I love the summer holidays, admittedly the weather this year is a little less desirable than normal (come on sun) but we’re trying to not let it effect our plans and have been merrily ticking things off our Summer bucket list.

We perhaps haven’t planned as much as normal as the boys are at an age where they just want to hang around with their friends, but I find one or two things a week is a good compromise.

Cinema

First on our list of things to do during the holidays was a trip to the cinema to see Despicable Me 3. The Minions, Gru and the girls are all a firm favourite in our house. Sometimes with the children being such different ages it’s hard to find a film we can all enjoy together, but this was a no brainer. If you haven’t seen it yet, I can highly recommend it. The kids were giggling the whole way through and there’s a fabulous 80s soundtrack that’ll have you tapping your toes too.

Country Parks

I think I may have mentioned before that we are incredibly lucky to live in an area where we are surrounded by stunning country parks. In fact we could probably visit a different park each day. So far we have been to two. Meeting friends and taking their dog for a walk along the nature trail as well as enjoying the play areas. One of the parks has an assault course which my youngest Anabelle was more than happy to climb and take part in with her brothers. My heart was in my mouth the whole time, but she had a great time and was far better than I gave her credit for.

Summer Holiday

The biggest adventure on our bucket list this year is our Summer holiday. For the last couple of years we’ve just enjoyed long weekend breaks away, but last year my husband surprised us all by booking seven nights in the sun. It has only just hit me whilst sharing our plans with you lovely folk how close it is and that we’re actually going on holiday! We’ve never taken Anabelle abroad before and the boys have only been on a foreign holiday once when they were four and five, so I’m definitely feeling all the butterflies. The resort is super family friendly, including a fabulous water park, children’s clubs and evening entertainment as part of the package. We literally can’t wait.

London

A couple of years ago we took the children to London for the first time and since then we’ve promised to make it an annual trip. There is always SO much to do and see and the boys in particular love the city. We’ve walked from Green Park to Buckingham Palace, through St James park to The Houses of Parliament, past Downing Street and Horse Guard Parade and onto Trafalgar Square. We’ve also been to Madame Tussauds, ridden the London Eye and have visited The Natural History Museum. We would still very much like to see Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and also visit London Zoo and the Science museum. The time there always goes so fast and no matter how much we plan our day it’s always home time before we know it.

Farm

At the very beginning of the holidays just before the boys left school we took Anabelle to a local farm and she absolutely loved it; feeding the goats, having a pony ride and watching the pigs race amongst other things. She really was at one with nature, plus it was nice to spend some quality time with just Anabelle. We’d also like to go to a Safari park with the boys as being that bit older we think the wilder animals would appeal to them more.

Theme Park

We haven’t braved a major theme park with the children yet partly because to take three children I think you have to remortgage unless you are lucky enough to get a promotional deal, but also because we are unsure which one to take them to which A) isn’t too far away, and B) that will has something for them all. We are lucky enough to have a small theme park locally and although it doesn’t have any white knuckle rides we all have tremendous fun.

We’ve left a few days open for impromptu trips – we’re still hopeful there’s going to be a glorious day/weekend so we can take a trip to the seaside. Plus thanks to friends tagging themselves in on their adventures on Facebook I am now keen to book a tree top walk and Gruffulo hunt.
Before the holidays are out I’m sure they’ll be endless trips to trampoline parks, indoor play areas, and swimming pools too as lets face it, it just wouldn’t be the holidays without them.

So what trips/adventures have you got planned for the Summer holidays? Do you have a set annual trip you like to take with the family? Who’s packing their suitcases for a holiday in the sun? And if you have any suggestions for theme parks to visit they’d be greatly appreciated.

Image by Little Beanies Photography