Center Parcs

18th to 25th June 2012

Our sense of adventure knew no bounds as we scooted up the M6 to Center Parcs near Penrith in Cumbria.  (We'll pass over the bad spelling of the venue's name since I guess they have to be unique, it's just rather annoying to type as the pedant that I am.)

Anyway, we (i.e. Lynne) booked a lodge in Badger Wood and, after an easy motorway cruise (rapidly becoming my favourite bit of motorway, the M6 in Cumbria, threatening to overtake the M602), we had a slow queue to get in (everyone seemed to arrive at the same time) and Daisy got a bit irritated by the whole affair.  But eventually we made it... 

The following photo was taken on the third day, but I've put it here to give the pictorial story its narrative flow.  And anyway, you don't know that it was taken on the third day... d'oh.

We settled in for a quiet night on the first evening, ordering a curry from the takeaway (they have an unusual, but understandable, scheduled delivery service), taking in some Euro 2012 action.  Watching the football would be a feature of our evenings since it was (almost always) on during our break and Daisy was always in bed by around 7pm.  The next morning, we were greeted by four local ducks at the patio doors.  This is what it's like to be amongst wildlife!

My first main task of the day was to pick up the bike that I had hired, not to mention the child seat and helmet, the latter of which Daisy dutifully poses in.  I say dutifully - she wanted to take it off if possible, although she did sort of grow to like it.

In the afternoon, we put Daisy on the back of the bike and headed (relatively slowly, since Lynne was on foot - I solved the inequality of speeds by looping back and forth, with Daisy waving as we passed Lynne each time) over to the sports centre.  This is the first shot of us on the bike.  Daisy's already working out how to remove the helmet.

In the sports centre, we found the soft play area, where Daisy tried out one of her first slides (if not THE first).

She eventually got sufficiently brave to try out the tunnel.

Her number skills came in useful for the extra large Snakes & Ladders game.

Daisy was happy to make friends as usual (certainly when they are of a similar size - she is less keen on strangers who are adults).  Her new friend was keen to help Daisy with numbers.

Here is Daisy on the back of my bike.  We thought she would hate it, but she (generally) loved it.

That evening, we took advantage of the good weather to have a barbecue.

We were joined by a pheasant.  I suppose I should say about being tempted to have barbecued pheasant for tea, but in truth the barbecue was only a disposable one which did not have the power to cook such a large bird.  It even struggled with the sausages.

The next morning, it was time for another bike ride.  We spent about an hour covering around 5 or 6 miles (ok, it was 5.4 miles - I had my GPS watch on, which you can barely miss now that I've come to mention it).  Largely this pace was due to enjoying the wildlife as we went round, but also tackling some of the hills with just a single gear and Daisy on the back wasn't the easiest task.

At some point, we spotted a rabbit, which had Daisy transfixed.

It was very peaceful and very scenic.  And full of lots of tall trees.

We stopped at small patch of grass for a break, where Daisy merrily picked daisies in the sunshine.  We knew these days of sun were limited so we were making the most of it.  (Meanwhile, somewhere else on the site, Lynne was having a massage that she had obtained for half-price.)

We arrived back before Lynne and Daisy prompted tucked in to the rest of the box of raisins (I had made an error opening the box as we were going round - I had to wait a while before Daisy was sufficiently satiated for us to continue our journey).  Her usual tactic here is to empty the box all over the carpet and select them one by one from their new home.

She's a proper grown-up who sits reading on the sofa, don't you know.  Here she points to one of her favourite shapes - the star.  She can now make the shape of a diamond in response (as in the lyrics to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).

More soon.

Later that day, we booked in a slot for the horse and carriage ride.  Here was our, um , steed, and a note-taking, erm, rider.

The girls settled in for the journey.  Daisy wavered between wanting to sit with her mum and wanting to sit with me.  As quite often happens, actually.  Also known as the-grass-is-always-greener syndrome.

She managed to make a friend along the way.

The view forwards.  This is when Daisy started to perfect her clip-clop horse impression.  We didn't get a special keepsake, alas (as per the sign).

This was still in the relatively early days of Daisy becoming more gymnastic, demonstrating her climbing onto something skills in the village soft play area.

Of course, she prefers the toys required her to use her excellent spatial ability (what she lacks in overall mobility compared to her peers she makes up in problem solving - who does that remind you of?  Yep, either of us).

Then it was my turn to watch her as Lynne switched to drinking (coffee) duty.  I go for a much more relaxed approach.

Daisy was getting braver with the tunnels.

Elsewhere in the village complex we went to Bella Italia for our tea, where Daisy entertained herself with the crayons and colouring page that were given to her for free.

The kid's meal deal came with a small coke which Lynne duly helped herself to. Daisy being too young and healthy for fizzy drinks.  Not even sure that Daisy got the option since it never got close to her.

She behaved brilliantly all evening, casually munching breadsticks in this picture, dunking them in the tomato dip, and generally watching other people in the restaurant (Lynne's favourite hobby, certainly within the constraints of a public place anyway).  Later she merrily munched on fish goujons, chips and peas.

On the way home, she was treated with her very first icepop.  She loved it.

That's it for now.

And then, on the Thursday, the rain came.  It was inevitable, having been predicted by various weather forecasts, which was the main reason we had been running (or cycling) around doing as much as possible outdoors in the preceding days.  We were now limited to sheltered activities such as swimming and one of the soft play areas.

The swimming baths were quite good, with the best bit for Daisy being the six-to-nine-inch deep baby pool, since she could crawl around to her heart's content.  This was a pool less flattering for adults, though, it was noted (and indeed observed).  There was a whole network of pools and slides, so there was plenty to do, although not so much if you are a non-toddling toddler.

There are in fact no worthwhile photos from the Thursday - the only I took was of some more ducks, but you've seen those.  Raining in Center Parcs is not a good look it seems.

It got worse.  On the Friday, Lynne's cold went full-blown, and it continued to rain.  Nevertheless, Daisy and I made the most of it, as we went to the swimming baths again for a Daddy & Daisy swimming session.  My efforts were not the well-honed routine of Lynne's swimming visits, but we did ok.  The pick was me taking her on one of the medium length slides a couple of times (which I later discovered were for over-2s), which elicited not a single flicker of emotion from Daisy despite us going at a reasonable pace at the end, with me having to thrust her in the air on splashdown to avoid her taking any surface impact.

On the way back from the swimming, we picked up one of Daisy's new favourite things - the ice lolly.  This time that slightly curious food item, the milk lolly.

And we entertained ourselves with the chalkboard.

Later that day, we bravely made our way out.  This is simply to show how much it had rained (i.e. a lot).

We headed to the Lakeside Inn, where Daisy was not quite on such good behaviour.  We both went for a roast, whilst we erred by ordering Daisy a curry.  We're slowly learning that finger food is better for Daisy since she can just get on with it and doesn't need to be spoon-fed (her efforts involve turning the spoon upside down, which of course means the contents are generally distributed onto her lap rather than into her mouth).  For a brief moment of sanity, we took her to the play area, which unfortunately was for older children so we made do with letting her point at butterflies on the wall.  Apologies for the blurriness.

Another day, another attempt at a meal, this time at Café Rouge in the village.  We deployed a classic secret weapon, the colouring sheet and crayons.

This is also where Daisy discovered the sticker, a passion for which three months later (as I write this) is resolutely undimmed.  You can see the stickers all over Lynne's hand, as they both pose for the camera.

They also did ice lollies.  Oh my lord, what a place.

The urinals in the village were all regular, apart from one.  I daren't use it.

On the way back, we spotted a rabbit.

The weather during the weekend had been a little better than the Thursday and Friday (during which it did not seem like it would EVER stop raining), and on the Sunday we wandered around, noticing some llamas along the way...

...as well as a glimpse of some of the outdoor activities available.  Standing on a tall post in close proximity did not seem the funnest way to spend a Sunday afternoon, however.

During the course of the week, I maintained a record of what we had been up to, which is very useful looking back now.  I had to write around the big "WE'RE ON OUR HOLIDEES" sign that I wrote late on the first night for Lynne to enjoy the next morning.  Anyway, here you can see how our week all fitted together.

On the final evening, we watching England get outplayed and, ultimately, knocked out on penalties by Italy in the quarter-final of Euro 2012.  And on the Monday, it was time to go home.

Overall, it was fun, and a welcome break.  We'll probably come back, although next time probably just for the Monday to Friday stint, as it's a bit expensive to do a lot over a full week.

The end.

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