photo credit: gavinsblog

I’ve decided to make a list of “Things to Do and See in and around Bandon” for his family, keeping in mind that the children range in age from 6 years old to 9 months.

This is what I’ve come up with so far.

• Clonakilty Model Village and train
• Inchydoney beach
• Playground in Clonakilty
• Playground in Bandon
• Garretstown beach
• Charles Fort in Kinsale
• Whale in Kilbrittain
• Playground in Timoleague
• Nice flat walk from Courtmacsherry to Timoleague along the inlet, suitable for bike rides
• If weather is terrible and you feel like a day trip, I would recommend the Aquadome in Tralee and stop on the way in Killarney National Park. Great playground there. Aquadome good fun. Driving there takes about an hour and half.
• Cinema in Clonakilty
• McCarthys Maze Trail in Kilbrittain
• Fota Wildlife Park
• Bandon Skate and Play

So what have I missed? I know there’s plenty more but nothing else is springing to mind at the moment so any suggestions would be most welcome!

photo credit: subewl

The day includes:

• Demos of Traditional Skills such as baking and sausage making
• Horticultural Talk on Fruit Trees by John Hosford
• Kid’s Colouring Competition – themed “In the Garden with Granny and Granddad”
• Real Lemonade Making – A hands on session especially for children (of all ages!)

As part of this year’s theme  – we have 20 apple trees to donate to schools in West Cork and Cork city.  We would love to see the next generation growing and nurturing trees for their own fruit in the school yard. Teachers and those interested in receiving a tree for their school should email slowfoodwestcork@gmail.com or call 086 067 6249 for further details.

Hosfords is located on the main Bandon to Clonakilty road. This sounds like it’s definitely worth popping into if you’re in the area next Sunday.

Running on both Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st of October from 10am to 5pm.

photo credit: shawncampbell

Hallowe’en events are as follows:

• Pumpkin Olympics

Come and test your strength, guile and skill (or just have a laugh!)
Pumpkin Golf, Pumpkin Skittles, Pumpkin Shy, Pumpkin Races, Guess the name of the Pumpkin

• Pumpkin Carving Competition

Bring your carved pumpkin and enter it in the competition to be judged on Sunday.

• Witches String Trail

Suitable for all ages from toddlers up. Follow the trail of string and see what surprises unfold.

• Orienteering for Ghouls

Dressed in your scariest Halloween costume, follow the orienteering trail, through the check points, and hope you make it back in one piece.

• Show us your Brains!

Solve the themed puzzles and riddles, such as word scramble and word search.

• Family Adventure Trail

Departing from the courtyard at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, through the ancient woodland, you and your family must negotiate the obstacles, including Spider’s Web, Rope Walk, Slack Line plus much more.  Adjustable difficulty, so suitable for all ages.

All activities are included in the €5 entrance fee, which is a donation to INFF,  a registered charity. Family tickets are available for €15 for 1 day or €20 which includes admission for both days.

Despite this we landed in France all excited at 7am on a Sunday morning and drove to the La Grande Metairie campsite. Thankfully, we arrived there in just under 3 hours. Yep I was driver’s map reader and I blame google maps for our minor diversions. Its located very near the town of Carnac which is on the coast with a lovely beach.

The campsite was brilliant. We had hired a 3 bedroomed mobile home with additional baby cot. It worked out well for us. The decking with seating and table definitely made it more spacious and most nights, depending on the weather, we could sit, read or play cards outside.

The first attraction we encountered was the mini farm. The enclosure held a number of kid goats and goats, a wild pig, some llamas, ducks, geese and swans. Our gang loved the kid goats and feeding them leaves each time we passed.

The swimming pool area was great with a variety of depths to suit us all. The 2 smallies loved splashing around in the very shallow baby area. There was a fountain in this which gave them great amusement. In the indoor pool, the paddling area had a baby slide to keep their interest.
The outdoor pool 2 big slides were loved by Oscar who’s 9 and a good swimmer. He spend most of his time on these or persuading me and Conor to join him on them. Great fun. The middle 2 enjoyed the fun of the water rapids. Anytime we were there, the life guards were visibly keeping an eye on things.

The campsite has a huge number of activities on offer. The middle 3 loved the horse rides. You could hire the horses for 30 minutes and the parent lead the horse and child around the many lanes of the site. We all tried the table tennis, tennis, mini-golf. There was one large playground and one smaller one which had a good range of swings, seesaws, roundabouts etc. I liked the fact that these had sand underfoot. The kid’s disco every evening in the amphitheatre for a half hour was great fun. Each day there were kids’ clubs organised for the 4 year olds and older.

For the adventurous there were zip lines and climbing. Eeek!

The campsite also had the usual practical facilities of a laundry room, onsite mini-market, newsagents/gift shop, bar, cafe and restaurant.

The takeaway was also a welcomed addition for the evenings when neither of us felt like cooking. Pizzas, crepes and more available at reasonable prices. Each evening there was a special. Although hardly authentic French cuisine: lasagne, fish and chips, roast chicken, it tasted good and our gang loved it.

We were impressed with how clean everything was kept. The only minor complaint I would have was that some of the mobile homes were located very close to the campsite internal roads and the individual sites were quite compact. Thankfully we were given one on a quiet cul de sac so didn’t have the immediate worry of the toddler running out into the path of a car.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this campsite as an ideal location for a great family holiday. As its in Brittany, the weather was never too hot or too sunny. Our 5 kids ranging in ages from 9 to 1 year old all loved it.

photo credit: jwalsh

So the bags are nearly all packed, car’s getting loaded up and we’re off on our annual trip to Wexbird as the kids call it. The extended August bank holiday weekend is meetup time for Conor’s clann: his sisters, their kids and his parents. Its good fun and the kids in particular love the time hanging out with their cousins.

The packing is a pain though. I pack an individual bag for each of our kids, influenced no doubt by my mother’s giving us a Quinnsworth bag each when we were younger and getting us to pack our own stuff when heading to my grandfather’s house in Cavan from Wicklow. Then the 9 of us would pile into the navy Fiat Mirafiori and off we’d go.

Here’s hoping for some good weather and some fun on the beach. Enjoy your weekends.

and then to Cavan meeting my 3 brothers, 3 sisters, 3 nieces and my Mam to remember my Dad on the 5th anniversary of his passing away.

Enjoy your weekends.

My youngest baby got her first pair of proper shoes today. Happy and chuffed for her, but sad that we won’t have any more crawling babies in the house.

She’s not sure what to make of them yet. Very funny watching her get accustomed to the weight of the shoes on her feet and stomping around the house. She did this for 15 minutes or so, then sat down and tugged at the shoes till she got them off her feet and then up she got, sans shoes and legged it.

Meanwhile the 2 year old decided to tackle a Peppa Pig jigsaw.

Here’s his completed version of it:

And who am I to argue its not perfect???

This photo was taken three years ago on Christmas day in my mother’s old house. It started snowing and our kids were over the moon. It will always remind me of Christmas.

Hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing, peaceful and fun Christmas and that Santa is good to you tonight!

Ho ho ho…..

Either way, its a break from the norm and I can’t wait. Ischgl here I come.