CenterParcs in December

After the success of my birthday visit  we decided to take Marisa and Ella for a break in Centerparcs again just before Christmas.  Alistair drove up to Newcastle to collect Liz and Ella whilst I packed up food and toys and drove Marisa and myself to the Sherwood Forest site.  It was very different arriving in the dark and rain compared to our visit in May.
 

Preparing to board transport



....with Liz providing the pedal power.

 Over the next few days they used various styles of transport including trying out a likeabike, having a festive horse and carriage ride before finishing with pony ride to see Santa.

Ella was on Norwegian time plus she is an early riser anyway.  I am a light sleeper and the adult Crofts in the party seemed to be able to sleep through most noise so here is an early morning picture of three people who were up by six o'clock!  One little person is enjoying the dvd but the other two people would have liked to have slept for another couple of hours.


Dora the Explorer saves the day

Ella and Marisa were inseparable and they really got into the swing of things with "The Santa and Snowman Hunt"  One of the nice things about this visit was that it was mainly pre-school children and their families.  The children had to find clues and Marisa and Ella became very adept at spotting the next clue.



Everyone got a balloon and some chocolates at the end of the treasure hunt.

Here we have the family group visitng Santa in his grotto where there were real reindeer outside.

On our final day Alistair left early at six o'clock to drive Liz and Ella to catch the plane to Stavanger from Newcastle.  After Marisa and I had cleaned up and packed the car it was too early to go in the pool so Marisa wanted to play on the beach by the lake with her new bucket and spades.

This picture was taken at 9 o'clock in the morning and I found it decidedly chily even though the sun was shining.  The bag you can just see behing Marisa had our swimming gear for one last visit to the Dome before we set off to Macclesfield.  I did get nice and warm in the Dome but also very prune like as Marisa was having a great time and did not want to leave.

I should have made it back home just after three but there was a fierce snowstorm as we approached Buxton and the roads to Macclesfield were closed off with barriers.  I sat in Buxton without moving very far for an hour and a half.  Eventually by slithering and sliding in the opposite direction to which I wished to go I reached Chapel-en-le Frith.  The roads began to improve as I drove from there to Hazel Grove and finally I made it to Macclesfield some time after six. Luckily Marisa was tired out after her morning activities and slept through the worst of the jam. 

That day Alistair had done many more miles than me but in sunshine and on lovely clear roads.  He cooked dinner!