Our Summer holiday in Bournemouth – Mummascribbles
Last Friday we packed up the car and headed on our first holiday as a family of four. Every other year we have been treated to a holiday by the in-law’s – previously we have been to Scarborough and Norfolk and this year it was the turn of Bournemouth. My father-in-law (not legally!) had sourced and booked the holiday home months ago and we have been looking forward to it ever since. It’s never a quiet holiday – there are always six adults, five children and sometimes a dog (although this year she didn’t come with us) and so we always need a big house to stay in!
The journey down to Bournemouth was a bit pants. It was very stop start in places but we arrived at about 5pm and were very quickly wowed by the house. So wowed that I didn’t take a single photo of it upon arrival! It was amazing! Like dream home. There was the living room, kitchen, study, shower/utility room and playroom on the ground floor. Then on the middle floor there was four bedrooms – we took the huge room as we had to have a travel cot in there, my brother in law and partner took the next huge room, Zach’s two girl cousins shared the twin room and then Zach and his male cousin who is only 5 months older than him, shared bunk beds in the fourth room. There was also a huge family bathroom. On the top floor there was another large bedroom with en-suite for the other half’s mum and dad and another small single bedroom.
Out in the garden there was a garage which had been converted into a fun space with a table tennis table and lots of things for the garden or trips to the beach. Like I say, it was amazing! The playroom – well, it was the best playroom I have ever seen! There was a table football, shelves full of books, drawers full of toys for all ages and a tv too. The kids spent the majority of their time in there when we were at home – when they weren’t playing hide and seek, excited that they had so many hiding places!
Once we were all settled on the Friday, the men took to Tesco’s to do the big shop, we then got a takeaway and the kids had a reeeally late night! Probably the latest that Zach has ever stayed up in his little life so far! We were all pretty exhausted though so it wasn’t long after that we headed to bed ready for our first day of exploring!
Saturday morning, the kids (all of them), had us up at about 6am. What is it with kids, that no matter how late they go to bed, they still wake up early?! I had actually barely slept because Oscar was in our bed and I was so worried about him falling out. We rectified this for the rest of the holiday but that first night was awful. So, Saturday we all got ready and wandered down to the beach which was a few minutes up the road on foot. Of course, as all holidays start with some kind of mishap, Zach decided to run, fall over and scrape his knee up. It was pretty bad with quite a lot of blood and he totally freaked out! Full. On. Meltdown! He then didn’t want to go on the sand as he was worried it would all get stuck to the blood and so he sat on the steps and his cousins sat close by so that they could all play together!
After a while on the beach, the four of us went to grab a bite to eat at Ludo Lounge. It was delicious and really family friendly with toys/games to keep the children occupied!
The clientele in there was wonderful too – the man on the table next to us who was lunching with a friend, gave Zach a fiver to spend in the arcades when he discovered we were holidaying 🙂
On Sunday we decided to head down to Hengistbury Head Land Train. It was blooming brilliant for the kids. We picked the train up at the stop and it took us all through the forest and out to the beach on the other side where we had some lunch, messed around on the rocks and then took the train back again. The funniest bit was that Oscar was fast asleep when we took that first train and so I was sat with him, in his UPPAbaby seat, on my lap! It was a bumpy ride and he slept through it all!
Monday was one of the biggy days as we had planned to go to Paulton’s Park. It was only a 40 odd minute drive away from where we were staying so was the perfect opportunity to do it. It was fantastic and the kids loved it. We managed to get Zach onto the log flume and one of the big roller coasters straight away although he was then put off of anything too wild!
There are plenty of smaller rides though so he absolutely loved those and had fun exploring Peppa Pig World too – although by the time we made our way round to there, he was knackered and had lost interest a little bit (either that or he’s just outgrown her!). We also went into the splash park section which he hated (and Oscar thought the water was far too cold as well) before we headed on home with five incredibly tired children! I actually spent so much time having fun that I barely took any photos of the day (bad blogger!) but here is one of Oscar who had some fun in a swing while the others were messing with water!
On Tuesday we spent the day at the beach and it was absolutely awesome. I am not usually one to spend hours on a beach but we paid for sun loungers and the kids just had a wild time, messing about in the sea, building sandcastles, burying each other and laughing and screaming a lot. We were there for hours and it was only when it looked like the storm was coming, we thought it might be a good time to clear off back home. Which it was as that huge thunderstorm came not long after!
On Wednesday we went on another drive to Splashdown in Poole. If you don’t know what it is, it’s full of water flumes and you should definitely go if you are ever in the area. Zach was totally freaked out by it but did go on one of the scarier flumes – the other half thought it was a more relaxed one but he was totally wrong! So myself, Zach and Oscar stayed mostly in the pool section where there was a mini slide, fountains and a boat to play on. Oscar was in his element because he loves being in the water but it took Zach a while to get used to it. Once he was though, he was up and down that slide, landing in the water and being splashed in the face which he usually hates! I was so proud of him because I have never seen him so comfortable in the water. Unfortunately I have no photos because, a) I obvs didn’t have any cameras on me and b) it’s not allowed anyway!
After we were done there, we went to TGI Friday’s for dinner and then headed home. We were going to go to the soft play next door but it was quite late and the kids were exhausted (again!).
On Thursday we headed down to Bournemouth Pier. In all honestly, it was a bit lame and very very expensive! I mean, there was plenty to do but everything was spoilt by the price. The zipwire that cost £32 for two people (we didn’t do it), the charge to walk up the pier only to be met by the smallest ‘funfair’ known to man and then the extortionate charges for the rides (the kids were only allowed on one!), the helter skelter that made me wonder why I had loved them so much as a child and the amusement arcade…if I ever have to shout repeatedly that you can’t put 10p’s in the 2p machines again I might cry! We still managed to have fun though, especially the kids – I think it was mostly us adults that thought it was a bit pants. When you are 8, 5, 4, 3 and 10 months though, it’s pretty awesome!
And then Friday came around and it was time to head home. We needed to be out of the house by 10am and somehow we actually managed it – every single one of us! Originally the other half had said about stopping somewhere to have one last bout of fun but knowing it was the start of the school holidays and how dodgy the M25 gets, I just wanted to head home, so we did (drivers prerogative!).
We had such a wonderful holiday. It was full of family fun, family laughter and bickering five year olds (seriously those boys couldn’t half wind each other up). It’s always lovely seeing the boys spend time with their cousins, aunties and grandparents and I can’t think of a better way to have done it. It was quite nice to come home though – back to normality, back to normal sleep times, back to our own home. Although I am missing the size of that place!