Our Summer Diary

It is a miracle – I have not heard the words “I’m Bored!” once this summer holiday and here is why!

We have had a summer holiday jam-packed full of fun, family and festivals and I am slightly disappointed it is all coming to an end this week, although I am looking forward to putting my feet up and catching up with some blogging that has gone by the wayside.

So what did we do?

Week 1:

We started new swimming lessons on a Monday afternoon and have seen Isaac and Eliza improve so much faster and I am happy that they are water confident when we go to the beach.  We visited the local splash park where the kids charged around with their water pistols; the beach where we played in the sea and practiced our sandcastle building and then the New Forest where we made friends with the local wildlife.

We also had an impromptu trip to Butlins where we morphed into Daphne and Scrappy Doo and then watched open mouthed as the Moscow State Circus arrived in town with their amazing acrobatics.  Hubby and I even managed to sneak out and have an evening to ourselves with bubbles and fireworks!

 

Week 2:

We took an eventful trip aboard an open top bus to Swanage carnival which is one of the best events locally.  They take such pride in their floats and the procession was over a mile long. Eliza met Alice and even rode in a flying elephant with her at Adventure Wonderland, but this week belonged to our first ever camping trip as a family to Camp Bestival.

Camping at a festival was a huge learning curve, but we loved every minute and cannot wait to do it all over again.  We dressed up, danced, sang acapella with a choir and witnessed the most amazing firework display we have ever seen, all over four days.

Week 3:

We took a day to recover from Camp Bestival before we hit the beach again.  We discovered a musical play trail on Boscombe Pier and then took on the challenge of the rocks at the Coastal Park and after some practice conquered them.

Our local country park was holding a Pirate festival, so we donned our costumes and perfected our “Aaarrrrgh’s”.  The final day of the week saw us head across to Paulton’s Park where I actually got to go on some rides for a change – I did let the kids have some fun too though.

Week 4:

This week saw us hobnobbing with some stars of stage and screen at LolliBop.  Hubby has vowed never to wash his hands again after shaking Simon Pegg’s hand and giving Justin Fletcher a high-five.  The kids were far more impressed with Alex Winters and Chris & Pui though.

The lovely weather had a bit of a wobble this week, so we found ourself hanging out in our local soft play centre and had a bake off in the kitchen.  I am never going to be a baker, but the kids had great fun attempting to make Mario inspired cakes.

Week 5:

We had a birthday this week – Kian turned 14.  To celebrate hubby took him to the cinema to watch Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy and then to the Sky Sports Studio’s at the O2 whilst the littlies and I headed to London Zoo for a Xeno launch event.

Later in the week we visited the Liberty Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre and gasped as we saw an eagle, buzzard and vultures all swoop down and perform for us.

Week 6:

The final full week of the school holidays sees the festival that we always book time off for every year – Bournemouth Air Fest!

We started off the week with Kian’s birthday treat of a visit to Rockreef with a friend from school, where they took on the climbing walls,  completed the high-line challenge and even dared to take on the vertical slide, which is not for the faint hearted and then a trip to the Daytona Track at Sandown for a spot of Go Karting.

We found a brilliant new local Pirate park, which I didn’t know existed and then it was all about the planes.  What I love about the air fest is that the kids can enjoy the beach whilst the planes and helicopters fly overhead.  We were treated to a beach landing by the Commando’s, the incompatible Red Arrows but my favourite part of the four days was seeing the Vulcan roar in and stun the crowd into silence, followed by a rapturous applause.

That’s our summer done, can I sit down now?

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 August challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit Longleat Forest.