Wednesday 19 April 2017

A Day Out At Crealy



On Good Friday, we headed out for a family day out at Crealy - a fantastic theme park based a short distance from the city of Exeter.

We've visited once before but that was during winter and so we were excited to see how different our day out would be on a nice sunny day. We had expected to be confronted by lots of crowds and queues given that we had chosen to visit on a bank holiday but we were pleasantly surprised...the queues were only about 10 minutes at the longest and many rides we could walk straight on to, and it didn't feel too crowded either.

The first thing we did was the Easter Egg hunt, which was really good fun and the kids were delighted to be able to claim their prize from Buttons the Easter Bunny himself on the stage!

Afterwards, we headed to try out some rides...first port of call was the brand new Junior Driving School which gave Tyne the chance to drive a lovely little car with Daddy as his passenger! He was thrilled by this!

 

The track was really well organised and looked like a real little town, the staff did a great job of keeping order and the kids all drove around in the same direction with bumping discouraged which was nice to see when you have little ones riding...there were some older kids riding during Tyne's go who were quite determined to turn the driving school into bumper cars but the staff were really quick to stop them in the nicest way possible, which was great!

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Friday 14 April 2017

A Day At World Of Country Life



Continuing on our #DevonEggHunt adventures, we have been continuing to make the most out of #EasterInDevon by visiting some more of the countys best tourist attractions...following on from our visit to Killerton House a few days ago, we spent Sunday at the fabulous World Of Country Life in Exmouth.

We had visited once before, and so the kids were super excited at the prospect of heading back again...and it did not disappoint!

World Of Country Life is quite a unique tourist attraction as it is such a fantastic mix of many things - it is part museum with old fashioned replica houses, pubs and shops that you can walk around (which the kids just love!), Trains and tractors on display (and a gypsy caravan too!), farmyard animals, a deer safari, and a fantastic indoor and outdoor play area with everything from bouncy pillows and trampolines, to traditional park finds and even a MASSIVE indoor life size pirate ship that my boys absolutely adore.

There really is something on offer for everybody and every possible weather scenario here!








The deer safari is always the highlight for me personally - it is a train pulled along by a tractor, and it took us into the deer enclosure where we parked up - the driver got out and walked along the train giving us all food to give to the deer. The deer were just beautiful to see, and so very tame - they stuck their heads right into the carriages with no reservations and ate from our hands - Noah was, once again, a little frightened by them getting so close but Tyne and Sailor both loved it!

There was also a couple of Llamas who came up to see us, too!










We spent the afternoon letting the boys play on the trampolines, and if you caught my Instagram stories you'll know that Mummy & Daddy also had a sneaky go on the bouncy pillows when nobody else was around which was a lot of fun!









We had an absolutely fantastic afternoon visiting World Of Country Life and would highly recommend it if you're visiting Devon during the Easter holidays, there really is something for everybody...they also often have special events running, such as their upcoming Vintage Car display and Star Wars day where some very special guests will be in attendance!

To find out about World Of Country Life and their upcoming events, please visit www.worldofcountrylife.co.uk

*Please note, Deer safari is subject to a small additional charge
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Wednesday 12 April 2017

#EasterInDevon at Killerton House - Our #DevonEggHunt Part 1!



This week, we've been taking part in something rather eggs-citing - we were asked by Devons Top Attractions to take part in a very special #DevonEggHunt by visiting some of the county's most exciting & intriguing destinations to see what #EasterinDevon has to offer.

The first stop was Killerton House and I have to say, I was very pleased about this as it was somewhere that's been on my Must-See List for a while now but for various reasons I had never got around to actually visiting.


Killerton House covers 6,400 acres in total and is one of the biggest estates looked after by the National Trust. It includes farms, woodland and stunningly beautiful landscaped gardens.
There's quite a decent amount of parking, and everything is well sign posted from your arrival (we appreciated that toilets were located right at the car park too, after a long drive!
On entering we were greeted by a volunteer who told Tyne that the house had been invaded by mice and he needed to help them find them! He was asked to fill in a worksheet showing which mouse was in which room, and at the end he was rewarded with a sticker which he thought was the best thing ever!
The house was beautiful and we loved that we were encouraged to sit on the furniture, Tyne was even allowed to touch the piano which he loved. 
Unfortunately the house is currently undergoing repair work on its roof, so it's covered in scaffolding which perhaps doesn't look as grand as it usually would but this work is of course vital to the preservation of the property.
The upstairs is currently closed to visitors which was a shame, but we did enjoy exploring the old laundry room which had some Victorian dress up for children to try on - Tyne really loved this!

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Monday 10 April 2017

Legoland Windsor Review


You may have read my review of the Legoland Windsor Hotel last week, and today I am following it up with a review on our day at the Legoland Park.

We got in to the park at around 10 am and entered via the Hotel Entrance which meant we started at the back of the park, this really is the ideal way to do the Legoland park as it means that you're working your way around in the opposite direction to everybody else and that the rides you come to first are the ones that everyone who came in through the main entrance will come to last!

The first ride we found ourselves at was the Atlantis Submarine ride which I hear can have quite long queues a lot of the time, but we were able to walk straight on to it which was ideal! This was one of the few rides (actually I think it was the only ride!) that we could all ride together as a family of five, so it was one we all really enjoyed!
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Thursday 6 April 2017

Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel Review & How To Bag A Bargain Stay!



A couple of weeks ago, we were very kindly treated to a night at the Legoland Windsor Resort Hotel and a day at the theme park by my parents as a gift for the boys upcoming birthdays - none of us had visited before and we were all quite excited to see what Legoland would have in store for us!

Now I have to admit, I've never really been a fan of Lego - even as a child it used to irritate me and it winds me up even more as a Mum of Lego-mad little boys! The bits laying around everywhere, the pain when you step on them, how bloody long it takes to build the sodding sets - it all just winds me up to be honest, so I wasn't entirely sure how much I was going to enjoy a day surrounded by the tiny plastic bricks of doom!

We arrived at Legoland Hotel around 3 pm on a Wednesday, and the boys were so excited from the moment we pulled up - there are lego figures right outside, the hotel itself looks like its made of Lego and there's a big dragon who really breathes smoke outside. The lobby was really something - with Lego creations spinning around on a carousel, life size Lego figures dotted about and even a Lego Brick Pit for the kids to dive into and get creating - the check in was very quiet and we were dealt with really quickly, which is always a plus with three impatient children in tow!
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