Twinlakes Take Two

With Catherine's tenth birthday now a few days away the plan was to have a special day out with all the girls. Using the free tickets Emily managed to get to Twinlakes, it was easy to keep the cost down and have a special treat. So that is just what we did and boy was it fun. 

The morning begun slowly with everyone having bit of a lie in, but then there was nothing to get up for in a rush like on a weekday. We couldn't really start the day until after 10 o'clock when we had got Lucy from her mummies. Picking Lucy up seemed rushed today. I still feel it is a shame it has to be like this when it could be so much different. After I got Lucy we popped to the supermarket to buy supplies for our day out, mainly drinks and food, which included ice lollies that Lucy insisted upon. As we were driving home Lucy spotted her sister Mary going towards Tesco's and waved and shouted but I don't think Mary saw us. It was nice yesterday when I got the chance to talk to Mary for a while, I always want to tell Mary she is welcome to come and play, but something stops me. I know she is always welcome here.

When we got home the order of the day was making up the picnic and trying to cool down the drinks as quickly as possible so we had something cold to drink. The weather was set to be hot and sunny for the whole day. Thankfully, as it turned out, there was the occasional cool breeze. Without the day would have been a real roaster. 

Once everything was done and I had drunk my coffee, which the girls always joke about, we set off in the car for Twinlakes listening to music as we went on our way. 

On our arrival there was a massive cheer from Lucy. She must have remembered the place from the last time she went there. Quickly we unpacked the pushchair and loaded it up with Lucy, food and drink. Other than getting Lucy to the entrance, the only use the pushchair served was to carry things around as she didn't want to use it all day. I'm not sure how tall Lucy is, but she can go on a lot of the rides now, but by wheeling her in, nobody seems to question her size so she gets in for free. Rather handy when your working to a tight budget. 

We decided to get eating out of the way quickly so they could all get on with having fun, rather than having to start and stop. So it was off into the shade and out with most of the food and some of the drinks. Lucy seemed too excited to eat and wanted the fun to start straight away and hardly ate anything. I had planned for this and there was snack food for her for later.

We first headed off to the Excalibur Adventure area, there is a soft play area for Lucy and the Spinning Tea cups for Emily and Catherine. Lucy knew exactly what she wanted to do when she saw which part of the park we were in and soon found the curvy slide. She took her shoes off and quickly climbed the stairs to be sliding down seconds later, which was followed by a big splash into the ball pool. She did this again and again and again. At one point she was joined by Catherine before she headed off back out into the sun. After we finished in the soft play area it was out to the swings and the slides with all three girls for a bit. One of the few times they were together all day. After that Lucy and myself headed up to the top of the big castle with me carrying two mats. Last time I went down the slides with Lucy, this time I was going to let her go down on her own. When we got to the top of the slide I put the mat down and showed her how to get into it and what to hold. Then she shuffled forward and off she went down the slide. She was so proud of herself and her little face beamed. The last thing we did was to go on the horses and she queued so well for someone so young and really enjoyed the ride.

With the weather being so hot we all decided to visit the farm, then headed inside for a bit away from the burning sun. When we arrived at the shed where the animals are kept Lucy instantly grabbed her nose and said they smell. It really was a funny sight and she didn't let go of her nose until she came out of the shed. Despite the smell she loves the animals which is clear from all the visits we have to make to the farm to see the piggies. She especially likes the small animals as do all the girls. 

Once we had finished at the farm we headed to the barn containing the Trauma Tower ride. Emily and Catherine love the Trauma Tower while Lucy loves the slides, so while they went off to be thrown up and down Lucy and myself went off with two mats to play on the slides. After successfully doing the first slide on her own we worked our way up to doing the big slide that goes from the roof to the ground by doing several runs of the smaller blue slide. It didn't take her long to become very confident and so we were soon at the top of the big slide and shooting down together. After we had finished with the big slide we took a rest from sliding and Lucy spotted the swing carousel. She watched the other children for a little while and then I asked her if she wanted a go and she said yes with a big smile. So we joined the queue and she was soon sitting on the carousel and flying through the air with a big grin. Eventually Emily and Catherine found us both and took Lucy off me to play on the blue slide again. It was great to see them all coming down together. Eventually Emily went off exploring with Lucy, while Catherine took some time out for a drink before going off to find them again. It took Catherine ages to find them both. They were so high up in the maze of passages and twists and turns. Before leaving for some more fun outside Emily had a few more turns on the Trauma Tower while Catherine went on the swing carousel with Lucy.

On heading outside Emily and Catherine made a beeline for the big swinging boat, while myself and Lucy headed off for the caterpillar roller coaster. We sat right at the front when we got on the coaster, it was great fun. Although it is not very fast it is just right for smaller children and Lucy loved it. We went on several times between Lucy playing in the sand pit and making new friends as she always does wherever we go. She can charm just about anyone with her cheeky little ways and her big soulful blue eyes. At one point she had a older boy helping her climb up and down things she couldn't quite do herself. Every so often Lucy would spot Emily and Catherine on the swinging boat and start to shout their names and wave at them. I'm not sure how many rides they had on the boat but they were on there for an age. It was really hard to get them off when it was time to move on.

From the swinging boat area Emily and Catherine headed for the buffalo coaster while I headed for the bouncy cars with Lucy. Lucy loves the bouncy cars but I'm not so sure what I think about it other than I always end up thinking I wish I hadn't drank so much fizzy coke, but she loves it so on I go. We all met up again at the boating lakes. With a quick check for height it was on with the life jacket and into the boat for little Lucy and me. We were shortly followed on the water by Emily and Catherine in another bumper boat. Soon we were chasing each other around and bumping into each other. It was rather fun once you got the hang of controlling the boats and theie electric outboard motors. Next time we go I'm going have to go on the bumper boats again. They are just great fun. Soon it was time for the last ride of the day. Emily ran off to the buffalo coster and Catherine off to the big raft slide. Lucy and I decided to watch Catherine as she got a push down the slide from a park warden which sent her on her way.

After all the rides were closed we made our way to the exit, stopping off at the assault course and the arial runways. The girls had a lovely time at Twinlakes and to make it easy for dinner we all had hot dogs for dinner as a special kiddy treat. It just rounded of the day nicely. It is lovely to have them altogether and having fun. 

I know this will never happen, but ages ago I had invited Mary to come to Twinlakes before we went in May. I never did get a reply but I didn't expect one. Maybe they will meet again one day and have fun again. I hope so for them.