Hello blog fans! Hope all is well with you. No 'throw back Friday' post today I'm afraid! I thought I would share some of Elin's holiday snaps with you instead, if you wouldn't mind?? ;-) ;-)
For the first time since Elin was born we didn't go to Porthmadog on our jollies. A holiday village near Blackpool had been recommended to us by several people on several different occasions and we thought we'd give it a try. Here is the link for anyone interested http://www.ribbyhall.co.uk . If you are Scottish by the way you should definitely visit Blackpool, because all your friends and family are there!! Seriously!! I lived in Edinburgh for three years and have never heard so many Scottish accents in one place in my life! It made me love the place ever so slightly more. Disabled facilities seemed good and there seemed like a lot to keep us busy. We really weren't disappointed -which was lucky, since I reckon we could've gone to a Balearic Island all inclusive for roughly the same price- why do these places charge so much??? Anyway we stayed lucky all week. We didn't feel a drop of rain (as opposed to last year in Greenacres where it felt we may never see the sun again at one point!) but more than this, Elin was H.A.P.P.Y. I don't mean 'usual Elin happy'. I mean really, sitting-in-chair-and-everything happy!! A happy Elin makes a happy Mummy and Daddy. It was my favourite holiday in years, we had a wonderful time. We even went out for a meal at night to a lovely restaurant and she sat there in her chair with us at the table regally grinning at everyone like the Queen!! This was after a full day out in her chair at the Pleasure Beach and not so much as a whimper. The waiter was very taken with her and kept tickling her under the chin and telling us about his own little girl who lived in Cyprus and who he didn't get to see :-( He said he thought Elin was beautiful and won himself a massive tip immediately (I'm a pushover what can I say).
Elin also enjoyed the family fun-pool. Unheard of! We tried our luck because she was in such a good mood but I did worry that the noise and combination of strange sensations and voices would worry her. It didn't, she loved it! The disabled changing facilities were pretty good for a swimming baths - separate, clean, roomy (although still where to change her except the floor or one of those pull-down baby changers). There was wheelchair access all around the pool and a special door leading from the disabled changing that literally opened right onto the poolside. I've never actually seen one so was quite surprised to find it in a holiday village. Well done Ribby Hall! There was also wheelchair access absolutely everywhere from the shop to the bars/ restaurants /cafe/ parks/ gardens etc. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.
I won't bore you with every last detail of the holiday since a picture paints a thousand words, prepare to be 'holiday pic-spammed' !! I hope all is well in all of your worlds whilst we were away. Happy weekend folks! And to all the teachers out there, happy-what-day-is-it-again? folks!! Mwaaahhhhh.
Our Pine Lodge home for the week. It didn't have a name but we referred to it as 'The Lodge of Wonder' on account of it being, well wondrous (oh- and basically bigger than our house) It also had a hot tub on the front decking (we aren't obsessed with hot tubs at all, honestly!!!) It looked out onto trees which was amazing so long as you haven't seen the horror film 'The Cabin in the Woods' and don't have an over-active imagination. Let's just say when we were in the hot tub and the park keeper came round unexpectedly on a golf buggy one night checking the accommodation, Caitlin and I nearly drowned with fear.
Elin was impressed with the red leather couches and sat around pretending to be Krystle Carrington from Dallas. Sophie was pretty impressed too.
The Pleasure Beach, recently voted Britain's best theme park. If there were awards for being the most expensive or having the longest queue's you have EVER seen in your life for food (we could have gone on the big dipper three times during the time it took to get a portion of curly fries) then it would have won those, too. But hey, I'm not going to do the 'Mum' thing of complaining, we had too much fun. Maybe next time I'll do the 'Mum' thing of taking some sarnies and a flask instead though (oh, and stop to rob a bank on the way in). But honestly, an awesome, awesome day.
Elin loved the sights, sounds and smells of the park. We actually had to move her away from the 'Laughing Clown' (a life sized Clown in a box which laughs repeatedly, Laughing Policeman style) not because she was terrified of how incredibly FREAKY it was, but because she decided to very loudly match him laugh for laugh. Very cute and funny (for the first five minutes haha). If you think about it a fairground is like a huge sensory overload and whilst on another day this may not have gone down very well with her, on this day she was having the time of her life!
Mum, any chance I can go on 'The Big One' then??
Mum, any chance of some Popcorn??
Aww mum, loves it here I do!!
Dinner out in the evening. Mine's a Strawberry Daiquiri please, Mum!
The Pool. The disabled changing was better than most places at the fun pool but still didn't have an adult sized changing platform/hoist. I guess it is a lot to ask. There was a 50lb limit on this baby changer so it's lucky Elin hadn't just had her dinner!! We had about 10lbs to spare and not a lot of room! Elin thought it was hilarious, even though she was soggy and tired from all the slashing about!
South Pier. We won a teddy on 'Hook a Duck'. Yay! (It cost £5 to win the teddy which probably cost roughly 50p to make. I'm thinking of setting up a 'Hook a Duck' in our hot tub in the garden when we're not using it) The girls were chuffed, though!
Blackpool by night. "The Vegas of the North" We didn't see Elton John or Celine Dion but we did see Lucy Beale from Eastenders on the Waltzers. Rock n Roll.
Paul has a very clever camera which got this shot of Elin tired out after a day of fun, with glow-in-the-dark Cinderella keeping her company. Angelic.
The Beach! The Weatherman must have been taking tips from Michael Fish because this certainly wasn't forecast! My jeans will never recover. Elin loved the feel of the sand between her toes and we loved watching her love it.
You didn't think Sophie had missed out did you?? :-) :-)
Beautiful sitting, Elin. Top Banana.
One of Elin's favourite parts of the holiday was that she got to share a room with her big sister. This was so cute. There could have been no doubt that Elin was aware of the increased presence of Caitlin this week and she was delighted. In fact, as soon as we got home, having dropped Caitlin of at her house on the way back, Elin cried when we tried to put her down for a second. This is one of her favourite tricks when she is cross or upset, or wanting attention. She hadn't done it once all week. Not once!! She amused herself brilliantly in the Lodge on holiday, playing with her toys and sitting and lying, happily listening to the unfamiliar sounds of our holiday home. I think it's her way of telling us she has the 'home from holiday' blues, that she wanted to know where her sister was and probably, that she wants us to book again for next year..or maybe sooner. Well, if it's what Elin wants, who are we to argue????
Goodnight folks, until next time -and if you got this far you deserve a medal! (Sorry for the essay!)
xxxx Sleep tight xxx
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