Summer means family days out for dads...

Picnics! That’s what summers are meant for (well, apart from BBQ’s, but that’s another story!). So come the weekend and the sun is out, it seems rude not to go for a picnic. So we sort the sandwiches, make the soft drinks, rummage round the kitchen for the plastic mugs (that haven’t been used since last year) find a bag and start packing it. Now for the car, in goes the food bags, then the blanket, the kid’s hats, spare clothes (just in case), suntan lotion and balls of various sizes. It takes all the planning and preparation of a small scale military expedition just to sit 

in a field to eat a sandwich! Our destination for this day out is one of our favorite parks, Blaise Castle. It has it all, good fields, old house, woods, café, playparks and a castle (although not a real one), but it seems whenever we go there, it always seems like we’re sat in a wind tunnel. Great for kites, but not so good for picnics, but being stubborn English we put up with it. “It took all this effort to come out, so we’re sitting here and we’re going to enjoy our sandwiches!” Needless to say we are soon packing up and heading back to the car and heading off to a less 

windy venue…… our back garden! 

dads! - Hands up who likes soft play!

As a new ‘Self-employed’ dad, my first stop on my road trip worries me at first. I am directed to a non-descript warehouse in the middle of an industrial estate. “What here?”, “yes, dad!” is the reply, Not a good start! However I am soon comforted by all the other MPVs in the car park with “”Dad’s Taxi’s” and “ Little Princess on Board” stickers on the windows, and a dusting of crisps throughout the interior.

I walk into reception pay my entrance fee and then they take the children’s shoes (is this to keep us captive?) and I walk in. WOW! What used to be a centre for industry is now fully carpeted and full of inflatable castles, slides and other structures that would not look amiss on the Krypton Factor’s Assault Course!

I have heard many mum’s complain that they don’t have a husband, but a grown up child. If that the case then soft play is fantastic as you can kick off your shoes and become 8 again, with the excuse that your with your child!

Lots of soft play centres have the same format, a play area and a café where you can get a coffee and the kids can get another hit of sugar to keep them going…. Now I have to try and calm them down, get back to the car (after claiming our shoes back) and set off to our next stop…the journey continues….