FUN & FROLICS: Woodfarm Barns - Our First Holiday As A Family Of Four

Thanks to a lovely win from @Visit_Suffolk and @woodfarmbarns on Twitter, we spent 16th-19th February on a lovely family holiday in the delightful Deben Barn Cottage at Woodfarm Barns in Ipswich.

I won a 4 night midweek break for two and you could take a dog or a baby along. I won the holiday in February 2014, at which time I did not know I was pregnant (as most of you know, we had a very big surprise in the form of a baby we did not know was on the way until he was born on 9th July!), so we booked for 16th-19th February 2015 planning on just me & Paul spending the time there to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary (which was on Valentine's Day) and David would be staying with his Grandma (my Mum).

However, with the unexpected arrival of the baby, I didn't feel comfortable leaving our young baby, but also didn't want to take him but leave David behind, so I asked if it would be okay for us to bring David and the owner, Carl Scott, very kindly said we could. He didn't have to, so it was extremely generous of him and we are very grateful. This made Woodfarm Barns our first family holiday together as a family of four.

Getting there was a nightmare with the motorways being clogged up. We estimated we'd get there around 6pm or 7pm at the latest, but we actually didn't arrive until around 10pm, we felt really bad getting there so late, but it was unavoidable as sadly we couldn't just make the rest of the cars disappear! We literally were stuck on the motorway for around 2 hours and managed to go about 1 mile! In the end we got to a services and decided to have a coffee and give Marley some food and hope the motorway cleared up.

A much needed break from the dredging along the motorway at the services.

However, when we came out, things were no better and we spent a further hour or so crawling very slowly along the motorway again. It was such a relief when sat nav was telling us we were 10 minutes away! Carl was there to greet us when we finally arrived, he was very welcoming. He left us a delightful breakfast basket with eggs, bacon, bread, fruit etc. too which was a lovely touch.

Well, the cottage was absolutely delightful and I would recommend it to anyone. It is set in a lovely, scenic location. Deben Barn Cottage where we stayed was just lovely - everything you'd need - a spacious bedroom with a lovely spacious and comfortable bed. A lovely bathroom with shower. A cooker, microwave, toaster and kettle in the kitchen. A lovely fireplace, though we didn't need to use it as the cottage had underfloor heating which warmed the cottage perfectly. A lovely little garden. A TV with built-in DVD player and an iPod docking station. Not to mention that in the shared shed there are literally hundreds of DVDs you can borrow for free as well as bicycles, board games and a huge range of guides to help you find things to do roundabouts. These are things other places would charge a hefty fee for, but are included in the price. There is also an ironing board and iron in the shed too. We took our own travel cot, but there was one supplied had we needed it. I would say it was very homely, a great place to relax away from it all.

Paul, David and Marley standing outside Deben Barn Cottage the morning after we arrived.

The garden :)

The bedroom :)

It was so late getting there on the 16th, that we basically unpacked, got into our pyjamas and went to bed, we all felt so drained. We had an lovely nights sleep and felt much refreshed the next morning.

A selfie in our pyjamas on our first night, worn out from the trip, but happy to be there!

On the 17th, we enjoyed a delightful home cooked breakfast with the goodies left in our welcome basket for us before heading off to Colchester Zoo for the day. Considering the time of year, the weather was quite favourable for us! It was only a 40 minute or so drive away so it seemed like a good idea for a family day out. We saw lots of animals and there was so much to see, we ran out of day before we ran out of animals to see! Here are some photo's of our day out:

On the 18th, we went to Stonham Barns, which is literally a 10 minute walk around the corner (though we drove simply for the convenience of putting all the baby stuff in the boot). There are lots of shops there. We went to Suffolk Owl Sactuary (which also had a Meerkat area) then had dinner at Sweet & Savoury before going for a game of Crazy Golf. Then we got some goodies from the Sweet & Savoury Deli before heading back home. Here's some photo's from our day:

On our last full day there (19th), we had originally planned to go to Huntingdon races (horse racing), but due to bad timing on our part and our old sat nav getting us lost, we got near it too late and gave up and ended driving to Great Yarmouth seaside and spending the evening in the amusements arcade! The day definitely didn't go as planned, but we had a fun day anyway.

We packed our stuff up at the end of the day. The next day we had to check out by 10am, we were said to be going home, it was really lovely and we really enjoyed the break and the chance to (sometimes at least!) relax.

On the way home, we went to the Centre For Computing History in Cambridge, which kept David amused looking at the old stuff and Paul happy reliving his retro computing days! I did see and have a go with the Amstrad CPC 464 they had - I had one of those as a kid (still do have it in the loft!), it was my very first computer! It was fun, interesting and informative in there, but bloody freezing too! Was like being outdoors! A good value day out though, especially for a geek or a fan of retro.

Paul & David racing BigTrak's.

This projected games onto a piece of paper for you to play!

It's always depressing getting home, when you're on the motorway and start seeing the signs for Liverpool, you know you're close to home and you realise the holiday is over :(

To be honest, I'd have never really considered Ipswich an holiday destination, maybe from lack of knowing much about it, or because it's not one of the places you often hear about, but we were very impressed, Woodfarm Barns was a lovely place to stay and there is plenty to do, both walking distance and a short drive away for families and couples alike.

REVIEW: Go Ape (PB)

We had the opportunity to Go Ape!

Go Ape is an adventure in the treetops for adults and kids. There are 28 locations across the country, so it's likely you are near one! It is great for kids or adults. Kids between 10 and 15 will need an adult to supervise up to 2 of them and 16-17 year olds only need one adult for up to 5 of them - great for a birthday activity! Kids must be over 1.4 metres. The course is all-weather and suitable even in rain!

After a harness fitting and important safety talk; everyone gets a practice go at attaching the harness to the safety points on the obstacles. Then it's off into the forest. There is one small set of obstacles to allow to to build up your confidence and check you know what you are doing before you get started on the main course.

The course is a series of obstacles between the treetops. Up a ladder and off you go! Connect the harness to each treetop crossing in turn and make your way to the next tree. There is a wide selection of things help you between trees - ropes, ladders, balancing bridges, tunnels, zip lines, Tarzan swings, rope ladders, cargo nets - all with their own challenges, but all lots of fun.

If you are supervising children you can be up the same tree and check they've attached everything as they should have, you can shout advise if they have any problems between trees and you can photo or video them wobbling away to another successful crossing.

For our experience we got the train to Delamere and walked to the Go Ape hut situated in the forest. There is a car park as it's a popular place to hike, cycle, walk the dog or take the kids. Having previously Gone Ape we knew what to expect but still made sure we listened to the safety instructions. We couldn't wait to get back into the trees! We both had a great time. It was nice to be able to check David was connecting himself correctly, but he had no problems and got it right anyway. A couple of places there was a choice of two different paths up in the trees, one way slightly more challenging than the other.

We enjoyed the short walk between the different parts of the course and spotted a couple of squirrels also doing a bit of climbing. The view up the trees is fantastic, you can even have less adventurous friends follow you around at ground level.

The best parts of the course was the zip lines. They take you at high speed from the top of a tree down to the bottom, the landings can be a little rough but it's worth it for the fun! The course took us about 3 hours, which is about what they estimate. But it was so much fun it didn't feel that long.

There is a scaled down course for 6 year olds upwards, so even your littlest monkey can have a go.

You might be interested in Go Ape for a birthday treat (for you or your kids) or even a corporate team building day. It would be great for a school outing or even a stag/hen do.

If the treetops don't appeal to you then many of the locations have an off-road forest segway experience! Whizz around the forest on a specially designed segway!

You can book online or by phone. The Go Ape website has all the details you will need. You can also buy a gift voucher for someone if you aren't up to the challenge.

REVIEW: Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester (YB)

I was offered the opportunity to visit and review Legoland Discover Centre in Manchester on 28th September...

Me & Paul (hubby) took our eldest son, David (12) and my sister, Latisha (also 12) - and our new little man, Marley (2 months) came along for the ride too.

Sadly, we quickly found that Legoland is aimed at younger children than David & Latisha, but too old for Marley. I'd say it was aimed at 2-8 year olds ideally. I think Marley will love it when he's older and we'll definitely be taking him back when he is old enough.

We were greeted by Professor Brick-A-Brack, who did a fantastically sterling job of continuing his welcoming, despite the fact that it was clearly aimed at children younger than David & Latisha. I think a bunch of little kids would absolutely love meeting Professor Brick-A-Brack on the Lego Factory Tour and learning about the Legoo (yes, really, the Legoo) process! We got a souvenir piece of Lego each :)

After that, we went on the Kingdom Quest Laser Ride. It was quite slow (again aimed at younger kids), but it was good fun shooting the spiders and things :) Marley was fascinated by the lights and colours!

Next we went to Miniland which was good - the mini buildings are fantastically made. One of my personal favourites was the working mini rollercoaster! David & Latisha had fun playing Lego table football against each other!

While it wasn't really designed for their age, David & Latisha made the most of their time (and their love of Lego!) while we were there. They had fun building and racing their Lego cars in the Lego Racers: Build & Test area. Paul even took the opportunity to get in on that one!

Next we went to the 4D cinema and saw Lego Legends Of Chima - it was a very good experience with very realistic coming at your effects and good smoke effects etc. Marley tried out the glasses too...

Me & Paul sat for a cup of coffee and to feed Marley while David & Latisha went off to do their own thing for a bit - they went on the Merlin's Apprentice Ride - they both enjoyed it!

They visited the Master Model Builder where they got to build a boat, which you can then purchase afterwards but they chose not to.

We finished off by going to Lego Ninjago Laser Training Camp which was actually good fun - I had a go as well as David and Latisha :P It was actually quite difficult but I did better than both of them!

As I said, while it wasn't really suited to their age, they made the most of it and enjoyed it anyway and we will definitely be returning, likely on Marley's 2nd or 3rd birthday!

It's great value at just £9.95-14.95 per ticket when booked in advance online at the Legoland Discovery Centre website, children 2 years old and under get to visit for FREE as well! And for just £12 midweek, a parent AND toddler can visit!

TRAVEL: Sun & Sangria In Barcelona (YB)

Me & Paul went to Barcelona, Spain thanks to a fabulous win I had with Krave & Channel 4/E4 on Facebook back in November 2012. Oh, how I love my hobby - this is one of the many reasons I love comping!

This was only my second ever trip abroad (the first being Venice back in February) so it was super exciting to me. Well, holidays are to everyone, but it felt super-special to me. Here's what we got up to...

DAY 1 - 14th June
We set off from home at around 4.50am to head to Liverpool John Lennon airport in time for check-in at 5.05am ready for our flight with Easyjet at 7.05am.

After check-in and going through security, we had breakfast at Subway and a coffee at Go before heading to gate 1 to board our plane.

The flight was comfortable, though Easyjet really like to try and sell you stuff - when it's not food and drink, it's perfumes & aftershaves, teddy bears or even scratchcards! They don't even give you a free drink on board! Not even a glass of water! It's all sell, sell, sell with them.

We arrived 2 hours later - 10.25am local time. We met our taxi driver in the arrivals area as we had transfers booked and included. He was very polite and helpful. It took about 30 minutes from the airport to our hotel - H10 Catalunya Plaza in the heart of Barcelona. Check in was quick and easy and we had a nice cup of coffee while we unpacked and planned our 1st day.

H10 Catalunya Plaza where we stayed

After we were all unpacked, we went for a walk along La Rambla to see the many stalls and eateries and of course, the street entertainers. We continued along to Port Vell and walked around it before returning to La Rambla.

We had a rather late lunch at Pans & Co - I had a 'pit de pollastre' baguette while Paul had the vegetarian option of the 'grec' baguette and we shared some 'patates frigides' and 'patates bravas' and we got a cola each.

We had a well earned rest back at our hotel then until tea time. After a walk around nearby our hotel and looking at several café and restaurant menus, we chose to dine at Bracafé around the corner from our hotel on Passeig de Gràcia.

We had delicious tapas and I had roast chicken and vegetables (courgette, aubergine, asparagus and tomato) - which sounded more exotic in Spanish! Paul had a vegetarian rice dish - which also sounded more exotic in Spanish! I had a glass of white wine and Paul had sangria. The food was delicious, especially the tapas. Was all presented nicely and cooked well, so it looked both appetising and tasted delicious - buenísimo!

The tapas

My roast chicken & vegetables

Paul's vegetarian rice dish

We then went back to the hotel for the night after a look at the waterfalls near our hotel.

Paul standing by the fountains opposite our hotel

DAY 2 - 15th June

We got up at around 7am so we had time to go for breakfast before heading to our tour departure place. Breakfast was at the hotel, sadly they didn't have anything I liked :( What looked like Coco Pops, tasted nothing of the sort and I didn't like them. I ordered some breakfast off the menu (cooked breakfast), but again I was not impressed. The bacon was crispy and the fried egg was crispy on the bottom and barely cooked on the top!

We headed off towards where our tour started, but we were running late and then we couldn't find it either, so in the end we had to give up :( We decided to go on our own tour instead....

Firstly, we went to La Sagrada Familia, we didn't go inside, but we took plenty of photo's. There was a quaint little park opposite where we sat for quite some time, enjoying the sunshine, watching the birds and generally enjoying the greenery and scenery.

La Sagrada Familia

The park opposite La Sagrada Familia

We then went to see and take a photo of La Pedrera (Casa Milà).

La Pedrera

Then we stopped at a rather unusual place - a McCafé on Passeig de Gràcia - a part of a McDonalds that seems so much nicer and more sophisticated to the ones we have at home. I had a delicious slice of tiramisu and a yummy Frappe de Moka Xocolate while Paul just had a cappuccino.

My tasty tiramisu & frappe

Next we went to see and photo Casa Batlló which is a peculiar sight as it does not fit in with the buildings surrounding it at all.

Casa Batlló

We then just had a walk around, taking in the culture of Barcelona on the streets before grabbing some churros to take away from Bracafé on Carera de d'Ausiàs Marc which we sat eating in the little park bit opposite.

We then went back to the hotel for a brief break from the sun and to rest our feet for a little while.

Next, we took our first trip on the Metro (underground train) which cost just €13.40 each for 2 days unlimited travel and we wished we had thought of it earlier.

The Metro train

We went to Parc Güell. It's a beautiful gigantic park-like area. We walked to the top and got some stunning views across Barcelona. We stopped in the picnic area, just for a sit down and there was a man there playing his guitar, some delightfully calming and peaceful songs. He was greeted by applause after each song. It was quite a walk to the top, but very worthwhile. We picked up a few souvenirs and gifts on the way back.

We also stopped at the Store Café on Travessera de Dalt for our tea. I had hamburger, chips and salad (which was something like hamberguesa, patates frigides é salade in Spanish). Paul had 'cuatro cuesta' - four cheese pizza. We both had a glass of sangria. We were shocked when the bill came though as the sangria cost a whopping €7 each! Overall, the food was extremely pricey too considering its sub-standard quality. My burger & chips cost a whopping €13.50 while Paul's pizza cost €9. I was overly impressed by the food, drink or service here. My burger was gristly, fatty, burnt around the edges and had bits of bone or something else inedible in it!

Eeek! This one glass cost €7

We then took the metro back to Catalunya and went back to the hotel for the night as we were totally worn out.

DAY 3 - 16th June
We got up early with the hope that we could fill in the day at Montjuïc. It didn't really go as we had planned, but we had a fantastic day overall.

We took a photo of Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya before heading off to the L'Anella Olimpica & Estadi Olimpic where we took a few photo's. There was a race of some sort taking place around the Olympic stadium. The stadium is there from when the Olympics were held in Barcelona in 1992.

The Estadi Olimpic (side view)

The Estadi Olimpic (front view)

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Afterwards, we visited the very beautiful Jardins de Joan Maragall and took in the beautiful scenery and took some more photo's.

We then went for lunch. Just a sandwich each today and a slush as it was exceedingly hot. The plan was to go to Castell de Montjuïc next but it was an extremely hot time of day and we were both so overwhelmed by the heat we decided to give it a miss. So we headed back to the hotel for a brief break and a cuppa.

Next, we went past the Arc De Triomfe to Parc de la Ciutedella. A gigantic park that plays host to the Parlament de Catalunya, as well as the gorgeous Cascada. We

The cascada

Paul at the cascada

The Arc de Triomf

Not content with our busy day, we returned to the hotel briefly to get suitable beach footwear and headed off to Platja de la Barceloneta - i.e. the beach. We sat at the beach for a while. Then we passed by the huge bustling market alongside the beach, a bizarre sight at gone 9pm.

Us on the beach

Then we headed back to the Barceloneta Metro station to head to Espanya Metro station to re-visit the La Font Màgica during it's operational hours of 9.30-11.30pm (we visited that morning when we went to Montjuïc too) to see it's spectacular display of water flow, music and lighting.

Officially knackered, we then headed back to the hotel for our final night of the holiday.

DAY 4 - 17th June

We had to check out of the hotel by 12pm on the last day, so we had a lie in and then headed off for a breakfast before packing everything up and getting ready for the day ahead.

We went for another walk along La Rambla, and sat in the park between La Rambla and Port Vell for a little while.

Then we carried on to Port Vell where we sat enjoying the breeze for a while. It wasn't just the ships we caught sailing by... Now before I continue, bear in mind this was a very busy tourist area with lots of people sitting on the benches, on the steps and walking or cycling by regularly, not just adults but children too... Well, a couple sitting on a bench further along seemed to be quite openly and publicly doing more than just sitting!! I'm sure you can figure out what I mean :D I'm not really sure people believed what they were seeing. People were even stopping and staring at them and it didn't seem to deter them. Though they disappeared soon after the port police passed by! Now, in Spain, you can be used to seeing people being publicly affectionate (not like us rigid English people) - i.e. hugging and kissing, but not quite this much "affection" is usually on display!

Anyway, we then walked back along La Rambla to near our hotel where our transfer would be waiting to take us to the airport. It was supposed to collect us at 5.40pm local time, but was gone 6pm local time, but it didn't matter (even if slightly annoying) as check-in was not until 7.45pm local time. Check in was quick and easy and so was going through security. Our plane was due to depart at 9.45pm local time, but was running late and didn't take off until 10.10pm local time. Despite taking off late, we arrived 5 minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time of 11.20pm (UK time).

We then got a taxi home and then it finally hit that the holiday was over. It was fantastic and we both had a great time. It was really nice to see David again before school on Tuesday morning. I missed him loads!