London: The London Eye and Southbank

Having been London many times before, we have also been on the London Eye Many times too, during the day and in the evening, but never as a Merlin Pass holder until today.

The Southbank area was extremely busy when we arrived at 1.30pm.  Following the advice of other Merlin Pass holders we had pre-booked all of our London Merlin attractions before hand.  We could have waited until we had got there, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to go on at the time you want.

When we arrived, before we got onto the London Eye, we wanted to book the London Eye River Cruise as recommended by others.  To book you have to walk pass the London Eye to the pier. There was a queue but it moved quite quickly.  We did want to do the cruise in-between the times we had booked for the Eye and London Sealife, but the next available time was not until 6:45pm so we booked this instead.

As with Madame Tussauds, we found that staff were unsure where we had to queue up if we had Merlin Passes and Pre booked times, as one gentleman told us that we needed to go inside to collect tickets.  This is not the cases, you simply go to the fast track queue show your pre-booked tickets and Merlin cards and you enter the queue.  Our time slot was booked for 2.30pm but we decided to go over at 2.15pm and they were happy to let us in as the normal and fast track queue do merge.  I would definitely recommend pre booking, as it was extremely busy and the queue to book time slots was long.
Titch loved the London Eye once again, and it is something that none of us get bored of each time we try to spot things that we hadn't before.

After getting off the London Eye, we had a couple of hours until we needed to be at the Sealife Centre.  We decided not to do Shrek as it was heaving nor the Dungeons, I am a wimp, so instead we walked down the Thames enjoying the street entertainment, had some lunch and then Titch played on the climbing area behind the London Eye.  And of course a cheeky Ice-cream to cool us down.  😉

Titch loved watch the street entertainment and then further down under the South Bank Centre the skateboarders at the skate park- free entertainment to kill some time between Merlin attractions.

Thorpe Park Lates - Why it was worth it

As previously mentioned Titch, the Husband and I had previously visited Thorpe Park in May. This time, however, we visited in the late evening and stayed on for Love Island Lates.

We travelled down from Stoke -on -Trent earlier that day as we Thorpe Park was one of the many things that we had planned to do in London over our 4 night stay. Reminder to all Merlin Passholders - MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER YOUR PASSES. Yes we forgot ours and it wasn't until we had drove along the M6 toll and were on the M42 when we realised.  Luckily we had left early so we headed back along the M6 to fetch them. A lesson was definitely learnt.

We arrived at Thorpe Park around 4.30 and ,as it had been raining that morning, the park was relatively quiet, with the queues for most of the Thrill rides around 5 - 20 minutes, except for Colossus which was over an hour! 

We headed for Swarm first with it being the ride furthest away from the rest and with the queue time at 5 minutes. As we hadn't been since May,  I had completely forgotten what it was like. The ride feels much slower than other Thrill rides especially compared to The Smiler at Alton Towers, but it is so smooth and I think the slowness of the rides adds to the Thrill as each turn and loop is experienced in what feels like slow motion rather than at great speed.  Titch wanted to do Swarm again later  as we left. And I have to say riding swarm in the dark was definitely an experience - we also got to ride it 3 times in the space of 10 minutes as there was no queue.  For the final ride of the night we switched sides and went over the bridge; Titch was sat on the inside and I was sat on the outside and we were in the 2nd row - never again will I ride in that seat. Now I am normally fine on most rides , except spinning ones, but that seat with the first turn from the top made me ever so queasy and I screamed the whole way around. Titch and the Husband thought that this was hilarious.

After Swarm we made our way around to the main area of the park. This is the one thing that we really like about Thorpe park - everything is so close, so the walk between rides is shorter meaning you can, in theory, get onto more rides.  We headed to Stealth - one of our favourite rides - and queued for about 5 minutes.  As we love it  so much we decided to go back on it later at around 8.30 just before dusk and the view was spectacular - if you can keep your eyes open.  Making our way anti -clock wise around the park we noticed that the other Thrill rides such as Nemesis, Saw etc were over 30 minutes waiting time so we headed for Rush and Vortex before heading to Pizza Pasta for tea.  

Now having ate here on our last visit to Thorpe park we knew what to expect. This time as it was after 5pm, Titch was free and the Husband and I were £10 each - which we thought was a great deal.  Inside it was clear that the staff were trying their best to keep it clean and tidy; however, it did feel particularly dirty at that time of night. The pizzas were good and there was still plenty of choice with fresh ones coming out still every few minutes or so.  

Luckily after tea the queue time for Colossus had reduce from 70 minutes to 10 minutes, so we headed straight there. Now being a plus size lady, I am always nervous before getting onto rides, as I had to do the walk of shame once and it was awful.  Having read about Colossus before this was the one ride that I was most nervous about my weight. Unfortunately there were loads of teenagers messing around by the tester seat so I decided to just get in the queue and give it a go.   Unfortunately, the belt just would not click, so yes I had to do the walk of shame.  But this time, I did not cry, instead I held my head up and just shook it off.  To cheer me up we then decided to go onto Nemesis - no queueing required.  

If it hadn't have been advertised as Love Island Lates I would not have known that it opening to till 10 had anything to do with Love Island.  We did walk pass the beach area where there was music playing but there was only a few people on it.  Other than not there was no other indication that it had anything to do with Love Island. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Thorpe Park. It was quiet, we got on all the rides we wanted to multiple times and got to ride Swarm in the dark - a great evening had for our first night in London.  We only wish that Alton Towers would do more late nights in the Summer too. 

Trip to London: Day Three Hampton Court Palce

Day Three: Our last day and the day we were to come home.  Being the 'travelling day' we decided on a quieter, less thrill seeker day and decided to visit Hampton Court Palace - a place that I have always wanted to visit.  The night before we looked on line to book tickets and purchased the years Palace pass for a family as it was only £40 more than a day pass, and we knew we would use the pass later in the year when we visit London in August.

We we arrive we collected our annual passes and then headed straight for the maze which Titch was desperate to do.

On the way to the maze you walk through the rose gardens and these are stunning. It did help that it was such a glorious day, but I could have spent ages walked around just taking pictures of the roses.

The maze was great fun, and we all enjoyed getting lost and then eventually succeeding in finding the centre. We then had to find our way out, to which Titch asked if we could use Sat Nav - not sure it would work!

We then headed inside to explore the Palace and the rooms. There was so much to see and do. Titch even got to turn the roast beef that was cooking on the open fire. The smell was amazing.  There were staff all around dressed up, in character, who you could talk to and ask questions.

The grounds at the back of the palace were amazing. We had brought ourselves a picnic and sat under the trees just admiring the view whilst we ate.

We only managed to spend around 3 hours here, but could have easily spend double that, so hopefully we will get to go again.

We have so many beautiful places in this country and luckily when the weather is good as it has been these places just come to life.  

An Autumn Break

This week we decide to book ourselves a holiday in the U.K for 4 nights - but this time with the dog in tow. never before had we taken the dog with us so this was a new experience for us.  Now one thing to bare in mind is that although our Huffy is loveable and cute, when he is in the company of another dog he is a nightmare. Whether he is scared or being territorial we are unsure, so we knew this was going to be an interesting break.  We wanted somewhere that would offer us opportunities for days out with the dog and, if it rained, accommodation that we could stay in during the day, so we finally chose a Log Lodge in Gloucester. It was an ideal location as it was not too far from the Cotswolds and was next to the Forest of Dean.

The journey down was relatively peaceful and surprisingly the dog enjoyed sleeping most of the way - except when we went around roundabouts.

When we arrive we were greeted by the owner who showed us around the lodge and gave us all the relative information. The lodge of beautiful. There was nothing on the site other than lodges and a small walking area for the dog. Inside the lodge it was clean and spacious and definitely perfect for a 4 night stay.

Over the week we wanted to get out as much as possible.  Taking Huffy with us we needed to find places that were dog friendly.  The first place we visited was a National Trust - Croome in Worcester. We obviously couldn't go into the house but the grounds were open to dog walkers.  It was spacious and lots of different walking routes and , although it rained a bit, was a great few hours out.

The next day the weather was a beautiful Autumn crisp day, so we decided to head to the Forest of Dean to Symonds Yat. After a few wrong turns and scary up hill drives we managed to find a place to park and went exploring.

The Forest of dean was beautiful and Symonds Yat offered stunning views of the Wye Valley.

On the Thursday we decide to take a drive to the Cotswolds and headed to another National Trust place Woodchester Park.  It was quite scary on the drive up as the fog descended on us and this was the view of the Cotswolds that we had.

We did finally arrive and it rained non stopped.  This did not dampen our spirits. After a good walk around we ventured back to the car for a picnic after cleaning the dog with baby wipes!

Huffy enjoyed the mud and so did we.


After getting back he slept, actually we all did.

Titch enjoyed himself so much that he decided he wanted to draw a picture of the Lodge to remember his holiday.

The British weather was not on our side, but we had an amazing week.  We laughed, spent time together. played board games, and just had fun.  Holidays are what you make of them and no matter the weather you can still get out and about - even if you do end up covered in mud.

Back in Time

We are quite lucky that Titch still enjoys days out with us and learning knew things.  We are all interested in History so took the opportunity to go back in time to the Victorians and visit Blists Hill Victorian Town.  Blists Hill is part fo the Ironbridge Gorge Museum trust and ,like many place now, they sell Annual Passport Tickets. For a family of 3 is cost us £66.50 of which may seem a little steep at first but you do get 9 other attractions for a year within that price.  You can buy individual ticket , but as we like to get out and about we thought it would be worth it for the year ticket.

From the moment that you enter you are transported back in time and you are able to exchange your money into Victorian coins. Titch enjoyed this and was fascinated by the old money.  We then explored the town, where there were opportunities to talk to staff, purchase goods and interact with actors - such as the teacher and police man.  All staff are dressed in costume which really adds the the real life experience and they were really engaging with the children and adults.

For lunch there is a fish and chip shop which was surprisingly quite.  We paid with our Victorian money and then sat in the pub court yard to eat them.  They are fried in beef dripping so my husband was delighted with the taste of these and , of course, were love by Titch too.

The is loads to see and do at Blists Hill, including shops, workshops, mills, a school, Victorian games and of course and Carousel.  Some parts are not always open , but there is still plenty to do and see.


When we asked Titch what he enjoyed the most he said the Sweet shop and the chips - why am I not surprised?

Blists Hill is a living museum and this is something that definitely interested our boy. It offered hands on learning and experiences that children need in order to fully understand what life was like.  So not only did we have a great day spending time as a family but we also learned a lot too.

Lyme Park - National Trust

Last year, we decided to become members to the National Trust, as we all enjoy a bit of history and Titch loves being outdoors.  After seeing many friends post about the places that they go, we decided to purchase them and then we set off on our travels.

Choosing a place to visit is relative easy, especially with the National Trust App.  One of the first places that we decided to visit was Lyme Park in Stockport.  We chose here because we felt it offered lots for all the the family: the house for the parents (although they often do trails around for the kids so that they don't get fed up),  gardens to picnic in and , of course, a park for Titch to run around in a get out his energy.

Lyme was relative easy to get to and didn't take us too long from Staffordshire which is always a bonus.

Here are a few snaps and reviews taken around Lyme:

The house is just as beautiful inside as out with many rooms to explore, even Titch enjoyed learning about the history of the house and got involved with the dressing up.

Outside the grounds are stunning.  There are gardens to explore, a lake side walk, a small forest that you can weave your way through.  We ate out picnic on the lawns and then spent a good 1.5 hours explore the outside.





We even had time to play a few outside games that were set up on the lawn for visitors.





The grounds that Lyme are set on re vast and offer spectacular views of Manchester and there is also a park for big and little kids to explore.

It is definitely worth the visit and is still one of our favourite National Trust Places to visit.