Today is fourteen years to the day since I married my husband, soul mate and best friend. I treasure our relationship. Last year we had a
Horror Themed Anniversary Party. This year we decided it was time for some swashbuckling adventures to celebrate our anniversary!
This weekend we took our three little ones to Alton Towers. 14 years ago we spent our honeymoon there staying at the hotel. We had Joe, Meg and baby Ella with us and my parents came too...not your traditional hot and heavy honeymoon, but it was wonderful sharing it with the people I loved most!
This year we went to the Splash Landings Hotel in one of the swish Pirate Themed Suites with now teenaged Ella, Kizzy and Freddy. It wasn't cheap but we wanted it to be special. And it most certainly was!!
We felt like VIP's having our own personalised parking space at the hotel. It put us in the mood for swashbuckling adventures!
The kids were very excited to be pirates for the weekend. The weather wasn't great but with waterproofs at the ready we were ready to take on the Towers!
The Pirate Suite itself was amazing. Every single detail was meticulously themed to our swashbuckling fantasy. From the pirate's voice that shouted out "Shiver me Timbers" or "Walk the plank" or "Heave Ho me Hearties" everytime you opened the toilet door, to the rats, cannonballs and ropes in the rigging!
The bed was unbelievably sumptuous, perfect for a Captain and his wench! The rich drapes and the skull adorned bedposts were exactly to my taste...very gothic! The night lights were mounted on barrels and swords, pistols and plundered loot decorated the walls.
The kids particularly liked the treasure chest. They had to solve clues to work out the combination on the lock so they could get to the booty! Gold Doubloons and pirates' paraphernalia was happily plundered by the little shipmates!
A bouquet of star shaped foil Helium balloons made me and Freddy extremely happy. We love balloons! They added to the party feeling...although they weren't very pirate-y!!
The girls had bunks in the scurvy sea dogs' quarters with sack cloth blankets (which were actually beautifully soft and snuggly!) Everything was just perfect to transport you to the Seven Seas...but thankfully without the travel sickness! It was the place of fantasies.
The Piratey theme continued out into the park with a meet and greet with Finn the Shark, and other swashbuckling rides. The SeaLife Centre was great for walking round. Beautiful fish in brilliant themed tanks with sunken galleons.
We went to the Splash Landings Waterpark which was Freddy's first time in a pool. It was amazing fun. The warm shallow waters of the Little Leak play area was perfect for Freddy to bob about and play with the water and whizz down the slide shouting "woohoo"! I thought I was pretty brave getting into a swimming costume! It weren't pretty but I didn't care (until I saw the exposed arse crack in Ella's photo...oops!)
This weekend has been awesome. The pirate-y element was definitely Timber Shiveringly good. We loved it and the kids thought it was magical. For a special occasion I'd highly recommend staying in a suite at Alton Towers!
