It’s only the 5th January yet I can feel myself longing for some foreign travel, family time, a change of scenery and, dare I say it, some sun! The cold weather of January always catches me out. Ice should be for December. Come January I’m ready to see blossom on the trees and the beginnings of Daffodils poking through.
It’s not very often we don’t have any kind of holiday or weekend away planned. We love to travel and we love to have something to look forward to, who doesn’t right? This year, our adventures start in February albeit we aren’t travelling too far.
During 2016 I became a Butlins ambassador and we’ve finally managed to plan a short break in the February half term at the Minehead resort. I’ve never been to Butlins and I’m excited to see what it’s like versus my expectations. I don’t think I’m alone when I say I’ve always been a little dubious about what I’d find at Butlins but I think I’m going to be pleasantly surprised. We’re staying in a three bedroomed lakeside chalet – they look stunning on the website and from existing reviews they sound like they’re as good as the pictures portray. As part of my Butlins ambassadorship I will be blogging and vlogging our stay so if you’re thinking of visiting anytime soon stay tuned for our honest experiences.
Eight weeks later we’ll be jetting off to the Canary Islands, more specifically Fuerteventura. We’ve booked the same hotel we stayed at two years ago as we were so impressed with it and it’s location was ideal for us – walking distance to a beautifully clean and safe beach, playgrounds and plenty of local shops and bars. Travelling as a family of five will be….interesting to say the least. The packing invariably falls to me and so I feel I may need to come up with some actual packing lists for each person just to keep myself on track. Packing for five people for a ten night break will quickly get confusing….that’s at least forty pairs of underwear plus a gazillion nappies!
No sooner have we unpacked our cases we’ll be repacking them to head to Alton Towers during Whit week. We’ve booked a two night break to celebrate all the kids birthdays; Elsie’s in May, Logan’s in June and Florence’s in July! Soon to be two birthday celebrations in July!!
We visited Alton Towers in March 2016 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was about 31 weeks pregnant last time we went and I’ll be about the same this time too. Funny how things workout.
We’re staying in the Moon Voyager Room of the Alton Towers hotel which wasn’t our first choice but the enchanted lodges were astronomical prices! I think we paid around £600 for the two nights, which isn’t cheap by any means, however the woodland lodges were well over £700. You have to draw a line somewhere! But, when we considered what we spent out for a birthday party for Florence last year and what you get for your £600 I think it’s a pretty fair price.
In terms of planned travel, that’s all we have booked up. BUT….I doubt that’s all we’ll do! We’d usually do a couple of days out during August and we’ve got a couple of passes for National Trust properties so we shall probably be making use of these when the holidays run out! However, with baby due in July it might throw a small spanner in the travel plans or a while!
It’s usually around summer that we start thinking about Christmas and this year we really regretted not booking something up. We’ve been to Cornwall for the last two New Years but this year, sadly, Matt needed to work. It soon dawned on us, however, that Florence doesn’t start school until a week after most people so it would have been an ideal time to snap up a bargain and travel to the sun!
Sounds like you’ve got lots of lovely trips planned. It’s always nice to have holidays and little breaks to look forward to x
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I don’t think I’d get through these sleepless nights without having something fun to look forward to! x
So many exciting plans already! I’m excited to see your Butlin’s review as we’re off there in April! We’re going to Ibiza in May too – but I think we need somewhere at the end of the year too haha xx
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We’ve considered Ibiza a few times as I hear the old town and some parts of the island are beautiful and the sunsets are amazing! Have a super time and make sure you blog/vlog it! xx
Wow you have a busy year ahead! We’re in the lakeside accommodation at the same time as you in a two bed, so we may end up as neighbours ha! I hope you enjoy all your travel this year.
Stevie x
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Unfortunately we’re not staying the whole duration of our stay due to work commitments and school but will be there for the weekend so we’ll be rushing around trying to cram it all in about 48hrs! Thanks for taking the time to comment Stevie, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you in Feb! x
I love BUTLINS!! We are going in July. We’ve also booked a babymoon to Fuerta Ventura in March. Alton Towers looks amazing! So expensive though like you say xx
we are in the process of deciding where we want to travel to this year – it’s my 30th in April so I’m hoping the hubby has something planned for me abroad 😉
Oooh what a wonderful year to look forward to! Glad you finally got a Butlins break sorted. I still haven’t but we’re off to Centre Parcs on Monday as part of the husband’s 30th birthday celebrations. Roll on the spa!x
I love all your plans for this year – we’re trying to travel a lot more this year too and we’re starting with New York in April 😉
We love Butlins an I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time x
First of all, all the best with your fourth pregnancy! The travelling plans sound amazing and you are very brave to have so much planned ahead while awaiting a new arrival. Hope you will enjoy every single trip and make beautiful memories!xx
Such busy travel plans you have. I love it though. I’d love to be more flexible and travel more with the kids. At least there are bank holidays that you can take as well.
I would love to visit Alton Towers with the kids, I think they would love the splash zone! I love planning holidays!