Last Friday I endured an entire day of soft play (I think a medal might be in order here…) I took the kids on two separate play dates to two separate venues morning and afternoon and whilst it was lovely to catch up with friends, enough was enough come Saturday and I put my thinking cap on for some alternative family entertainment…
…Which is how we came to finally dig out the old swimwear and head off to the fabulous leisure pool at Guildford Spectrum which has no less than five big slides (three flumes) plus two little toddler versions too. It had been so long since we had last been swimming that I was shocked to see that JJ’s costume was a size 18-24 months (he’s 4 and a half!). Not that we haven’t been in water since that time but I guess those cossies are pretty stretchy and there’s not much of him! On the other hand EJ was on the big side for his 12-18 month costume (at 19 months) being much more of a little chubby-thighed baby than his brother ever was, so we detoured to Sainsburys on our way to the pool and bought a new costume and goggles for JJ and a cute baby swim nappy for EJ to wear under JJ’s old suit.
I had been prepared to take the two of them on my own if the hubster had not been available for whatever reason, but thank goodness he was there as the changing, both before and after, was quite tricky. Trying to carry all shoes, clothes, coats and towels for myself and the children plus attempting to stop EJ from dashing off and launching himself back into dangerously deep water would have been even more hair-raising on my own!
I admit this has been a long time coming as EJ has only been in a swimming pool once before and after his wonderful water birth I was so longing for him to be a water baby but there was just never the time or money for baby swimming sessions and I have to admit I’m not much of a swimmer myself and not particularly keen on stripping off in public places!
For this reason EJ was somewhat overwhelmed and intimidated by the situation to begin with – bearing in mind that it was pretty busy and noisy too on a Saturday morning. JJ was thrilled to be able to finally experience all the big slides though and frankly I barely saw him and his dad for most of the time we were there!
Fortunately soon EJ warmed up to the experience and after a few shocking head submersions he was launching himself down the mini-slides with gusto whilst trying to bat away anyone else who came up behind him!
In the end I even got to experience a couple of the flumes and big slides with JJ which was really good fun!
Afterwards we were all starving and the hubster treated us to a McDonalds.
All in all we had a brilliant family day together – plenty of magic moments – just a shame we have no photos as there was no way my new camera was going anywhere near a swimming pool!!
Linking up to Magic Moments over at the Oliver’s Mad House.
Sounds brilliant! We went to Splash Landings at Alton Towers for Boo’s 4th birthday, but Little Man hated it and basically clung to me for 2 hours, and then fell asleep on me in there! We will attempt swimming again at some point..! And yes, you deserve a medal 😉
Aw! Poor little thing! When we went in the pool at our holiday cottages in Cornwall last October EJ was exactly the same even though we had it to ourselves! He loves splashing in the bath and any kind of waterplay though so I thought he might warm up to this eventually!
Sounds like you had a great day! What a fab place, sounds like there is a lot to entertain the littlies and older kiddies! We’re a bit rubbish with swimming too. Went quite a bit before our holiday last year to prepare monkey for it, and he loved it, but then with one thing and another we haven’t been since July. Bad parents! Need to go again really but struggling to find the motivation, we don;t have a pool nearly as cool as this one! xx
Well – very little ‘swimming’ was done it has to be said!!
Oh I thought I recognised the picture! Not been in the swimming pool but I recognised it having seen it from the outside when we went ice skating or something.
You are lucky to have such a lovely centre… I am still scared of water slides. It was only on holiday a couple of years ago that the girls persuaded me to go.
I have to admit that I went down one of the enclosed flumes and it did freak me out a bit as I don’t like getting my face wet (duh!) and didn’t know when it was going to spit me out the end or into how much water – I just had to hold my nose and hope for the best!
I hold my nose 🙂 I don’t like the sudden steep drops either – they’re evil!
Oh how wonderful! What a lovely post, sounds like you had a great time. I was just looking at that photo thinking that looks familiar then I realised it’s because it’s 5 minutes drive from us. Doh! Guildford Spectrum does a toddler session at 8.30am on a Sunday, it’s much quieter – we’ve been a few times, definitely worth a look if you’re local. POD loves the big slide but the little one less so!
There is no way we could get ourselves up and over to Guildford for 8.30 Charly! I don’t think I’ve ever got us out of the house before 8.45!! EJ was fine once he got used to it though to be honest.
Wow it looks like great fun! Kids love playing in water don’t they x
My two really do!!
This reminds me of all our trips to Center Parcs, the pools and slides are so much fun, and the boys just love it! Sounds like you had a great time, lots of different things to do 🙂
It was great Sara! Made a really good change from the soft play!!
Good move for not taking the new camera to the swimming pool. Sounds like a lovely day all together! x Mel #MagicMoments
It really was! One of those days that makes all the bad things about parenting small children seem worthwhile if you know what I mean! X
That looks like a fabulous water centre – our boys love going to Alton Towers Water Park when they come to the UK.
Alton Towers is a bit far away from us but maybe when the boys are a bit older we will make a day of it!
What a fab family day out you had. No wonder this was your #magicmoment. Really enjoyed reading this 🙂
Ah! Thank you. Its been a while since we’ve tried anything new as a family of four so this was really great!
Lucas says – oh WOW – those waterslides look AWESOME!!!!!! Good choice on the food too – I love Burger shop….. #magicmoments
Thanks Lucas! We have impeccable taste in fast food!
awww honey this sounds fantastic (i dont blame you on the photo front!! mine wouldnt either!)
thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments xx
It really is lovely getting them in for a swim and also nice to have the help, it is a bit awkward getting there which I think is why we don’t do it often enough either. Hope you can find more time for it in the future! xx
I’ve realised that there is another reason why we don’t go that often – runny noses and chest infections!!