Princess Batarella

Welcome to this special edition of Celebrities at Home.  Today, we are joining Princess Batarella in her special woodland retreat.  Come with us, and enter the world of the Princess.

Meet Mr Pump.  Mr Pump stands sentry at the entrance to Princess Batarella's magical home, ensuring that only those lucky few invited guests are permitted entry.  Woe betide anyone who tried to make their way past Mr Pump without permission.  Their fate is one that few would wish to behold.

Once past the gates, we meet the Princess herself.  Princess Batarella loves to groom her pony.  This magnificent steed is Princess Batarella's loyal companion, and accompanies her on regular tours of her woodland home, helping to negotiate the rough terrain and carrying all the essentials a Princess may need.

Princess Batarella shares her dwelling with a host of fairy folk.  Whilst shy, some of them will show themselves, given encouragement from the Princess.  The fairies put a lot of work into maintaining their domain, and each has cultivated her own garden to provide all the things a fairy community may need.

And after all that work touring her domain, there is nothing a Princess likes more than to tuck into a freshly toasted marshmallow.  Grown by the fairies, and toasted over a magical flame, of course.

OK, just kidding.  Our pumpkin at home, an excursion to Mountain View Ranch to join in their half term bushcraft festivities (in Hallowe'en costume, naturally), and a sneaky roadsign from Neath.  Just because.

Princess Batarella's tour is linking up with Coombe Mills' Country Kids linky.  Are you?

Village Urban Resorts Cardiff

It doesn't happen very often that Daddy and I get a weekend to ourselves, and actually have something to do with our time.  Squeaky does visit my parents for sleepovers, but normally we've got nothing planned other than a swift pint in the local, and an undisturbed lie in.  However, some times, things just come together, and so it happened that we had the opportunity to visit the Village's Cardiff Urban Resort.  Even better when school announced an inset day to coincide with our trip, so Squeaky got longer with my folks, and we got more time to enjoy the facilities.

Now, I've eaten here a couple of times, but never had the chance to stay overnight before.  It's pretty close to home, but who says an escape has to be a long journey?  A retreat on your doorstep can be a really valuable concept.  And so, the Village.  The part of me that lives close by wonders why the hotel is just off the motorway, and just off the dual carriageway that forms my main route into the city centre. But then the sensible part of me remembers that hotels are located in places that are accessible for people who are travelling to them, and so the location is actually pretty much spot on.  It's a couple of miles out of the centre of Cardiff, which means it's not going to fill up with party-goers running up and down the corridors all night looking for their friends (and I've stayed in enough of those kind of hotels over the years), though it is a popular wedding venue, so it can get quite busy with groups over the weekend.

I love these cushions

We checked in on Friday lunchtime, and found plenty of parking space - always a good sign, and something of a rarity for city hotels, another bonus of being outside the city centre.  The hotel is pretty popular for business conferences and training events too, and they've clearly planned well with the large car park.  Our room was ready for us, even though we were earlier than the advertised check in of 3pm, and I was worryingly excited about the fact that we were staying in the "adults only" Upper Deck - the second (and top) floor of the hotel, with upgraded rooms, sky movies, a Starbucks hospitality tray, and lots of little touches to make this a real treat.  We don't get a night away from Squeaky all that often, so it was great to be just ourselves.  The room appeared newly decorated in a subtle modern style, and had everything you'd expect from a quality hotel - large flat-screen TV, plenty of seating space, hairdryer, an iron & ironing board, even an iPod dock, and a very special little welcome.

What a welcome

We set off from our room to experience the Viva spa, situated in the lower ground floor (I'm sure these floors used to be called basements!).  Due to errr, privacy, child protection, and risk of damage to your eyeballs, there are no pictures of me having a massage or in a swimming costume.  But just to make you jealous, I had a glorious 40 minute Lifesaving Back Treatment, my therapist Jessica was friendly and made the world of difference to my aching shoulders, and I floated out on cloud nine in a waft of Espa scented oils.  Life is good some days.  From the spa it was a couple of steps, wrapped up in my fluffy robe to the Velocity health club.  A gym (but I was really not feeling that energetic), pool, with jacuzzi, sauna and steam room.  I could spend all day in a steam room, given the choice.

That sadly wasn't possible, for the best reason, of course.  Dinner.  Our dinner reservation in the Verve restaurant had me slightly confused because there seems to be some rebranding between Verve and Vinny and Vito's, and I can't quite tell which way it's going.  Anyway, Verve is what our reservation said, so Verve it is.  The menu was kept simple, but with loads of intense and varied flavours.  With at least 4 vegetarian starters and main courses, there was a good choice, and I couldn't wait to get stuck in.  I opted for the caramelised onion & feta tartlet to start with, and couldn't have picked better if I'd been in the kitchen.  (At this point I have to apologise because I really couldn't take photos of Daddy's dinner across the table before he tucked in.)

Caramelised onion and feta tartlet

The buttery pastry of the tart, along with the generous amount of cheese was washed down with a crisp, dry New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, as I eyed up the meals arriving at the tables around me. The steaks definitely appeared to be popular, Daddy opted for the sirloin steak and chips which he declared to be perfect, whilst I pretended to be health conscious and chose a salmon fillet with new potatoes.  I was quite torn before I ordered this as the salsa contains coriander, and I'm really not a fan.  I'm glad I did though, because the coriander was light and didn't overpower the other flavours, giving the salmon a fresh edge and a really attractive presentation.

Salmon fillet with mango, coriander and chilli salsa

After a very relaxed night's sleep, we headed back to the Verve restaurant for breakfast.  I was only disappointed that I couldn't sit within view of the toast machine, because that is by far my favourite thing about buffet breakfasts.  However, the clientèle of the Village seemed to be a touch more competent than most, and there wasn't even a hint of flame coming out of it.  There was, on the other hand, a lovely selection of cooked breakfast, plus cereals, pastries, fruit, yogurts, and mini chocolate muffins which seemed to be going down a storm with the younger guests.  I was worryingly excited to be sat under one of the quirky light fittings I'd spotted the evening before, and took the opportunity for a cheeky photo.  Now I want to redecorate my kitchen.  I need these lights in my life.

Cool lighting

The Village is in a great location for exploring the scenery to the north of Cardiff. As well as being a spit away from Daddy's former employers, and only a mile away from his current work, it sits in the shadow of Castell Coch, a 19th Century Gothic Revival castle built on the ruins of an older castle on side of the mountain, and a regular location for TV filming.  Dr Who, The Worst Witch and Merlin have all filmed there, amongst others.  It rises up like a red fairy tale (Castell Coch is Welsh for Red Castle, you can see why) from the trees, and never fails to take my breath away.  Caerphilly is also only a stone's thrown away, as well as the sights of Cardiff, and the Brecon Beacons slightly further north.  And if you head that way, call in for a cuppa on your way past my house, and I'll tell you all the best places to go for bargains and cake!

Castell Coch

I loved the consistency of the V theme throughout the hotel. something that could be cheesy. but it's so well done with a hint of humour, and carried on through hashtags on their twitter feed as well.  A little bit of fun goes a long way.  We had a great night at Village's Cardiff hotel, and I'd be absolutely over the moon to go back, now I just need to find an excuse!

Disclosure: I was invited to be a guest at the hotel free of charge, and provided with a spa treatment and meal in the restaurant for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme and will not receive reward for their use.

Aberdulais Falls #NationalTrust

I start feeling terrifically old when my best idea for a day out with Miss Squeaky is a trip to the local National Trust site, Aberdulais Falls.  But really, should I? Or should I just suck it up and embrace the fact that someone thinks our local heritage is important and interesting enough to be protected, looked after, and shown to the public?  I need to work on those middle-aged & middle-class hobbies a bit more, don't I?  I'm good at charity shops, I own a picnic blanket, but I just can't get into Radio 4.

Well, National Trust it is then.  Off in the car 20 minutes down the road to Aberdulais Falls.  And perfectly for me, a great mix of nature and heritage, and not a stately home in site.  Aberdulais Falls is, as the name suggests, home to a waterfall.  A waterfall in a narrow gorge, that through the generations has provided the power to a tin works, as well as other industries lost to time.

Now, at this point I could bore you with a history lesson, but that's not why you come here. Instead, I shall bore you with photos, and tell you about what we did.

We stared at the waterfall and marvelled at how loud it was, while I tried (and failed) to take artsy photos.

We (OK, I) giggled at the name of a piece of equipment used in the tin works.  Wobbler is funny, right?

We skipped out on the educational DVD showing, in favour of a picnic.  Obviously.

We practised our leaf rubbing skills, and tried to find as many different colour leaves as possible.  And planted acorns to see if they would grow into oak trees.  Probably not, as they were planted in gravel.

And I got up-close and personal with a bee.  Apparently this is one of Robbie the formerly-invisible-bee's best friends.  He, and a couple of friends were making the most of the mint garden outside the old school house tea rooms.  It might be traditional to have tea & a slice of Victoria Sponge at the National Trust tea rooms, but I'm not quite that middle aged just yet.  Next year, maybe.

So, we did something cultured and educational with our weekend, as well as being in the beautiful, healthy outdoors.  What about you?

We're linking our trip up with Coombe Mill's Country Kids linky.  Why not pop along and get inspired?

Tiptoe Quietly Through The Forest

We had another little adventure recently, Squeaky and I, along with PirateGirl, MiniMe and their outrageously glamorous MummyMandy took off to Mountain View Ranch, just outside Caerphilly for the day.  Somewhere I'd never even heard of until a couple of days before.  As with many of our adventures, it started out with hurtling down narrow country roads feeling like a rally driver before screeching to a dusty halt in the car park.

Blinging Birdhouse

For somewhere we never even knew existed, it was a definite hit.  The girls took off immediately into the outdoor play area, smeared liberally with sun cream, and spent a very happy hour climbing, swinging and sliding while we caught up with a chat and lots of cries of "higher, faster". We rented a trolley cart to pull along our bags and/or children, possibly the best £2 ever spent, as it seems an hour of playing takes it's toll on little legs, and even a picnic and decorating gingerbread men can't revive those achy feet.

There were three in the trolley, and the little one said...

We pressed on, exploring just part of the ranch's grounds, with the aim of exploring the Fairy Forest. Well, did you think three small girls would be able to resist that?  And truly, it was magical. A clearing in the forest, fairy doors in the trees, a few hidden fairies watching over us, the blingiest birdhouse I've ever seen, and even a grumpy looking frog as guardian of the fairy realm.  We could happily have spent all day in this one section, looking for more evidence of the fairies, and running around the trees.

We finally left the fairies in peace, and headed back to our cars, well and truly exhausted, with plans to return another day.  There's bunnies to be petted, ponies to be groomed, High Ropes & Segway tours for the grown ups (though I'm not sure my balance is really up to either of those), so we'll have to pop back in the autumn to explore some more, as I know there was lots of the site we didn't see.

But for now, I'm away with the fairies, as if you didn't already know.

I'm linking the fairy adventure up with Coombe Mill's Country Kids linky. 

Disclosure: I paid for our tickets to the Mountain View Ranch myself. I have not been asked to write this review, or offered any compensation for doing so.  All opinions are my own, and links are provided for convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate schemes and will not receive reward for their use.

Through Another's Eyes

We went on a day trip last week with the preschool group Squeaky's been part of over the last while.  Nowhere is more likely to appeal to me than a day at the seaside, particularly in Weston-super-Mare, as I grew up just down the road and spent far too much time there in my not-so-wild and mis-spent youth  And the thought of someone else coming up with an idea for how to fill an entire day of the seemingly endless school holidays is very attractive indeed.

So, onto the coach we climbed, and headed off for our adventures.  Riding the donkeys on the beach (it's the law!), a lovely lunch with my parents (who still live just up the road), a trip on the merry-go-round, and an afternoon in the splash park meant we had a wholesome and fun filled family day out in the sunshine.  It didn't cost us a great deal, just a couple of £s for the rides, and more importantly, it didn't take huge amounts of planning from me.

Our new friend Fred

In fact, Squeaky's very favourite part of the day was climbing onto, and jumping from a large rock in the playground of the splash park.  The local council spent thousands on converting some old wasteground into a fantastic park, and she's more interested in a rock.  Figures.

Rock, obvs

My favourite part, on the other hand, was chatting to some of the other parents on the coach, and hearing what they had to say about Squeaky.

I mean, I know that much like Mary Poppins, she's "Practically Perfect in Every Way", but when you hear from other parents that their children say to them that "Squeaky's a big girl, but she still talks to me, I like her", or that they report back every day on whether she was at the group that day, and are really sad on the days she's not there, it's quite a thing.  (And for full disclosure, as I was writing this longhand in my notebook at the local soft play, when a grandparent came up to me and complemented me on how nicely Squeaky was playing with her much younger granddaughter)

There are times when I worry about her, that she seems shy, or doesn't seem to know how to ask to join in a game with others, and finds herself left on the sidelines.  But really, it seems I have nothing to worry about.

Our day in the Somerset sunshine is linking up with Coombe Mill's Coutry Kids Linky.  

Doctor Who Monster Family Day Out

It didn't make it to my Guilty Pleasures list the other week, because there's nothing to feel guilty about, but over the last couple of years, I've become a bit of a Doctor Who fan.  Not so far as to be a Whovian, and way too slow to watch any given episode, seeing as they don't yet show it on Disney Junior, but a fan all the same.  So when we were offered the chance to visit the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff as part of their Monster Family Day Out, we were pretty pleased. I've been meaning to go for ages, since they moved to their new home in Porth Teigr (Tiger Bay to you and me).  Actually, to be honest, the last time I went to the exhibition, it was a room in the back of Longleat House, and was nothing more than a couple of coats, K9, and a shop selling postcards.

Looking out for Daleks

Well, it's nothing like that now.  I shan't spoil the adventure for you, but there's an interactive walk through, lead by none less than The Doctor himself, with Daleks, 3D, and actual adventuring.  It might be a little scary for some small folk, but it's fast moving and the scary bits soon pass.  Squeaky said it was "really terrifying" in places, but I think she's just showing off some new words.  She joined in, and loved the Daleks, no matter how scary they're meant to be.  I wasn't allowed to take photos in that part of our trip, so as not to spoil it for anyone else, but trust me, it's great.

Then, after the interactive experience we moved on to the exhibition.  Squeaky was a bit less impressed with the first half, with costumes and TARDIS controls panels through the eras, but as she doesn't remember any of them, I can kinda understand that.  Upstairs however, it was much more to her taste.  There were activities going on, including face painting,and the chance to make your very own Dalek, lots of other Daleks, TARDISes (what is the plural of TARDIS anyway?) and props to look at, and one Dalek you could even control!

Busy making Daleky-Dalek the Dalek

The one thing that I found a little disappointing was that, aside from one mention of Clara as a Dalek, the experience stopped at the Amy and Rory era of Doctor Who, as if the last year or so, a new companion, and the latest regeneration had never happened.  It would have been good to see a couple of things relating to the current shows, especially for me as a fairly new viewer.  But that's me, isn't it?  For the dedicated Whovian, it would make much more sense.

Lego Dalek

We had a MONSTER fun day out at the Doctor Who Experience, and with the extra activities for children over the school holidays, it's a great choice for a different day out for the whole family.

Disclosure: I was given free entry for myself and Squeaky to the Doctor Who Experience for the purposes of this review post. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own. Links are provided for convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme and will not receive reward for their use.

(Belated) Happy New Year

I have an excuse.  It's been Christmas, and New Year & School Holibobs, and I've been kind of busy being Mum, rather than being Blogger Mum.  But hey ho, it's the weekend, school starts on Monday, and it's about time I got back on the blogging horse, so to speak.  Even though it wasn't me on the horse!

Happy New Year is the name of the post, and on Tuesday that's exactly what Squeaky, Pirate Girl, Mini Me (Pirate Girl's little sister) and a couple of somewhat frazzled Mummies had.  Yes, Tuesday.  Don't look at me like that.  I know what I'm talking about, for once.

Bunneh!

I had a lovely email last week, from the nice folk at Cantref Adventure Farm, saying I'd won 4 free tickets to their children's New Year Party, and as Mini Me is small enough to get in for free anyway, the guest list was easily filled.  Off we trundled through the hailstones into the wilds of the Brecon Beacons for a Mid-day Midnight.  And what a fab time was had by all.  Aside from the usual Cantref fun of meeting the cute & fuzzy animals, jumping in ball pools, and throwing yourself down slides in the name of fun, there was a full-on New Year's party to keep the small people entertained as well.

Look at me, Mummy!

No, honestly.  There were party dances, musical statues, musical bumps, pass the parcel, and the all-important countdown, Big Ben Chimes and Auld Lang Syne. Balloons, party poppers, I don't envy the cleaning up job afterwards!  All presided over by Cantref's very own Mr Ev's.

Should auld acquiantance be forgot...

Cha Cha Slide, kinda

Mr Ev's, our genial host.

Talking of horses, Squeaky & Pirate Girl made the most of the fact that Cantref is also a riding centre, and braved the cold (it had stopped snowing by then) to ride on one of Cantref's  friendly ponies.  NOT Mr Ev's, he's far too cheeky for riding.  I love how grown up they manage to look in their riding hats & anoraks.  It's serious business, you know.

Very serious business!

And for their hard work they each received a special Cantref rosette to commemorate their superb riding skills, and mugging for the camera abilities!

I'll leave you with one last shot of the stunning scenery that makes Cantref so special, and a place we return to with smiles & laughter every time.  Even in the cold of December, it's still so beautiful.  Squeaky, Pirate Girl, Mini Me, and their mummies had an amazing day, and what a genius idea.  See you next New Year!

We're linking this post up with the Coombe Mill Country Kids Linky.   

Disclosure: I received free tickets to the New Years Eve party through a competition on Facebook. I was not asked nor obliged to write this post, I have chosen to do so to share our experience.

A return to Cantref

Those of you with long memories will remember that a couple of years ago, Squeaky & I took off to Cantref Adventure Farm near Brecon for an Easter Adventure.  If I'm completely honest, she was a bit too little for it at the time, though it was a lovely day out.

Well, last week, with the bank holiday, we decided to go back. The sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, so we slapped on some suncream & jumped in the car.

As Squeaky is a bit bigger now than she was two years ago, I had to pay for her to get in (only by 1 cm, but a rule's a rule).  But being over the minimum height meant she was able to join in a lot more of the activities this time around.

We fed a very greedy baby lamb, despite being a bit wary before he came round to us.  He was very friendly, and drank the milk far quicker than a human baby would!  Squeaky was quite surprised that baby animals drink milk, from bottles, just like human babies.

We wandered off outside, and had a look around the farm.  The paddle boats were something I thought would still be beyond the capabilities of a small and cautious 3 year old Squeaky, but no, she was determined to have a go, and I'm not bragging (much) when I say she got the hang of it far faster than the older children who were having their turn at the same time.

We joined in the pet handling show, where we got to meet baby rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats and ducklings, Squeaky was very brave and petted them all - and I was very restrained and didn't try to sneak the ducklings out in my handbag. They were just a bit too cute to be real, and only about 3 days old, so they were little yellow balls of fluff.

Squeaky spent a happy hour or so on the indoor play areas.  This wasn't a bad thing, as the weather was really quite hot, and it meant we got a bit of a break from the sun.  Almost everything at Cantref is free, once you've paid your entrance fee.  The only additional charges are for one mechanical digger inside the main barn, and the pony rides.  Oh yes, the pony rides.  Now that Squeaky's tall enough to have to pay to get in, she's tall enough to have a pony ride.  She wasn't quite so sure about the helmet, but accepted the fact that everyone has to wear one when they're on the ponies.

Squeaky rode a pony called Dusty.  I was quite lucky with our timing, as he was just about the right size for her, the other pony was much bigger, and I'm not sure she would have been so happy to ride him.  This, I felt was a bit of a swizz, it was an extra £2 for the pony ride, which was one guided walk around a small enclosure.  OK, it's no shorter distance than a donkey ride on the beach, and a comparable price, and I suspect it's partly to ensure everyone gets a chance - if it were free the same children would spend all day on there at the expense of other visitors.  But even so, it wasn't great value.  She did get a rosette at the end of her ride, though, which she is very proud of.

I mentioned the indoor play areas.  There's a great big indoor adventure playground, much of which was still a bit challenging for Squeaky.  It might have been the number of older children on it that put her off (it was a very busy day!), or it might have been the size of some of the obstacles.  But she had great fun in the under 4's section, and on the big slide.  Thankfully she decided the sheer drop slide wasn't for her, I'm not sure I could have watched that!  She was also really quite taken with the tractor rides, and spent quite a while pedalling, and maintaining her tractor.  The attention to detail in this section was great.  There were 3 fuel pumps, as well as a dummy pressure washer and tyre pressure gauge.  I'm working on getting her to do my tyres next!

She also took great delight in the soft ball area.  I can't think of a better description.  A netted area with 4 ball launchers, a great big target bucket, and oodles of spongy tennis balls.  More of which hit me than their target, but never mind.

Squeaky also managed to persuade me to have a go on the swamp adventure, which we'd had to miss out last time we visited.  A rowing boat, a lot of swampy water, and public humiliation.  Rowing is far harder than it looks, and I have a newfound respect for our Olympic heroes, who make it look so easy.  (That said, I'm not the person just in front of us who got their boat stuck 3 times and had to be rescued)

I'm glad we went back, it was a fun day out for Squeaky and I.  I was really pleased that she was able to take part in so much more this time around, and really got into the whole experience.  It's not somewhere I'd go all that often, because there's only so many times you can do the same things, and there's other places to visit around here too, but as she gets older, there's more for her to do, and more for her to take in.

I paid for our tickets, this review was not requested or sought by Cantref.  I have not received any form of payment or compensation for this review.  All opinions are my own.  I am not a member of any affiliate scheme, links are provided for convenience, I will not receive reward for their use.

Our Bluestone Break

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a competition on facebook to win a short break at Bluestone, a holiday park situated in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.  It's somewhere I've been dying to visit for ages, so I was ecstatic to win, even though I then had to persuade my boss to let me have the week off work!

Home Sweet Home

Now, when you hear the words "holiday park", what springs to mind? Caravans?  Ancient chalets like something off Hi-De-Hi?  None of that here. Our home for the week was a log cabin!  Not just any log cabin though, one with all the mod cons, a dishwasher, freeview telly, wet-room shower, a heated towel rail (you know my thing for heated towel rails!) big squishy sofas, an oven that puts mine to shame (and stumped me the first time I tried to use it).  And just in case, like me, you don't have a dishwasher at home, and didn't think to bring detergent, a starter pack with a short-break's-worth of dishwasher tablets & washing up liquid.  Forget log cabin, this is more like a log palace!

No Keep Off The Grass here!

Now, Bluestone is a very family orientated resort. Not just family-friendly, it's really set up to make sure the kids have a great time.  There's banners all the way up the drive with "Lots for Tots", "Where kids can be kids", "Free Range Children" and things like that.  It's not cheesy, in your face, traditional holiday camp style entertainment, club dances & creepy stuffed characters, but more like the wistful memories of the childhood you *think* you had, the one you read in an Enid Blyton book.  Lashings & lashings of ginger beer.  Rather than being encouraged to follow strict rules & stick to the paths, quite the opposite.  I love this sign, it sums up the spirit of Bluestone, for me it was all about adventure & nature, and just getting outside & enjoying it.  We were blessed with fabulous weather, which made it all that much easier, but in these surroundings, we couldn't help but enjoy ourselves.

If you go down to the woods today...

Squeaky was a bit frightened when we first spoke about staying in a log cabin in the woods.  I think it was the woods bit she was more concerned about, but I can't be sure.  I managed to talk her round though, with promises of a Teddy Bears' Picnic, and too much singing of "If you go down to the woods today...".  So she was absolutely determined that we should have a Teddy Bears' Picnic during our stay.  All other toys were left at home in favour of Tower Teddy and an un-named white Teddy.  According to Squeaky, teddy bears eat cheese, so I prepared a picnic of ham sandwiches for her, cheese for the teddies, chicken wings for the grown-ups, and crisps & pop for everyone.

Mummy's lego house.

Even if the weather hadn't been so good, we would have been fine.  The Adventure Centre had all sorts of undercover activities, including miniature golf, a lego room, where I might have got a little bit carried away and forgot that I was meant to be an adult now, a Circus Zone for the under 5's, a massive adventure playground with slides & rope bridges, and the Big Four activities - high wire swings, climbs, rope trails & bungees, though this last one had an additional fee.

There's a full programme of activities daily, some are free of charge, but others are paid for.  We didn't take part in any of the paid activities, because we found more than enough to occupy ourselves without doing so, and because Squeaky's still young enough to not know what else is going on.  I can see though, if you have older children that there's the potential for things to get very expensive.


We visited the swimming pool every day, another activity included free in your break.  There's no photos of this, mind, for obvious reasons.  The pool was great fun, as long as you're not a serious swimmer, as there's nowhere you could swim lengths.  Daddy spent much of his time on the slides, with 4 to choose from, he was occupied for a while.  Squeaky alternated between the children's pool and the shallow end of the big pool, and I bobbed about in the waves and around the lazy river.  I couldn't believe the lazy river went outside, and we were happily basking in an outdoor pool, in the UK, in April, at 5 in the afternoon.  Unbelievable!  There's a spa bath outside as well, for the over 12's.  That was a bit of an experience, dashing from a warm swimming pool to a hot spa bath, when the air between the two is a bit on the nippy side!  Made me enjoy the warm water all the more though!

Mmmmm, wine

Kids aside, I think Bluestone were expecting me.  Just take a look at one of the shops I spotted in the Village!  I've seen an off-licence on holiday sites before, but normally just a Spar.  I love the idea of a Wine Store on site.  It was part of a larger convenience store, but the whole of this storefront side was just wines & beers.  Lovely!  Just what I needed at the end of the day.  To be fair, even though we took a 3 year old Squeaky along, and there were a lot of children there, I'm pretty sure you could still have a great break at Bluestone if you didn't have children.  There's masses of woodland to explore, cycle, run, walk, however you see fit.  There's a High Ropes adventure course, adrenalin activities in the Adventure Centre, a glorious pool with slides.  And if there's not enough on site to occupy you, it's literally next door to Oakwood (seriously, you can see the rides from the site) for all the high-adrenalin rides you could ever need, and half an hour from the beaches & shops of Tenby.  I spent a lot of time thinking about which of my friends would love it the best, and came to the conclusion that all of them would, for different reasons.

The Treehouse

New for 2013 is the treehouse in The Village.  A series of inter-connected treehouses, linked by wobbly bridges, tunnels & slides.  This was where you'd find Squeaky, and lots of other children at every opportunity.  Over the course of our stay we saw her confidence increase on the bridges & she explored more & more on her own.  Which meant we were able to watch from the sidelines and have a little break ourselves.

Move over Ray Mears!

We took off for a "short" walk in the woods, following one of the nature trails.  We went a bit further than we'd really planned, but it did mean we got to see an area of the site that we'd not otherwise found.  Camp Smokey is a BBQ restaurant (sadly it was only open one day during our stay & we missed it), deep in the woods, and surrounded by the High Ropes adventure course, where we had the chance to watch one of the staff team zipping around above our heads carrying out his daily safety checks before any of the guests took part.  Part of me would love to have tried it out, but I can imagine myself getting stuck, dangling from a wire 30 feet up in the air, with everyone laughing at me.  And let's face it, those harnesses are hardly flattering!  Fair play to Squeaky though, she walked the whole way, which was probably about a mile & a half.  Because there was so much to look at, she didn't have chance to get bored & demand to be carried.  We followed numbers on the nature trail signs, found creatures, picked up interesting sticks, and collected tiny pine cones, for reasons best known to her.

Give us an "S"

I really appreciated the environmental ethics of the park.  All the accommodation has solar panels on the roofs, the pool is heated using biomass (believed to be the first in the world!).  You're encouraged to sort your waste into recyclable and non-recyclable sections.  The gates to the main site are only open on Mondays & Fridays, to allow cars to the cabins for checking in & out.  Outside these times, cars are parked in the main car park.  There's a few ways to get around the site though.  There's bikes (with baby trailers) and golf buggies available to hire, a free land train which circles the site hourly, or good old fashioned foot power.  We opted for the latter two.  There were times, especially in the afternoons, where the land train was incredibly welcome, after a hard day's adventuring.  The lack of cars on the site meant I had a bit more confidence in Squeaky's safety, after all, a golf buggy with a top speed of 5 mph might hurt if it hit you, but it'd do a lot less damage than a car.

And for my next trick

After our walk in the woods, we rewarded ourselves with a cuppa, a huge chocolate muffin, and a trip to the Circus Zone.  The Circus Zone is bizarre, it's free in the mornings, and then you have to pay in the afternoons.  So we went in the mornings!  Squeaky had a great time being a cheerleader, putting on a circus show in her tent, and being a caterpillar.  Again, reasons best known to herself.  I don't ask.

A caterpillar. Possibly Very Hungry.

Newton North Church

And finally, I'll leave you with one of my favourite pictures.  There's a ruined mediaeval church in the Village, which has been slowly reclaimed by nature.  I'm fascinated by the way nature takes things back bit by bit, and the church stood out so beautifully against the evening sky.  There's also the remains of a mediaeval manor house elsewhere in the site, but too far to persuade Squeaky to walk to just for me to take artsy photos.  Maybe when she's a bit bigger?

Disclosure: I won a four night break at Bluestone, free of charge.  I was not asked to write this review as part of my prize, but I have chosen to do so. I have not received anything for writing this review. I have not been told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.