Hello summer holidays! There is a very delicious feeling knowing I have six whole weeks of not needing to get the kids out of the door and to school before 9am. No more frantically trying to find that one lost shoe/sock/book bag as the clock ticks towards 9am. As hard as I try to train them, my kids have an amazing knack of springing some last minute panic on me when I say it is time to go.
Then we will arrive to school late and have to do the walk of shame to the office and explain why we are late. But no more! – for six happy weeks anyway.
This summer is going to be a childcare juggling masterpiece. My husband is working the start of each week and I have crammed all my work into the end of the week. It will mean a lot of evening work, but I am going to have three to four days each week to be Mum and play!
What to do with the Summer Holidays…
So what are we going to do with these lovely long weeks of summer holidays?
We have a hit list of firm favourites and places we’ve had recommended to us in our diary, perhaps you’ll find a little summer inspiration here too:
Treasure Island Outdoor Show
I’ve always wanted to go to one of the shows in Williamson’s Park and this year we are going to make it happen. The shows run from 4th July to 12th Aug and tickets are £13.50. Fingers crossed we pick a beautiful evening.
The Maze Maze
This place is wonderful and has so much to offer little ones: Soft play, animal petting, tractor rides and trampolines as well as a bale maze, children’s maze and the master maze. We have yet to succeeding completing the big one, but maybe this will be the year! Children under two are free and family tickets are £28.
Camping
Last year we discovered Gibraltar Campsite at Silverdale. It’s ruggedly beautiful, cheap as chips and so close that we can go for a night and get that holiday feeling and then go to work the next day. We also have plans to go to Old Hall in Coniston, this is similar, but has the lake there to play with.
The Forbidden Corner
We have yet to visit this place, but it sounds amazing! A walled garden in Yorkshire that you enter through a mouth and is full of secret tunnels and exciting follies. Family tickets are £42 and we’ll let you know how we get on.
Halton Park
This is our favourite park and we’ll be there a lot this summer. There is something there for all ages. These days my son loves the skate park, but not so long back it was the sand pit. They have good coffee too. We love making a whole day of our visit and walk/cycle there by the track that runs along the river. Take a picnic and lots of snacks for this fabulous and easy adventure.
Solfest
We will have to give this one a miss this year (we’re in Corfu while I shoot a wedding eeek!). But if you would like to go to a family festival, this one is wonderful. With one quarter of the site devoted to children and a carpeted parents sanctuary full of arm chairs and kind volunteers who bring you a free cup of tea while your little ones play, they have thought about what parents and little ones need. We’ve been going there since Freya was three months and can’t recommend it enough!
So that’s our summer holidays, our sumptuous six weeks, unless you also have something wonderful you recommend we squeeze in? Let me know. x
