This weekend we took a very spontaneous trip to the National Water Sports Centre opening weekend in Nottingham at the Holme Pierrepont Country Park. We have been several times before, staying in their camping pods and taking part in the activities, but being the opening weekend and the first sunny day in a while, we…
National Trust Calke Abbey
We had a stunning visit to the National Trust gem that is Calke Abbey – a beautiful country house and gardens in Derbyshire. I’m a huge fan of places to take the little one, and it’s somewhere I’ve wanted to take her for a while, so when the weather promised some glorious spring sunshine, it…
CBeebies Land, Alton Towers
To be perfectly honest, I’ve been putting off going to CBeebies Land for 2 main reasons – Lily doesn’t really watch TV much, and theme parks are such an expensive day out. Well, I needn’t have worried – it was an absolutely incredible day out, and I’d definitely go back again! Online booking We bought…
Shepherd Huts, Gloucestershire
With Lily starting school at the end of August (who starts in August?!), I’ve been trying to do short weekends away with her, within an hour or so drive of Leicester. With a friend running a local Makers’ Market in Gloucester, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to find somewhere fun to stay…
Stoneywell National Trust, Leicester
Stoneywell is a stunning National Trust property situated in Leicester. It is a beautiful cottage surrounded by stunning gardens. We’ve been twice now this year – mainly because our first visit was limited due to the super high winds closing some of the grounds (it was a very wise decision that day!!) – so we…
Gardener’s Rest, Thurlaston Garden Centre
We are huge fans of the Thurlaston Garden centre, and if you need any more evidence of why you should visit following this post, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages – the cakes always look amazing!! As a family trip out, garden centres are becoming more popular, but one of our key loves of…
New Walk Museum, Leicester
We’ve always enjoyed New Walk museum and count ourselves lucky to live in a city with such a fantastic and free museum to visit. It is only a small museum, but it is packed with artefacts and there’s always something new to explore every time you visit. Our favourite area has always been the dinosaurs,…
Fun Valley soft play, Leicester
If you’re looking for an affordable soft play in Leicester, then look no further than Fun Valley. We have been on 3 occasions now; once in the school holidays, once during a term time weekday, and once for a weekend birthday party, and despite vowing not to go back during holidays ever again (that was…
Boost Trampoline Park, Leicester
Disclaimer: I don’t know if I’m meant to be starting this post with #ad or #gifted as we do rep for Boost Trampoline Park, but I’m not sure if we’re quite cool enough to use tags like that – either way, I thought I’d be honest from the start, and we’ve always loved Boost –…
National Space Centre, Leicester
Now, the National Space Centre does hold a place in our hearts, as it was our absolutely incredible wedding venue, but it is somewhere Lily has always loved to visit – and even though we are biased, we would really recommend it to all families for a day out. The whole centre has recently been…
Charnwood Forest Alpaca Farm & Chilli Bean Cafe
We’ve visited Charnwood Forest Alpaca Farm on the border of Leicestershire and Derbyshire on 2 occasions, and had a great time at both. The first visit was for the 90 minute alpaca walk experience, which we bought off Groupon. It was at Christmas time so was called the Reinpaca walk (the alpacas had reindeer antlers!),…
Gulliver’s Kingdom & Explorer’s Retreat, Matlock Bath
We booked an overnight stay at the Explorer’s Retreat at Gulliver’s Kingdom in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. We booked in on a Sunday Specials Stay & Play deal, making it less than £100 for the overnight stay in the themed accommodation at the resort, plus entrance for 3 of us into the theme park for the…
