Procrastination isn't always a waste of time.

During a period of procrastination last week I found myself browsing statistics on Visit England’s website and came across a list of activities on overnight trips in England for 2011. I mulled over the list for a while and realised just how perfect our location is to complete any of the activites mentioned:

1.       Just Relaxing – Robin Hood Caravan Park is set in a perfect, quiet and tranquil location. Grab yourself a book and escape from the real world for a while.

2.       Sightseeing on Foot – Castle Howard is only 2.5miles away from Robin Hood Caravan Park. Its a hilly walk but I’ve known people that have done it. If you're visiting in the Spring don't forget to have a wander through Bluebell Woods - a carpet of blue.

3.       Short Walk/stroll – up to 2 miles/1 hour – that’ll get you to 2 local pubs. Check out our village website for walking routes in our area

4.       Sightseeing by car – Howardian Hills, North YorkMoors National Park, York – all on our doorstep

5.       Long Walk/Hike or ramble – walks are available from reception – or borrow our O.S. Maps and take yourself off exploring

6.       Visiting a beach – we are only 35 mins from the coast – Scarborough, Filey, Cayton Bay, Hunmanby Gap – loads to choose from

7.       Centre based walking (around city/town) – check out Treasure Trails – a great way of seeing our local towns

8.        A special event of a personal nature e.g wedding/christening – We’ve had guests attend weddings in Slingsby, Hovingham and at Castle Howard so I’m ticking that one

9.       Visiting a country park – oooooh – what defines a country park?

10.   Visiting a museum – Eden Camp, York CastleMuseum, National Railway Museum, Beck Isle Museum – the list goes on.....

11.   Swimming (indoors or outdoors) – York’s WaterWorld, St Alban Centre at Ampleforth College, Derwent Pool in Malton

12.   Had a picnic of BBQ – Dalby Forest, Hutton-le-Hole – keep an eye on our website as I build a list of picnic places

13.   Visiting a theme park/amusement park – Flamingoland, Light Water Valley

14.   Visiting a historic house, stately home, palace – Castle Howard and Nunnington Hall within 3 miles of Robin Hood Caravan Park

15.   Visiting a cathedral, church, abbey – York Minster, Rievaulx Abbey

There are a further 47 suggestions within the survey but I’ll leave them for another day

I'm still here!!

Today we spent the day rock pooling with Daddy in Filey.

We had out buckets, spades and nets. I found 4 crabs. We had lots of fun paddling in the sea but I cut myself on a rock (ouch).

We had some yummy ice cream and donuts (don't tell Mummy) then played mini golf - I came 2nd.

After that we went to visit my Grandpa at Crows Nest Caravan Park before coming home.

See you laters

X

A Day in York

Hi Sophie here,

Yesterday we went to Yorvik Viking centre in the centre of York. I am going to rate it 4 star because although I enjoyed it my little sister cried all the way round. It was very dark for her. It smelt very funny but was realistic to how things would have been a long time ago.

After that we met up with my Grandma and she took us for lunch at Red Chilli - a Chinese restaurant. It was really yummy - I shared with my sister.

In the afternoon my sister went home as she had a break-dancing class but I stayed in York with my Auntie.

We went to York Castle Museum. I loved it and it gets my 5 stars but the policeman was a little creepy.

That's me over and out.

See you laters

X

An afternoon off.....

We are lucky to live so close to many attractions - theme parks, forests and stately homes. We are only 5 minutes away from Nunnington Hall and with the chance of a couple of hours to ourselves we headed there this afternoon.

We had no idea that is was actually their summer fete this afternoon which was a huge bonus. The girls enjoyed snail racing, sand art, Birds of Prey and the coconut shy.

This sand art stall has given me a great idea for future birthday parties. The girls have done this particular craft at home before but always end up making a mess all over the kitchen. Its great to know that someone would organise it for us and clear the mess away when the kids have all finished.

Snail racing! What a fantastic idea - we must use this at a future PTA event. 50p a go and if your snail comes first you win £1.

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 We did have a quick look round the house - but by the time we got indoors it was almost time to come home. On piece of advice I would give is to go when the children's trails are on. Whilst the kids are busy looking round the rooms for clues the adults have time to wander around the rooms and have a good look at the exhibits.

Disney v. Yorkshire

216 million visits to Yorkshire are made every year, equivalent to the total number of visitors to Walt Disney Attraction Theme Parks worldwide.

(Top 10 Amusement/Theme Park Attraction Chains - World (2008)).

Having listened to Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, use a similar quote to the one above at an event at Scarborough Spa I started the think of the comparisons between Yorkshire and Walt Disney World Parks.

The first comparison is that our family love both! We are all very proud Yorkshire folk but are huge Disney fans – as Twitter followers will know – and it has been described as our second home.

So where is Yorkshire’s Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom? We don’t have the weather that WDW Florida has but I’m sure that Disneyland Paris has very similar weather to us – it was absolutely freezing when we went that’s for sure.

There are no theme parks in this country that come close to the magic of Disney yet Flamingoland, 15 minutes drive away from us, has Mumbo Jumbo so those wanting the thrills of fast rides etc can still find them in Yorkshire. Flamingoland still needs an "Its a Small World" ride but if you go close to Little Monster's Den of Mischief you will hear a tune equally as irritable and one which will stay in your head all day.

Epcot's World Showcase shows the diversity of different countries around the world - Yorkshire has just as much diversity within one county - who needs to go right around the world! We have the Dales, the Moors, the Coast, the Cities and alot closer to home, the Howardian Hills - this county has something for everyone.

Free entry into the National Media Museum makes it alot cheaper than Disney Studios and you don't need an aeroplane to get there. And with so many film and television locations dotted around Yorkshire you really could become part of the action. Check out this you-tube clip if you don't believe me!

Yorkshire Wildlife Park doesn't have quite the same "Tree of Life" as Disney's Animal Kingdom has but I'm sure if you looked in some of our forestry's you may find something that comes close.

All Yorkshire needs is Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Donald and some more of the Disney characters........but I'm sure that Gary Verity and his team could slot themselves into some of those roles.

Don't forget our new hashtag!

We want to be able to help our guests plan things to do or at least have some ideas about what to do in the area - particularly things that maybe don't get the coverage that our larger attractions have.

So, we've come up with a new hashtag for twitter - simply search for #family2follow and it will give some details about what previous guests have been upto.

Its been a fun day!

Its school holiday time and despite opening in less than 7 days we have been spending some time with the kids before the site opens. We've been playing "guests" and have found loads of things to do that we can recommed to our guests in the summer.

Having attended a marketing course with Visit York a couple of weeks ago I met Chris and Tamsyn from Treasure Trails - York and Humber. They have created several trails around the region with three specific to York. I loved the sound of these trails and quickly ordered the three with a view to selling them on the site during the season.

The girls (aged 5 and 8) chose the one that they wanted to do first - Murder Mystery and off we went. We always advise our guests use the park and ride facility in York. It costs £2.30 per adult and upto two children travel free with each paying adult. Its much cheaper that the carparks in the city centre and saves the hassle of having to find a space.

We walked from the bus stop to the Minster picking up a hot chocolate and some treats along the way. I can't tell you much about the trail because I don't want to spoil it when you have a go but it took us all over - places that we have never been before.

The trail states that it will take 2 hours but I would advise that this is a minimum - we had a break for lunch but we could have had numerous other breaks at the various attractions that we passed along the way - some that we didn't know existed.

And, did we solve the murder? Yes we did - we found out who the murderer was and the weapon! The girls were very proud of themselves - when we came home we logged onto the treasure trails website to confirm our answer.

The trails are suitable for all ages. We took our 5 year old and she only whined a couple of times - which is usual - if we'd had a younger child we could have used the pushchair/pram with no problems whatsover and the same could be said for wheelchair users - the Shambles is a cobbled street as are many of the old streets around the city so it could be a bumpy ride in a few areas but well worth it.

And the cost of this fab day out? £5 for the trail - not many places you can take a family of 4/5/6 (as many as you like) for only £5. We enjoyed it so much we are doing another one on Thursday!