Reasons to be Cheerful Week 23

There are so many reasons Michelle is cheerful this week but these are mine:
1) New look
I was bored of my hair colour and I finally made it to the hair dressers after months of being too busy. So now I am cropped and coloured:

  Something about a new hair do that makes you feel really good! Plus all the compliments I'm getting on how much healthier I look too.
2) Fun with friends
We had a free trip to Chill Factore in Manchester. It was great to be able to take my children and 7 of their friends to have fun in the snow. I also had a chance to chat to some mums I don't often have time to meet.

3) Tree Top Trek
My daughter and I had fun on our prize winning go on the new climbing wall at Tree Top Trek. Have to admit I am totally useless at climbing (and boy did I ache for days) unlike my daughter:

However I loved the 250 m zip wire from the top of the tower! We photographed each other once we got back down:

4) Fun in the sun
I can't believe its still sunny and I am sure it won't last but boy does it make me smile to be able to spend time outside. Whether its running and cycling or just chilling with a book outside whilst my children play its just so much better with sunshine and blue skies. Here is just a taste of what I've enjoyed:

 

Family Fun: Chill Factore Tubing Party

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We all had a super time in November at Chill Factore so when I was asked to try out one of their tubing parties I was keen to go back. I have to say my 6 year old hadn't been too keen on tubing last time but he was up to going again. It didn't take long to find 7 other children aged 6-10 to come and join us and luckily a couple of other mums willing to drive over an hour from Kendal to Manchester!

At the reception we were met by a party host who immediately got the children into party mood by getting them to line up and play follow my leader to our changing room. Here he checked that everyone had appropriate outer clothing and gloves and then sorted out helmets to fit all sizes of heads. After everyone was well wrapped up we went round in crocodile to the boot area where all of us not with our own boots were kitted out.

At the front of the changing area there was a waiting section for each activity area and the party host kept the children entertained for 10 minutes we had to wait:

Then it was time to head out to the snow alongside what turned out to be a stag party! Everyone grabbed a tube ring and headed up the travelator:

This travelator kept having a hissy fit when too many of the stag party got on it but the 2 staff members kept restarting it. Since we went in November the tubing run has been adjusted so that there are now 3 runs. One is a wider one that is great for being spun on, the other newer ones have variations of bumps to make for a bouncy ride!

The staff were very good at ensuring that no-one went down the runs until the previous people had moved out of the way. They also gave them the right amount of push at the top:

When it came to my son's turn he burst into tears at the thought of going down. The host took good care of him and held onto his tube for most of the way down for his first run:

Each time he went down he was released closer to the top until on his last run he actually went right from the top on his own! The next photo is a bit blurry but it shows how much my daughter was enjoying herself:

Judging by the whoops and shrieks everyone else was having fun too! Some of the children are regular snow boarders and skiers whilst others had never been before. All of them kept on going right to the end of the 45 minute session though some did ask if they could try sledging or luging.

Here is a little video of my 2 children as they enjoyed their tubing:

A party like this with no food costs £15 per head with a group of 10. To add food increases the cost to £20 a head or for the superior menu its £28.50. We tried out the pizzas out of our pockets as it was easier to feed the children there before the long drive back:

As you can see the children soon demolished the pizzas! This was served up in the dedicated party room which was set out so that each group had its own table and chairs with seating for grown ups around the outside. There was also a good view of the slopes for any adults not assisting on the snow:

These parties are a bit above my price range but if you live nearer to Chill Factore and you want to splash out a bit then they are good fun. The good thing is no previous experience is required and each guest can go down the slope at a pace and level of scariness that suits them. Even the stag party of grown ups was having a great time tubing! The party hosts do a great job with the children and even though I was the only parent supervising close up it was very relaxing. There are other party packages to choose from including mixing several different activities or a ski taster. Definitely a bit different from soft play or hiring the village hall!

Chill Factore - Blogger Party

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Back at half term my children and I were invited to the Chill Factore in Manchester for their blogger party. It was pretty exciting pulling up outside the building with its special shape to accomodate the ski slope. On entering the complex it was amazing what they had fitted in to make it a ski experience.

We were in a group with families with children from pre-school to early secondary age. All of us were kitted out with clothing, helmets and boots before being taken out to enjoy a taste of the activities on offer.

For my children and I our first taste was the tubing which is basically a giant inner tube that you sit in before being pushed down the slope! This was really good fun as it wasn't very scary but pretty exhilarating. My daughter had the maximum number of goes but my son only wanted 3 runs down.

He headed over to the adjacent sledging slope and was very happy to spend the rest of the session going down on there especially on the special seated sledges:



I came from the tubing just as my daughter came flying to the bottom of the luge! She had found it a bit too scary and advised me not to do it. So of course I went down it 4 times! It is pretty scary and I had bruised elbows but it was well worth it. I did take some pics and video of other people on the luge but can't get them on here at the minute as my laptop is broken... Luckily I had uploaded a partial video of what we did to YouTube so here it is including my squealing (and some sideways footage!):



 

For the youngest members of the group there was a Snow Play area where they could have fun in the real snow:

By the end of the session all of us were a little bit tired and a little bit wet but mostly looked happy:

We were more than ready to retire to one of the bar areas for pizza, chips and a view of the slopes:

Just at the minute my two aren't keen on the thought of the main slope for skiing and snowboarding but I'm quite tempted!

I would definitely recommend Chill Factore for a different family day out. At the minute they are having special Christmas events including Santa in a real snow grotto! For the rest of the time they have various packages to let you choose your activities. Its not a cheap day out but it is a lot of fun as a family.



Reasons to be Cheerful: Halloween Edition ( #R2BC )

Joining in with Michelle for the linky this week is a lot easier than last week to find reasons to be cheerful!

1) School holidays

No school for any of us for a whole week is bound to make us cheerful! Nothing wrong with school or work but the lack of school runs is always a plus. All of us needed a break as I had been back for 2 months and the children for over 7 weeks and we were al tired.

2) Fun in Manchester

We had a super fun if long day to Manchester on Monday. Its just over an hour drive from us but has so much to offer its worth the drive. Firstly we went to the Chill Factore blog party to try out the snow fun (more on this to follow!.

Then we went to use our prize winning tickets at Legoland Discovery Centre. My son was slightly disappointed that there weren't roller coasters like at Windsor but we all had a great fun afternoon:

We rounded off with a short shopping spree for the children in the Trafford Centre, they had never experienced anything quite like it!

3) Forest Fun

Our trip to Whinlatter on Tuesday made us all smile. The fact that my post about it has been shared on Blogmouth is an extra bonus:

4) My Family

Thanks to being near my parents I have had lots of help this week. The chaotic state of the house had not improved due to my new job and my parents came round to help at least make a dent in the children's rooms and get some stuff either up in the loft or out to their garage!

They have also kindly given me their old washing machine as mine had died. Having gone for nearly a fortnight without a machine its really maling me smile.

What's making you smile this week?

Chill Factore - teaser!

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I wanted to tell you all about our super fun bloggers morning at Chill Factore in Manchester but my laptop is having other ideas! So all I can do is leave you with a teaser photo showing one little thing we did:

 

 

Hopefully tomorrow the computer will let me process the video which includes me squealing! Meanwhile I'll take my slightly bruised body to bed to recover....

Hurrah it's Half Term

It's been a long time coming but finally the half term holiday is here! For the week ahead we all ready have some great things planned.

 

On Monday we are off to Chill Factore in Manchester for a PR day! The children are excited about trying out sledging and luging. Watch this space for what we get up to...

 

A frosty web on the window

We will also be catching up with family that we haven't seen for far too long! Living a few 100s of miles away makes it hard to be together so it's great they are coming up for a few days.

 

If the weather is like today we will be wrapping up warm and heading up to Whinlatter for a return visit. Autumn is one of the best times to be out in the forests and woods.

 

There will also have to be time found for catching up on chores, getting everyone's hair cut and all the million and one things that haven't got done during term time. Lets just hope that some of them get done...