The first long weekend of 2018 and supposed beginning of spring (which never really happened)- Easter weekend!! We had planned to visit Lake District at Windermere with friends and their family on this weekend and had booked a cottage at this resort (Parkdean resorts at Skiptory Howe) in advance.
So, after a lot of planning, packing, shopping for food and clothes for the toddler, we set of at 10:30 am on Friday morning. I know, big mistake. What initially showed us as a 4.5 hour drive, became an 8 hour drive! With every hour that passed, the Google map app still showed the time as 4.5 hours! It was exasperating, since everyone was heading out at the same time on the Motorway it seemed. We made one pit stop around 12:30 for lunch, where my daughter got to run around and pat some dogs and get her diaper changed, and reached our resort finally at 6 pm! A lot of finger food snacks, cartoons on the Ipad, singing along with my daughter, spotting trucks and cars, and planning the second half of the trip around her nap time, helped us manage the road trip without too many issues from the toddler.
I was still quite pumped up about going on a short hike the minute we reached the resort, but alas, I realised that with all the recent running and dancing in the Gym, I had managed to tear my trainers quite badly! My shoes were sticking together by an inch of their lives or seams, so I had to be extra cautious about not walking or running too much to avoid having to walk barefoot! Another sighhh..however, the resort our friend had booked turned out to be really good, and comfortable. We were a party of 6 adults and 2 toddlers and the cottage had 3 rooms , a living and dining area with a fully functional kitchen and two bathrooms, which was perfect.
So day 1 was literally spent in the car, with a short walk around the resort in the evening and dinner at the resort’s café, where they had 90’s live music playing and both the toddlers had their fill of running and dancing…it was so adorable!
Now I have to mention that due to some previous settings, the heater did not work from 10pm – 6am and it was really cold at night, in the rooms. I think because of this my daughter wasn’t able to sleep and her cold and cough worsened. So although we were all really tired, it was a difficult first night of sleep.
Day 2, we managed to wake up alright and happy, despite the discomfort of the previous night. I mean, how can you not be happy when you wake up to a house full of people and laughing children and trees and cottages and freshly made coffee? The best part about traveling with friends who have kids is that it is so much easier to manage them, and they also happier and don’t need any additional toys to play with really! My daughter would end up getting ready, eating (not really), sleeping and just playing hide and seek with my friend’s daughter without any fuss and that was the best time off for the parents. Anyway, coming back to what we did, Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the resort and they had some programs for the kids. We walked around the resort, went to the private jetty and stayed in for lunch. I had brought a book along with me to read (Conversations with Friends, a review will follow soon) and I ended up reading a lot of it in the afternoon, when the kids were asleep. Later in the evening, once the children were up from their naps, we went out to a nearby hill and walked up to soak up the views. Both the kids were thrilled to see the ‘baa baa sheep’ on the hills! 😀
Since it started getting colder by the minute, we walked a little and took a few Instagram worthy pictures and then headed home once it was dark. Back at the cottage, we just relaxed in the living room with drinks and home cooked food. The kids played and watched some cartoons, while the adults caught up on conversations. It was a great day all in all, and my shoes were still intact..hahah. Also, we fixed the heater that night and it wasn’t so cold and all of us slept much better that night, thank God!
Day 3, there was a forecast for a little sunshine until 2 pm, and we did not want to miss that chance, so we booked a boat ride on the nearest lake and quickly left home after breakfast. I do have to mention here that everything wasn’t great with respect to the kid complying completely- she just did not eat anything the entire trip, other than junk food and milk! It was really worrisome, but I tried to let it go thinking, let her have her vacation and at least she was happy and not throwing any tantrums! So we reached the harbour and strapped on to our life jackets (my daughter hated hers, it was quite restrictive, but it was required for her safety) and got on to our little boat. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, but really windy and cold. The boat ride was totally worth it and the views were breath taking! No amount of pictures did justice to the panoramic views on the boat ride. The little kids took turns walking around and turning the steering wheel of the boat and sang ‘row, row, row your boat’ for us..lol! Kids sometimes are so much fun! We stopped over at an inn for a lunch of hot fish and chips with beer and I’ve got to say, the meal was so delicious! Very satisfying! We finished off our lunch with ice creams from the soft serve truck, since my daughter loves her ice cream and she deserves a treat too! haha
On our way back, we decided to check out this small walk near our resort that led to an opening on the lake and spent some time there throwing stones in the water. I got a lucky strike of making my pebble bounce 5 times! but that was just the one time..sigh. It was finally time for the kids to nap, and we all took a quick siesta as well. We just stayed in that evening again, since we were due to check out next morning and knew it would be a long drive back home too. So anther night of conversations, frozen meals and some whiskey. We were all sad to have to leave the next day, but all good things have to come to an end, so you can plan for the next good thing!
P.S.- My shoes survived the entire trip! I’m so proud of them lol..but I have new running shoes now..<wink>
What did you do this Easter weekend and what have your challenges or highlights been, when traveling during a long or short weekend with kids?
Starry Eyed Enigma 