This day I love.......: festive

No comments

We have had such a festive and busy weekend, and we haven't seen Father Christmas once! The girls and Little Man have experienced so much this weekend, and we have all learnt loads too. Our weekend started a little earlier on the Thursday when we were invited to the press opening of Enchanted Christmas at Brodsworth Hall and Garden.

Last year the girls were treated to an evening at Brodsworth Hall and Garden and they had been asking to go again this year. Last year [and the year before] they met Father Christmas, and it is still one of our favourite places to meet him, but unfortunately this year we were unable to. Not to worry as we were still in for a real treat.

Having been for the past two years, I was a little worried the girls might feel like they had seen it all before but there were so many wonderful new additions this year. The girls favourite was the fairy garden.

It was certainly clear to see why too. Such amazing attention to detail.

It was a real challenge to try and get any half decent photos given how dark it was, but I am hoping these at least show just a little of how beautiful the fairy garden is.

The girls were simply captivated and at one point it was the quietest I have ever seen them as they stood and took in all the sights surrounding them.

Whilst I still cannot pronounce the word, the illumaphonium was magical. A large structure which you could play music on. The melody would travel up the 6ft structure and the lights change as it went.

All around the gardens you could hear the sounds of the illumaphonium. It was so magical. Such a wonderful addition.

The girls loved walking through the gardens. Following the lights, and seeing where they lead us.

Finding magical fairy doors to knock on, before entering the dell.

Warming hands on the opening fire, which we were told was also for toasting marshmallows on.

The glittering disco ball casting patterns or light on the woodland floor.

The whole experience was magical and a great way to start our festive weekend.

The girls have been wanting to make slime for some time so on Friday we too inspiration from ex Blue Peter presenter and craft queen Konnie Huq, as she has partnered with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) to create the homemade STEM toys of Christmas, rivalling some of the must-have toys on the market. This is a more economical way of creating some of the must have toys this Christmas, and it is also a lot of fun to do too. I have included the video in case you would like to have a go as well.

It would not be Christmas without a trip to a Christmas market. Saturday was a trip to York to visit the Christmas market and do some last minute shopping. The girls love the chocolate pancakes and they always work well as a treat during our visit to the market.

Whilst in York we visited Fairfax house. It took us just over an hour to walk around and was a rather interesting visit. Fairfax House is laid out in the traditional décor of 17th century life, with a whole host of treasures waiting to be discovered. There are a range of family friendly activities to encourage children to learn about life in the 17th century. This includes following the tail of the town house mouse Gregory.

The house was decorated in traditional Georgian Christmas style and so in some rooms Gregory had been moved to make space for Christmas, this also meant that some of the quiz we were unable to complete too, but we did our best. My youngest daughter at 5 found some of the questions quite tricky and instead counted the clocks throughout the house and spotted Gregory, my 7 year old managed the downstairs questions and a few upstairs.

There are no photos or videos allowed inside the house, so I could not take any as we were walking round. The girls enjoyed looking round but would have preferred much more hands on activities. Perhaps some Georgian dressing up, or baking in the Georgian kitchen. There was an event later that day at 5pm, but it would have made it too late for Little Man as he would want his dinner. It was still a nice way to spend an hour, especially getting out of the cold and breaking up the shopping trip too. We did learn a lot about Christmas in the Georgian period and we were astonished to learn about their 30 course dinners!

Having done shopping, learnt about Christmas past, made Christmas crafts, visited Christmas fairies and elves, there could be only one festive activity left for Sunday a festive show!

We headed over to Cast in Doncaster to watch 'The Great Christmas Dig' by Handmade theatre. Last year we saw the 12 birds of Christmas and absolutely loved it so we were very excited to see the performance this year.

Whilst last year we were sat in nests, this year we were on an exciting archaeological dig in Egypt and so we were sat on rugs and benches. We were greeted to our seats by a camel, which set the tone and got the girls giggling from the start. Christmas spirit came to introduce herself too, which was nice.

As is always the case with Handmade productions their shows are incredibly interactive and also lots of fun, which makes them perfect for the whole family to enjoy. The Great Christmas Dig did not disappoint. There was singing and dancing, and audience participation. The girls loved digging to discover Christmas decorations and getting the chance to decorate the tree. Each cast member should be congratulated in ensuring that no one was forgotten about or left out and that every child got to participate if they wanted to.

50 minutes just flew by once again but it is safe to say the dig was successful and we all left full of Christmas Spirit! We all thoroughly enjoyed the performance and would highly recommend it.

It has been such a wonderful festive weekend, I am not sure we could have fitted anything else in! The final week of school to go and a week full of Christmas productions and carol singing lies ahead.

This day I love a festive weekend

Enchanted Brodsworth - Fri 15 - Sat 23 Dec 2017

Fairfax House - Check website for events

The Great Christmas Dig - 9th - 31st Dec 2017

No comments

Early this year I had a very exciting email land in my inbox, an invite to a festive mid week break at Bluestone Wales. To say I was excited would be an understatement, a chance to go to Bluestone at Christmas was an opportunity I could not tun down. The girls have been desperate to go to the Wales holiday again and Christmas was sure to be magical.

After a 7 hour journey in the rain we arrived at Bluestone. Our lodge was of a different style to the previous visit and was spread over two floors.

The bedrooms were clean and modern and the girls wasted no time in choosing their room. Grandma settled them into bed with a bed time story

Thing 3 and I were a little tired after the drive and we made the most of our modern double bedroom and went straight to bed.

The next morning it became clear the main advantage of having a lodge with the living area upstairs. The views over Bluestone were fantastic, even if the weather was miserable.

The weather has never stopped us before, and we fully believe in free range fun regardless of the weather. We got ourselves kitted up and headed to Blue lagoon.

As with our last visit the girls would have quite happily spent all day in the swimming pool. The water is like stepping into a nice bath, and even when you step out you feel warm. The changing areas were kept clean and tidy and we saw several members of staff cleaning as we were there. The pool was busier than last time but we still felt able to relax and have fun.

After swimming it was time for a hot drink before our festive fun began. The girls remembered the village tea shop and were really surprised to see that Babycinos were now on the menu.

This was the first in a new discovery at Bluestone since our last visit. Our festive fun was to begin with the Bluestone Pantomime, Cinderella.

The Pantomime took place in the Village Hall. This was a new building to us and situated behind the spa. The Oak beams and white walls gave it a real modern feel and was just the right size for the pantomime. We took our seats and waited for the show to start.

The girls were enthralled. Cheering and booing and joining in with the chants. A real proper pantomime, just as I remembered from my childhood. It was full of laughs and traditional style jokes, just what was needed for a pantomime. My Mum and I absolutely loved the ugly sisters, two very talented actors and I would highly recommend seeing the production just for them. Although if you ask the girls they really loved Cinderella and Buttons.

Thing 3 was craving a pizza after the Pantomime but unfortunately the pizza takeaway was no longer available. We decided therefore to visit The Oak Tree, which was our favourite from the previous visit. Luckily for Thing 3 they did Pizza and even had a lemon desert which catered for another of Thing 3 cravings.

The girls felt very festive sitting by the beautiful tree in the restaurant and it was certainly beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

On our previous stay we had a beautiful walk in wet room and in this lodge we had both a shower and a bath. The girls could not wait to get into the bath and have a good splash around. The bathroom was clean and modern and had plenty of room for the girls.

I turned 28weeks pregnant with Thing 3 and so had to take a bump shot. I do feel like I have stuffed a bowling ball up my t shirt

Our plan was to return to Camp Smokey for lunch as it was one of our favourite places, however it was closed for the winter. Instead we headed over to the activity centre for some indoor play and some fun out of the rain.

The girls loved that they were greeted by reindeer and trees, it certainly felt very festive.

The girls did not know but we were actually here for a secret mission. An elf mission to be precise. The girls were about to enter the Kingdom of the elves and were given maps outlining their secret mission. Our elf guide explained what we had to do to graduate as elves and gave each of the girls a uniform, before shrinking us so we could fit through the key hole.

It was time for our mission to begin. Each room had different tasks that an elf must undertake from ensuring pets stay asleep, to helping children have magical dreams. The favourite room of all was the chocolate room. In here the girls had to make the chocolate for the advent calendar.

Whilst the girls ensured the chocolates were up to scratch, Mum and I posed for an Elfie Selfie.

The girls completed all of their missions and graduated from Elf school. As events go the Elf Academy was by far one of my favourite. It was pure interactive festive fun and if we could we would have done it again. All of the Elves were fantastic and interacted with all of the children. This interaction made it what it was, as it simply flowed and was fun rather than scripted. Crackers the elf needs a special mention, pure comical genius!

After visiting the Kingdom of the Elves the girls were in a real festive mood. Neither of them wanted to take off their elf uniforms and both asked to take them to show and tell the following week.

Perhaps the only way to celebrate becoming Elves is with Peter Pan and Jinglebelle.

Jinglebelle is a fun interactive dinner show which is a very memorable way to spend an evening. The girls had to help Peter Pan find his shadow, who did keep running away during our Christmas dinner. There were jokes and activities to do to help Peter Pan and Jinglebelle. Certainly a fun evening and a perfect way to celebrate their success at elf academy.

Oh and I forgot to add the festive tunes which made it perfect for dancing around the Christmas tree.

Our last full day at Bluestone was fast upon us. It had been a truly festive week so far and the festive fun continued. After a morning swimming, as this was the girls request on their final day, we headed for a festive Hot chocolate before our afternoon activities.

The girls love crafting and making things at home and with all the excitement of Christmas we thought it would be great to have an hour crafting with the Bluestone team. It gave the girls chance to refresh after a busy few days and they actually got really creative. We made Christmas cards, present boxes, baubles for the tree and character spoons. Rather productive for an hour crafting!

They were both starting to get very excited and also seemed to have picked up the Bluestone Christmas song which they have been singing non stop on repeat.

I had lined up a special treat for the girls after crafting. They were headed to the spa for an hour with Grandma to have their nails and hair done, whilst I went for a relaxing pregnancy massage.

Thing 3 seemed very happy with the massage. I met the girls downstairs afterwards, we finished almost at the same time, and they had lovely sparkly nails and feathers in their hair. Both ready for the Festive season, pampered and relaxed.

There was only one way to end our day and that was of course with a Christmas dinner

After dinner we were all transformed back into elves, which lead the girls to wonder what was happening next.

For our final evening the girls got to meet Father Christmas himself. They even got to listen as he told them a wonderful Christmas story featuring Ruddie the reindeer.

Our time at Bluestone was almost to an end. The girls spotted the cast of Cinderella and my Mum attempted to take a photo of us all together.

After which it was time to say goodbye, but not without watching the spectacular festive light show in the village.

Our time spent at Bluestone Wales really got us all into the festive spirit and was the perfect way to start the holiday season. I can only imagine how amazing Bluestone is over Christmas.

Thank you Bluestone for inviting us to stay. Our accommodation was provided free of charge but we paid for all activities.

1 comments

About me

Follow Us

Popular

Brands