Mummy Blogger Family Time With Owners Direct

Andy and I had been thinking of going on holiday for a while. This would be our first holiday with the boys. We wanted to go somewhere nice (obviously), somewhere clean and somewhere not too far away.

Andy and I needed a holiday, but we were worried. What if the boys wouldn't eat or sleep? What if they didn't like it? We were terrified.

I know other families think nothing of hopping on a plane or trekking with their children. I'm ashamed of our lack of confidence in being away from home and away from our routines.

All this changed when the fabulous Publicity Oxford invited us to join three other blogging families at an Owners Direct Farmhouse in the Cotswolds. Everything was being laid on for us. It was only one night. It sounded ideal.

So earlier this month we met up with the lovely New Mummy, Cafebebe and Mellow Mummy and their families at Yew Tree Farmhouse near Lechlade on the Glos/Wilts borders.

Owners Direct have 37,000 self-catering holiday homes and apartments worldwide.

The house was stunning. I've always wanted to live in a house like this.

We had plenty of time to enjoy the house and the garden and the children absolutely loved it. The location was quiet and beautiful.

Spending time with other families was great fun. We all mucked in together to make the holiday a wonderful experience.

I could just imagine a large family gathering or group of friends staying here. Our farmhouse had seven bedrooms and the dining table seated fourteen. We all had our own space but could get together for meals and a glass of wine in the evening.

We would definitely book with Owners Direct for our next holiday. It was a (luxury) home away from home.

The boys ate well, played well and one of them slept well. The other woke up at 3.30 and asked to go home! He soon went back to bed though. We gained so much confidence from this short break.

On the second day we all went to Cotswold Wildlife Park. Despite Cash being startled by a gaggle of guinea fowl we had a great time. The boys loved seeing the animals, they are at the age now where they can take it all in.

Before we left, we stopped at the shop (as you do). We now have our very own zoo at home!

"We parked them, mummy"

Thanks must also go to the companies that donated extra items to make our stay even more comfortable and meant that we didn't have to overload the car. Thank you John Crane (we officially love all of your wooden toys), Huggies, Treasure Trove Toys, BabyBjorn, Jumbo Games, Green's, Boots, University Games, Tippitoes, Munchkin, Sanihands.co.uk and Prince Lionheart.

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Mummy Blogger Family Time With Owners Direct

Escapism

This is a sponsored post

There are many times during an average day when I want to escape.

Take this morning, for example, I needed to escape to the loo. Presley and Cash decided they absolutely had to come with me. I don't really need an audience to perform, but they refused to be left behind. I was, erm, doing what I had to do, when Presley pointed at my nethers and shouted 'NO NAPPY!'. Cash joined in with the pointing and shouting. Nice.

I wish Presley had been as quick to shout 'NO NAPPY!' when his own dirty nappy had somehow come undone later and worked its way down his trouser leg to his ankle. It looked like a soggy gym weight or a chunky single leg-warmer. It was so much fun cleaning him up, she added sarcastically.

This is why I need to escape.

There are three things I like to browse on the internet, always have done, and these are handbags, houses and holidays. I have spent many a happy hour planning a holiday, some of them I've even been on!

How lovely to spend a few minutes dreaming about holidays in Italy or holidays in Greece.

I am sitting by a sparkling swimming pool, having just ordered another fruity cocktail. Shall I have another swim or shall I rest my eyes for a while?

*cue the jarring sound of a needle sliding across a record*

Neither. No time for that now, I have to tidy away the lunch devastation. Once I've done that I'll have another sneaky surf and leave the page of my virtual brochure open for Andy to see...

Escapism

I Need A Holiday

We didn’t go on holidays when I was a child. Well, apart from one holiday in Cornwall that I vaguely remember. I must have been four. We stayed in a white beach house with pale blue window frames. We went with another family, friends of my parents. We played in the sand dunes and Uncle Ken lost his glasses in the sea.

After that I suppose we didn’t have the money for holidays. Also my Dad was a home-bird. So we went on day trips.

I recently found some of my old school books. I wrote a news story, when I was seven, that made me roar with laughter. The gist of it was that we had gone out in the car one weekend for a drive around Luton ‘to see all the changes’. This would have been my Dad’s idea. I feel sorry for my Mum and my seven year old self and my five year old brother. A drive around Luton. Holy Moly.

We did have enjoyable day trips though. We went to the seaside, to a different town each year, in either Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex. My brother and I saved up our pocket money for weeks. We loaded up the car for the two hour journey. I tried not to be sick in the car – with mixed results. We all peered through the windows attempting to be the first to see the sea.

We went on the beach, ate ice creams, chips and candy floss, played in the amusements, looked in all the souvenir shops and had a nice meal in a restaurant before the long drive home. My brother and I would fall asleep smiling.

I want my children to have happy memories of family holidays. Now, where’s that road atlas? I hear there’s a new bypass opening in Bolton…

Photo credit

I Need A Holiday