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That's some cake! Fairytale Gleneagles Easter event

WHO needs Johnny Depp when you can get your chops around that?

Younger guests visiting The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire this Easter may think they've tumbled through a rabbit hole as chefs prepare a magical Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the special Gleneagles afternoon teas will be sure to set the children on a gastronomic adventure.

Staying in: healthy chicken and spring onion burgers

IT'S about time we had a gorgeous recipe from the gorgeous English Mum. So here you go:

 

So firstly, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because although I've definitely caught a glimpse of some sunshine recently, I'm not going to go all perky and start entreating you to dust off your barbecues just yet.

Top five Snowdonia attractions for children of all ages by Jacquie Knowles

SNOWDONIA is a fabulous destination for families. I've always known this as many a happy summer memory is made up from adventures in this beautiful part of Wales.

Here, Jacquie Knowles, who has the enviable job of helping promote the attractions of Snowdonia, outlines her five top picks for families.

1. GreenWood Forest Park

GreenWood Forest Park provides, a family adventure park like no other is in the foothills of majestic Snowdonia. All the rides and activities at this unique eco-attraction have been designed for fun with a difference – you provide the energy! From the famous Green Dragon – the world’s first people-powered rollercoaster – to the therapeutic BareFoot Trail, GreenWood is an all-weather family experience that you’ll never forget. With magicians and pirates, face painting and craft making (during peak periods), who knows what fun you’ll find at the end of the next leafy trail?

Go commando for half term or make a model lighthouse...

THIS week, young visitors to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu can go undercover, taking part in a secret agent trail.

Here's what the attraction's spokeswoman says you can get up to:

Test your knowledge on the world’s most famous Special Agent, James Bond, in the attraction’s popular James Bond Experience, then learn about the training of secret agents on the Beaulieu Estate during WWll in the Secret Army Exhibition.

Where's your favourite family walk?

I RECENTLY contributed to MyChild.co.uk on favourite family walks. This was a really fun feature to work on, not least because my family absolutely love getting out and about.

You can read the resulting piece here.

I'd love to know if you agree with my choices and where else you would recommend.

Where's your most treasured place to visit for a bracing stroll together?  

Snow patrol - 'the best day ever' as Deme meets Santa in Lapland

 
REINDEERS, huskies, helping elves make Christmas presents and a whole lot of ice and snow – visiting Santa Claus in Lapland is a magical adventure for you and your little ones, discovers Karen Pasquali Jones.

IT WAS like a scene out of Narnia. Crisp virgin snow crunched underfoot, fairy lights twinkled in the twilight and the scent of pine trees hung in the frosty air. I peered into the frozen forest expecting the lion Aslan, The White Witch or faun Mr Tumnus - the characters from C S Lewis’ classic children’s fantasy novels - to appear.

Our Sherwood Forest adventures by Paul Garrington: 'We'd highly recommend it'

  

A BIG welcome to Paul - this is his first blog post and he can let us know what he got up to in Sherwood Forest any time, tights or no tights.

Here's what he has to say about his recent trip, with Carol and their boys, Morgan and Dylan:

We stayed at the Clumber Park Hotel for our first night.

The hotel has just undergone a £2.5million makeover and includes a restaurant and brasserie - headed up by a Michelin trained chef - and the New Leaf Spa which has a great indoor swimming pool and jacuzzi, outdoor hot tub, treatment rooms, relaxation area and a gym.

Activity review: Laura Driver and family Go Ape

OKAY so that heading makes me think of the Jungle Book and a big stonking orangutan, hence the video.

Which has nothing whatsoever to do with the wonderful Laura Driver,  who can make me laugh at the drop of a hat with posts about her creative kids and big knickers.

Anyway, I know she is very keen to share her experience of Go Ape, (Shoobi-doo, I wanna be like you....oh never mind...) so here we go:

Laura writes:

The husband and I took my stepdaughter (aged 14), my niece (aged 13) and my nephew (aged 14) to Go Ape in the beautiful Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire. The teenagers were unusually quiet on the journey there. Not used to being up before midday they found our 9am start a shock to the system. I was fairly quiet too when I realised that I had forgotten our picnic.

Butlins Bognor Regis Ocean Hotel launch: Bloggers' round-up

 

Is this really Butlins? Yes it is, it's a snow cave in the Ocean Hotel's spa and the assembled parent bloggers couldn't believe it either...

THE disco lift was a winner, a snow cave in the spa was a mind-boggling curiosity and big red balloons are a marvellous addition to any party. 

These were some of the points reported by parent bloggers invited to the launch of the £20 million Ocean Hotel at Butlins, Bognor Regis. And if you had to sum up the sentiments expressed most strongly in the variety of posts, I think it would be fair to say:

Cor, I didn't know Butlins was like that.

Flying high in Lancashire - why we'll be going back by Carol Garrington

CAROL discovers there's much more to Lancashire than Blackpool thanks to a trip arranged by Visit Lancashire.

IT still surprises me that at the age of 37  - and with two adventurous sons and a husband who has travelled the UK with his job  - there are still so many places I have yet to visit.

So when the opportunity came up for one of us at havealovelytime to review Pennine Lancashire, which is only a little more than 100 miles away and one of the places I’ve never been, I jumped at the chance.