
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.

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.
glad to hear you all had a brilliant holiday, i hope you have a lovely Easter weekend xx
ReplyDeletewhat a great post, loved reading that! Sounds like you had a brilliant time together x
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter xx
Sounds like you all had a brilliant holiday, have a great Easter weekend x
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed 90% of your holiday!! The OU courses are brilliant. I did some many years ago and loved them. They turned out to be really useful to me.
ReplyDeleteGood news about the holidays and fair play to you for signing up to an Open University Course, you must be superwoman!
ReplyDeleteGlitzy Gleam - Thank you, ditto! x
ReplyDeleteMulti Layer Mummy - Thank you very much, we had such a lovely time and hope to be able to get away again later in the year x
ReplyDeleteThank you Shay, you too! x
ReplyDeleteThank you Glenda, I am hoping that I can branch out a little more with my writing and hope that the degree will help :) x
ReplyDeleteLooking For Blue Sky - My youngest starts nursery in September so I will have a little extra time, and plan to cram in something for myself this time hehe x
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fab holiday xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, we had a really great time x
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really great time (except for the vomiting.) Love the pics, you have a beautiful family =)
ReplyDeleteWTG on the OU course.
I hope you all have a fab Easter. xx
Thank you Sarah! You too x
ReplyDeleteSounds fab place Togo. Good luck on ou my mum did ba ana MA with them!
ReplyDeletesounds like a great holiday, apart from the end of course. Good luck with the course, I'm really quite envious
ReplyDeleteThank you very much x
ReplyDeleteLovely photos looks like a truly great holiday :) Good luck with your new course I love English but i don't think i could enroll on a course! xx
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