Not wanting to go too far from home over the holidays, we decided to try a holiday spot not too far from us – Center Parcs. There are a number of these throughout the UK, but they are quite popular here all year round. They have almost any activity you could imagine and then some. We just went for about a day and a half during the week between Christmas and New Years and probably only SAW, let alone DID, 1/8 of what they have.
The biggest highlight was the unlimited subtropical swimming area they have – complete with rapids, lazy rivers, and water slides!
Hannah on Slide
During our one full day there, we had each of the kids pick one activity to do. It was fun to see what they chose and see how much they enjoyed it.
Emma had chosen scuba diving, but not enough kids signed up so she agreed to go with Hannah to snorkeling. The big smiles on their faces as they came out of the water after their class showed us how much they liked it.
Early-morning Snorkeling Class
Emma
Hannah
Caleb chose rock-climbing. He was nervous at first (the thought was fine but the actual doing was a different story), but he did a great job. He had no problems getting up the 3 different sides of the rock wall they had. Finally, the guy started timing him to see how quickly he could get to the top. I’m sure his upper body strength from gymnastics was the sole reason for that!
Cami chose a Princess Party. We had signed up for this before we arrived, so she packed her princess dress and wand just for the occasion. She had a great time!
While Cami was at her party, we took advantage of the time and participated in some activities that she wasn’t old enough for, like family fencing. We were in a class with 2 other families and were taught by an amazing instructor who gave us all the basic tips of fencing and had us sparring with foils by the end of our class time.
Stephenson Fencers
We filled in the extra time by playing some table tennis (and all getting beaten horribly by Chris).
It was nice after our full day to go back to rest in our on-site accommodations.
We had a kitchen but only had breakfast and lunch there. We took advantage of the many restaurants available to have some American food for dinner our first night and then Spanish tapas the second.
I think we were all convinced we could easily spend a week at Center Parcs during any part of the year. Perhaps a return trip will be in order somewhere down the road.
This place looks way to cool! We would love something like this. I wish I could have seen Caleb going up those rock walls!
How fun!!!! We keep saying we are going to go to an indoor water park here, but never do 🙂 When Emma gets scuba certified, she can go scuba diving with Russell!!! He would love company. We miss you all, even more so during the holidays, LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Oh your posts make me miss England! We had heard about Center Parcs and wanted to go there so bad but unfortunately never made it! I am dying to visit the UK again! Enjoy it why you can. How long will you guys be there?