The British have an awesome answer for active family get-a-ways. It is called Center Parcs.
We decided to check it out and I booked a long weekend for our youngest birthday. I packed Friday morning and we got everything in the car and left around 10am, planning to get their around noon. After we had been in the car about 20 mins Sean asked me if I remembered to pack the birthday presents. What??? Oh, crap! Sean asked the birthday boy if he would be OK opening his gifts when we got home Monday. After some tears and talking we did get the tears stopped, doh!
We arrived on Friday around noon and grabbed our keys. We were not allowed to check in to our room until 15:00. We had come prepared, so we grabbed our things and headed to the pool. We walked into the changing area and we were met with little cubicles that would accommodate single people or families. There was also the option for a women or a men's changing area that was set up like a typical locker room. The toilets were also in a cubicles in one space. Boys ad girls used them, and they had sinks in each stall. It all may sounds strange to your American mind, but I have to tell you, it was brilliant! The boys headed out to the various pools/slides and I sat down and read my Kindle.
At 15:00 I was allowed to drive the car to the villa to unload and then we had to take the car back to the carpark. Cars are not allowed near the villas except for specific times. Guests are not allowed to drive around the park, but instead they are encouraged to ride bikes or walk along the extensive path system. There are many places and activities to walk to, Center Parcs is a place for activity!
After the boys swam, they met us back at the Villa and we had a light dinner in, Fish and Chip Friday! The Villa was comfortable. It was a three bedroom, 2.5 bath room. It had a small kitchenette with apartment sized appliances and two TV's. It was definitely comfortable, not luxury. I paid extra to have linens, soap and things.
Saturday arrived and we all wished our little birthday boy a happy day and we headed out to the first booked activity, quad riding. My two older sons rode in one group and my two younger sons rode in another group. I put a word into the coordinators and the had the group sing Happy Birthday and the birthday boy was presented with a little bag of chocolates. After the activity I was advised to go to guest services and let them know that he had a birthday. They gave him a birthday badge and let the restaurant where we were having dinner at know so we could celebrate appropriately.
After the quad riding we headed back to the pool. We had some time until or next booked activity. We spent a few hours around the pool and then changed and headed to the next activity. My older sons were headed to Street Boarding and Sean and I were headed with the little guys to archery. We dropped the older two at their activity and headed to archery. After a successful run at archery we headed back to get the older two. My oldest son, who swore he was not going to enjoy it had a great time! My second oldest son, enjoyed it, he was just not feeling well.
For dinner we headed to Hank's Grill, which promised "American" food. We found it to be mostly accurate with the burger and ribs that were offered, but we found it interesting that the Brits think that french fries are ate with cheese sauce normally in the US. I guess that it is something that we do not view as typical American fair.
Sunday, we woke early and tried to grab breakfast with our vouchers before laser tag at 9am. We figured that breakfast would be served early. Boy, were we mistaken! The restaurants did not open until half 8! What??? Yeah, we are so not in America! It was a case in which we should not have assumed and we should have checked. Of course our vouchers were not help, as no hours were listed on them either! So, we grabbed a quick bite at the villa and then headed for Lasertag. The boys had a great time. They had all been looking forward to playing. The birthday boy even asked to play again!
After laser tag we had been scheduled to golf, but due to scheduling conflicts with breakfast, we had to cancel. So, off we headed to eat breakfast. We had the traditional English breakfast, eggs, sausage, rasher (bacon that is grilled and is similar to ham), potatoes, baked beans, and toast. We had it pub style, which meant that we ordered at the bar and we were served by table number. It was a good breakfast, and it was our third son's favorite.
After breakfast we headed back to the pool and spent the rest of the day there. The boys had a good time. Swimming was interrupted by a fire alarm. At that point our swim time was coming to a close as we had dinner plans again. As we were assembling to leave, Sean had an unfortunate slip on some steps. Thankfully, he ended up with just some bruising and nothing more.
We headed out and changed for dinner. Dinner was traditional English roast with veg, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Lots of gravy! Pud was included. We enjoyed the ice cream and the English pancake (kind of like a crepe) with golden syrup. Yum!
We headed back to the Villa for the evening and settled in watching a bit of TV. It was then that the itchies started. It started with one and quickly spread to three, the fourth was asleep and Sean had a little rash as well. It must have been from the pool. Thankfully, we got things under control rather quickly with some lotion and Benadryl.
Monday morning we woke with the rashes all gone. We finished up our packing and I walked back to the car and brought it around so that we could load it. The car was loaded and put back into the carpark. We grabbed breakfast again and headed to some of the play parks. They are completely awesome with equipment that Sean and I even jumped on with the kids. In fact many parents did as well. All in all it was a nice weekend and we had some fun and made some nice memories during our visit to Nottingham Forest!
We left around noon and got back to the house. Never fear, our birthday boy did get his presents and cake, cupcakes in fact! :)
We decided to check it out and I booked a long weekend for our youngest birthday. I packed Friday morning and we got everything in the car and left around 10am, planning to get their around noon. After we had been in the car about 20 mins Sean asked me if I remembered to pack the birthday presents. What??? Oh, crap! Sean asked the birthday boy if he would be OK opening his gifts when we got home Monday. After some tears and talking we did get the tears stopped, doh!
We arrived on Friday around noon and grabbed our keys. We were not allowed to check in to our room until 15:00. We had come prepared, so we grabbed our things and headed to the pool. We walked into the changing area and we were met with little cubicles that would accommodate single people or families. There was also the option for a women or a men's changing area that was set up like a typical locker room. The toilets were also in a cubicles in one space. Boys ad girls used them, and they had sinks in each stall. It all may sounds strange to your American mind, but I have to tell you, it was brilliant! The boys headed out to the various pools/slides and I sat down and read my Kindle.
At 15:00 I was allowed to drive the car to the villa to unload and then we had to take the car back to the carpark. Cars are not allowed near the villas except for specific times. Guests are not allowed to drive around the park, but instead they are encouraged to ride bikes or walk along the extensive path system. There are many places and activities to walk to, Center Parcs is a place for activity!
After the boys swam, they met us back at the Villa and we had a light dinner in, Fish and Chip Friday! The Villa was comfortable. It was a three bedroom, 2.5 bath room. It had a small kitchenette with apartment sized appliances and two TV's. It was definitely comfortable, not luxury. I paid extra to have linens, soap and things.
Saturday arrived and we all wished our little birthday boy a happy day and we headed out to the first booked activity, quad riding. My two older sons rode in one group and my two younger sons rode in another group. I put a word into the coordinators and the had the group sing Happy Birthday and the birthday boy was presented with a little bag of chocolates. After the activity I was advised to go to guest services and let them know that he had a birthday. They gave him a birthday badge and let the restaurant where we were having dinner at know so we could celebrate appropriately.
For dinner we headed to Hank's Grill, which promised "American" food. We found it to be mostly accurate with the burger and ribs that were offered, but we found it interesting that the Brits think that french fries are ate with cheese sauce normally in the US. I guess that it is something that we do not view as typical American fair.
After laser tag we had been scheduled to golf, but due to scheduling conflicts with breakfast, we had to cancel. So, off we headed to eat breakfast. We had the traditional English breakfast, eggs, sausage, rasher (bacon that is grilled and is similar to ham), potatoes, baked beans, and toast. We had it pub style, which meant that we ordered at the bar and we were served by table number. It was a good breakfast, and it was our third son's favorite.
After breakfast we headed back to the pool and spent the rest of the day there. The boys had a good time. Swimming was interrupted by a fire alarm. At that point our swim time was coming to a close as we had dinner plans again. As we were assembling to leave, Sean had an unfortunate slip on some steps. Thankfully, he ended up with just some bruising and nothing more.
We headed out and changed for dinner. Dinner was traditional English roast with veg, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Lots of gravy! Pud was included. We enjoyed the ice cream and the English pancake (kind of like a crepe) with golden syrup. Yum!
We headed back to the Villa for the evening and settled in watching a bit of TV. It was then that the itchies started. It started with one and quickly spread to three, the fourth was asleep and Sean had a little rash as well. It must have been from the pool. Thankfully, we got things under control rather quickly with some lotion and Benadryl.
Monday morning we woke with the rashes all gone. We finished up our packing and I walked back to the car and brought it around so that we could load it. The car was loaded and put back into the carpark. We grabbed breakfast again and headed to some of the play parks. They are completely awesome with equipment that Sean and I even jumped on with the kids. In fact many parents did as well. All in all it was a nice weekend and we had some fun and made some nice memories during our visit to Nottingham Forest!
We left around noon and got back to the house. Never fear, our birthday boy did get his presents and cake, cupcakes in fact! :)
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