AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell and there’s so much to entertain the whole family whilst you do your Christmas shopping! 

Visit The Lexicon Glow Room for a magical light experience that will dazzle you with 20,000 LEDs. It feels like the room goes on forever! Then, take a dip in the Light Pool, a magical ball pool with golden balls to be found and prizes to be won!

If that wasn’t all, have a photo in the giant Christmas bauble ‘sparkling selfie station’ and follow the Twinkle Trail, spotting baubles in shop windows to collect the clues and enter to win fabulous prizes this Christmas. Plus, share your sparkling selfie station pictures, tagging #thelexiconbracknell or email them to marketing@thelexiconbracknell.com and you will automatically be entered in a competition for the chance to win a restaurant gift card too. 

There are also special performances from local choirs, bands and singers and even the chance to meet Bluey, Hey Duggee and Chase from Paw Patrol! You can be sure that a trip to The Lexicon will have something for everyone over the festive season this year. We loved our visit to The Lexicon last weekend and know we’ll be back again before Christmas!

Find out more on @thelexiconbracknell website.

#TheLexiconBracknell #Merry&Bright
AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! We had our first Glow Marwell experience tonight - and we loved it. It may even be the best light trail we have been to.

We spent well over two hours at @marwellzoo, enjoying the light installations, indulging in the food stalls and cafe, toasting marshmallows and even meeting Father Christmas! 

Glow Marwell was such a nice way to kick off the festive season - and it’s on all the way through December! If you’re looking for a really nice festive activity the whole family can enjoy, this could definitely be it!
AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparent AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparents this year? @famileo_uk is a wonderful gift, giving the recipient a personalised gazette of family news regularly throughout the year - and it costs from just £5.99 a month. 

Multiple family members can use the same subscription, all posting messages to be added to one gazette - and sharing the cost of the subscription too! It’s great for parents, siblings and children to all share their news with grandparents each week, fortnight or month. 

We’ve been sending my dad Family gazettes for a while now and he absolutely loves them. It means we tell him all the little things that are happening and not just the big news you remember to mention in phone calls. The children get to upload their own messages to their grandad and it’s definitely made them feel closer, building a stronger relationship despite living far apart.

Find out more about Family over on the blog - link in bio - and buy a subscription for your nearest and dearest this Christmas. It’s a gift they will definitely love to receive.
Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing the Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing these updates every week but I like having somewhere to put all these photos!

They’re now three months old, super loving and happy, making biscuits and purring constantly.

They stay in ‘their’ room overnight but explore the house during the day, getting more confident as time passes. They even got to the point of relaxing on the sofa with us last night.

Fred & George are now very much part of our family and I can’t imagine them not being there now - even at 7am when they’re miaowing at the door for breakfast!
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Reading for pleasure is a key indicator of a child’s future success, but if your child doesn’t love to read, what can you do? We know it’s not always easy keeping kids entertained and away from screens, so we’ve partnered with the award-winning @banjorobinson to gift you a FREE activity pack, worth £9.99.

Here’s a little look at the Banjo Robinson subscription - Troy loves it! Travelling to world with Banjo is so much fun! You can read our full review over on the blog and claim your free activity pack too - link in profile.
A whole week of Fred & George. We weren’t meant A whole week of Fred & George.

We weren’t meant to get more cats just yet but sometimes the universe sends you things when you don’t expect them.

These little guys needed a home and a family to love them. And we had a home and a lot of love to give. We still miss Leia but this pair are definitely helping make me feel whole again.

They are both used to us now, and love us. They’re less nervous, give us cuddles and let us pick them up. They’re still living in our spare room but starting to explore the rest of the house under supervision. 

They play fight constant. Love toys, especially a crinkly feather thing on a string attached to a stick, and love being up high. They are an awesome pair and we are so glad to have them.

Thank you @millbrook_rspca @rspca_official for trusting us with ‘Lonestar and Starfish’. We could not love them more. 

#catsofinstagram #catstagram #catsofig #catsofinsta #catlovers #adoptdontshop #rspcarescuecat #kittensofinstagram #kittens_of_instagram
[AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing abo [AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing about our half term break at @pottersresort and it’s over on the blog if you want to go have a read.

I wanted to put some of my favourite photos on the grid too as the kids did so many fun activities - they had THE best time. 

Giant swing, segways, climbing, archery, laser clays… there was so much to do that we couldn’t fit it all in - we need another trip!
And there ends our October half term - well, apart And there ends our October half term - well, apart from Troy who has a bonus week off!

This half term has been pretty lovely. Troy had his school residential the first weekend and then we had a really lovely few days in Norfolk before heading home and picking up two new members of our family - Fred and George. 11 week old rescue kittens who have pretty much stolen our hearts.

It’s been so nice to have a chunk of quality time with this pair and now I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays. These two are the best company and I really do live for the school holidays. 

How has your half term been?
[AD - Press Trip] We’ve loved spending half term [AD - Press Trip] We’ve loved spending half term at @pottersresort in Norfolk. With great food, an action packed schedule of entertainment and activities plus everything included in the price of your break - even drinks - it’s a fantastic way to holiday as a family, giving quality time together in the nicest of surroundings. 
I’ll write a full review soon but for now here’s a little Reel  of our trip.
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Holidays & Accomodation, Reviews, Travel · June 7, 2016

Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight – Review

Disclosure: We were invited on this break for the purpose of this review however all opinions are my own.

We were invited to spend half term at the Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay holiday park in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight on a self catering family holiday. I hadn’t been on a Isle of Wight holiday parks break for about twenty years but had fond memories of it so I was looking forward to going back and having some quality time as a family too.

How do you get to Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight?

There are so many ferry options when travelling to the Isle of Wight and we got the Red Funnel service from Southampton to East Cowes which couldn’t have been easier and took an hour. There was plenty of space on board with food and drink outlets and even face painting organised for the children. Our first experience of ferry travel as a family was definitely a good one.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

What should we expect at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay?

After we docked and drove off the ferry it took us about half an hour to drive to our coastal retreat of Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay – however, we stopped en route to pick up a food shop that we had pre-booked, something I always do on a self catering holiday so we have all the basics we need for our stay.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

When we arrived we couldn’t check in until 2:30pm but the staff were lovely, explained where all the facilities were on a map and gave us our entertainment passes so that we could make use of much of what the resort had to offer until our holiday home became available.

What are the facilities like at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay?

We spent the next couple of hours exploring the resort. It’s really well located next to the beach which is accessed by quite a steep slope but once on the beach it’s a great place to spend time, with plenty of sand, big rocks to climb on and even a cafe for refreshments.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

During our stay we spent some time on the Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay beach. It’s a great size that even when it’s busy there’s plenty of room and there’s a big expanse of sand until you reach the sea – great for playing, building sandcastles and relaxing.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

After a wander along the beach we climbed back up to the main part of the park and played on the adventure playground at The Nab Bar and watched families playing Crazy Golf.  This is all located on the Nab Field, a great space that has so many uses – our Super Hero Sports Day was there and they have regular outdoor cinema showings too. Whilst we were there people used the space for dog walking, flying kites and playing ball games.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

The Nab Bar at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay is a great place to sit and relax at any time of day and also provides evening entertainment. We had lunch there during our stay and the food was typical pub type food with a lot of good offers and good variety as well as a children’s menu. We did have a couple of issues with the menu during our stay – Loaded Nachos coming out on two seperate occasions with items missing – no sour cream and no jalapeños but this was rectified each time. We also ordered a Cream Tea not realising it was mainly sandwiches, not the cakes and pastries in the description. But aside from this the food was always freshly cooked and the whole family enjoyed it.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

The Nab Bar is also one of the only places in the resort that has advertised free wi-fi – which is quite fast and works well – although we were able to get intermittent, low quality wi-fi in our chalet too.

Just before we checked in the children played in the main playground which was new for this season. It’s a really great place to play with loads of seating and different equipment for different age children. LP and Little Man would have happily stayed there all day if they could but before we knew it the time had come to collect our keys.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

When we checked in we were given a really handy information guide with details of everything available within the resort as well as an activity planner to let us know all the activities the children could participate in during our stay. There were also money off vouchers for food and drink too.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

What is the accomodation like at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay?

We stayed in a three bedroom Jolly Nice Chalet for the week and it was easy to find with a dedicated parking space outside and as soon as I walked through the door I thought how jolly nice it actually was. The whole chalet was so colourful and welcoming, it couldn’t have been a nicer place to spend a family break away.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

The chalet had a double room, a twin room and one with bunk beds. All the rooms were all quite compact but had wardrobes and bedside tables in and were perfectly adequate for our needs – the children even alternated sleeping in each room, having sleepovers with each other during our stay. They really loved our home for the week.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

The kitchen was compact but fully functional with a cooker, microwave and fridge freezer. It also came with a lot of basics – washing up liquid, wash cloth, scourer and bin bags but you’ll need to bring your own tea towels although all other linen is included.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

There were TVs in every bedroom as well as the lounge and also a dining table with padded benches which was great for our meal times. The whole chalet was so lovely, bright and homely.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

There was a main shower room and an en suite shower room to the double bedroom. Both were well equipped with complimentary toiletries, lots of towels and nice heated towel rails however as a family it would be nice to have bath in one of the bathrooms just due to the children’s ages and their love of a nice bath after a long day on the beach.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

As a family of four the chalet was great but I do think it would be a bit of a squeeze if there were six people in it. It was great for what we needed but a few extra touches would have been nice – bedside lights and a DVD player mainly.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

What entertainment was there at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay?

The main on site activity at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay was swimming with both an indoor and outdoor swimming pool. The outdoor pool was great in the nicer weather, with a separate smaller pool for young children and direct access to The Nab Bar for refreshments. It also gave a great view of the Nab Field and the coast beyond.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

The indoor pool was a good size with a main pool, jacuzzi and shallower children’s pool as well as a slide down into the main part of the pool. The children happily swam in the shallow area and really enjoyed it however, the pool was really busy throughout the day, as it was school holidays, and so we had to queue to be allowed into the pool – for over an hour on the first occasion – and were then only allowed to swim for 40 minutes. I’d love to see some sort of time slot system put in place so you could go and select a time slot and come back at your swimming time rather than waste a chunk of your holiday queuing for what is a staple part of any family break away. Having spoken to the Whitecliff Bay Guest Relations Manager about this it’s clear that the issues are only at certain times – mainly when the weather’s bad and the outdoor pool is out of action – and they are going to be putting some sort of system in place to make better use of your time in the resort as far as swimming is concerned.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

In the same building as the indoor pool there was a small but functional soft play area which the children really enjoyed although we found it to be incredibly hot on warmer days with not much ventilation.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

We spent our evenings in The Culver Club, a building that housed the stage, arcades, a fast food outlet and a bar. It was where most of the Whitecliff Bay entertainment happened and the children loved spending their evenings dancing the night away alongside the entertainment team.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

As well as the evening shows at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay there were so many activities that the children could do during the day with at least one free activity each day and a whole timetable of things to do across the week. These activities were split into Active ones and Play ones with active sessions being things like learning to ride a bike, archery or laser tag and play ones being things like craft activities.

IMG_7822

I’d recommend booking activities before you go on holiday as you can book easily online and the activities do prove really popular. We went to a couple of the crafts sessions that you don’t have to book and the children loved them.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

The entertainment team put so much effort into entertaining the children and the kids loved it. The Play Live show each evening appealed to a good age range of children and was slightly varied each night making it interesting and different for the children to watch and participate in.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

Each of the entertainment team made an effort to involve the children, to get to know them and to make their stay as memorable as possible. During our stay LP got to go up on stage and even got a certificate and medal for being a super helper.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

It was clear that the entertainment team at Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay work incredibly hard and for us the whole holiday was about LP and Little Man having a good time. The entertainment team made this happen and it was amazing for us to see our children so happy and confident, making friends and participating in so much. When it came to our last night LP cried as I carried her off the dance floor, saying that she missed Sammii and the rest of the entertainment team already.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

As well as the children’s entertainment Whitecliff Bay also offered plenty for the adults – bingo each night before the children’s entertainment kicked in and then really varied entertainment each night from 9pm. Two of our favourite nights were a music set by local band Cornerstone and an urban street sport performance by SBX. Both were fantastic to watch and adults and children were kept well entertained.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

What were our overall thoughts of Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay?

We had a lovely half term at Whitecliff Bay and it’s obvious that Away Resorts are investing in modernising and developing the Whitecliff Bay resort with the new play area this year and many buildings obviously having had a fresh coat of paint. The Jolly Nice Chalets have been renovated too and ours made a great base for our stay.

There are still signs of work that needs to be done with the pool being in need of a face lift and the soft play showing signs of wear. It’s also a shame that new turf across the resort hasn’t taken in places and so has left expanses of dead, patchy grass – with LP referring to it as hay around our chalet.

That aside, the children had a fantastic holiday and it’s easy to see the potential in Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay. Even with aspects needing renovating and updating we wouldn’t hesitate to go back. The children had an amazing time and as a family we had a really nice break away.

Whitecliff Bay is well situated on the coast to give both an active or relaxing break and it’s the perfect place to stay to explore the Isle of Wight too. If you are looking for a family break that has lovely accommodation with parking right outside, places to eat, lots of things to do and a beach on the doorstep then Whitecliff Bay would definitely tick your boxes.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight

Overall we had a great week away and I am sure that if we returned in a year or two we would have as good or an even better stay. I would definitely stay with Away Resorts again in the future and we loved how family friendly our break was.

Review: Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight
Away Resorts Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight - Review

In: Holidays & Accomodation, Reviews, Travel

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Comments

  1. Plutonium Sox says

    June 7, 2016 at 7:44 am

    That’s fab, I’m so glad the kids had such a lovely time. I really liked the isle of Wight, I think it’s a lovely place for a short break.
    Nat.x

    Reply
  2. Lindsay At Newcastle Family Life says

    June 7, 2016 at 8:02 am

    Oh I have never heard of away resorts before but this looks like such a lovely little holiday. We have been looking at a Uk holiday so i will have to look into a stay with away resorts. The chalet looks lovely and bright and it sounds like their was lots to do for the children xx

    Reply
  3. Mim says

    June 7, 2016 at 9:00 am

    Wow what a fantastic place to stay! You packed so much in too – oh and I love mini golf! I bet the kids had a blast x x

    Reply
  4. Jo says

    June 7, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    It looks really nice – accommodation in particular looks lovely. Looks like you had a great time.

    Reply
  5. Laura - dear bear and beany says

    June 8, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    Looks like you all had an amazing time! We used to go to the Isle of Wight a lot as a child and I really must take my girls. The holiday park looks like it had a lot to offer children and very modern X

    Reply
  6. Tracey Williams says

    June 13, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    I have not heard of away resorts before but will check them out as we are always looking for new places to go to. Your chalet certainly does look ‘jolly nice’ and I like the little touches such as towels and toiletries which are often not provided at holiday parks. Looks as if you all had a lovely holiday on the Isle of Wight x

    Reply
  7. brummymummyof2 says

    August 13, 2016 at 6:46 am

    JUST READ THIS WITH THE KIDS AND WE ARE SO SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED!!!!!! xxx

    Reply

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Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

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