Half term fun and ice skating at the Eden Project

Autumn half term is a much needed break for both children and adults in our house. The kids are exhausted from being back at school and the run up to Christmas is punctuated by Hallowe'en, bonfire night and for us Diwali. I have spent the last few weeks collecting leaves, pine cones and conkers with Blue Bear, he loves taking them into pre-school to show his friends.

The other thing that happens during this half term is we celebrate our wedding anniversary and this year we decided to go away for a few days and for the boys to stay with grandparents. In the past we've taken the boys to Coombe Mill - our favourite holiday destination - and spent a week in Cornwall, but this year we wanted to go it child-free. There are a few highlights that are worth knowing about if you are planning a UK break.

Lappa Valley: 

We visit Lappa every time we go to Cornwall, the boys just love it. By the boys I also mean Hubbie. It truly is the best family day out with steam, diesel and static trains (a cafe on sleepers is the latest addition). There is also a boating lake, crazy golf and a large playground and indoor play for the days when it's a bit too chilly to play outside. Not that anything stops our boys from wanting to go outside and play. There are seasonal events so this half term there is the Halloween Spooktacular and at we've also been at Christmas and seen Father Christmas there.

Eden Project: 

My first visit was when Eden first opened over 15 years ago and I was captivated by it then. I went back after a long time when we brought Brown Bear to Coombe Mill for the first time in July 2014. I had wanted to go back to Eden for years, but with it being so far from home I hadn't had the chance. Now I visit at least once a year if not more. That first year we took Brown Bear to Eden for Christmas and saw the best Father Christmas I think I've ever seen. He was so convincing I had to pinch myself.

My favourite thing to do in the colder months (apart from skiing) is ice skating and the rink at Eden is fantastic, set in a biome of its own outside the rainforest and mediterranean zones. I've taken Brown Bear skiing with me and he loved going round with Pedro Penguin. This visit was my first skate of the year and it's always the same - starts off with me looking like a foal finding it's feet and by the end I'm convinced I'm at an Olympic standard. I'm not. If you can make it to the end of the 40 minute session there is a snowfall that will leave visitors young and old with a magical feeling about the experience.

In my wildest dreams I imagine that I will study / volunteer at Eden and be a regular visitor here pretty much forever. I can hope can't I ?

Fishing villages: 

There are some beautiful places to visit and we have only been to a handful of them so far. The ones I'd recommend visiting with children are:

Mevagissy is a really pretty vilage which has a model railway that Brown Bear loved visiting and there is a traditional sweet shop that drew my eye as well. If you fancy seeing some more here is a list of the top ten fishing villages of which Mevagissy is one: http://www.cornwalls.co.uk/top_ten/fishing_villages.htm

Padstow is pretty well known and hardly qualifies as a village any more, so it's often busy in the summer months. We still love visiting for the great fish and chips and ice cream that makes the boys' tongues go blue. This visit we went to Rick Stein's seafood reastaurant for our anniversary which was a treat. Not something that we would do with the boys - well not at this age anyway.

Beaches: 

We love taking the boys to the beach and even in the Autumn there is plenty to see and do. In the Summer I took Brown Bear surfing at Polzeath beach. We both loved it and while you can still surf I'm not keen to get in the water when it's cold. Instead we like to walk and explore the rock pools. We've usually been lucky with sunshine even on the coldest days in Cornwall. Trebarwith Strand offers a lovely coastal walk to Tintagel and on the afternoon we visited the boys had a lovely time playing with boats and making footprints in the sand.

I can't imagine a time when we won't enjoy going to Cornwall as a family or as a couple. Not when there is so much fun to have and so many adventures yet to enjoy.

Disclosure: We received complimentary entry and ice skating from the lovely folks at the Eden Project. 

Fun in the New Forest

Since we've been parents our holidays have mostly been staycations. One reason is that I just can't face travelling through airports with small children. Even allowing for the long drive our trips to Cornwall take less time than the overall journey time to go to a mediterranean destination when you factor in the time you leave for the airport, the waiting, the flying and the transfer time. Another reason was that we couldn't travel with our youngest until his adoption was finalised so we have made the most of holidays closer to home. Finally - and most importantly - we have so many wonderful places to visit in this country and my in-laws live right next to one of them. The New Forest is a beautiful setting and we usually spend at least one week of the year here with Granny and Grandpa's house as a base. This week I've brought the boys to visit their grandparents for a few days before they go back to school next week. We've come without Hubbie so he also gets a bit of a break. 

The weather has been so lovely that we've enjoyed the great outdoors and today we visited the New Forest Wildlife Park - where Hubbie used to work as a teenager when it was the Butterfly farm. The park has grown and now has many animals as well as two adventure playgrounds for different age groups. Baby Boy loves animals so he really enjoyed seeing otters, bison, deer and polecats. He wasn't too taken with the butterflies, but they took a shine to Grandma and one sat on her top. There are specific times for feeding animals and you can meet the keepers and ask questions. At one point we spotted a keeper sitting on a bench holding a hedgehog in a towel and children were taking photos with it - all the while the hedgehog who was being safely held by a keeper. There is a strong conservation element to the park so visitors are encouraged to learn about the animals and their habitats. This is a great way for children (and adults) to appreciate the natural world while also enjoying a day out. 

Taking time to do some colouring 

After we enjoyed a picnic lunch the boys loved sitting down to colour in some animal pictures and the lady who was supervising the activity also shared some interesting facts about owls with us. Did you know it's only Tawny owls that say twit twoo ? I'm not sure the rest of what she told us was true, but it made the boys laugh. Big boy isn't as much of a nature lover so he was persuaded to come when we told him there was an adventure playground. There are actually two with a mini one designated for children under 6 and another larger playground for children over 6 (and adults). Despite running up to get on it Big Boy was a bit put off by the speed of the zip wire - although I saw a little girl in an amazing floofy white dress who looked like a supercharged angel as she zipped past ! Grandma and I decided to take the boys to their respective playgrounds and it was great fun for me to do a bit of daredevil stuff with Big Boy. Baby Boy did some pretty brave climbing too ! 

My climbing boy 

The best thing about staying near the New Forest is that most trips take you through the forest itself and you never know which of the animals that live there you will see roaming around. Before we had kids I was always amazed to spot cattle lying on verges in Beaulieu, horses and ponies crossing the roads wherever they feel like and grouse running past the car. On our drive home we spotted horses with their foals and lots of cows with their youngsters too. Baby Boy even wanted to get out of the car to take a look and said hello to the cows. It was the perfect end to a lovely day in nature. 

Look Mummy, cows 

Plan your visit and find out more about what you can see and do at New Forest Wildlife Park 

On being brave, not boring

Until I had my boys I had no idea how brave I could be. How having children would awaken the daredevil side of me. Now I realise that there is so much I am willing to do in order to give my sons the experiences that I didn't get to have as a child. A year ago me and my older boy were invited to try out one of the largest cruise ships in the world, Anthem of the Seas. On board we skydived and I fulfilled one of my lifetime ambitions to try a trapeze. It was terrifying and what you can't see in the photos is how much I was shaking the whole time. I did it though, and that is the main thing. I tried.

Yep that's me - terrified on the trapeze

On holiday in Cornwall last month I booked a surfing lesson with my 5 year old - having bottled out of a surfing course I booked many years ago. He wasn't too sure about doing it on his own and I thought, "Ok why not ?" He was, of course, so much better than me, but that didn't matter. We had fun. Isn't that what it's all about after all ? Creating happy memories for our children so that they can look back and recal how much fun it was being a kid ?

My boys on the beach

So that's why this blog exists. It's to share the adventures we have and to give you some ideas of fun, brave and plain crazy things to do with your kids, or on your own. I'm not judging.

Who said that being a Mum meant being boring ? It wasn't me that's for sure.