10 Things I love about my 15 month old.

I haven't been doing regular Nye updates but I wanted to remember the silly everyday things that always make me smile.

1. You give 100 kisses a day and even more if you want something.
2. You throw yourself with wild abandon into any pile of soft looking objects.  
3. The way you gently feed the dog your food.
4. Your angry screwed up face and huffy strops - I always have to try to hold a straight face.
5. Your amazing tripod pen grip & the way you go off to find yourself a notebook and pen.
6. Your love of being outside and your ability to imitate me digging up the weeds.
7. The way you pick up shingle and put it in your watering can. 
8. You have the best dace moves, you bop the instant a catchy tune reaches your ears.
9. Your cheeky head tilt grin.
10. The way you point with both index fingers if you REALLY want something.

Lets Get Growing

Over the last few years I have tried to improve our front and back garden by growing flowers, fruit and vegetables by seed.  So far we have had mixed results but still love the challenge and achievement of being able to look at the things you've grown and know you've nurtured them from seed.  I took great pride in planting sun flower seeds last year with Nye and hoped to be able to show him the plant as it grew.  Unfortunately the gang of slugs and snails that live in our garden scuppered by plans but this year I am determined to win the battle.

Baby Nye's 1st Sunflower Seeds

This month Center Parcs sent all the family bloggers a pack of sunflower seeds to plant to get into the spring vibe.  As the end of the month nears, I have finally got round to planting up my seeds and I am hoping they will have sprouted by the end of the week.  I do love how the seeds discard their outer shell and twist up from the soil.  Sunflowers are actually one of my favourite flowers.  I even had them in my wedding bouquet.

Photography by Danielle Benbow

As I mentioned above I have had mixed results but here is a list of my top 5 plants to grow.  I can assure you  that if I have managed to keep these alive, you can too!  I buy most of my bulbs and seeds at £1 land and have found that they grow well but for more specific varieties (like purple sprouting broccolli) the garden center is probably your best bet.

Seeds starting to grow

1. Sweet Peas (Sow Seeds March - April)
2. Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Sow Seeds March - June)
3. Daffodils (Plant Bulbs October - December)
4. Gladioli (Plant Bulbs March - April)
5. Tomatoes (Sow Seeds March - April)

DISCLOSURE - I am writing this post as part of my role as Center Parcs Family Blogger. To be in with the chance to become one yourself and win a short break to a Center Parcs Village of your choice,  share your gardening experiences on your blog and tweet us a link to it.  You can take a series of pictures of your family sowing seeds or making plant pots or, simply write about the experience and share your gardening tips with other families. Be sure to include the Center Parcs and Tots 100 handles in your tweet, as well as the #CPFamilyBreaks hashtag.

Please find the full terms and conditions for the challenge here, and do make sure to be careful when handling certain plants if you are prone to allergies.

Good Luck!

Brighton - Family Day Out

As I mentioned in my Stylish Sunday post, we headed to Brighton last weekend to lap up the sunshine.

Brighton is one of our favourite places to visit.  I remember the first time we went there back when Neil and I were both still students and we took the train from New Cross.  We took a picnic and explored the lanes together, discovering Choccy Woccy Doo Dah for the first time, falling in love with the cute arcades and wonderful shops.

As it is the seaside then obviously ice cream and fish and chips simply MUST be eaten.  I particularly like Scoop and Crumb which we have been two on the last two visits.  Personally I like to grab chips on the sea front even though they obviously aren't the cheapest place, it's the sense of living in the moment that I love.

Since that first time we have been back several times a year.  I do so love the sea and it's normally a spontaneous thing we do when the sun is shining and we fancy a London escape.  I kind of miss the fact that it's better for us to drive these days as there really is something joyful about taking the train to the sea side.

We took Nye for the first time when he was just a few months old and he slept through most of it whilst cuddled up in his baby carrier.  This time he broke out his shorts for their first wear of 2013 and enjoyed chilling in his pushchair and exploring the beach.  The light shone down on his round ankles as he kicked his feet merrily, despite us arriving amidst the crowds and road closures of the Brighton Marathon.

It was fun to see Nye cautiously mastering the cobbles bit by bit and once he was balanced we took him down to the sea to get his feet wet.  He loved picking up the sand and small stones as the tide tickled his toes.  I did find myself unusually cautious about him going too close to the water.  The waves were very big and came crashing towards us with force.  I constantly had the urge to run away for fear of something terrible happening even though by the time the water got to us it was more of a trickle.  Neil was laughing at me, so I left them there playing together, whilst I snapped pictures of them enjoying themselves keeping my protectiveness at bay.  

When Neil did eventually come back exhausted from holding Nye back from wading into the sea, he swiftly reverse crawled back to the sea.  Then came my turn to play in the sea, so I took off my sandals and let the freezing water cover my toes.  Nye was fascinated by the little streams that are left once the tide fades away and kept trying to pick the water up.  I was astonished by how brave he was, loving the sea despite the unfamiliar loud noises and smells.  I get the feeling sometimes that he would be quite happy exploring the world without us, knowing that he can come and find us when he gets bored.

As it was Sunday and we didn't head over until after Lunch, it wasn't long before the shops shut and the streets cleared out.  For us this was a nice opportunity to have some food, and Nye enjoyed sampling my cannelloni and Neil's meatballs.  Nye is quite the socialite and has developed a new trait of waving enthusiastically at everyone in the vicinity, kind of like he is the king and his 'people' are here to see him.  He also loves to copy adults so when he saw us with our menus he promptly picked up the wine list to have a browse.

It really was a wonderful day and I'm so glad I took my camera so I can remember what we got up to.  What a lovely way to spend the last day of the Easter holiday.

Happy Anniversary

2 years ago today we did this...

Images by Danielle Benbow

Being married really isn't something I think about on a daily basis.  It is something that sits in the back of my mind making me have an inner sense of security and stability .  Since we have been married we have made our way through pregnancy, birth, baby and toddler days and now the crazy days of selling our first house.  This year has much more to come, there are already some big developments on the horizon but I sense there will be some surprises mixed in.

Last year we had a fantastic lunch at The Hand and Flowers in Marlow.  It was a long drive but so worth it as we sped down the motorway, a sleeping baby in the back and the sun beaming down on us.  The food was extraordinary.  Unexpected combinations, delicious flavour and comfortable relaxed surroundings.

This year we have booked a table at Chez Bruce one of our favourite London restaurants.  We're also very lucky to have the baby sitting expertise of my parents in law, so we shall be having our second evening out without Nye.  I secretly can't wait to be having a meal without worrying about the patience of a certain little boy.

Beautiful Clothing from Zulily - Review

The increasingly mobile stages of toddlerhood have been taking their toll on Nye's wardrobe. I have noticed that he will be in need of some sturdy items that will outlast his constant moving around.  He scoots around and around and around and every day I become more and more bored of a little boys wardrobe full of blue stripy things!  I know that it is worth investing in clothing that lasts especially as Nye hates to be changed so anything he wears has to be durable for a full days wear.

With this in mind, last week Zulily got in touch to ask if I would be interested in doing a clothing review and this is what they sent me:

As soon as the items arrived I was so excited for Nye to try them on because I could feel from the material that they were much higher quality and design than most of the items available for baby's and toddlers. Each piece is made by a different brand and the designs are so interesting and fun.  I am slightly in love with jumper, it's perfectly warm for these cool spring days we're having.  When we took him out last week in his he had people pointing and smiling from across the street as it really is so striking but most importantly cute!  The trousers were also fantastic because they elasticated waste band means that he can easily go from walking to crawling without being uncomfortable.

Browsing the website I have found that the ranges on Zulily are all really unusual and unique and by having all the different designers together it means you can browse a variety of styles without moving from one website.  This means that instead of being a slave to one particular brand you can pick and choose from the best boutiques as well as bigger stores, all in one basket. And as anyone who has seen my other posts on shopping, I am obsessed with sales. Most importantly, the prices on Zulily are usually offering 30%-90% off usual retail prices.  You have to sign in to the website to see the stuff their offering, but this is a minor inconvenience for a well laid out and easy to navigate website.

Here's a few of my favourite picks on Zulily at the moment.

The buyer does have to beware on one thing though, the best offers don't stick around for long!  The stock is constantly changing and updating with branded events running on a daily basis.  It's well worth keeping an eye because I have spied that there will be some Melissa and Doug stuff appearing, my absolute favourite brand of quality Children's Wooden Toys.  I already can't wait to see what items they will have.  And I should probably mention that if someone you refer makes an order you receive £10 credit, an added bonus.

DISCLAIMER:

I received the clothing above for the purpose of reviewing Zulily.  All pictures and words are my own and 100% honest.

Baby and Child Bedding

Finding bedding for Nye that is cute but not sickly sweet or massively expensive is quite the challenge.  Nye moved from his cot to a cot bed some time ago when we saw one being given away nearby on freecycle.  We knew his cot wouldn't last forever and getting a bigger bed for free seemed prudent, especially as it came with the attachments to turn it into a toddler bed down the line.  However, I could not believe the cost of cot bed duvet covers when I came to find them.  I have spent months with just one Ikea duvet cover because I refused to commit to paying £25 for a second one.

A few weeks ago I finally took the plunge and won a gorgeous Vertbaudet second hand duvet cover and pillow case on Ebay for a few pounds.  This is highly unusual because even second hand covers seem to be going for £15 and above.  In addition to scowering Ebay I have also been browsing a massive variety of websites looking for good sales.  My top 5 places to shop for baby bedding are:

• H & M
• Vertbaudet
• Mamas & Papas
• Mothercare
• Ikea

And finally this week I couldn't resist buying this gorgeous grey star quilt.

h&m baby quilt £10

If you're on the lookout for lovely baby and child bedding I've put together a collection for you which includes cot, cot bed and single bedding and a range of price brackets.  Enjoy!

Imagine Children's Festival - Southbank Center

On Monday Nye and I went along to some events at the Imagine Children's Festival with Davina of The Making Home and some other lovely ladies.  The festival is being held at the Southbank Center so it's really easy to get to from South East London.  We walked over from Waterloo East so it's only a 20 minute trip on the train for us.

I've been crazy busy this week but I wanted to let you all know as the festival ends tomorrow (24th February) and it would be a great thing to do with children of all ages to wrap up a lovely half term holiday.

There are paid sessions going on every day which you can book up in advance but also lots of free things to do.  The ground floor was incredibly busy when we dropped by but there was peace to be found on the upper levels where there is space to relax and do some drawing.  My favourite activity was the free Ultra Violet Reef which held the attention of all the children.  And it  gave us some time to recover from the fact that none of the lifts were working on the day we went.  I also loved the stage that has been created out on the riverside terrace which is a fantastic space for imaginative play.  I'm hoping the lifts are fixed by now but would advise not taking a pushchair if you can help it.

Have a lovely weekend!

12 month update

Sorry we're late again with this.  This month I can at least blame BT who we had to call earlier in the week to sort out our wireless connection.

This month feels like so many months rolled in to one as it feels like every other day Neil and I have been saying to one another, did he just do ___!? Yep, he just did ___. How long has he been doing that? He literally just did it for the 1st time!

Nye just seems to pick things up like a sponge.  I can barely even get my head around all the things he can do.  Yesterday we went on a lovely woodland walk in Sutton (where I accidentally lost my phone) and he spent the entire trip pointing at all the dogs. It's quite astonishing to know that one day he does not know something and the next day he does and it's second nature to him.  Why and how he learnt to kiss I do not know but I adore it.  He doesn't always do it on demand but sometimes when he wants to he just gives kisses and it makes me feel all gooey inside.  That's one thing I know about his personality for sure, he knows his own mind and he does things because he wants to and not just because he has been told.  I like that he clearly has his own thoughts and knows that but I am WELL aware this is going to be a nightmare.  Today he was screaming on the train because I wouldn't give him the cup from my hot drink.  I eventually gave in, immediately he stopped crying and just sat nicely and held it whilst flirting with a lovely lady opposite.  I have quite the trouble maker on my hands.  But having said that he is just so happy and loves other people that I kind of don't mind.

The day he walked independently for the first time was one of those, did he really just do that moments.  His first steps were from his cot over to his Daddy's knee.  I was sitting there and watched him do it without realising and I just stared at him with my mouth gaping open.  Neil looked at me confused at my silence, then suddenly it occurred to him that he'd got there himself without holding on to anything.  Ever since that evening he has realised he can walk for himself and he has gone from walking just a few steps to being able to walk across an entire room.  He's understandably still a bit shaky but he is so proud of himself and gets so excited as he walks towards us.  The way he does it makes him look like he's walking across hot coals!

This month we are back on track with the sleeping.  This is something else that has me realising what a little boy he is as he sits and plays with his toys in his cot.  He chatters away to himself and makes himself laugh and it is hilarious to watch.  As before, he never falls asleep in my arms these days, i simply lay him down tuck him into his duvet and he lays down and shuts his eyes whilst snuggling into his beloved dog.  

Oh Aneurin how special you are, I am so lucky to have you and your gorgeous gorgeous smile.

1st Birthday Gift Ideas

Last week Aneurin turned one and we were showered with lovely gifts from family and friends.  We also splurged on our little man and bought him lots of things we thought he would love.  I was rather bad at keeping things under wraps until his ACTUAL birthday because I am a bad at keeping secrets and surprises. And it seems rather odd to keep things from a baby who doesn't understand what a birthday is when he'd enjoy playing with them RIGHT NOW.

I did a bit of googling at the time to find ideas for first birthday gifts and didn't find much so if you are in the market for a first Birthday gift these were all well received by our little man.

By far his most played with presents have been his new trike and his latches board.  We got the Smart Trike for £32 from Amazon but it seems to have gone up in price now.  I did see this offer for a reclining Smart Trike on Playpennies though which I would have gone for.  The latches board I have been admiring for some time and although when it arrived it says 3+ Nye absolutley loves it. It's beautifully made and next I have been admiring all the cook wear from Melissa and Doug ready for next years celebrations.

So there's some ideas for you, if you click on the board above it will bring up a more detailed list of all the things included.

12 months in pictures

So, as I have wittered on about all this year, I have been taking a monthly picture of Aneurin in our washing basket, inspired from someone who had done this on Pinterest. I didn't start until the end of his first month and when I started I was doing weekly photos.  At around 6 months this was a little tiresome to say the least so I decided to make it once a month.  But looking at how many photos I have, I'm glad I did as many as I could.  And, I hope you like this as much as I do.

11 month update

The 11 month was a whirlwind that blew by from the 15th December until the 14th January.  It covered a crazy Christmas, Daddy home for the holidays and mummy running around like a mad woman.

Here are the major developments -

This month has been all go, and you have mainly improved on the things you have already learnt.  We thought you were fast before, now you are supper fast and can even climb the full set of stairs.  I quite enjoy this as it is tiring for you and anything that wears you out is a good thing in my book.  

You're favourite game is to constantly take everything out of where it is. You're particular favourite thing to do is to try and empty your laundry basket or just get out anything I have put away.  You have started to try and put things back if we show you, but this takes a bit too much precision for you at the moment.  For some reason you have also started throwing things over your shoulder to get them out of the way.

You continue to play the clown, you've now learnt how to make funny noises like a red indian.  You make yourself laugh, you think you are so funny.  You can also now shake your head but you don't seem to know what it means.

Food is still going well, and you now have 6 big nashers to help you bite and tear you dinner.  However, you have got a little more fussy which does not impress mummy.  Anything green and leafy gets automatically thrown off the table.  But you pleased mummy greatly by sitting at the table at the children center and eating your sandwiches like a good boy whilst all the parents and workers coo'd over you being such a clever boy And you're not even 1 year old yet,  Mummy <3 baby led weaning.

During out break to Center Parcs we left you in the capable care of the Time Out Club which was the first time we have ever left you with anyone but me, daddy or nanny.  You were a star, and didn't even notice me leaving, as you were too busy stealing a car off the other girl there and shaking some jingle bells.  I was so pleased to see you when we returned but also felt kind of chuffed that you are such a super fun baby to hang out with.  I am the crazy mother who thinks whoever gets to look after my son should think themselves lucky. 

Your sleeping is consistent in that you still haven't gone back to sleeping through and wake up once a night for a feed and then settle straight back to sleep.  The extra feed has meant that you don't wake up quite so early so there is that to be thankful for.  In fact, I think we are actually used to your once a night waking and in the grand scheme of things it works for us.

And here ends the 11th month of developments and I've probably forgotten a few things. Please forgive me, we love you mega.

Monthly Updates

So here I am back preparing for the 11 month update.  This next one will be rather brief as I have been so busy preparing for the big 1st Birthday.  I've made a habit of waiting until the end of the month to write the updates so they are a true reflection of all the accomplishments of the month.  So as I write this Nye has actually celebrated his 1st Birthday. (OMG where did the time go!?)

As part of my New year plans I've also been trying to update my general blogger skills.  So I present you with the product of this evenings Photoshop lessons.  I bought the Pugly Pixel Blog Bling Kit as a little treat to myself this month and to help me make this here blog a pretty place to be.

These are just a few of the monthly basket photos (1,2 &3) I have been taking of Nye.  And, once I work out how to put them all together and decide how to display them I'll be posting a full years worth of images.  I'm sure no one else is as excited as I am, but I just can't wait to see them all together.

Right, I better head off and finish up these tutorials and get on with the next update.  Thanks as always for dropping by!  Nye has not enjoyed being stuck in a washing basket for the last few months so I need to come up with a different way of documenting his changes over time for his second year. Any body got any good ideas?  I was debating taking part in the 52 weeks project.  Perhaps I am a little too late to jump on that bandwagon but already some of the images are just gorgeous.

Center Parcs Family Blogger Holiday

So, it's time to give you all an insight into our wonderful holiday at Center Parcs last weekend.  I think it's safe to say that we wish we were still there in the woods.  There's even lots of snow there this week, if the weather reports are correct and being snuggled up in a lovely log cabin by the fire would be bliss.

I usually arrange my travel around Nye's naps and recently he has been taking his longest naps in the morning of around two hours between 9-11am.  So we did our best to pack the car up the night before and I jumped in the car with Nye, got some petrol on the way and drove the just under 2 hour drive to Elveden Forest in Suffolk.  Neil has a job interview that day and left at 5am to catch the train and would join us later arriving at Thetford Station in the evening.  

It was that morning that I remembered that our Sat Nav was broken so off I ventured with my rather temperamental phone.  Naturally my phone ran out of batteries but luckily for us, the directions there are easy.  It basically goes like this:

• Get out of London and on to the M11 
• Head on to the A11
• Look out for brown signs for Center Parcs.

However, letting my phone die had added consequences, I had my booking reference on my phone and of course didn't bring any of my paperwork.  I had visions of turning up there and being told to bugger off.  This was actually not the case and the lovely lady at the entrance kiosk asked for our details and found our cabin no problem.  Fabulous!  Nye and I then drove in to the car park, parked and headed in to the 'village'.  Still without phone, and with no use of the cabin until 3pm.  

After relaxing on some of the sofa's in the village area for a while I gradually gained the courage to ask guest services if there was anywhere I could charge my phone.  To my surpise they offered to charge my phone in the office, I cannot tell you how grateful I was as I was waiting to hear how Neil had got on at his job interview.  While I left my phone to charge Nye and I grabbed a burger at Dexters Kitchen before returning to the sports area to watch some guests having fun playing Badminton.  Nye seemed to think Badminton was some kind of magic and spent ages captivated by the shuttlecock being hit back and forth.

Before we knew it it was 2.45 so we walked leisurely down to the cabin ready for the 3.00 check in. After quite a long, but enjoyable walk we arrived at a lovely warm and beautifully designed 2 bed cabin.    Nye was by this point ready for his nap.  At first i thought they had forgotten to give us a cot for him but I eventually found a fold up cot in the back of the utility cupboard.  As a single person it wasn't easy to occupy a 1 year old and get the cot out of the back of the cupboard, (behind a hoover, mop bucket and down a thin corridor) but once out it was really easy to put together (simply pull out and screw the base in place.)

I was also incredibly grateful for the grocery pack of essentials that you can order before you arrive.  It meant that we were free to relax as soon as we arrived and didn't have to immediately traipse around the shop looking for milk and bread like I would be at home.  It is meant to be a HOLIDAY after all!

For the rest of the afternoon Nye and I relaxed in the comfort of our cabin which was incredibly toasty, certainly warmer than our home.  We waited to hear from Neil as I needed to pick him up from the station just before 8pm.  Thetford station is only about a 10 minute drive away and once you get to the main road there are directions.  However, getting back to the park at this time meant that it was busy and we had to wait a little while to get back through check in but I was warned about this when I came through in the morning.  We then drove to the cabin, dropped of our bags, unpacked, got Nye into bed and then Neil had to drive the car back to the car park and walk back to the cabin.  Before he left we ordered from the DiningIn menu which was great because I was able to order Chinese and Neil could order Indian and it was all ordered from one place.  And, despite us being skeptical about how good it would be, it was actually really delicious.  Neil spent the next day saying "I can't believe how good the food last night was."

The next morning we had arranged to have breakfast in the Lakeview Restaurant.  We booked rather late abd our cabin was quite a way from many of the facilities. On the positive side we had beautiful woodland views but it did mean that we had to make time for getting to places which isn't easy with a baby in tow.  Needless to say we were usually a little late for our booking, but this was never a problem.  

The sunrise that Saturday morning across the lake was beautiful and gave such a sense of stillness that I haven't felt for such a long time.  It was worth treasuring.

The resturant itself is at the on site Lakeview Hotel.  it is a revolving dining room that serves fantastic food.  I chose eggs benedict, a tropical fruit plate for Aneurin and Neil had a fry up.  As the idiot I am, I actually asked for a table "near the window", to which the waitress kindly reminded me I would be there in a minute as the restaurant was REVOLVING. Oh the shame!  She assured me I wasn't the first (and hopefully not the last).

After breakfast we briefly left the park to meet up with my mum at the lovely Elveden Estate Tea Room and browsed some of the shops before returning to a choc-a-block car park.  We then had a less than joyous 15 minutes of trying to find a space.  There aren't any lines in the car park and this meant that some people had parked rather inconsiderately leaving massive gaps either side of their cars.  After our 3rd drive round we managed to find a spot and then headed back in to the village.

Later that afternoon after Nye had napped we arrived at the bowling alley for our 30 minute slot.  It's not like a normal alley where you pay per 'game' but you can play as many games as you liked within your time slot on your lane.  We should probably admit that Neil and I are so bad at bowling that Nye actually beat us in our first game!  We carried on to the second game where we had improved moderately but Nye was a little tired of the neon lights and noises so we left for some fresh air a little before our time was up.

The next activity we decided to try was cycling, so off we went to collect the bikes that we had reserved for us.  It wasn't easy to work out the logisitics of picking up two bikes, one with a child trailer whilst pushing a sleeping baby in a pushchair but we made it to the bike park in one piece and once we collected the bikes we left the pushchair in the buggy park.

 The picture above is of Nye sitting all cosy in his bike trailer.  It's the first time Neil and I have ever been on a bike ride together (with or without Aneurin) and it was fantastically special to have Nye with us to enjoy the ride. I will never forget the look of his face in this photo or how much fun it was cycling together.  We can't wait to go back and do it again, we will never forget our first time riding bikes in the forest as a family.

That night we had booked a table at Bella Italia for the three of us and we can't fault the service or food served.  Nye had a full 3 course meal including including a frozen fruit lolly which he has never tried before (but loved.) It was so funny to watch his face as he felt the freezing cold, turned it away then wanted it back because it tasted so good. Priceless!  We usually only have enough time for only two courses but he was so distracted by the environment and crayons that we managed to get in a full 3 courses without screams of boredom. 

Then we returned a sleepy little boy home with some supplies from the shop, including a log for the fire and some marshmallows.  Before we could say goodnight we decided to light the fire as we knew Nye would love watching it so we all shared toasted marshmallows in the living room.  One massive marshmallow was quite enough for us so when Nye settled down for the night Neil and I had time to cuddle up on the sofa.

Balinese Spa - Aqua Sana Elveden Forest

The next day was the day I had been looking forward to the most as it was time for our spa break.  It was a mixed blessing because although I was looking forward to some time just Neil and I, it meant leaving Nye in the nursery for the first time ever.  In the end Nye didn't even notice that I left as he was having far too much fun playing with the workers who were fantastic.  However, it all took a bit of a turn for the worse when we packed up the car and went to drive to the car park.  Neil managed to drive into a wooden bollard which was obscured by the front of the car just as we pulled away from the cabin.  So, our trip to the spa was cut a little short while Neil arranged for our car to be collected by our breakdown provider.  Now we are home it's easier to reflect on what happened, but at the time we didn't know quite what to do.  In the end we arranged to be collected and driven home after we returned from the spa.  Neil wasn't sure he would be able to relax with all this hanging over us but the spa was so relaxing Neil didn't want to leave to pick Nye up.  

Outdoor Pool - Aqua Sana Elveden Forest

 There were so many different facilities to use, so many different steam rooms and relaxation areas to try.  I personally loved the outdoor pool, the jasmine salt steam room and the water beds!  I've been to quite a few spa's in my time and this was by FAR the best.  And that was even before my treatment which was perfect despite the treatment area itself being very busy.  I even overheard an unfortunate story in the waiting area about someones neighbours cat being trapped in their car and them wanting to smash the window...  They were not impressed and I had to try my hardest to pretend I wasn't eavesdropping.

And as my treatment came to a close and I returned my bike on my way to meet Neil and Nye we walked to our car ready to be collected by the recovery truck who brought us and our car home to London. All in all we had a wonderful time.  I was particularly impressed by how accessible the entire park was, no crazy steps or muddy bogs.  There was barely a family there without a push chair which just shows you how popular Center Parcs is with families.  

I must say, one of the things I was looking forward to most was going swimming and trying out the new Tropical Cyclone water ride but because of our packed schedule, and Nye's naps times, we didn't even get round to going in the water! So, I think that's a good enough excuse to go back soon, if the spa, bikes and log fire weren't enough.  Thank you to Center Parcs for arranging everything for us, we will be back.

If you like the sound of our trip you can have a look at what's on offer and book now!