A weekend by the lake

We have returned from our weekend away and I am pleased to say that we had a fantastic time. There were a couple of vomiting incidents, and more than one meltdown however 90% of the time it was brilliant, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

We stayed at Parkdean Warmwell just outside of Weymouth in a lovely cosy log cabin right on the lake. It was really comfortable and warm (just what we needed in this freezing weather) with lots of space for the seven of us. We managed to bag a bargain price for our long weekend stay using Sun Holiday tokens collected for us by my MIL which made it all the more enjoyable, meaning that we had more money to spend on days out and activities while we were away.

Our first stop was Splashdown at Tower Park in Poole. I think that this ended up being the highlight of our holiday because they have not stopped talking about it since, L in particular is a massive fan of anything to do with swimming or water slides (after initially being averse to water even getting on his face, it is amazing what swimming lessons can do!) so a couple of hours here was like heaven for him!

They had a whale of a time throwing themselves down the slides with wild abandon, as did the Mister. Unfortunately E is not currently a great enjoyer of the water so she & I only managed a short swim before we left the big four and the Mister and went to have a cookie in the cafe. Splashdown is brilliant, but definitely needs better signposting to the different areas and slides, E & I were wandering around trying to find the toddler pool for ages. The staff were very nice, and it was clean and well maintained.

We headed to TGI Friday's next, a small fortune later we were fed (and A had been chatted up by the young waiter - the joys of having teenagers) and then we made our way to Warmwell. We made good use of the play & sports areas, buying a ball in the well-stocked shop as we forgot to bring one of the millions we have at home so that the kids could have a kickabout with their Dad.

The next day we spent some time on site, the kids had fun in the arcade (the 2p machines were a favourite) and A & J had a go on the dry ski slope as Dorset Snowsport Centre is located here (it was directly behind our cabin, which was handy).
I thought that there seemed to be a lot of "dead air" time when the staff there seemed to not really be doing a lot, several people came in & out and were sent away, for example, because the two hours of ringos was over. I definitely think more sessions of ringos & swiss bobs would be beneficial to the centre, we certainly would have booked up had it been available.
Saturday night we got our dinner from the fish & chip shop, and then the Mister & the big four kids went to the venue to enjoy the evening entertainment while I stayed at the cabin with a very sleepy E.

Sunday it was SO cold, but as we had already booked tickets, we made our way to Adventure Wonderland. Unfortunately I didn't think it was that much of a wonderland, and actually a bit on the expensive side for what is available there and definitely better suited for younger children. The leaflet makes it look a lot bigger than it is. With that said, it may have been different had it been warmer out, although this did mean that we made full use of the indoor soft play area. I doubt we will ever visit again, but it got us out & about and the children did enjoy seeing the animals & going on the few rides that were there.

Sunday night we visited the arcade again, and as a family stayed to watch some of the entertainment before grabbing a couple of pizzas from the on-site takeaway and going back to the cabin for our last night. A vomiting L meant that as soon as the sun was up on Monday morning, we had to head home. H then followed suit so we got them home and put them to bed.

So, a bit of a dampener on our plans for the last day, but overall we had a really good time and will definitely visit Warmwell again. It is a lovely & well equipped site with plenty to do, with pleasant staff. The duty manager happened to find us huddling in the launderette while the Mister was getting our fish & chips next door and he chatted to my boys & asked what we thought of the cabin & if everything was okay, which I thought was really nice.

Now we are looking forward to Easter this weekend, and hoping that Spring will grace us with its presence sooner rather than later because we have all had quite enough of this cold weather!

Our wonderful family holiday, and Easter are my reasons to be cheerful this week, what are yours? Link up to Mummy From The Heart's #R2BC bloghop, hosted this week at Seasider In The City, and share.