A family Day out to Cornwall Crealy Adventure Park

The children adored Crealy when they were younger but we haven't visited in years. Several of my friends have membership and the children really wanted to join them for a family outing so we packed a picnic, left Daddy tinkering on the railway line at Coombe Mill (this one is really starting to annoy him now) and set off. Crealy is only half an hour from Coombe Mill but compared to our sheltered valley the exposed hilly coastal location always means an argument with my kids to take a jumper for the cold and a waterproof coat for the wet rides! I had a free pass for two of us which only left five to pay for. I was expecting it to be expensive but £80 for five was still a shock! Small children do get in free but my only just 9 year olds counted as adults which I thought was a tad steep! Up grading to £150 gave me annual membership so I figured it was worth the extra for the younger ones. We will have to make plenty of use of it now! 

Something for Everyone

There is plenty to keep young children amused with small ride on play, sand and diggers and seasonal shows, Peppa Pig was there on our vist. The toilets are good and dotted all around the park which is handy with little ones. 

As an adult I appreciate that there is plenty of green space, picnic tables and a beautiful lake to take a wonder when my kids have dashed off to do their own thing, though I do wish they would put wi fi in, with no phone signal and no wi fi it is really cut off. 

There are plenty of farm animals too but given where we live my kids didn't give then a second glance, though they did find the reptile house fascinating.

It is the rides that really do it for my children, they had a wild time dashing from one daring ride to another and the queues were only minutes. This is where I would love a decent camera to capture their faces flying down the slides and log flume. It is far from my perfect fun, but I did brave a few rides with them and managed not to look too green at the other end!

The kids would have me back again tomorrow, but there is only so much Crealy I can cope with. Still it was good to get out and have a forced break from any work and a totally different sort of day for my Country Kids.

Joining In with Country Kids

Hoping you have some outdoor adventures to link up. From play to learning, the garden to the beach, please come and share your inspiration for enjoying the outdoors. Please grab the badge and remember to check some of the other lovely ideas here. A few that stood out for me last week were the tadpole to frog explanation from Cafe Babe, a lovely day out from Silk Scarf Mum and how could I not point you to this wonderful first day of the holidays from Edspire. I also promised a mention for the Lollibop Festival 2013 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London on August 16-18 which looks like a fun family day out. They are selling tickets now and I saw lots of good feedback on line from the event last year, but sadly a tad too far away for me! 

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Halloween at Coombe Mill

Wednesday was our annual Halloween evening. Normally this falls the week after half term and we have just a dozen or so little helpers on the farm for some organized Trick or Treating. This year, with so many children and the added benefit of two empty cottages which are due to be turned into a super new Family cottage for 2014, it felt like the perfect timing for some added party games. What better a location for a haunted house! No electric, nothing to be precious about just an empty carcass to have some fun and as it turned out shelter everyone from the rain! Semi outdoors but I think a shell of a building in outdoor gear still counts.   

Derelict Cottage Turned Haunted House

An afternoon of preparation and the house is ready to party:

Let the Party Begin

With games like splat the rat, Ghostly pinata, apple bobbing, go wild and paint the walls, and musical statues the younger children were entertained without being scared, while in the 2nd bedroom we had the scary coffin of a dissected body and a cackling Witch encouraging you to delve into the coffin and feel the body parts, strictly for the older children and adults!

Trick or Treat.

We have an organised Trick or Treating procession at Coombe Mill. Every participating house has a Pumpkin outside and then we know they are ready for our visit. Reconvening at reception after our party games the children were armed with their collecting bags and fired up for more fun despite the rain. I led an orderly procession along with the parents from property to property; well as orderly as can be expected with around 25 super excited children! It rained and it poured but I don't think anyone really minded. We even had our very own Coombe Mill Ghost peeping out from windows and behind cottages to the wonder of the children. 

A huge effort had been made to decorate houses and prepare for the treat onslaught, my thanks to all the parents for helping make it a memorable evening with an amazing haul for each child to take home.

A whole heap of Halloween fun for everyone all wrapped up on one spooky film:

I think Halloween and half term are likely to coincide next year too, if you fancy joining our Halloween fun and games and enjoying a family week of outdoor fun on the farm be sure to get in touch.

Joining in with Country Kids

Whether you have been celebrating Halloween outdoors or just enjoying some family time with the children in the fresh air, please come and join in and be inspired by others too. Rosy cheeks and fresh air make for healthy happy kids.

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A holiday for sharing

When families come to Coombe Mill they come for more than just a Self Catering Holiday in Cornwall. Yes we are technically listed on a few directories as this, but to think that is all we offer is to miss the point of Coombe Mill.  Our specialism is young families and we aim to create an environment where parents feel relaxed, in the knowledge their children can safely enjoy all Coombe has to offer from walks and play areas to farm learning and confidence with the animals. We have found increasingly that the social spin off of the morning tractor rides helps not only the children but is also a platform for friendships and sharing for parents too. Every week as I join the tractor rides armed with my camera, I eves drop and join in on sharing of information between families. Those who have stayed before offer advice new visitors on places to visit, while general parenting exchanges, based children of similar ages, are informative, sociable and essentially ice breakers which can lead to some real friendships. 

Farewell BBQ

Last week was one of those weeks where all the guests had similar aged preschool toddlers. The children played happily together, striking up friendships readily as "like Mamma like daughter" shows, while the adults too found common ground for a chat. The families just gelled and towards the end of the week, one family suggested a BBQ get together on the front lawn to which several families joined in. We were all invited too which I was really touched by, especially as my children are now so much older. Sadly it was one of our manic after school club days where I fly from one activity to another with our six children, however between ballet and cubs I did grab my camera, follow my nose and discover a wonderful September scene:

Picnic rugs and tables were full, ample food and drink for all and the BBQ in full swing as families shared their week's events. 

The children soon had their fill and dashed off to play on Farmer Nick's newly replaced trampoline, all within view of their parents. Communal parenting naturally formed with one parent on trampoline duty for several youngsters; team work and friendships in making from the young upwards. 

These are the moments when I am really proud of all that Farmer Nick and I offer in a holiday at Coombe Mill.

Finely Balanced!

Family Trip to the Eden Project

This week my Country Kids post comes from our family Sunday out at Cornwall's famous Eden project. Go once and you get free entry for the rest of the year, I think I may have more posts coming from Eden now! http://www.edenproject.com/ . We left it till the afternoon to visit with the main intention being to go ice skating, but it is very easy to use the whole day up. Facilities for children are excellent with a great educational building now open. It is interactive and really captures the imagination of children. Throughout the year they also have special activities indoors and outside for the children to get involved with, so well worth checking out on our free wi fi if you are staying with us.

Outdoors

Fun for our children began as soon as they left the car. Who could miss out on running up and down the grassy slopes on the way in, or playing around the huge driftwood horse!

We sorted the tickets whilst the children watched the automated eco theatre production and then it was off to explore. There are plenty of natural wood built play stations and my children could have been happy with just this for the day!

This is one of my favourite sculptures, he is a recycled alien called "Wee Man" made out of all the domestic waste from a typical household in a year. It does make you question where it all goes and what we are doing to our planet!

Looking at this photo I think Clio had thrown a "strop" at this point!

Inside

We finally made it inside to the education and science building to discover more treats instore. There are plenty of models and displays to see, a trumpet to blow and a huge mechanical nut cracker to operate.

We were keen to find the St Breward 'seed' sculpture. Mined from our village and carved from a massive 160 tonne granite block over 4 years, it is the enter piece with a whole room dedicated to it and a great write up!

Alistair took the photo and missed the top off! It does make an impressive cone shape (trust me) Below is a shot from the write up of how they excavated and transported the huge stone.

With only minutes to spare we had a quick venture into the tropical biome. The colourful array of plants, waterfall and tropical shelters will be fun for a return visit, just a few snaps and our time was up for skating in the big outdoor tent.

It was dusk as we made our way to the tent and the children were full of excitement. We were the last skate of the day and it was surprisingly quiet on the ice, perfect for us. I left Nick with the camera, since he was convinced he would break a leg attempting to skate, and joined the children on the ice. It certainly didn't disappoint, a fabulous 40 minutes, well worth the £5 per person! 

If you are staying with us for February half term or before, I can thoroughly recommend a skating trip to Eden before the big tent is dismantled ready for the summer months.

What have you been up to with the children? Whether a day out or just a fun snap from the park or the garden, please grab the badge and link up below with Country Kids. A weekly linky promoting healthy outdoor play.

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