out for the tots disco, seaside show and the bingo so I can’t comment on the main entertainment however the bits we did see were really good. They also has some good bits on in the day however you could defiantly tell the end of the season was nearing as there didn’t seem to be as much on as I thought maybe there would be.
We really enjoyed the park. The only thing I could really pick a fault with (if I had to) was I thought the Indoor play area could have been better. We did venture once however it wasn’t really amazing. On a rainy day I’m not sure it would be good enough entertainment for little ones. If you love swimming though the pool is amazing. Defiantly one of the best ones I have been to.
All in all it was a great week. We have already booked to go back to haven next year - this time to Caister on sea where Adam and I met and my mum and dad are coming too! I’m also hanging on for haven to release the flood dates for 2021 breaks so we can book somewhere for then. What can I say? This girl loves Rory the tiger!
♥
Ahhh Jet Lag! That pesky little thing that pops up just when you least want it! There is nothing worse that stepping off a flight and feeling like you have been hit by a bus! Here I wanted to share with you my top tips for avoiding it! I swear by these and managed to avoid the dreaded jet lag this time!
I'm sure everyone has there own little tips, these are just tried and tested ones! I've seen things on Pinterest about limiting types of food you eat before you travel etc but I've not ever tried that. Remember Jet Lag is often worse when you travel east because of the time you are losing so it is worth taking that into account.
- Drink Drink Drink - Make sure that you keep yourself hydrated. I brought myself 2 large bottles of water for the plane coming back and made a conscious effort to make sure that I drank it all
- Adjust your internal clock - It can be hard when the sun is still shining outside to go to sleep but thats what you need to try and do. If you should be asleep in your destination do it. Virgin supply you with ear plugs and eye masks to help with this. We took off from Orlando at 8pm there time which was 1am UK time. I tried my best to get some sleep as early as I could in the flight make sure my body was prepared
- Avoid Caffeine and Alcohol - Its hard but you really need to give this a try. Caffeine and Alcohol only make you more awake and mess with your internal system. Definitely better to go for water instead. you will thank yourself in the long run!
- Try and Book a night flight - particularly if you are coming back from the US this one is a definite recommendation. You can sleep overnight on the plane and feel as fresh as a daisy when you land.
- Stretch - Nothing makes you feel more crappy than not moving for hours on end. whether its actually getting out of your seat and going for a walk or just stretching your arms and lets where you are, you will defiantly feel better if your muscles have a bit of stretch in them.
I'm sure everyone has there own little tips, these are just tried and tested ones! I've seen things on Pinterest about limiting types of food you eat before you travel etc but I've not ever tried that. Remember Jet Lag is often worse when you travel east because of the time you are losing so it is worth taking that into account.
♥
So the rules in the UK that you can not take anything onto a plane that is over 100ml and nowadays they make you put them in a clear bag, 20x20 in size.
I came across the bag I used on a recommendation from one of the Youtube Channels. I have one of the ones from muji (I can't find the exact ones which used to be 19.5 x 19.5 but its seems to have shrunk - here).
The set I brought is from boots and comes in a set of 3 - here - the smallest one is perfect for taking in your hand luggage.
When I actually pulled it out of the pack when I got it home, I saw shocked as I thought it looked really small. However you will be surprised how much this little beauty holds.
I literally managed to jam pack as much as I could in here. Luckily I have a bit of a thing about mini products and have a basket in my spare room where I like to keep bits so when I am travelling I can just pick stuff out and not be faffing.
I came across the bag I used on a recommendation from one of the Youtube Channels. I have one of the ones from muji (I can't find the exact ones which used to be 19.5 x 19.5 but its seems to have shrunk - here).
The set I brought is from boots and comes in a set of 3 - here - the smallest one is perfect for taking in your hand luggage.
When I actually pulled it out of the pack when I got it home, I saw shocked as I thought it looked really small. However you will be surprised how much this little beauty holds.
I literally managed to jam pack as much as I could in here. Luckily I have a bit of a thing about mini products and have a basket in my spare room where I like to keep bits so when I am travelling I can just pick stuff out and not be faffing.
So what was in this little beauty:
Sani + Hand Wipes
Clinique Moisture Surge Intense Thirst Relief
Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish
Nivea Cleansing Wipes
Delacour Face Serum
Clinique Even Better Eyes eye cream
Nivea Hydro intense lip balm
Sensondyne Tooth Paste
Slim Sonic Travel Toothbrush
Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour hand cream
Liz Earle Toner
Hayfever Tablets
With a flight as long as Florida (9 and a bit hours to be exact) you defiantly need to treat yourself mid flight to a bit of pampering. I didn't wear any make up at the airport but if you did I would start by taking that off. About half way through the flight I did a little routine with some serum, face and eye cream and then hand cream. I packed my travel suitcase so I could brush my teeth coming back as we had an overnight flight and although Virgin supply you with a toothbrush I just can't use a non-electric one.
Do you have any on flight beauty saviours you wouldn't be without???
♥
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