Surviving A Self Catering Holiday In Yorkshire With Teenagers! PART 3 - FREE DAYS OUT

TESCO CLUBCARD DEALS
Again with a family of 6, days out can be really expensive so, to us, the Tesco Clubcard Deals are a godsend.We have used them for 5 years now.
It works on a points system. Points can be gained via several outlets. We save all our vouchers that we receive throughout the year then exchange them for participating organisations in the area that we are holidaying in.
This year we found 3 such places and had 2 fantastic FREE days out.

Our first day out was at LIGHTWATER VALLEY THEME PARK in Ripon.

A great day out for teenagers. The clubcard vouchers saved us £108! What a bargain!

And what was even better was that the sun also shone!! Take a look at their website for more park details.

Our other FREE day out thanks to TESCO was in the characteristic town of York.

From Maple Cottage it took us about 50 minutes to York. We parked in the Park And Ride. Great value. Free to park then only a bus charge for adults and the kids travelled free.

On arriving in the city center we immediately boarded the CITYSIGHTSEEING bus and handed over our TESCO vouchers. We took the full hour tour so we could establish what we wanted to see in the town. It's a great way to see everything and a ticket can be used for 48hrs and you can hop on and off as you wish.

Without the vouchers a family ticket for the 6 of us would have cost £24.

We "hopped" off of the CITYSIGHTSEEING bus to enter THE YORK DUNGEON .

Again we had ordered our tickets through Tesco before our holiday so the attraction cost nothing, and what a fab attraction it was.
During your visit you will see 11 scary shows with 7 of them led by actors, and sometimes you will be chosen to join in with the show! I was chosen to sit in a torture chair while the torturer demonstrated a device used to wrench out tongues! My tongue is still very much in place after the experience though so do not panic!!

These are just some of the attractions that tesco clubcard offers vouchers for and definately a brilliant idea for a budget holiday. Take a look at the website for more ideas.

Thanks for popping by.

Until next time

xxx

Surviving Self Catering Holiday In Yorkshire with Teenagers! PART 2 - CATERING

So it's your holiday and who wants to be spending their time in the kitchen! As much as we try not to be controlled by food on our holiday it is hard when teenagers get so hungry all the time and you are on a basic budget.
For us, as a family of 6, to eat out at night you are looking at £70-£80 including desserts and drinks and even if we could afford it i would much prefer to have that extra money for days out.
So forward planning is the answer!

1. MAKE A LIST
Choose 6 basic meals that all 6 like.
Ours were: Bolognaise
Boiled Ham
Curry
Sausages
Roast Chicken
Noodles
2. PACK SOME ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT
Think of what equipment you use at home that your holiday accommodation possibly wont have but will make life easier for you.
I took: 2Large Saucepans
Wok
Slow Cooker
Frying Pan
3. PLAN A SHOPPING LIST
Write a list for all dry foods, breakfast cereals and lunchtime pack up items to buy before you leave so that you dont have to shop as soon as you get on holiday and also so you can shop without children, (my shopping trips are always so much more expensive when i take kids with me!)
4.SHOP THE DAY BEFORE.
I now go shopping the night before at my local tesco and pack my items very neatly in their bags and straight into the car. No hassle and totally organised!!

This year, for me, was so much more relaxed planning my catering in this fashion.
Until next time
xxx

Surviving A Self Catering Holiday in Yorkshire with Teenage Children! Part 1 - ACCOMMODATION

For most of us we spend all year working hard just to be able to spend one or two weeks of the summer on holiday. It's a large expense each year for such a short amount of time so it has to be just right.



My partner and i have 4 children between us and have never been able to afford a holiday abroad for the 6 of us so each year we spend our free time on a different type of English holiday.

We have done Butlins and Haven, Camping and Caravaning, Chalets and Apartments.


This year, as our 4 children reach different stages of teen years, and for me a possibility of it being a final holiday with my almost 17 year old son, we spent our time in a beautiful cottage in Yorkshire.


As our children get older it has become a worry each year about how the holiday will go and what we can do to keep them entertained on a low budget.




This year i think we got it just right so i decided to write 4 or 5 blog posts on what we did and how we survived our week in the hope that it may give tips or inspiration to others in the same situation in the future.

ACCOMMODATION


So after deciding on our destination we searched for accommodation in Yorkshire and our search led us to Maple Cottage (below).

This gorgeous 3 bedroomed 4* cottage situated on the A170 between Pickering and Scarborough awaited our arrival last Saturday after a long drive and rather torrential rain! Immediately on entering there was a real warmth to the cottage and a satisfaction that we had made the correct choice.

Maple Cottage has been converted from stables and groom's cottage, it's beautiful and , in my opinion, the owners have set it up just right with the inclusion of a dishwasher and washing machine for mum; barbeque in the courtyard for Dad to cook on a hot evening; and free wifi
for the teenagers so that they can still keep in touch with their friends on Facebook!!

Also included were a selection of family games, a variety of books,dvd and cd player and storage facility for bikes.

If you would like to see more of Maple Cottage you can find their website HERE .

During our stay we found no faults whatsoever and would highly recommend it for any family holiday.

And so this ticked the first box on our survival holiday plan for this year!

My next blog post will be about the catering!Many thanks for popping by and please feel free to leave a comment below if you found this interesting of have any suggestions to make.

Until next time

xxxx

Summer

How to express Summer for Handmade Monday.
Summer is a time for pretty flowers. For butterflies.

For holidays in Campervans.

And Beach Huts by the sea.

Pop by 1stuniquegifts blog to see how other crafters are spending their time this summer.

Thanks for popping by

Until next time

xxx