Swimming in the snow.

Yesterday we had a midafternoon swim. Staggering gently into the salt baths, we were somewhat surprised to be facing a steady stream of swimmers heading towards the steps from the opposite direction. We pushed our way through the screen and outside, where we found ourselves swimming in warm salt water, gathering snowflakes in our hair. Lovely.

Mog and I headed back inside whilst the others, madder, braver, stayed outside until nearly blue before coming back to warm up again. Little Fish and Mog both cuddled up to me in the water, and whilst Mog fell asleep on my shoulder, M and S braved the outdoor rapids. There are times when I like having children who need me.

We three got out, those two stayed in, and we all met up at the villa after the girls had made use of their newest creations.These their early afternoon (and only paid-extra) activity; paint your own umbrellas and ponchos. Very nice.Back to the villa for a quick snack and a rest before a superbly huge and tasty last meal; Little Fish ate until she was almost round, and then rolled about on my lap before begging for bed. A beautiful way to finish our holiday.

A quick tour before we leave the villa - Mog's extremely clever and special adapted bed.
In an extra specially huge bedroom with wide door and a level access fire escape. Opposite a wet room bigger than our bathroom, with a beautifully powerful shower, and oodles of hoisting space for anyone who might need it.
Two more, more averagely sized bedrooms, and the Center Parcs standard interior; open plan dining room, sitting room and kitchen.
Nicely sociable, very comfortable, and a lovely patio outside full of wildlife. I think we had the best villa in the park; certainly one of the closest to the pool and other facilities. And it's amazing how the company manage to pack that many visitors into that many buildings without it feeling crowded.

Would we choose Center Parcs for a holiday again? Definitely; it's now Friday evening and I am far more relaxed than usual by this time after a week's break from school. It wasn't perfect; we were warned before we left about the problems they'd been having with theft, and we were warned again on arrival, and again later that evening by a security man coming around to check we had double checked the windows. Interestingly, one of the fire escape windows had been very subtly left open but adjusted to look very securely shut; making me wonder whether it had been set up deliberately for easy access during the day when we would be out. But that, and the steps into every single pool (for some reason the ramped access to the main swimming pool was roped off and out of bounds, as was the disabled loo on one day), were two minor hitches in what was otherwise a rather jolly splendid week.

And just as well it was relaxing; as I came home to canceled care, a cold and somewhat damp smelling and dirty house, a child telling me she is very poorly but doesn't know where except maybe in her knee (which she can't feel anyway), a cat having been put on a course of tranquilizers by the vet, a letter from the wheelchair service saying that due to them being too busy, they can't give us an appointment to adjust Little Fish's wheelchair and she will just have to not grow any more until she gets further up the waiting list, and other little bits of life just floating around, reminding me why we needed the holiday. Welcome home!

Tia