Holiday April 2008

08 May 2008 8:33 pm

It feels strange starting a holiday story nearly a week after we got back and already little bits are beginning to fade.

We set out just before 9am on Monday morning and arrived at our destination just after 1pm. It wasn't the best of journeys. Most of the route was windy country lanes, once at Boston the traffic was horrendous then it was single lane traffic for the next 70 miles. Matthew was sick for the first 40 minutes of the journey too so it wasn't the best start.

We stopped on Skegness seafront for a bite to eat before continuing past our holiday destination to go to the nearby theme park. Fantasy Island at Ingoldmells was not the dodgy unchild friendly place it sounds (my dirty mind always kicks in somewhere) but a huge theme park with some rather fun looking roller coasters. Matthew went on a little water ride with bf. We had a wander around the market and made our way back to Butlins 5 minutes drive down the road. Being quite odd parents, we did not tell Matthew we were going. We packed the car the night before and told him we were just going for a drive to show him where it was. We didn't want him too excited the night before.

When we did get to Butlins, we were a little early to get to our apartment so we had a walk around the park and got to see some of the places we would be seeing alot of during the coming days. Matthew was in awe of it all and just wanted to do everything. We went for our main meal just after 5 and left the buffet restaurant completely stuffed. We spent the first evening in one of the resorts entertainment places. Matthew loved it as the place is so kiddy orientated but before 9 it is a tots disco and we saw some of the live band before we decided to head back to our room for an early night. Saying early, it was still 10.30pm and we had already had a long day. Matthew fell asleep almost instantly in bed although we did have an awkward moment. Matthew was going to bed when he asked where his toys were. I explained there had been no room to bring toys so when he asked for his blankie, I almost died. I hadn't even thought of his beloved blankie. He's NEVER gone a night without it. I told him again that we would not have had room but I thought he was a big boy who didn't need to have it for a couple of days and thought he deserved a big boys bed while he was away. He accepted this very well and went straight to sleep. Boy, did I feel bad though.

Tuesday morning we woke up with the help of the alarm. Breakfast is served between 8-10am so we had to be up at a reasonable hour. We let Matthew sleep in for a bit and sort of hoped to get a bit of an active start to the morning when we were just starting to have fun and we heard Matthew get up. We got ourselves down to breakfast then went for a nice long walk along the coast. We walked back to the market and Fantasy Land theme park. I got 2 shirts and 2 pairs of shoes for a grand total of £10. Matthew and Chris went on a couple more rides not advised for pregnant women (ah, there's the drawbacks of being pregnant slipping in) like the log flume and a bump mini roller coaster like thing and Matthew loved it. Since we'd been walking for quite a while, we got the bus back to Butlins and went swimming in the afternoon. Matthew as ever, was only interested in the baby pool at first. But then he found the "water playground". Slides and sprays in a very shallow pool. He loved that. He wasn't very daring but he was happy and comfortable. We went back to the room and changed for the evening. I put on some perfume and instantly it stung. My chest was very red too. I wasn't sure if I was sunburnt as the sun had been out or developed a dislike to my perfume now I was pregnant. After dinner we went to the other entertainment venue and had an enjoyable night in there with another live band and didn't leave until Matthew was more or less starting to fall asleep on my lap. It was almost midnight. As I undressed for bed, I saw a very clear line where my top had ended on my arm. I was a little sunburnt and very shocked by that too. I didn't expect to travel North and have better weather than they were having at home. Matthew again fell asleep quickly with his new Billy Bear teddy by his side. We couldn't let the little darling go without any toys.

Wednesday was the middle of our holiday already. We started making a trip to the on site funfair area where bf took Matthew into the soft play area and I sneaked outside to make a couple of phonecalls. It was the morning of my nans funeral so I really wanted to speak to my grandad and just basically let him know I wished I could be there and that I would be thinking of him and everyone else and especially I would be thinking of my nan. It was a hard conversation but I am glad I called. I also called my mum and said the same thing to her. She was really pleased I had called and wanted to know how Matthew was enjoying himself. After a few funfair rides including one where I went on the carousel when apparently, I shouldn't have done we had a drive into Skegness town and had a look round there. Nothing stuck out as being any different to any other seaside town but we did enjoy the day and it seemed to fly by. Matthew was photographed with Barney (yep, that stupid pink dinosaur) back at Butlins and found his own little heaven in "puppet castle". All it was was a big wooden set where they did a puppet show and Matthew loved it. He just sat and laughed all the way through it. Butlins main character Billy Bear was the puppet star and Matthew adored the show. Very tired, we went back to the room. Bf had a bit of alone time and had a wander round the park, got a magazine and also had a quick pint of lager while me and Matthew had a little power nap. When we went out that evening I text my mum about the funeral again and just said I'd been thinking of them all day. We spent quite a while just having a quiet restful evening in the family pub where Matthew enjoyed chatting to some other kids then moved on as it got dark. The evening entertainment was a comedy quiz show audience participation type thing where members of the public were made to look stupid. It's funny seeing people drunk when you are sober sometimes. Matthew again loved the disco time when he got to show off his dancing skills and I did join in from time to time though there is no excuse for a tee-total woman to TRY to teach her 4 yr old child the dance to Cha Cha Slide.

Thursday was our last full day and we decided to do everything we hadn't done already. We went to mini golf in the morning and shock of all shocks I won! Even though we told Matthew he won. He doesn't get the concept of "it's taking part that matters" just yet. We had another trip to the fun fair (I forgot to say the rides are free) and then we went off swimming then had a very peaceful afternoon. The swimming pool hadn't been fully open the other day we went. This day had the jacuzzi open (something I was allowed in - wahey!) and the rapids pool was also open. That was fun. Matthew had already got his confidence and was off on the waves around the circle. He loved the fact that he thought he was swimming. He even went on the smallest of the flumes, I mean the least steep. They started a good 50m up but he gave it a go and followed bf who waited at the bottom of the slide for him. Matthews face at the end as he came up from under the water was what only could be described as he didn't know wether to laugh or cry. I think he liked the slide part but not the landing in deep water part. He said he liked it but refused to go again. As we cut through the Skyline Pavillion on the way to dinner just after 12 we got caught for the second time at the puppet castle. This time it really was just starting and we had to watch it again. If it keeps a little boy happy then I am happy too. We then went to watch Billy Bears Band play some music and shortly after we watched the pantomime of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. Complete with audience yelling and singing, it was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. The whole entertainment venue was full for an afternoon show but it was very clever. After dinner we went for some bowling. We played two games, the first bf won, the second I won but again, Matthew won them both really. There was another game show night at the preferred of the 2 venues, this time more for the kids. They asked what kids wanted prizes. Of course Matthew put his hand up and shouted "Me, me me!" at the top of his little lungs as they proceded to talk about the series of competitions coming up. Bf grabbed Matthew when they asked for volunteers of a child and an adult to take part in the first competition. Matthew looked like he thought he was in trouble and looked very smug once on the stage knowing everyone was looking at him. It was left side vs right side and it was a contest to apply face paint and dress the other up as an Indian complete with wig and feathered headress. The catch was that the child had to do it to the adult. I think bf sort of regretted it then. :) Matthew looked like he was having such good fun taking part though and didn't do a bad job. They didn't win, but I think it made bf think twice about volunteering again. :)

We went back to the room a little early ready for a good sleep to return home the next day. We had to be out of our apartment at 10am so we packed up the car and spent a last morning at breakfast and collecting photo's. As well as a professional Barney photo, Matthew also had one with Billy Bear. We had a couple more rides on things and went back to the market to buy some goodies to take home. My mum loves sticks of rock so we got her some of them and bfs mum got a box of assorted fudge. Matthew got a Dr Who picture then we thought we'd make a move to avoid rush hour traffic.

Except it didn't work that way. The 3 1/2 hour journey going, took 6 hours getting home due to a major accident closing one of the main roads on our route home. We took several diversions and returned home tired and relieved just after 6. It had been a long long day. Still, it was quite nice to be home and relax after the fun filled few days we had experienced. Butlins is not somewhere you go for a rest, with everything included in the price. Even our food was for just £30 more on the asking price. That worked out at just £10 per person per week. Or £1.25 per meal of all you can eat buffets(4 breakfasts and 4 dinners) so it was a very good deal. We wouldn't have done it so cheap self catering and the food was really good too. Nothing posh but it kept everyone happy from the kids pizza, hot dogs, fish steaks, burgers to roast dinners, salads, curries, chinese, vegetarian options, soups and desserts it was a very very good offer indeed. We would definitely do it again and are thinking of a weekend break near mid September. Bf's birthday is just 6 days before mine and the weekend between the 2 birthdays would be a nice time to get away and Matthew would only miss one day of school. It's definitely something we would all like to do later in the year.