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Groovy Grandmother’s Day at Hosfords

Manic Mammy — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:35:08 +0000

Slow Food West Cork and Slow Food Cork City present the third annual International Grandmother’s Day at Hosfords Garden Centre on Sunday 17th April from 2pm.

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.

Review of Kool Kids Children’s Activity Centre

Manic Mammy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:53:59 +0000

Kool Kids Children’s Activity Centre,

9 Corlurgan Business Park, Ballinagh Road,

Cavan,

Ireland

As we were in Cavan visiting Granny for the past few days, we decided to take the opportunity on one of the rainy days to visit Cavan’s latest indoor children’s activity centre.

I headed with the 3 middle children as eldest was ill and baby happy enough to potter around with Granny. So the 6, 4 and 2 year old and myself arrived at Kool Kids. Its located on the Ballinagh road so is very easy to get to and plenty of parking. The first thing I noted is that unlike some of children’s indoor play centres we’ve been to, there were loads of windows, skylights and so plenty of natural daylight and it was nice and bright.

The charge was €7 per child for 90 mins play. Security was good, the usual magnetised gate at the entrance and kids had to be buzzed in and out. There were plenty of visible staff in all areas of the centre too which was great.

There were 3 main areas, one to suit each age range. A fine big toddler area with lots of foam blocks, stairs, balls, large foam jigsaws. The 3-5 year old section was loved by our larger than life 2 year old. He loved the slide and climbing up the stairs. This area also had a swing boat and a sing ball which were a bit beyond his capability yet. An indoor small soccer area was adjacent to this section.

The larger kids section was loved by our 6 year old. 2 slides, one open and one a closed tube were tested again and again. What I liked about this section and the younger children’s one was that most of it was just enclosed by netting so that you could keep an eye on your child no matter which part of the maze they were in. There was plenty to keep them amused in this area.

The highlight of the centre for the 6 year old was not this though, it was the climbing wall. I thought this was a fabulous idea. It was attended by one of the staff who ensured the child was harnessed safely and then 2 at a time could climb up using the usual foot and hand holds. He loved it and each time progressed a little bit further.

The highlight for the 2 and 4 year old though was the ball shooting area. Again, I thought this was a great idea and a bit different. It was something they both loved after a while of running around. The 2 year old needed a chair to reach it, but once set up, he was happy to get 2 balls, fire them through the air gun at the target. Then he’d get down and get 2 more balls again and again. He really loved it and had to be pryed off it when it was time to leave.

The centre had plenty of seating between the entrance and the play areas. So it was possible to have a break and a coffee and still keep an eye on your children. The usual refreshments of tea, coffees, soft drinks and confectionary were on sale.

Overall, I really liked this centre. I thought it was well set up, there was plenty to keep the children amused and plenty of friendly, helpful staff. I can see it being a godsend on rainy days when we’re up visiting Granny and the kids need to expend some energy and run around for a while. We’ll definitely be returning.

Rated 4/5 on Mar 28 2008

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Review Tags: entertainment, play, activity, fun, cavan, amusement, children’s activity centre, to do

Review of Cavan Town Playground

Manic Mammy — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:08:29 +0000

Cavan Town Playground,Cathedral Road, Cavan, Ireland

Excellent, safe playground for older children but slightly less so for toddlers.

This is the local playground when we stay with Granny and the kids have gotten great mileage out of it over the past few years. It’s relatively new, approximately 4 or 5 years old as far as I recall.

Its located on the main Cavan to Belturbet road but there’s plenty of roadside parking or you can walk to it from the town. Its fenced in with one entrance/exit so very safe once you’re there to keep track of the children.

There’s a good range of equipment. The smallies have multi-play unit comprising of a slide tower, fireman’s pole, rope suspension bridge, arch climber and steps. There’s a fun phone, button seats, and a double twist roundabout for the more adventurous toddler. There’s a 2 seat swing set. Unfortunately this is not enclosed toddler one but the traditional swing which is more suitable for older children.

The older kids have an excellent multiplay unit which has a large range of equipment on it including enclosed slide, monkey bars, curved climber, scramble net, rock wall, loop tunnel, fireman’s pole, rope wall. There is also 4 seats under the main body of this unit which can be a handy shelter from a rain shower if you get caught unexpectantly.

There is a couple of benches. One very minor complaint with this playground is that it can be fairly littered on occasion. It would have been also preferable if a couple of toddler enclosed seat swings could have been added.

But in saying this, overall, its an excellent resource to have near Granny’s and the kids have gotten great use out of it and enjoyed it when we’ve visited.

Rated 3/5 on Aug 27 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: activity, cavan, children, fun, outdoor, play, playground, things to do
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Review of Co Cavan Swimming and Leisure Centre

Manic Mammy — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:52:28 +0000

Co Cavan Swimming and Leisure Centre,
Drumalee,
Cavan,
Ireland

Good, large swimming pool with plenty of room for children to splash around.

As we’re up visiting Granny at the moment, myself and the eldest 4 headed to the local swimming pool yesterday. This is a 25m “L” shaped pool, basically the small part of the L is the children’s section. Its a great size and is shallow enough for the 2 year old to walk and splash comfortably around. The water was quite warm and the lifeguard was very visible and attentive.

Another lifeguard offered us additional floatation devices to play with as the 2 younger kids had armbands on. There were plenty of foam frogs and foam rectangles in the pool already and she produced a foam tube which the 2 year old loves when asked.

There is no time limitation on swimming here and the family swim cost was €16.50, which I reckoned was good value. There are 2 changing rooms: male and female. Plenty of lockers, hairdryers and enough bench space. The showers are individual cubicles which I’m not too fond of, would prefer an open plan shower area where I can see all the kids at all times.

One other advantage of this pool is a poolside bathroom. This I find a great help, as on occasion one or more of the children needs to use the loo and this avoids us all having to leave the pool and traipse back to the changing room.

As we had had a great hour’s swimming and splashing about in a almost empty pool yesterday morning, we returned this afternoon. Unfortunately there were swimming lessons on, so there was less space.

There’s also a jacuzzi and steamroom aswell as a couple of swimming lanes for those serious about their swimming!

Overall, this is a great facility and very handy when we’re up visiting Granny. Will definitely be returning.

Rated 4/5 on Aug 24 2007 by ManicMammy

LouderVoice Review Tags: activity, children, fun, leisure, pool, splash, swimming, swimming pool, water

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Review of FAI Soccer Summer Schools

Manic Mammy — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:23:35 +0000

FAI Soccer Summer Schools

Excellent week’s training and fun for 7 to 15 year olds.

The 8 year old recently completed the local FAI run summer soccer camp. He had a fabulous time and was worn out after the week’s activities.

The camp ran from 10.30 till 3 every day and there were boys and girls from aged 7 to 15 years. We were lucky in that the weather held for the full week so they were outdoors the full time.

Each group was assigned their own trainer and taught different skills. Then the trainers were swapped around. The highlight of the week seems to have been the penalty shootout competition as the winners from each of the age sections fought it out to be the overall camp champion.

The camp cost €89 and the kit they recieved included Umbro shorts and jersey, shin guards, water bottle, ball and socks. The lads loved the colours this year and it appears to be good quality and will hopefully last for plenty of more wears.

Overall, I thought this was a well run, good value for money summer camp, which the children really enjoyed. He’ll definitely be participating in next year’s one.

Rated 4/5 on Aug 18 2007 by ManicMammy

LouderVoice Review Tags: camp, children, children’s activities, football, soccer, sport, summer, summer camp

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Review of Fota Wildlife Park

Manic Mammy — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:10:03 +0000

Fota Wildlife Park,
Carrigtwohill,
Cork,
Ireland

Yesterday the weather looked good so we decided to head to Fota Wildlife Park for a family day out. I had been there last year with the 4 kids whilst pregnant and we’d had a very enjoyable day so we were all looking forward to it.

Although it opens at 10am, this time we didn’t get organised enough to arrive till 12ish. There was already a queue to get it, but thankfully it moved quickly. We paid the €50 for family (2 adults, 4 kids and 1 baby) entrance fee, recieved the maps and in we went.

There is a suggested route around Fota, a track which is fine for walking on and no problem to push the baby’s buggy around on too. If you take it, the first animals you see are the giraffes. They are in a field with zebras.

It is great to watch them walking around, drinking and eating leaves from the high poles. The kids love them. The bison are in a field opposite. The next area is the monkey island. This I found a bit dirty and smelly and there was a distinct lack of monkeys and gibbons to be seen. There were plenty of ducks and peacocks. The area looks a bit run down. We saw a couple of penguins and various other birds.

The kids also loved a small playground area on the way. A big log to walk on and some monkey bars.

The cafe area was filled with people. The playground here is a great idea and it was full of kids. All picnic tables were taken so we ended up eating our lunch on a bench. An extra number of picnic tables would be ideal. The restaurant was packed and seemed to do plenty of burger and chips. We just bought drinks and icecream to go with our sandwiches. Service was good. The day was sunny so you couldn’t beat eating al fresco. It was gorgeous.

Further on, we saw llamas, kangaroos, lemurs, flamingoes, an ostrich and cheetahs.

The highlight for the kids was 2 llamas bounding past us on the track as we ambled along and seeing small monkeys jumping in the branches of the tree above us!

Overall we had a very enjoyable day there. Its high season so the crowds of visitors there were to be expected but it would have been a better experience had there been more picnic and toilet facilities. They could do with a revamp around the monkey island area too.

We’re looking forward to revisiting in the autumn or early next spring as the children loved it.

Rated 4/5 on Jul 25 2007 by ManicMammy

LouderVoice Review Tags: activity, animal, conservation, cork, day out, holiday, things to do, wildlife

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Review of LeisureWorld Bishopstown

Manic Mammy — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:12:41 +0000

LeisureWorld Bishopstown,
Rossa Avenue,
Bishopstown,
Cork,
Ireland

Great place for a very enjoyable, relaxed family swim.

Last bank holiday Monday, the kids were getting antsy so I decided to bring the 4 older ones swimming, to expend some of that excess energy and hopefully have some fun in doing so. So off we headed to Leisureworld.

The first thing I like about Leisureworld is that the changing areas are not split into male and female, as this is usually grounds for contention with the now 8 year old son. He doesn’t like having to accompany his mammy and younger siblings into the ladies changing room when we swim in the public swimming pool near my mother’s house.

The general changing area in Leisureworld works well as there are good number (approximately 5) large family changing rooms contained within it, as well as plenty of single changing rooms. So myself and the 4 kids headed into one of large family rooms, all got changed into swimming attire and loaded up one the lockers with our towels/clothes etc. There are loads of lockers, which cost €1 to use, a large communal shower area, usual toilets and hairdryers.

The shower area is also communal which I also like as I can see the kids at all times and there’s no need to be separated from them and so safer in my view.

There are 3 pools, one 25m, one 18m and a good size toddler pool which I would guess is about 2.5 or 3 ft in depth. This is the one we use. It is deep enough for the older lads to practice their swimming in, whilst the 3 year old feels confident in it, walking and splashing around or holding on to the side, kicking her feet. The 2 year old was very anxious initially, but eventually gained sufficient confidence to start splashing his feet too. There are usually a few foam “frogs” or pretend cars in this pool to add to the fun.

The life guards were very visible and appeared to be very attentive to what was going on in all the pools.

We spent a good hour in the pool and the cost for the 5 of us was €16 for a family swim.

Leisureworld has plenty of other facilities such as gym, aerobics, all-weather soccer pitches and a cafe. They also run swimming lessons. I haven’t used any of these yet, but hope to make more use of the swimming pool over the next few months after our very enjoyable monday morning there.

The only disadvantage I have found is that on our previous visit both the big 25m pool and the toddler pool were being used for swimming lessons and so we were limited to using the 18m pool which wasn’t suitable for me with the 3 older kids on my own as the 2 younger ones had to be held constantly in my arms as the water was too deep for them to feel comfortable in on their own. So its a good idea to ring before hand to make sure all pools are available for public use when you intend to go.

Rated 4/5 on Jun 08 2007 by manicmammy

LouderVoice Review Tags: activity, children facilities, leisure, sports, swimming, swimming pool

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