Saturday 29 December 2018

A family Christmas away!

Christmas is all about family and this year we had a real family Christmas with my dad and his partner Sarah in a hotel just outside of Leeds. I have had to keep it a secret until we got back just so no one knew that our house was empty.


I was stressing about getting the bus with 3 suitcases and being late for the train so my lovely friends husband took us to Newcastle train station on Sunday morning. Phew! We were early for the train but it gave us chance to get something to eat and find the platform. The journey there was straightforward and in no time we were at the hotel where we would be spending Christmas!

It was so nice to see my dad and Sarah. The last time I saw them was in August and that was only for a few hours. I was so excited to spend some quality time together. 


We had a mooch around the hotel and unpacked a little, went off to have mince pies and a coffee and some bucks fizz. hehehe Soon after was the evening meal. There was so much to choose from. Ellie had two bowls of the most amazing tomato and basil soup and about 16 breadbuns, Becky had the chicken and mushroom pie along with Stu and I had the roast pork with a ton of veg! I think the kids both had about 3 helpings of desserts!


We spent the evening watching that nights entertainment, a singer. He was hilarious. He kept picking on the kids in a good way which had Becky cringing.

I did not sleep well the first night. The bed was hard and the room was stuffy which could have been fixed by opening the window! Doh! The breakfast sorted me out though. I had a full English, the kids had cereal, toast, bacon and eggs. We made total pigs of ourselves. We spent the day shopping and we went and visited my dad's & Sarah's home in Scunthorpe which was about an hour away. I have never been before so it was nice to see where they lived! 


We had another lovely meal and a few drinks while watching that nights entertainment. The singer wasn't great but we had a right giggle taking the mick out of her which is so wrong, I know. 



The stockings were left in the girls bedroom and on Christmas morning they were knocking on our bedroom door at about 7am. We looked through their stockings and then went for breakfast which the kids rushed through because they wanted to get back to the room and open their presents.


We had Christmas lunch at about half past 12 and it was OK. Not amazing but at least I didn't have to cook it and do the dishes. It was a great excuse for Ellie to wear another dress. I swear she wore a different one for every meal. lol 


After a big lunch we all decided that we needed time to relax and went to our rooms. Stu of course fell asleep and the girls and I watched TV.

We showered and got changed for dinner which was a buffet tea! 


Afterwards was bingo and a disco. The kids loved this. They were requesting songs and even got up and danced. My dad did too which was hilarious to watch. Kings Of Leon, Sex on Fire is not what I imagined him dancing too. It's one of his favourite songs. It was the best evening.


On Boxing day we went shopping to Harrogate. We picked ourselves up a few bargains and my dad treated the kids to some things from Primark. We all ended up back in the hotel having an afternoon nap. We were shattered! Ellie and I slept for a good 3 hours. Oops. 

We were still shattered by the evening. A few days of lots of food, drink, early mornings and late nights broke us and we were back up in our rooms by half past nine.

It was a fantastic break away. I have a whole blog post coming about our journey by train to the hotel and home. It's a bit of a rant. People are so rude when they get on a train and I have another blog post about the hotel it's self.

It was amazing to spend time with my dad. The kids got to know their Grandad a lot more. He saw a different side to them. The funny, cheeky and cute side that I see. We are already planning to spend next Christmas with him.

4 comments :

  1. It sounds like you had a lovely Christmas, I love the idea of staying in a hotel for it and not having to do any cooking or washing up!

    Stevie x

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  2. How lovely! It sounds like you had the best Christmas together. It must have been lovely for your dad too.

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  3. What a fabulous time you had, I'm so thinking about going away next Christmas. I was thinking of deserting the eldest two, but as they've been so good this year, I may take them with us. All that food and fun certainly wore you out, but in the best way. How lovely to spend time with your Dad too. x

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  4. Sounds like it was a lovely Christmas, and unusual to be in a hotel. I really want to take N up to Harrogate and that way, but not sure there's much around for kids. Maybe York instead.

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