10 Child-Friendly Places to Visit in South Devon

I have just realised that as of next month we will have been living in Devon for a year now. I just can't get over how fast time seems to be flying by at the moment.

Even though we have been here a year it still sometimes feels like we are on a very long holiday. 

We keep discovering new and exciting places to go so I thought for todays post I would share with you some of the fantastic child friendly places that we have found, especially with the forthcoming summer holidays.

1) The Wood Cafe - 

Now this is a fantastic place that is set within a woodland Yurt Camp. They have a great range of food and drink available (their hot chocolate with marshmallows is my fave) and while you are enjoying your food the children can either play with the basket full of toys or go outside to the undercover play barn.  This place is definitely worth a visit. 

2) Trago Mills - 

 Trago is one of my regular haunts with the kids, especially when I don't want to spend a huge amount of money. There is so much to do there and you could easily fill up a whole day. (From an adult point of view it is all looking a little tired these days and could do with a good lick of paint but the children don't care about that).

There's an amusment park with a whole array of different rides, you can either buy a ticket for the day for these or pay as you go with tokens. 

The little steam train is a great way to travel around the site and takes you from one end to the other.

My sons favourite part of Trago is the model railway which costs just a pound each to get into (under 4's are free). My daughters favourite part is the animal farm, which is free to get into. Always a bonus.

 For the adults there is a massive, and I mean massive, discount store. They sell everything from carpets to candles.

3) Haldon Forest - 

If you fancy an active day, whether it be walking, cycling, climbing or flying threw the trees, then this is the place for you. It is free to get in, you just have to pay for your parking. ( Peak - Up to 2 hours £3, Over 2 hours £4).

I love this place when I'm having one of those days where the aim of the game is to wear the kids out. 

They have some fantastic walks to suit all abilities and if you aim it right you can end the walk at the big sandpit playarea. 

4) The House of Marbles - 

Personally I love this place, I have a bit of a thing for glass. 

This is another place that is free to get into. There's a shop, a restaurant, glass blowing workshop, outside games garden, marble museum and the fabulous marble runs (these keep my son amused for ages). 

If you are looking to buy a unusual present for someone then this is the place to go.

5) Stover Country Park - 

This is another place that we regularly frequent. A bit like Haldon, it's free to get in but you just have to pay for parking ( £1 for two hours or £2 for all day, I believe). 

Right in the middle is the massive lake that you can walk around and feed the ducks as you go. There are interpretation boards dotted around the walk, an aeriel walkway, a bird hide, picnic areas and a children's walk with little wooden animal statues. 

You can also visit the Nature Interpretation Centre. (Also free).

6) Cockington Court -

Cockington is a magical village hidden within the middle of Torquay. It has your classic 'choclate box' style cottages with thatched roofs and horse drawn carts. 

Cockington Court is right in the centre of the village and has cafes, playarea, workshops and plenty of space for the kids to run wild and free. 

You don't have to pay to get in but again you must pay for your parking, quite pricey at around £6 but definitely worth it. 

There is often events going on here so worth checking out their website before you go to see what's on. 

Photo taken from their website

7) Tumbling Teds - 

This is one of those, for what seems inevitable, wet days that we seem to be having so many of lately. 

Ted's is an indoor play place specially designed for under 6's. 

It's great because you don't have the usual worries that you have when you go to the other big soft play centres. You can drink your tea in peace knowing that your little bundle of joy isn't going to get squashed by a bigger kid or lost in a maze of colourful plastic.

It's £3 per child for unlimited play and under 1's go free. There's a cafe, free parking and baby changing facilities.

8) Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust - 

If your daughter is anything like mine and has a new found fascination with animals then this is a great little place to visit. It's free to go to but they are only open to the public on Sundays between 1.30 and 4.00.

They have a small selection of ponies that you can see and stroke and even adopt one if you feel like it. (That might make it a bit of an expensive trip though!) 

You can find the dpht in the grounds of Parke a National Trust area which is also a great free place to visit with lots of beautiful walks along hidden rivers.

I suggest you take a picnic, yummy.

Image taken from website

9) Ullacombe Farm - 

This is one of mine and the OH's favourite places to eat. The food is real, fresh rustic farm food. It's lovely!

The cafe has an indoor play area for the kids, so you can enjoy your food in peace. It also has an outdoor play area, a farm shop and an animal barn. 

If you are like us and still like to go out and enjoy good food but don't want the stress of worrying about the kids then this is the place for you.

10) Last but not least Teignmouth Seafront - 

This is another place that we spend quite a significant amount of time, well weather permitting of cause. It has the best playground around (free) and the pier is also a great place to visit. (free to get in, we like free)

You can stroll along the seafront and take in the views, you could even have some yummy fish and chips.

Image taken from website

 So that's it, this is my life, all the places that we spend most of our time. if you know of any other great places in the area then I'd love to know about them.

The Gallery - Food

This weeks theme for the Gallery is Food. My favourite subject, I love food! 

I use to only love eating it but now I also love making it thanks to the help of my wonderful other half (he's a great teacher).

As much as I would like to take credit for this lovely plate of nosh, I can't. 

I had this about 4 years ago (pre kiddies) in one of my most favourite places The Wookey Hole Inn.

The food was amazing and the bedrooms are fabulous. Each room is different with it's own unique twist. 

We haven't been back there for ages, what with having the children, moving and everything else that seems to take up daily life. 

I have heard that it's under new managment so I just pray that they haven't changed a thing and hopefully we will get back there some day, especially now that we live much closer. It would be a great place for a proposal *cough* hint to the OH  *cough*.

To check out the other entries to this weeks Gallery head over to Tara's blog at Sticky Fingers

Potty Training - Day (I've lost count)

This is how my mornings now start...

I awake to hear thud, thud, thud coming down the hallway towards the bathroom. Then from the comfort of my bed I hear the little voice commentary begin 'I'm going to have a poo'. Rip, off comes the night nappy followed by the sound of rustling. Then silence until Plop, 'ooo I've done a poo'. 

Next I hear the thud, thud, thud of tiny feet again but this time it's coming my way. I open my eyes to see a little face staring back at me 'Mummy I've done a poo!' So proud.

I thought I'd do an update today on how the potty training is going.

Cue Professor Higgins 'By jove I think he's got it'. 

At last we seem to of cracked it. We haven't had an accident for about 3 weeks now (touch wood). Sometimes he doesn't even tell me he's going to the loo and just does it all himself. It seems to have taken him forever  to get the hang of it but we got there in the end.  All started here

Nex it's going to be round two of potty training but I'm hoping Lj will be easier (I've heard that girls are).

 

Silent Sunday

'Quote of the Week' # 5

For this weeks theme for 'Quote of the Week' I have chosen... Judgement.

Image found on Pinterest, originally from Piccsy

 I'm fed up this week. I'm fed up with people judging me without even knowing who I really am. 

Let me explain, I look quite young for my age, I still get asked for ID so I'm persuming people think I'm about 17 when the truth is you actually need to add about 10 years onto that. 

Now you might be thinking well what the hell is she complaining about, isn't it ever womens dream to look younger than they are? Well that's all very well but because I have two children people just see me as a teenage mum. 

I'm so fed up with comments like 'but you don't look old enough to have two children' I mean REALLY! If you want to get technical about it i've been 'able' to have children since the age of 9, something I'm hoping my daughter doesn't follow suit with. It's no fun having periods at that age.

The other thing that really grates on me is whenever we go into a shop and don't buy anything the security guards look the buggy up and down as we go out the door like I might have stashed something in my childs nappy or something. Again just because I look young I must have no money and therefore I must need to steal. 

Apparently when meeting someone for the first time it takes us humans just 3 seconds to judge that person and from then on in it's very hard to get them to change their minds about you. I suppose what I'm saying here is that first impressions aren't always right and maybe we should try to take a bit more time to get to know people before judging them.

Judgement is a horrible thing and I know we are all guilty of it at some point in our lives but I just about had enough of it now. 

Anyway rant over now. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and the weather brightens up a bit and as always If you'd like to join in with 'Quote of the Week' just add your quote to the linky below.

The Gallery - The Everyday

If I could give one bit of advice to anyone expecting a child it would be this...

If you are going to introduce something into the bedtime routine, whether it be reading a story, singing a song or putting their favourite toys to bed, I strongly suggest that you think very carefully about what it is because you will be doing it again and again and again 'everyday' for the next few years!

We made this mistake with LJ with her beloved animals. 

She has a pocket tidy in her bedroom and each pocket fits one animal in. So one day just before bed I showed her how to put them in and said 'Goodnight animals'. Little did I know that this one off game was going to become a regular occurrence, every night from then on in. 

The problem is people keep buying her new animals, so this little routine is getting longer and longer every night!  

I'm thinking that some of the animlas might just have to get 'lost'. I know mean Mummy.

This post was for The Gallery on the lovely Tara's blog at Sticky Fingers 

LOL Review

 I should have written this post ages ago but I just haven't had the time. 

As you may have read in a previous post, I recently went up to London. You can read about that scary experience here.

The reason I went to London was for the a new drink from Heinz called LOL.

The people from LOL were at the Rainforest Cafe along with a nutritionist to answer any questions about their new drink. 

'Bring home the laughs this summer with the great new drink LOL. A lightly carbonated fruit juice drink, LOL is a fizzy treat set to liven up your kids mouths in a cool new way.

Blending together 75% fruit juice and 25% carbonated water, every can of LOL contains one of their important five a day. LOL is available in three fabulously juicy flavours meaning it's a refreshing drink the whole family can enjoy.

Specifically designed to make drinking fruit juice more fun, LOL is a brand new way to keep your kids refreshed this summer and all at a pocket money friendly price of 99p.

Unlike most canned drinks, LOL contains NO added sugar, NO artificial sweeteners, NO preservatives, NO artificial colours and NO caffeine!'

Before I went to London they sent us some of the drinks to sample and I must say that they were a huge hit in our family. Even the OH who is very critical of food and drink liked them but the firm favourite was the Apple & Raspberry one.

I would definitely recommend these drinks for special occassions such as sleep overs, parties, bbq's etc because they not only taste nice but they're also much better for kids than some of the other carbonated drinks out there.

We don't generally drink fizzy drinks in our house as a rule but for these I would make an exception. 

I'd just like to see them in pubs now, they'd make a great drink for the poor person that has been voted as designated driver for the night.

If you'd like to find out more about the LOL drinks then look here on facebook or go to www.heinz.co.uk

*I haven't been paid to write this and all opinions are my own.*