A campsite, with four kids. The reality of a family holiday

So, thanks to the utterly enormous span of St. Patrick’s Day and Easter holidays, our two bigger ones had nigh on three weeks off. There’s only so much “maybe you could have an, umm, adventure, er, upstairs, with your brother, like pretending you’re both, ehhh, astronaut footballers from the planet Manchester United!” you can throw at them. The response is usually, “not again, Dad! We did that twenty minutes ago! Oh, right. We needed another plan.

There’s a soccer camp for the week after but the chasm of Easter week was yawning at us so we agreed we should go somewhere for a few nights. Just get out of the house, so we don’t spend the entire break filling the dishwasher and sweeping up, which, let’s face it, is what life is. A place with a kids club would be great. Somewhere not too far away. Maybe an hour’s drive. It was left with me, so my cogs got turning and, next thing you know, we’re only going to drive for an hour and ten minutes…after a three-hour ferry ride! That’s a good idea, right?

We gave away a trip on the show with Stena Line, recently, to a place called Presthaven in North Wales. The prize stuck in the back of my mind. Three pools, a huge amount of kids’ activities and caravans (read mobile homes) equipped with kitchens and showers and TVs and they sleep six. Decision made. Away with us to Wales!

We packed up the Volkswagen Touran we got recently. Three full-sized kids seats across the middle and one in the back left us with enough boot space to pack two travel cots, the double UPPABaby buggy and everything else we need for a six-person holiday. Hats off VW.  I didn’t think it would swallow that much and still be comfortable.

The lads were hilarious. They each packed a bag. Andrew grabbed his Match Attax album, a box of spare Match Attax in case he met anyone to do swaps with and his shin guards. He’s only mildly obsessed with football. Sam packed an orange, the trailer from a bin truck (but not the truck) and nine odd socks. I counted them.

We loaded up on Monday morning and headed for the 15:10 crossing to Holyhead. It was AWESOME! We got up to the bridge and met Captain Richard, who made a massive fuss of the lads. Honestly, I was more excited than they were. The view from up there is exceptional! I resisted the temptation to wear the Captain’s hat because I’m an adult, and I have to do things like that nowadays. Sake.

Anyway, we arrived in picturesque Prestatyn late enough and, in hindsight, packing the car on the Sunday night and getting the 08:20 sailing would probably have been smarter, as, by the time we arrived, it was, at least, an hour past everyone’s bedtime. Some kids go quiet when they’re tired (Andrew). Some kids go ape (Samuel, Nina, and Anna). We eventually set everyone up in their beds, and we all slept like logs. Except Anna. She found being in a new bed in a new room in a new country hilarious at 2am. And 3:30am. And so funny at 6am that we all had to get up and laugh along.

So, Presthaven, as it’s called, is acres of mobile homes and a couple of entertainment centres. One is restaurants and a Spar, the other is a leisure centre. Pools, pitches, soft-play, arts and crafts, nature trails, you name it, it’s there for kids. They even have crazy golf!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiZIGd3E5DM&feature=youtu.be

I couldn’t say enough good things about this place for families with young kids. Obviously, having cooking facilities in the mobile home makes life with babies way easier. They can eat on schedule. And with enough room, they can also nap on schedule, which, if I’m honest, is the most important thing ever. The lads loved the place. The girls seemed happy but, at their age, it’s probably hard to tell.

While we were there, a few things occurred to me so I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Driving to your holidays is WAAAAAAAY easier than flying when you’ve got kids. 

Sure, you don’t get as much bang for your buck, distance wise, but being able to load everything into the one car and just drive to where you want to go. The kids are used to the car. They’re comfortable in there. They can nap in there. They can listen to their favourite songs and sing them over and over and over again. My wife marveled at the fact she could bring a full-sized deodorant!

2. There shall be no adult time 

None. In our case, with six of us, the two girls ended up sleeping in the sitting room of the mobile home. That meant that by 7:30pm, they’re sleeping in there, and the boys are asleep in one of the bedrooms. So, no TV, no “cuppa teas”, as Sam calls them, no food and even going to the bathroom is a tiptoe affair. So, we went to bed. And we had no WiFi. So, we chatted. We read. And we went to sleep early. And it was brilliant.

3. Your toddlers shall understand nothing

Having just gotten his head around air travel recently, car and boat travel were not going to be grasped on the first attempt. According to Sam, we drove the car and then went to a restaurant. Arguably, accurate. It was a restaurant on a boat, but it was a restaurant. Then, we left the restaurant and went back to our car. Also accurate. Then we went for a drive. Yep. And then we got to our holiday home. Also true. So, what do you mean we’re in another country? We just went to a restaurant. And this circular argument went around and around for days and days and days.

4. No matter how nice your holidays are, it’s always nice to come home 

Not just for the adults. I mean, we’re all home birds, right? Our own beds, our own showers, our own fridge full of our own food. But not the kids. They’d much rather be somewhere fun, right? Swimming pools. Crazy golf. Playgrounds. Nah. As we pulled into the driveway, the two boys were bouncing around the car, super-excited to see the toys they couldn’t fit into their bags. Even the girls giggled, as we brought them in and sat them on the floor in the sitting room. Home sweet home.