My Favourite Adventures from Last Year

My Favourite Adventures from Last Year

The last few months have been quite tricky as my Dad has been unwell and we have had to miss and cancel certain events, days out and even a trip to France so at times things have felt quite miserable. However, reading back over my blog from the last year I realised just how many fantastic things we actually got to do in the last year and hopefully will be able to do this year when he starts to get better again.

This is a quick round up of my top three adventures from the 2016- all of which I really hope to be able to do again this year if I am lucky enough to get the chance.

The Puy Du Fou

This is our absolute favourite family day out, and although we have been loads of times we never fail to have a fantastic time and are always looking forward to our next visit. Tucked away in the Vendee countryside in France you would never expect to find Vikings, Romans and wizards but that's exactly what you get and much much more. 

We were annual pass holders last year and went several times during the Easter and Summer holidays- we saw all the amazing shows, visited the historical villages, experienced the WW1 trench, played in the water jets and got lost in the maze.

I have blogged about this amazing place in much more detail before here and would recommend anyone who finds themselves in that part of France to pay a visit- ideally for more than a day if you can as there is so much to do or even better spend a night in one of their hotels and watch the amazing Cinescenie night show- this is what I would really love to do. We watched Cinescenie a couple of years ago and I would like to do that again but to stay in one of the hotels there too would be amazing! 

Tough Mudder and Fruitshoot Mini Mudder

This was an awesome adventure for my friend and me- we had an amazing time and loved getting muddy. We are both really keen to do this again this year and collect another sweatband! You can read all about our adventure here

I think I will get my Dad into training and so he can do the Tough Mudder adult version! 

This is quite possibly the best way to raise money for charity ever!

SportFest at Wormsley, Buckinghamshire

We have been to SportFest for the last two years and it is an absolutely fantastic way to spend a weekend for the whole family. You get to play sports and learn new ones with actual sporting legends. We had a whole weekend of amazing activities, a family run, a huge rugby game and a performance by the awesome RPJ band for the best concert. The food was great and the camping was fun but my highlight was doing the conga across the cricket pitch led by Liverpool legend John Barnes! 

I would love to go back again, it was such an awesome weekend it would be very hard to beat. You can read all about our experience at SportFest here. We would all recommend this to any family (even my Mum who isn't very sporty loves it) - they even have a glamping option which looks awesome and very cosy and would mean you could get straight on with having fun.  

Mini Mudder - A new obsession!

Mini Mudder - A New Obsession!

I haven't written recently as I have been really busy but I thought it was time to share my day out at the Fruitshoot Mini Mudder with you as that has kick-started a new obsession for both me and my Dad!

We have been going running together a lot since because I have decided I want to do it again and Dad has decided he really wanted to do the adult course next year- it has inspired me to do a family fun run to raise money for charity and we have also been marshals at a charity event over the weekend, I think we will be doing lots more running from now on!

So what was it about the Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder that has made me so keen on running? It was AWESOME! We arrived early in the morning at the beautiful Belvoir Castle in Grantham. I didn't know what to expect but we were greeted, given our Adventure Squad T-shirts and taken over to the right area where we got to meet explorer Ed Stafford who is their ambassador- we had some fab photos with him and he was really good at hanging off the obstacles when all of the children's arms started to ache and we ended up dropping down!

Soon it was time to get warmed up , say our pledge and then we were off. To start with I was a bit worried about falling over and hurting myself but I soon got used to it and ended up having a great time ploughing through the mud! We went round the course four times and some of it was just good fun and other obstacles were a real challenge. I liked the tunnels and swapped between going through head first and feet first, the bars were good too but my absolute nemesis was the ramp we had to run up and climb over-I found it really slippery and difficult but it was great and I loved the feeling when I finally managed to do it!

     

At the ended we were awarded a celebratory Fruit Shoot and got given our sweat bands. I found out that the adults collect these and get different colours depending on how many courses they have done and I have decided I want to do the same so am planning on trying to do lots of these. It was really good- my friend and I had an amazing time and really enjoyed it- even the showers were funny- we had to go and hose ourselves down before we were allowed to get in the car!

If you think you would like to take part in a Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder (and you definitely should) you can find information about them here



Countdown to Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder

Countdown to Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder!

In just 7 days I will be going to bed early to get ready for a very exciting day out but before that I am getting in training! Next weekend grown ups across the Midlands will be taking part in the Tough Mudder Mud Run and at the same time kids get to take part in the Ultimate Obstacle Adventure- the Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder. The one mile course has 10 obstacles and I can't wait!

The Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder Course at Henley April 2016

Being an 8 year old boy I don't mind getting mucky but I think the Mini Mudder will take that to a whole new level! The obstacles look awesome but I am a bit nervous to see how difficult they are. The course is designed for children age 7 to 12 who are at least 3 ft 5 tall so I don't think it will be too easy and it looks like we will need to work as a team to get round but it will be fun to meet some other people and see if we can manage the challenge.

I am going to be part of the Adventure Squad and the people at Fruit Shoot have sent me a great goody bag to get ready for the event- I have cones, beanbags and markers so am going to have lots of fun creating challenges in the garden this weekend to get in practice and I dragged my Dad out for a run round the nearby lakes this evening - it was very cold and blowy but not really muddy enough!

I can't wait until next weekend!!

The Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder is taking place at several locations from now until September and you can find out more here

There are some amazing photographs from the Henley event the other week and I will be back to share my own pictures after next week- Mum isn't looking forward to the washing though! 

Wish me luck!