Ho De Ho my weekend at the Tots 100 Butlins Christmas party

Having been lucky enough to travel to the Tots 100 Christmas Party at Butlins in 4 wheeled luxury I thought I would share my account of the Butlins weekend.

One of my Mum and I's holiday destinations as a child was Butlins at Bognor Regis and as my Mum couldn't drive the holiday began with a coach trip to the South Coast.  I loved getting up on stage with the Redcoats and joining in with all the games and plays they put on to entertain us children and I have many fond memories of these.

Going back to Butlins last weekend for the Tots 100 Christmas Party was not how I expected and a lot has changed from the small, damp chalets with the bay windows to what is now with modern and bright hotels and more upmarket accommodation.  I ventured to Bognor with my 4 children and we shared a room in the Ocean Hotel which I have to say was well designed and accommodated the 5 of us easily. I loved the bright and modern hotel room decor!

A colour changing headboard!!

Even the bunk beds had under bed and TV lighting!

The wall art was well chosen....

...and perfect for a room overlooking the free fairground

The children and I spent the Saturday morning in the swimming pool on camp.  I loved the fact that it was included in the cost of the hotel but it was way too cold for a baby let alone me.  I was really disappointed with this fact as we all love swimming in our family but even a usually warm Jacuzzi was chilly and with just ONE family changing room that I could see in the changing area we stood and shivered whilst we waited for it to become vacant - not very impressive for a family orientated resort!

After lunch the lovely Sally Whittle had arranged an afternoon Meet and Greet which also involved a little healthy and entertaining tree decorating which saw us bloggers split into 4 teams all competing to decorate the best Christmas Tree and win a festive hamper.  I was teamed with the lovely Karen from All About The Boys, Mummy and the Beastie, The Boy and Me on her first blogger outing, and a lovely blogger and her equally lovely daughter who I had not met before, Rebecca from Here Comes the Girls and although we didn't win the challenge (we were clearly the worthy winners!!) we did all enjoy the challenge.

Meeting for pre-dinner drinks in the bar gave us bloggers a chance to chat before heading for our meal in the new Turners restaurant.  I had chosen the vegetarian option which was a wild mushroom risotto served in wedges and I asked whether there was anything to be served with it as I was dying to start but worried I would finish just as the side dishes were brought out!  The Maître De said it was on it's own and offered to bring me a Cauliflower Cheese accompaniment which I have to say was lovely, right up until a Butlins member said it was additional to the costs!! I explained I had not been informed and he let me off - phew thanks Daniel.  I did feel the Vegetarian option was a little boring but I have to say I ate it all but it was not what I expected for a restaurant boasting Brian Turners stamp of approval but the company more than made up for it.

I has a chance to catch up with the lovely Claire who I met at the MAD Blog Awards ceremony earlier in the year and we spent the meal chatting.

 With Eldest Son babysitting the others I didn't get to dance and drink away the night with the other bloggers but had got to shake my thing on the dancefloor with my children the previous night to the Take That tribute which had Tala mesmerised although I am still trying to work out who was meant to be who in the lineup...

Tala takes in Take That/Beautiful World 

The Friday night also gave me a chance to catch up with my real life friends and fellow bloggers, Wendy and Paula who although live in the next town to me it is always nice to see at blogging events.

Paula and Wendy at Bar Rosso

With a 5 hour journey home and presents to drop to friends on the route we had to leave the resort early.  Middle Son had spent a lot of time getting tickets from the arcade machines to exchange for a prize at the kiosk and he headed off at 9am to check out the booty only to return upset because it wasn't open so Mr Butlins could you let us know what we can do with our 256 yellow tickets please :)

All in all Butlins was a surprise both good and bad.  Bad going to the food and especially the food prices, the cold pool and poor changing facilities but the good going to the accomodation, decor, and festive decorations on camp.

Sally and the Tots 100 had secured us a fabulous price of £100 for the 2 nights (thanks Sally!) but if I had been paying the normal prices it would have been out of my budget.  The children loved their time at Butlins and joined in with the Archery and other entertainment and have already asked if they can go back again but for longer but a small lottery win may be required before that could happen.

On a totally random closing note I loved these and just had to share them....

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