Our Family Weekend in Aberystwyth

Last weekend we were lucky to have been given a family pass to visit Oakwood for the day. When I had the e-mail asking if we would like to review the theme park I got really excited and instantly said yes. It was a place we have all wanted to visit since our last stay at Bluestone in March, but just never got around actually doing it. I had so many plans for that weekend, but all plans were scrapped since neither of us could find a hotel nearby that wasn't fully booked. There were some around an hour and a half away, but we didn't see the point as the place we wanted to visit the following day was only 5-10 minutes from Oakwood. We live nearly 4 hours away from Oakwood and so driving even further for just one night didn't seem like the brightest idea, and it wasn't cheap either. We found a hotel in Aberystwyth, which is nearly 2 hours from Oakwood but it was more towards our way, somewhere we would have driven through on our way up back home. It seemed like a better idea and knowing we would only need to drive another hour and half the following day to get back home. So we settled for that.

Aberystwyth is a place my Dad always used to stop when he used to take us down South Wales when we were kids. It's also a place we've taken our kids a few times too. It's always lovely seeing the kids play and enjoy themselves in the same location that I loved when I was a child. Although we have stopped in Aberystwyth a few times and I've been there many times, it's always a place I've wanted to stay overnight. So now that is one thing I can tick off my list. We stayed in a Premier Inn at the seafront, but we didn't get the seafront view, we had the back view.

We decided to stay in the hotel to have food that evening as we knew the kids were shattered and we were tired ourselves. The food was lovely but fantastic. Freddie was an absolute nightmare that evening. He was throwing things everywhere and constantly moaning because he was tired. Straight after food, we went back into our room, and Freddie was wide awake and wouldn't settle. It took a good few hours for him to settle to sleep. The girls went to sleep pretty quickly, shockingly. It was a rough night as Freddie didn't sleep much. The following morning we went down for breakfast which was all-you-can-eat and was delicious.

After breakfast, we went for a walk along the seafront, and it was absolutely lovely. Sea air in the morning has to be one of the best things. We walked near to the end of the seafront and then towards the park for the kids to play. They were in their glory, especially Freddie. It felt strange having three little people walking and running around the playground. Normally Freddie is in his pram sitting watching. But he walked so much that day and the day before in Oakwood. It's amazing how quickly they grow, isn't it?

After a while, in the park, we decided to go to a place my Dad recommended, Bwlch Yr Arian. It was roughly 20 minutes away from Aberystwyth itself, but it was worth it. The place was fantastic. We weren't able to stay long at all because Elliw threw one of the biggest tantrum ever, and I mean it was big. There was high pitch screaming, kicking, hitting, shouting - yep you name it, everything. We tried to ignore her, tried to calm her down and even gave her a row too when it got too much, but nothing worked. We then decided to just leave and go. I was gutted as I really wanted to have a walk around the lake, but it's something we have now added to our list of places to visit (again).

Afterwards, we just went for a Sunday carvery, did a food shop and went home. It was such a lovely weekend and I am so glad we went. Every Saturday throughout these holidays my partner has been working and so the only family day we get is a Sunday and Mia is in her Dads every other Sunday on the weekend. So it was lovely all of us together and spending some well deserved and much needed quality time together.