How has the first week back been?

It’s gone quite well actually! We have both restarted work again after a nice 8 week break in November and December. Had some fun times together as a family – saw Lion King in London, the real Father Christmas in Lapland and JLS in Manchester (guess which was Mummy’s fave) but now the girls are back in school after the Xmas hols it’s time to start focusing on 2011.

Beki recently completed a Welcome Host Gold course and got some great ideas for little extras we can put into the caravans to help our guests get the most out of their time with us – so she has spent time sourcing new products as well as bringing all the databases up to date, printing all the envelopes ready for a brochure drop and keeping our facebook/twitter pages up to date.

And Damian – well he has been stuffing those envelopes with the new prices – the tent/touring prices are exactly the same as they were in 2010 despite the rise in VAT – with a little help from the girls.

New Years “work” resolution is to keep this blog a little more up-to-date. Let’s see how long it lasts!

Out of the mouth of babes.........

I don't normally write about personal stuff on here - in fact its a while since I've written anything on here but I have just had one of those conversations with my 8 year old that I want to remember for ever! Where better place to log it.

I was happily driving along with her in the front next to me and her friend in the back when she suddenly said "There's a bar around here". Now anyone local will know that the back roads from Malton to Castle Howard through Easthorpe and Coneysthorpe do not have a bar on so I didn't have a clue where this information had come from:

Mummy: What makes you say that?
Child: There was a road sign back there like one of Daddy's birthday card and it is for a bar.
Mummy: There aren't any bars around here - I don't think you did
Child: It said it was a bar on Daddy's card. The sign with 2 hills on it means that there is a drunk woman on the road in front of us

At this point Mummy nearly crashes the car into the nearest ditch at the same time as thinking that I need to put a warning out to people not to send Daddy those cards!

Back to driving along the dark, country roads when another random thought is mentioned:

Child: When I have a baby I'm going to call it Stephanie or Bethany - anything with thanie on the end of it really
Mummy: Thats nice but not something you really need to be worried about just yet
Child: I've already found my husband. "Child C has asked me to be more than friends"
Mummy, nearly crashing the car, asked when this happened
Child: In my bedroom on Xmas Eve - he asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend and I said yes
Mummy: Aww thats nice but you should be a bit older.
Child: We are going to be boyfriend and girlfriend, then husband and wife, then mummy and daddy, then Grandma and Grandad, then we'll die
Mummy is now rapidly trying to change the subject!

We safely drop her friend off and I quickly go through what my child has said just in case her child mentions any of it.

Of course on the way home she starts again:

Child: I'll have to think of some other names Mummy
Mummy: Why?
Child: Well if I call her Bethany someone at school might call her Better Knees and I don't want her to be teased
Mummy: Very thoughtful of you and you will have lots of time to think about it.
Child: You know "Child X" from school - you told me I have to be nice to him/her so he/she will be nice back
Mummy: Yes (now wondering if i'm having to chat to the head in the morning)
Child: Well, i don't like him/her and don't think I'll ever like him/her so i'm not going to bother.

Moral of the Tale: Daddy can do the Brownie run next week!

Is it any quieter now?

YES!!!

Finally, although we haven’t quite got to the official end of the season, things are definitely a lot quieter. The phone has quietened down and it doesn’t take more than half an hour to do the mail/emails on a morning.

So what are we doing?

Damian’s job is still as busy as ever – it just includes different things now – leaves mainly! They are all over!!

Damian has also got the mammoth job of making sure that all the caravans are drained down properly over the winter. We were snowed in for almost 5 weeks last year so you can imagine just how cold it got and that can mean lots of burst pipes once the spring arrives (although just one in 2010). He can also start working on the list of “house” jobs that have built up over the summer.

What will I be doing?

Over the last couple of weeks I have been sorting the end of year paperwork, making sure that price lists are printed for next year and updating our website so it is ready to take bookings for 2011. I’ve started relaxing as well – the adrenelin has slowed down now and i’ve been catching up on the “Mum” jobs – helping organise the PTA Halloween party, typing up the PTA recipe book, sorting xmas plans and with two little girls having birthdays between now and January I have birthday parties to plan :-) We also have a dance show to prepare for so things are all go!

For the first time in many years we won’t be heading for the sun this winter – my little brother is getting married this winter and as Damian is a Groomsman and the girls are Bridesmaids it hasn’t been possible. We can make up for it another time.

There are courses that I will be going on in marketing and customer care etc - just making sure that we don't get complacent in what we do.
 
We have no huge plans for anything new on the park eg. buildings, roads and parks as has been the norm for the last few years so I'll be looking at other "new" things that we can implement.
 
Our #family2follow on Twitter was launched quietly over the half term holidays and we will continue to work on that - helping to create itinerary ideas for our guests and I have a special surprise up my sleeve for the kids that come to stay - more details to follow. 
 
More importantly, I will have more time to spend on this blog - making sure it works and making sure I prove my friend wrong!

Things must be quieter now.......

No!


I have lost count of the amount of people saying things must be quieter now the kids have gone back to school. The park itself is quieter – we don’t have the same amount of campers but all the static caravans are still full and will be until the beginning of October.

However, my little office (about the third of the size of reception) feels very, very busy. Electric bills have to be prepared for our static caravan owners, seasonal invoices need calculating and sending out and Xmas cards have to be chosen!

Ooooh – 2011 prices to sort out, get to the printers and uploaded onto our webpage. I may as well be writing a list than a blog – things keep coming to me. We also send out a brochure and updated price list to everyone that has booked with us in 2010 – that’s alot of stamps to stick onto envelopes!

I’ve also got some blog posts to catch up on. The girls and I were tourists for the last week of the holidays and we are sharing our days out with our guests so they know some of the great attractions we have in the area.

Enough procrastinating – I really must start on the list of things to do – boil the kettle was first on the list, right?

The kids have done a bit to help the blog but now the tables have turned and its the guests turn to ask the manager!

Why buy another site? Why not continue working at Crow’s Nest?


Oooh tough one to start with! I was in the final year of a European Languages and Business degree at Leeds Met. Uni. I don’t remember the details of how dad approached the subject and I don’t know how long he was thinking about buying another park. My Grandpa passed away about 18 months earlier and he founded Crow’s Nest so maybe my dad was thinking of the things he had achieved and his legacy. Dad also likes “a project” and at the time there was nothing to knock down and rebuild at Crow’s Nest so maybe he just wanted to play with mini-diggers so much he needed another park.

I loved working at Crow’s Nest. Firstly, I worked in the shop, then in the snack bar and swimming pool before finally going into reception with some shifts in the bar. I enjoyed meeting the different people and the challenges they each brought. I grew up with some many people at Crow’s Nest and still see many of them when I go up there. And, Of course, I met Damian at Crow’s Nest – sure my Dad was horrified at me marrying a guest! Note to my children – don’t even think about it!!

When did you take over Robin Hood Caravan Park?

We moved into Robin Hood on 6th November 1999 – the first anniversary of my Grandpa’s death. I often wonder if he would be proud of what we’ve achieved but I know Nanna and Grandpa will have a smile on their face as we carry on their legacy. Indeed, the day we got our 5 stars I just sobbed with the inspector because I knew they, and my dad, would be so proud of us.

What was it like managing a park at 22?

I loved it – and still do! It was nice to get my teeth into something new. Some guests didn’t like it – if they had a problem they would ask to speak to my mum and dad. I would say “I am really sorry but my Mum and Dad don’t live here.” Then they would ask to speak to the manager – their face was always a picture when I explained I was the boss.

What has been the worst moment?

Waking up to see gas bottles floating in the Autumn 2000 wasn’t great but we learnt from it. We were in the middle of developing the site so we were able to build everything higher than the water table – which was the problem – and we’ve put loads of extra drainage in so it won’t happen again.

Foot and Mouth hit the tourism industry hard the following year so our opening two years weren’t great.

What has been the best moment?

Apart from closing day each year? Hahaha. Seriously, I have had loads of great moments. The day we got five stars for the first time was a very special day. The day I sold my first caravan was great especially since those people are still here. The awards we have won and others we have been nominated for are always great particularly the ones which are down to guest nominations. I have loads of best moments – and although it’s really cheesy to say so I love meeting the guests – particularly the ones that come back year after year. They have watched us grow up, they have watched our kids grow up and they pull me out of any bad times we’ve had. Can I go now before I get tearful please?

Ok, but tell us what you will be doing immediately after we've finished?

I'll be checking the answerphone and then sorting out our new environmental board so guests are aware of things around them and how they can help us conserve those things.

Thank-you
If you have any other questions that you want answering leave us a message!

Why should we blog?

It’s been so long since I’ve sat down and wrote a blog piece – I’m sorry! A customer came in earlier and said he enjoyed reading it and was looking forward to the next bit. Our chat got me thinking about what it should be about so I asked him why he had read it:


“To find out what the people are like” said the customer.

“Which people?” I replied (in my defence of asking a silly question I was hungover).

“The people that run it” By this stage I must have looked a tad confused as he went on to explain. “When we look at the various sites we read all the reviews we can to make sure it’s a nice site and if there is a blog attached you can work out the personality of the wardens/owners to see if it’s going to be a war-camp regime with loads of rules or if we can just relax”

I’m hoping that we come across as a friendly, relaxed park where our main rules are to use a bit of common sense and respect the people staying around you. I wouldn’t like to go on holiday and be told what I should and shouldn’t be doing and hopefully that comes across to our guests. That customer hopefully thought that – I’m sure a message will be left if that isn’t the case.

Through the other child's eyes.....

I'm sure every family is the same - one child is a lot different to the other? What one child gets the other one wants? Ours is the same. Our youngest child wanted to answer the same questions as her older sister but answers are a little shorter(!)

Do you like living in a house in the middle of a caravan park?


Yes

Why?

Because I do

Is it nice meeting lots of new people?

Yes

Whats the best bit about living here?

Playing on the park

Whats the worst thing about living here?

Don’t know

Do Mummy and Daddy let you work with them?

No

Is it good having Mummy and Daddy to yourselves in the winter?

No

Do you want to run a caravan park when you are older?

Yeah. Is that is now because Peppa Pig is starting?