Holidaying, day trips and generally entertaining my two is hard work.
With a 10 year age gap between them, it's often pretty tricky to find something they'll both be interested in. It's often a case of one being bored while the other is busy doing something they want to do, or before we separated, James and I would take turns taking one child to do something while the other kept the other one busy.
But when Bradley arranged to go to Corfu for the week with his Dad, I jumped at the chance to take Taylor to the Just for Tots break at Butlins.
I'll throw in my disclaimer now; I am not in any way being paid for this post, I am not a Butlins Ambassador (I wish!) I just simply thought this break was bloody amazing and needed to be shouted about. ;)
I've always been a fan of Butlins for the kids, they really have thought of everything in terms of a fun packed family holiday.
Bradley loved visiting Butlins growing up, he was just spoilt for choice at the amount of activities and things he could do.
When he was 7 I took him abroad to Menorca. It was nice and all, and I loved being in the sun, but other than playing in the pool and a few kids clubs there wasn't much else for him to do and he often got a little bored. I ended up booking to take him to Butlins when we got home. :)
The Just for Tots breaks are aimed specifically for Under 5's.
With fully packed entertainment schedules full of toddler friendly shows and activities, early meal times, 'drop in' activity sessions and early finishing evening entertainment, the break is designed to fit perfectly around little ones routines.
Minehead is most definitely my favourite Butlins resort.
Although it's the furthest from us, I much prefer how it is set out, and Minehead is just beautiful. The beach is lovely, and we were fortunate to be able to spend a gorgeous-ly (if it isn't in the dictionary then it should be!) warm day there, playing in the sand, splashing in the sea and eating ice cream. Pretty lucky for the first week of May!
I'd booked a Silver Suite with dining plan and housekeeping package and it still came to under £400.
And from the minute we arrived it was go, go, go.
Taylor didn't stop.
All the staff were so friendly and accommodating. The resort was clean and really beautifully made up. You can tell a lot of work goes into making the place perfect for it's holiday makers.
The dining package is ideal as with a buffet style restaurant you're spoilt for choice for food with options even the fussiest of eaters will enjoy. Taylor loved coming up and choosing what food he would like each morning and evening. The greeting staff on the door were fantastic at getting the little ones involved, calling them by their names and making them laugh. I'm pretty sure kids under 5 eat free on this break too!
Taylor spent most of his days in the Little Tikes village, climbing on the climbing frames and slides, and playing inside the houses. And he loved the car track, full of Little Tikes cars to speed around the track in, filling up with petrol on the way round. It took some bribing to get him out most days.
He loved watching his favourite TV characters live; it was like he'd stepped into CBeebies! He was in awe! Teletubbies, Mr Men, Mister Maker... amazing! I've never seen him sit so still before!! :) And he got to meet his favourites, have cuddles and have his photograph taken with them too.
There was so much on resort to do; the indoor Skyline is full of entertainment, shows, shops, bars, restaurants, amusements. Then there are lots of play areas and playgrounds, the fantastic Splash Waterworld pool, the fairground, the children's indoor fairground, the library and the arts and crafts room in which we had fun playing with Playdoh one day and creating a dinosaur collage the next.
There was so much that we didn't get to do too; the Puddle Ducks swimming lessons, toddler football, soft play, balance ability and so much more.
