Making The Best Of A Bad Day

We set off Good Friday, some might say rather optimistically, to head to a friends near Cheshire way. A stint down the M6 and M56 is not pleasurable any day of the week but on a packed Easter weekend it added another dimension of hell. Particularly seeing the queues we'd have to face getting back home again, clearly everyone was heading to the Lakes! 

Long story short a 90min journey turned into a 140min journey and when still about an hour away from our destination with 2 hungry kids, excited dogs and a potential car sickness inducing road ahead we were forced to stop and rethink. 

Plans duly postponed for another less agonising day we opted for a pub lunch which was refreshingly tasty and then stumbled on nearby Apple Jacks Adventure Farm.

Brochure

Here's where the day of driving up and down a motorway was saved!!

What a gem of a place.

Miss L Excited by the Zip Line (Age 6+ though sadly for her)

It's an outdoor adventure delight for bored, energetic kids and their M6 jaded parents.
JJ's entrance was free, Miss L a concession and £8 for adults so it's not pocket draining. We had a dilemma as no dogs allowed so my husband volunteered (gallantly) to stay in the car and give the dogs a walk, (returned later to find him asleep hmmmm!) 

Once the kidders and I headed in it was remarkably quiet but then given the crappy weather it wasn't a surprise really. It's a huge place and the first thing to keep the little ones amused was the large play area (naturally). It's a lovely space where you can easily sit in the centre and allow them to run riot from one 'section' to another.

Map, it's huge!!

Miss L loved the huge inflatable slide, JJ loved the climbing frame, I loved the fence maze and they both loved the giant bouncy pillow (as it happens it's exactly as it sounds!). 

Running through the fence maze - it was harder than it looked!

One thing I really noticed and couldn't fault was the energy from all the staff, who all seemed to be teenagers, I don't think I spotted one adult! They were friendly, chatty, helpful and really engaged with the kids, especially in the mini show, with hardly any audience, yet the girls still gave it their all which was lovely to see. Teens don't always get a good rap these days but the park should be proud of their guys they really did it proud.

All in all it certainly turned around what started out as a flop of a day and pleasantly passed a few hours despite impending drizzle.

So if you live nearby, are passing or don't mind a long drive to it I'd certainly recommend trying it out, your kids will love you for it I'm sure.

You'll be glad to know we made it home relatively unscathed, all the earlier traffic buildup no doubt now stuck on some winding Windermere road instead, it's times like these where I'm glad Morecambe isn't a hub of tourist activity!

Main morals of this story; visit Apple Jacks, never venture out of the house at Easter, particularly Good Friday.

In fact just don't use the M6 full stop......