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Raisie Bay

Hatton

My Sunday Photo 10th December 2017

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Three children sitting at the feet of Father Christmas in his grotto, with a festive fireplace to the left of the picture

Three children with their magic golden keys about to enter Santa's toyshop





Yikes! This time in just two weeks it will be Christmas Eve!!
As it’s getting so close now I’ve decided to share some Christmas photos taken at Hatton’s Enchanted Christmas Kingdom a couple of weeks ago. Yes, we got our visit to Father Christmas in  early and letters were written and sent. Phew, that’s one thing less to worry about, I just hope Father Christmas brings them all that they wished for.

We really enjoyed the grotto at Hatton, it was magical to wander around. I’ll leave my 3 minute tour video at the end of this post if you are interested.
In the meantime Christmas preparations are in full swing here, I have begun the big wrap up and cards are being written. The food is ordered and last minute presents  sent for. I’m taking part in two Secret Santa’s this year and I’ve already received one of my gifts. I’ll be posting mine off on Monday.

Are you ready for Christmas? Are you feeling festive?

I pin My Sunday Photo pics I visit on my Pinterest Board. Please let me know if you wish your photo to be removed.

Photalife

Sunday Snap

Word of the Week – Cold

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Brrrr hasn’t it been cold this week! I’ve really noticed it and as someone who normally prefers the colder months, yes, even snow, I’m quite annoyed that my body can no longer stand it. Cold hurts!

Our house is generally warm but I don’t like having the heating on all the time so I like to wrap up warm inside. I’ve been busy crocheting a blanket that I’m going to keep on the sofa so when I get cold I can just snuggle up in it. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever crocheted and it’s coming along lovely. It’s kept me busy too.

This week we also had some visitors from Cornwall. When I was little my older brother was friends with this man who lived locally, then he moved away and they drifted apart, not seeing or speaking to each other for years.Then they discovered Facebook and got in touch again. I love that Facebook is so good for this, I’ve re-connected with a few of my childhood and school friends. Anyway, we have been speaking to this friend of my brother’s for quite a few years on Facebook so when he said he was coming to our town we agreed to meet up with him and his wife. We had a lovely afternoon catching up in ‘real life.’

Yesterday we decided to  do a little more Christmas shopping, I wanted to get board games for the kids and Smyths are doing an offer of 3 for 2 on board games. As I needed 3, this was perfect. We have a Smyths store about 10 mins drive away and I decided that I’d like to drive. I think this might be the first time in about six months that I have been behind the wheel. I was so nervous, but once in the driving seat my nerves left me and I was fine. Of course I was quite happy for hubby to get back behind the wheel for the journey home. One way was enough. We parked almost directly by the entrance to Smyths but while I waited for hubby to put my wheelchair together I got really cold and when we got in the shop I just couldn’t stop shivering. Hubby got worried that I was having a spasm in the shop but I was just seriously cold.

Last Saturday we had a lovely day at Hatton Enchanted Christmas Kingdom and although the weather was bright and dry it was incredibly cold. I really do think that being in a wheelchair is much colder than walking around. I’ll have to invest in thermals or a blanket.

Well, it’s December today so I guess you have to expect the weather to be really cold. I’ve not seen any snow yet though!

The Reading Residence

Enchanted Christmas at Hatton

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We are big fans of Hatton Adventure World and have visited a few times now. We went to see Father Christmas back in 2014 and were thrilled to be able to visit again this year.

Hatton’s Enchanted Christmas Kingdom is open every weekend until Christmas and 19th – 23rd December, so there is still plenty of time to fit in a visit.

As well as the fabulous grotto you can still visit the animals and play on the fairground rides as well as many of the other activities. If you get cold there is entertainment in the soft play area or fabulous shows in the family theatre.

Also for Christmas there are some lovely Craft markets which are open until late with hot food and roasted chestnuts readily available.

In fact you can be sure of a true Christmas Experience to remember at Hatton, it really is worth a visit.

Hatton’s Enchanted Christmas Kingdom Grotto

A little Poem

Three children wait, sitting patiently on sacks of reindeer food.
They had to wait their turn so not to appear rude.

Soon they would visit the reindeers at play,
Which ones would they see today.
Maybe Dancer, Prancer, Dasher or Vixen,
Or it could be Cupid, Comet, Donner or Blitzen?

Blitzen was their favourite by far, 
He was the friendliest and loved a  stroke through the bar.
To Dickensian time they were transported back
on entering the grotto that was dark and black
The house of Scrooge and Marley made them shrug,
While Mum called out Bah humbug!

Then although the photo is not clear,
There was a shop full of beer,
We believed that the point of it
was to help parents get into the Christmas Spirit!

Then from past to future they were transported
To see some  shiny robot elf hybrid
In the Christmas workshop making toys
For all the nice girls and boys

This glowing machine was making festive delights for everyone,
Candy Canes, Stars and Gingerbread Men are now done.

They viewed the flight path for Father Christmas’ Sleigh, 
It won’t be long before he’s on his way.
Behind closed doors would you dare to believe
Was a ton of gifts to be delivered on Christmas Eve.

Back in the present they viewed some snowy scenes,
This friendly elf was wrapped up warm it seems.
It must be cold because around the bend…..

……They saw a waddle of penguins to friend.
Then it was time to meet the big man himself.
(No mention of the elf on the shelf)

They were a little shy at first
Then the Little Man Fit to burst
Said “Are you the real Santa Claus?
I think you are of course!”
Then Father Christmas pulled out his Naughty or Nice book,
He opened it up and for their names he did look
If the children were found on the list called Nice
Then they would get a lovely surprise

They were found on the Nice list by the Big Man who
Gave each child a golden key which unlocked a door to…. 
The happy children chose their toys with ease
And paid for them with their golden keys.

We had a lovely experience and the kids were so excited. After visiting the grotto they went to let off some of their excitement in the park.

When it got too cold we went into the arts and crafts tent to write letters to Father Christmas and make Christmas cards and decorations. The kids loved it in there and I was happy to get warm again and have a coffee and mince pie.

The day was a big hit with the kids, they loved it all. We will definitely be looking forward to our next visit to Hatton Adventure World.


Disclosure: we were sent tickets to visit Hatton’s Enchanted Christmas Kingdom for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hatton and the Water Wars!

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We were excited to be invited to spend the day at Hatton Adventure World and try out their new Water Wars.

You can do Water Wars and Water Battles but I’d advise you to do both at the same time and bring spare clothes and towels because you are going to get very wet!

We arrived at Hatton just before lunch and had a walk around the animals, played on the helter skelter and had a picnic before attempting the water events.

The first event was Water Wars and my other half and the kids were first in line. You work as a team and fire water filled balloons at your opponent. The result is that you have lots of fun and get wet in the process.

Then it was onto the battle field where you fill up your water pistol and fire at will, there are hay bales to hide behind too. Everyone had loads of fun and got really really wet!

Here is a short video highlighting the fun we had.

I was talking to some other mum’s there and they agreed that these two new additions were fantastic for the summer and that it was definitely worth a visit. The kids had loads of fun and because I’d brought towels and spare clothes they were able to get dried off afterwards to enjoy the rest of the farm.

The Little Man really enjoyed the pedal JCB’s and the fairground rides.

They all liked the gold panning where they exchange their pieces of gold for a medal.

There is so much to do at Hatton Adventure world, including sand play, parks, slides, bouncy castles, zip line, picking peas (and other seasonal vegetables) magic and puppet shows, indoor play, picnic areas, restaurant and cafe’s. Then of course you have the farm animals.

There are also the indoor reptiles and the amazing guinea pig village. The children are actively encouraged to pet the animals at certain times. Boo feel in love with this particular guinea pig.
There is also a regular falconry display which proves to be really popular. We’ve seen it before so we missed it this time but only because we had so much else to do. 
When the kids get older I’m pretty sure they will enjoy the lazer combat, we were watching while the kids were on the slide and it looks great fun. You can also go for  a ride around the farm in an army truck. 
Hatton Adventure World is one of our favourite places to visit. It’s not far from us too being in Warwick and really not far from the M40. 
Tickets are £14.95 each (basic price) but you can save up to 25% by booking online.
Everything is included in the price, rides, bouncy castles, water wars, laser combat etc. There are extra charges for food and drink but you are welcome to bring a picnic and there are lots of picnic areas. 
I’d recommend Hatton Adventure World to all my friends and family, it really is a great place to visit.
That’s not all though, adjoining the Adventure World is Hatton Shopping Village with lovely quaint shops. You have to stop by the sweet shop! You can also buy shoes, bags, clothes, antiques, food and there is a fantastic garden centre…to name just a few places. There is no entry fee to the shopping village so it’s worth a visit. I keep saying that we’ll go without the kids one day. 

Disclosure – We were given free admission to Hatton Adventure World to try out the new Water Wars and Water Battles, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Visiting Santa at Hatton Country Park

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We visited Hatton Adventure World for the first time for Halloween. I can’t believe we have not been before we are really not far away in Warwick, and it’s such a lovely place to visit. We were thrilled to be invited to visit again for their Enchanted Christmas Kingdom which is open every Friday evening and weekend in December and 20th to 24th December 2014.

When we visited it was very cold and we even had spells of rain and hail, but there was still lots to see and do. There is entertainment in the form of Zoobee’s Christmas show in the family theatre, The Wise Men’s Falconry Shows and stories in Festive Scales and Tales.

We started our day with a trip to the Farmyard favourites area which is covered from the elements. The kids love meeting the animals and The Little Man was really taken by Bubbles the Donkey who is 54 years old and actually older than mummy! We saw Bubbles again later for the live nativity.

Then there was the Guinea Pig village which was made up very festive with lots of Christmas trees and snow.

We then made our way over to watch the live nativity, but just has it was about to start the rain pelted down and we had to take shelter. We did go back and the children really enjoyed the nativity and singing along with the Christmas songs and carols.

Then it was time to visit Santas Workshop, but first we stopped to admire the reindeers.

The Grotto was really lovely. We started off by writing our letters to Santa and posting them in the special postbox.

Then we walked around the workshop seeing the elves hard at work making presents and cookies and wrapping them up ready for the Christmas deliveries.

Then came the very special visit to see Santa. I had filled in a form so Santa knew a few details about my children before they went in to see him. He was a very impressive Santa with a kindly voice. The children were totally in awe of him and he had them grinning from ear to ear. Well, apart from the Little Man who was a little wary at times, especially when Santa asked if they had been good. Then Santa pulled out a special book and because they were on the Good List they were each given a key to the special Toyshop.

In the Toyshop the children were allowed to use their keys to purchase a toy of their choice. They thought it was brilliant.

Before we left we had a walk around Hatton Shopping Village which is an adorable selection of shops selling all sorts of pretty things. We particularly liked the sweet shop. Also, there was a craft market to browse with hot roasted chestnuts available. It certainly made it feel like Christmas.

Once again we had a lovely day at Hatton and I’m certain we will be visiting again.
Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

We were invited to visit Hatton Adventure world for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.