April in Pictures

Butlins Here We Come

It seems a long time ago that I became a Butlins Ambassador and booked a family holiday at Butlins Bognor Regis staying in the newly built Wave Hotel.  But, now that holiday is just days away!  We'll be staying in a Reef Appartment that has all the perks of a hotel including daily housekeeping and a half board meal plan, but also offers some of the flexibility and freedom of self-catering with a lounge and a kitchen and three bedrooms.  It sounds just perfect for my family.

New for this year is a dazzling new fairground with rides that are all free to enjoy.  I am sure the children will be spending a lot of time on the Helter Skelter, Carousel and Paratroopers!  The traditional fairground aims to bring back the joy that I remember as a child, riding the Dodgems and enjoying the sideshows.  The new Character Theatre is opening for Easter, where little ones will get to see Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder and other favourites live on stage.  Freddy will be in his element.  The Discovery Studio is also new for Easter where older children can enjoy magic, animal and science shows.  Shows cost £5 each but I think this will be well worth it! All the other Butlins entertainment including the indoor play area for little ones and the shows will ensure that we have a fun filled few days away!

A week away with sea air, no cooking and cleaning and good food is just what the doctor ordered.  If we could organise a bit of sunshine that would be just perfect!

           

The Joy Of Swimming....Memories!

The Joy of Swimming 

As a child, we would always spend the second week of August on our annual family holiday. Back in the seventies, holiday camps were all the rage and the prospect of the hi-de-hi atmosphere would have me counting down the minutes until our week away.  One of the things that made my parents particularly excited was the prospect of unlimited use of the swimming pool.

My dad was in his day an amazing swimmer.  I think he modeled his technique on the legendary Olympian and Tarzan movie actor Johnny Weissmuller!  Dad would dive in at the deep end and swim silently under the water without making a ripple, before bursting to the surface of the shallow end where I would be stood waiting.  I remember the anticipation and the excitement, wondering when my dad would emerge.  Watching the bubbles as he squeezed the last of his breath from his lungs.  Trying to spot the silhouette of my dad as he made his way like a merman across the bottom of the pool dodging around the other swimmers.  I remember the pride that it was my dad who could swim an effortless length on one single breath.  He was my hero!

Swimming at the Seaside

After he broke the surface of the waves he would fling me on his back and give me a ride through the swimming pool.  I would pretend I was riding on the back of a dolphin as he swam with me clinging around his neck.  I felt safe with my dad.   Although I was never a strong swimmer myself and was nervous of being out of my depth in the water, I still remember my dad pushing me through the water like a torpedo as I reached for the side of the pool, stretching my fingers and holding my breath.  I loved the feeling of speed as I whizzed across the surface, leaving a wave in my wake.

Ready for the Pool.

My mum is one of those women who can breaststroke tirelessly for hours and never even get her hair wet!  She would elegantly and effortlessly clock up length after length, with her immaculately made-up face and styled hair daring the other swimmers to splash her.  As she bobbed through the water, rising and dipping, she personified both power and grace. My dad would never dare 'mess' with her swimming chi.  I can only imagine the wrath he would have met had he decided to swim underneath her and hoist her out of the water on his strong shoulders before tossing her into the water!

My childhood memories of swimming are vivid. I hope that my own children will be able to look back and remember the games that we play in the pool with them.  I am still not a strong swimmer as I totally lack the co-ordination to get to grips with an effective technique, but I do enjoy taking the children to the beach or to water parks.  Alton Towers and Centre Parcs have provided us with hours of watery family fun. Our Summer holiday this year is at a French resort with a Tropical Water Park. I have promised the children that we can go swimming everyday.  Kizzy is keen to practice her newly acquired swimming techniques.  I taught her to swim on holiday at Christmas and she's been doing well in her school swimming lessons ever since.  Freddy loves donning a little buoyancy jacket and is fearless when it comes to splashing around, going down slides and chutes and gaining the confidence needed for learning to swim.  Unlike my own parents, I may not be able to execute a perfect dive before negotiating 25m on one lungful of air, nor can I swim an effortless ten lengths without wetting my hair, but I can definitely help nurture a love of water in my own little ones through fun and play that will hopefully lead to a lifelong  joy of swimming.

My Little Mermaids in 2005

Butlins for Christmas

As a child, Butlins was our annual holiday destination for years.  Back then, it was Barry Island, made famous by Gavin and Stacey, that was our camp of choice.  We used to love the holiday camp experience because me and my two sisters had the freedom to explore the resort, coming together with our parents for meal times and evening entertainment with the Redcoats.

Unfortunately, I was a painfully shy child who desperately wanted to join in with the evening's rendition of the 'Wiggle Wiggle Whoops' dance with the other children, but couldn't muster up the courage to do so.  It was pretty tragic!  Similarly I'd shiver in the corner of the swimming pool rather than splashing around with anyone.  I was so backward in coming forward, something I'd never wish on my own kids.  You miss out on so much being shy and retiring.

Butlins in the 70s....I'm the littlest!!

Fast forward to this weekend and I found myself back in the Butlins fold thanks to the rather inspirational Sally Whittle who had organised an amazing Tots 100 Xmas Party for us bloggers to attend.  It was a fantastic opportunity to combine some family fun into a blogger event, which is the best of both worlds as far as I'm concerned.

Bognor Regis was a five hour drive from Shropshire which was a bit arduous but well worth the effort.  We were staying in the Ocean holiday which was a world away from the hi-de-hi chalets of my youth!  Our room was modern, clean, spacious and funky!  The girls had a separate little room with their own TV and the bed and bathroom had colour changing mood lights (or rainbows as Freddy called them!)

The resort itself was based around the Skyline Pavillion which housed all the entertainment, eateries and amusements. It was all very razzle dazzle!!  There was so much going on to keep all ages having fun.  Freddy loved the little rides and the soft play area.  My girls were brilliant helping to look after him.

We watched shows...the Take That tribute act Beautiful World got me and my sister QWERTY Mum, Bloggomy's Lou and my girls up and dancing.  We were stage front and getting down!  Bjorn the Polar Bear was amazing...how did they do that??  The Guinness World Records show was enjoyed by my girls who built a Lego Tower in their record breaking attempt.

The outdoor funfair kept us occupied for a while and it was all free!  We also took a walk to the beach on Saturday which was a  bright, sunny day and simply perfect for clearing the cobwebs away!

In addition to the family stuff, Sally had organised a meet and greet with a festive tree decorating challenge for us bloggers to take part in.  We were Team C (for competitive!!) and we fiercely defended our scissors, sellotape and creative ideas in our bid to be the winning team.  Sadly we were beaten by the cranberry threading skills of my sister's team, despite us having a cheesy Christmas poem and everything!  But I was lucky enough to feel and squeeze myself to a win in another festive challenge, which involved a box full of items that we had to identify by blindly fondling through a hole.  My fondling skills are clearly well honed because I felt my way to victory! I am the sort of person who never wins raffles or public contests, but my incredulous response was soon replaced by delight!  Thanks Sally :)

We were also treated to a Christmas dinner that was preceded by Festive Cocktails.  Sally spoils us!  I had a great evening with some great company.  We had a small scandal that can only be referred to as Waitergate (poor Sam may never recover from his ordeal!)  There was some hilarity involving the dessert (prunes???  Seriously!  I'm regular enough, cheers!)  And I think Brian Turner hates vegetarians.  But it was a great opportunity to eat, drink and make merry.  It was particularly nice to get to know some bloggers I hadn't met or really chatted to before...Karen and Kate you were a joy!  Plus I got to catch up with my sister!

We ended a fabulous weekend with a visit to the big man himself!  The Enchanted Forest and visit with Santa was lovely and a perfect end to an absolutely lovely weekend away with the family.

Thanks to Sally and to Butlins for a great weekend.  I'm now feeling far more festive and have put my 'Wiggle, Wiggle, Whoops' childhood traumas away for good!

Possibly The Worst Vegetarian Christmas Dinner Ever?

I'm not one to complain.  I'm always very grateful for anything I receive and I actually feel guilty for writing this post, such is my lack of a complaining gene!!  But as a food loving vegetarian I felt compelled to rant in order to raise awareness for something that truly bothers me!

This weekend we had a lovely weekend away at Butlins Bognor Regis for the Tots 100 Christmas party.  Included was a three course Christmas meal at Turner's, Butlins' flagship restaurant endorsed by celebrity chef Brian Turner.  The head chef previously worked at The Ivy and with the menu boasting 'fine dining' I was suitably excited by the prospect of an imaginatively prepared vegetarian meal that would kick off my gastronomic festive feasting!

The meal started off well with a deliciously creamy and richly flavoured parsnip soup served with roasted hazelnuts which definitely pleased my palate and raised my expectations of the courses to come.  As the main courses were brought out, the traditional roast turkey meals looked impressive with a big pile of Roasted  Turkey, Chestnut Stuffing and Sausage wrapped in Bacon, served with  roast potato, green beans, braised cabbage and sprouts.  Being a vegetarian is my choice as I personally don't want to eat meat.  However, this does not mean that I do not appreciate the trimmings, colour and variety that comes with a roast dinner.  I love vegetables, roast spuds, gravy and stuffing as much as the next man!  Roast dinners are synonymous with Christmas, and a well conceived vegetarian option nestled amidst the seasonal trimmings is unbeatable. I expected a chef with the celebrity and reputation of Brian Turner would appreciate this.

When my plate arrived I saw two large wedges of indiscernible origin accompanied by a handful of salad leaves. I immediately felt my heart sink.  If there was Lollo Rosso and Endive (or whatever leaves they were) that meant they were an alternative to my spuds and veg!  Salad is for summer not winter! This is Christmas!

Pushing my initial disappointment to the back of my mind, I started to investigate my main.  I don't know what I expected this stand alone foodstuff to be, but I wasn't expecting it to be a patty of compacted rice.  There was a pleasant enough flavour, but the heavy texture and starchiness was so claggy it was difficult to eat.  Maybe if served with an accompanying rich, wintry stew it would have made a nice accompaniment.  But as the main course with nothing but a splash of sauce and some foliage it was seriously lacking.  It just didn't work at all.  It was a wedge of carbohydrate, on a plate crying out for so much more.  Maybe if one of the wedges was served alongside the roast dinner trimmings with gravy, it would have worked.  But on its own?  Brian what were you thinking!!!  This is meant to be the meal of the year.

I later found out that the patties were in fact Roasted Chestnut and Wild Mushroom Rice Cakes, but I found no discernible pieces of either chestnut or mushroom in my rice to break up the texture and improve the mouth feel.  In fact, the only way to swallow it was to eat each bit with a few salad leaves and a swig of water.  Food should not be difficult to eat.  It should be a well conceived joy...especially if it is your annual Christmas treat that you have been looking forward to.

Us veggies, are often treated as second class citizens, especially in Christmas menus.  I have previously had pasta while my work colleagues have had a full monty roast.  How hard is it to make a tasty nut roast?   I had an amazing one at a little local Shropshire pub layered with leek and mushroom, served instead of the meat in a Sunday roast.  If they can do it, surely a top chef can?

This was such a disappointment to me.  It felt like a punishment from someone who hates vegetarians...."if you aren't going to eat meat then you can lump this". *evil laughs*

Thank goodness for great company, good humour and fellow bloggers willing to donate a Brussell Sprout or two in my time of need.

This is the option available on the Butlin's Christmas Day Menu at Turner's.  The price for four courses (a salad, the soup, the rice cake and a pudding) with a glass of Buck's Fizz, coffee and mince pies costs £65. I can only imagine how I'd feel if I was served this meal up on Christmas Day after forking out sixty five notes for each of my five veggie family members.  My advice...go and get a veggie wrap meal from Burger King instead!

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

Flashback Friday...like mother like daughter

This is one of my favourite photos, taken at Butlins (probably Barry Island) in the mid '70s.  I am the little one sporting the rather fetching swimsuit and trying exceptionally hard to pose like my very gorgeous mum!

My uncomfortably sexy pose really demonstrates to me how much I wanted to be like my mum.  She has always been very comfortable in her skin.  She still poses when the camera points her way...even at 77 she knows how to work what her mama gave her!  She has real poise. There was obviously some hero-worship going on at this point, with me trying to emulate her effortless posing.  Bless little me!!