We always feel so incredibly lucky to be invited to Lotherton Hall to experience their Christmas Experience. It has become part of our tradition. As the girls are now teenagers I do wonder how much longer we will keep this tradition going. I plan on making the most of it whilst I can.

Our trip to Lotherton was rather eventful and as a result we had to rearrange our booked time slot with Santa. Not to worry we arrived just in time for Mrs Claus. Unlike previous years Mrs Claus has moved from the main house and is now with the elves in Elf Village. Still the same wonderful Mrs Claus, telling stories and singing with the kids. This year though the children made some magical Christmas baubles rather than gingerbread men. 

We had a little bit of time to explore after Mrs Claus, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to complete the house, and our tradition of standing in front of all the trees, or the woodland walk. 

Instead we made the most of the Elf village by taking part in some of the craft activities, before heading to the cafe for something to eat.

Like previous years visiting Santa is much more than a simple visit. There is a whole experience behind it. We followed our elf through the winter woodland and listened to stories about the lights at the North pole. Our Elf helped us make candles before heading to the wishing well. It was here we waited for Santa to be ready for us.

As always with Lotherton, the experience with Santa is amazing and all three children even told him what they wanted for Christmas

Thank you so much to Lotherton for inviting us to the Christmas Experience. It truly was a magical night and the start of our festive season.

 Our tickets were gifted as part of the visit but all words are my own personal opinion

The excitement in the car was at an incredibly high level as we travelled to Lotherton for the Christmas Experience. The girls 11,13 may not believe in the big man any more but they are still very much into the Christmas festivities and even my eldest asks to go to Lotherton every year.

Last year I was lucky enough to work at the Christmas Experience, the team behind it are amazing and really do go the extra mile to make the whole experience special for families. This year was no exception. Even though we have been many times before,it always feels magical.

We began our experience by making out magic keys for Santa, my son thoroughly engaged and enjoying the experience.

After we had made our Christmas keys it was time to make a wish. The children each made their wishes before we were greeted by an elf to take us to see the big man himself.

Santa was brilliant with them, even with a 13 year old who was trying her hardest to be too cool. The elf took some elfies with my phone and we all had a good giggle at them.

We visited on a rather cold night so decided not to do the woodland walk. While it is something we have enjoyed on previous years it was just far too cold for us. Instead we headed over to elf crafts and made some sand art pictures. The 13 year old loved this, she even smiled!

We have a mini tradition at Lotherton to pose, and strike random poses with as many Christmas trees as we can find. The house is the best place for this, plus it was warm in there!

The house did not disappoint and the random posing by the trees began

All three seem to enjoy this random tradition we have started.

Our final activity was off to see Mrs Claus who had been baking gingerbread men.

Each of the children had their own gingerbread to decorate whilst they sang Christmas carols. Once they had finished there was the opportunity for a photo with Mrs Claus. 

The whole Lotherton experience was magical as always and one we always recommend to our friends. I think any experience which can cause a teenager to fall asleep on the way home must be a good one!

Thank you to the fantastic team at Lotherton for having us. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Christmas Experience. 

 Our tickets for Lotherton Hall and Leeds Industrial Museum were provided in exchange for coverage. All words are my own honest opinion. Any other items mentioned I fully paid for. No other exchange of goods or payment has occurred.

February half term seems to have gone in a blink and preparations now seem to be underway for Easter. The supermarkets certainly seem to think so with the number of chocolate goodies on the shelves. Our half term was one packed full of adventures.

In fact they loved it so much they asked when we could go and watch the show again! It is the second time I have seen it and I loved it as much this time around. 3 of the Queens were the same but 3 new ones gave it a slightly different feel. Still amazing to see.

He ran around the museum hunting for clues, wanting to complete the trail before his sisters did. He was super pleased with himself for reading the clues and writing down the answers. 

Although we have visited the museum before each time we go something new seems to catch our attention and there are always new exhibits to see

I thought the kids would have liked to have done the printing activity that was taking place or even watched a film in the cinema on the site, instead it would appear Little Man had other plans. He had to complete the trail!

I love how involved he got with reading the clues and finding them. Grandma even took part alongside him.

The views from the museum are amazing and I love spending time looking out over the canal. I had to get the children to stand in front just so I could take a photo.

This knitted piece was also something I could have looked at for hours. It really caught my attention as there are so many elements involved.

With the trail now complete and all clues found, we decided to make the most of our day and the nice weather with a walk up the canal. 

Our next adventure saw us visit Lotherton Hall. One of our favourite places to visit especially at Christmas. At Christmas we don't usually have time to visit the penguins so we always make sure we stop there first to say hello.

It was near to Valentines when we visited so Lotherton Hall had a Love Birds trail and you could certainly feel the love in the air. 

The main house showed the family of Lotherton Hall, the love story if you like.

Whilst in the house we looked for all the love birds hiding in various places. It was so different without all the Christmas trees. The children loved exploring all the different rooms and looking for the birds.

Once we had finished exploring the house we ventured back outside to visit the other birds of Lotherton Hall, and of course we completed the Love Bird trail whilst we were there.

We had a fabulous day out even ending the day with some flamingo posing!

 The Christmas Experience is something we look forward to every year as a family. It has been part of our tradition of Christmas for quite some time now, all three children ask about it. The invite for the press day arrived and I think I might have been more excited than the kids, I could not wait to tell them.

We have visited Lotherton for many years for their Christmas experience and each year the experience seems to get better, building on previous years. The wishing tree which I think we experienced for the first time last year was slightly different and I think the elf who leads it really makes the experience here for you. Ours was fantastic and brought the excitement levels higher!