Lake District forest

We got back from a week at Center Parcs on Friday with my sister and her husband! It is a bit like a holiday in a bubble - we were on sight the whole time, but it is just fabulous! All of us really enjoyed ourselves :) One of the first things we saw on our arrival was a bunny hopping around in the forest behind the chalet :) And the the next morning we opened the back door, watching a little red squirrel in the surrounding trees, and he came in! We couldn't believe how tame he was!

It rained all week (we were literally just up the road from all the major floods), and the air felt so fresh whenever we were walking through the forest to and from the chalet :) We spent most of the time swimming so we were wet through regardless!! There was a good little covered area by the lake where we stood on the decking, sheltered from the pouring rain, and fed the hungry ducks who I think had been relatively starved due to people generally shuffling past at a quick pace under their umbrellas, not slowing to give them the attention they're probably used to!

We met some real reindeer down by Santa's Grotto on Wednesday, though they were upstaged by the ponies as far as Isaiah was concerned, and he got to have a ride on one :) We didn't indulge in the grotto but Isaiah did fluke a sneaky peak through the back entrance where he caught a glimpse of Mrs Claus and one of the elves!.. On being asked which pony he wanted to go on he, as easily the smallest rider, picked by far the biggest pony; apparently its size would qualify it as a horse! - he doesn't do things by halves! He hung around watching the ponies standing in the rain for ages after dismounting - he found them fascinating; the staff were running out of things to say to us! He also spent an extended period of time getting a close up look at the shire horses and their big hooves and horse shoes while they were resting between carriage rides.

There was also an excellent adventure playground made up of various wooden walkways, rope bridges and the like, plus a zip wire and swings. We all had loads of fun there too, in our wellies! It must have seemed huge from Isaiah's level; he loved exploring it! I took Jeremy on the zip wire in the sling! He didn't complain though I'm not sure he knew what was going on as his Uncle David pointed out his little hat had slipped over his eyes after I got off!

You have to pay extra for a lot of the stuff at Center Parcs but as you can see we have the most fun doing the free stuff! We never got round to using the log burning fire though becuase the heating was too efficient..maybe next time!