Last week we had a holiday in two parts. Firstly to visit my Father In Law in Bridlington, on the Yorkshire coast (which I wrote about here) and then to Centre Parcs in Sherwood Forest. We have visited Centre Parcs four times previously since becoming parents. As a childless couple we were pretty big fans of lounging on a beach (preferably Caribbean) drinking rum cocktails. Add in a little Catamaran snorkelling trip, and some swimming in the sea and we were in our element.

Since small children and any kind of lounging don’t fit in the same sentence (oh apart from this one) Centre Parcs is now the closest we get to that dream. There is swimming, in the amusingly named subtropical paradise. It’s just a shame you have to first fight every other family in the joint for a changing room the size of a postbox. After which we get the fun treat of getting three children, with elbows, ready to swim in that tiny space. Then we get to play the even more fun game of how the heck do we fit five peoples worth of stuff into the couple of available lockers left in the place. It’s like Jenga but with damp clothes.

Seriously though we do enjoy Centre Parcs. The swimming pool is great fun and watching little Wonder Girl’s face as she went down the water slide on her Daddy’s lap was priceless. Super Kid and Robo Boy’s water confidence grows every time we go. With their little floating jackets on they can bob around in the pool, and they love it.

Ducks and geese visit our little woodland lodge every day looking for bread. The children love feeding them. I’m only a little concerned about the goose with attitude who looks like her might rob us whilst we are out swimming, or get in during the night and graffiti our walls.

We eat out at restaurants complete with soft plays to entertain the children whilst we drink heavily  indulge in a glass of wine. On one night out we go to a character meal and Wonder Girl is enchanted by Rupert The Bear. It was a lovely break and I’m not even going to mention Wonder Girl catching a nasty bug and vomiting all over Purpledad in a pizza restaurant, oops.