Our caravan.
In June 2023, Daddy (Simon), Mummy (Kim), Owen and Luca went on holiday to Clacton-on-sea, to a Haven caravan park for 4 nights. A first holiday for Luca and a first holiday as a family, so a bit of an experiment to see how Mummy and Daddy coped.
Travel day - Set off at 11:15. Arrived at 13:15 at Haven Orchards site. Caravan already ready for us (even though check-in time was 14:00-15:00). A lovely caravan (silver class). Number 78 Lakelands. Bigger than we expected. Enclosed deck at the front. 2 bedrooms: Master bedroom, with en-suite toilet, for Mummy and Daddy with Luca tucked in next to Mummy in a travel bassinet. Owen in a twin room, using a hired bed guard. Main bathroom had reasonable room and a decent shower. Very close to the amenities and right on a river/canal. Caravans are close to each other, but not occupied either side of us (both look to be owned rather than rented out).
Mummy unpacks and then we have a wander around the site. Owen enjoys the swings and slides. Stop into the on-site shop for some essentials. The shop has pretty much everything we need so decide not to head to a supermarket. We buy pizza in there to cook that night. Not so keen on the on-site takeaway options of Burger King or Papa Johns. The fish and chips van is shut.
Into the arcade. Owen fascinated by a car game (Cruis'n blast). Does not play on it, but happily sitting in the car moving the steering wheel and pointing out the "Red, Blue, Green" lit up buttons. Running between that and the carousel, which he is equally obsessed with. He has a couple of goes on that, riding with other kids.
Get to the "live lounge" for tots disco. Started at 6, but we are a bit late. Nice setup of a stage, dancefloor, then a "pit" of tables and chairs with raised table and chairs around that. Means good views for everyone there this week. Room for many more people. Presumably will be fully occupied in school holidays. The entertainment is some dancing, mascots on stage in front of huge video screens, doing some sketches with pre-recorded vocals, and other live entertainment from the reps.
Back to the caravan to get all to bed.
After breakfast, Owen and Daddy head to a booked activity "Ball sports". A bit disorganised and disappointing. Put off from doing any other activities organised by Haven after that. Owen still had fun though.
Into the pool for a swim in the middle of the day. That had to be booked as well, but, well worth it. A lovely pool and, as the numbers were limited, plenty of room to move around. Owen loved it. Splashing around in the baby pool area to swimming (just kicking his legs with help from Mummy or Daddy) and jumping in. Luca spent more time getting used to the water and practising his standing (in the baby pool) suprising Mummy with how good at it he was. Later he puts that to use by standing for the first time in the caravan!
Lunch of bread, scotch eggs, cheese, etc. in the caravan then Owen down for a nap.
Dinner of pasta and chicken in white sauce (bought from the shop again), then back to the tots disco. Owen a bit more into it tonight, but still clings to Daddy a lot.
After breakfast, Owen and Daddy play football on the deck. Then time for some duck spotting which is definitely a major feature of the holiday. Then Mummy and Luca go for a walk along the beach while Owen and Daddy head to the arcade.
Quickly grabbed swimming bags and head to the pool for another hour of swimming. Even more jumping in for Owen. Luca gets dunked a few times too (none of them intentionally...). Big family changing rooms for us to change in. Not many of them, but we got one today.
After the normal lunch in the caravan a bit more football on the deck, Owen goes down for a nap while Daddy and Luca go for a walk. Luca misses it all as he falls asleep in the pram, but Daddy gets to explore the campsite and the sea wall.
Mummy heads out to buy fish and chips in a nearby village. Takes a while, but huge fish and loads of chips which are all very tasty.
A little late to the disco and Owen still cuddling more than dancing. A few trips into the arcade and outside to the swings as well. Back to the caravan for a chill watching the football and then bed.
Up late as all tired. Owen and Daddy head to the slide and have a snack by the outside pool watching a very brave family enduring the cold water.
Another swim for all. Great again. Then on to the "Mash and barrel", the local restaurant. Nothing fancy about it (think a Weatherspoons), but service and food were good. Burgers for Mummy and Daddy, Macaroni pasta and a cheese sauce with beans and chips for Owen. Each forkful has to be dipped in three sauces before being eaten. Cheesy melty puff for Luca. Dessert of churros for Owen (although ate more of Daddy's than his), brownie for Daddy and Mint-choc-chip ice cream for Mummy.
A bit more time on the slide before heading back to the caravan for a late nap.
Up, small dinner and out to the "live lounge" for the last time. More time spent in the arcade than watching the entertainment, but as it is the last night Owen gets to do what he wants. More money spent tonight. Mostly on the 'ball drop' game (think "crystal maze" final round but with light plastic balls). Owen only interested in the balls dropping on his head.
Pack up the car and out of the caravan by just after 10. Drive down to Owl's beach hut at Holland-on-sea (20 minutes drive). Lovely day with lots of sun, a light breeze and not too hot. Beach mostly empty (as a school day), but a retired couple come along to a hut a few doors down. Give Owen a biscuit and happy to have a good chat. Luca sits in his tent in front of the hut, whilst Owen plays ball with Daddy, dips his toes in the water with Mummy and wanders off for a bit with Mummy desperately trying to keep up on the slopes and ledges Owen is determined to walk on.
Mummy pops to the "Flags cafe" to buy lunch. Fish finger (huge!) and chips for Owen. Burger for Daddy. Tuna sandwich (a treat as very limited whilst breastfeeding) for Mummy.
Back to the car for the drive home at about 16:00. Both boys are exhausted so sleep the whole way.
A good and successful holiday. For a cheap holiday, Haven did us well. Had the key features we were looking for (swimming pool, restaurant, shop on site, playground and kids entertainment), but all not done quite as well as Yelloh village that we are used to. Would be worth spending a bit more.
The main goal was for Owen to have fun and he certainly did. He was exhausted every evening and took a while to recover. That showed how much stimulation and excitement he got out of it.
We learnt that we can manage a family holiday with the four of us. We would do a week next time to give us all longer to enjoy it all once we find our routine and to make the travel days count as a smaller percentage of the holiday.
Clacton was lovely. The beach hut trip was great. On a longer holiday we would have gone there twice. We may go for a day trip just to make up for that.
I expect us to be back to Clacton for future holidays and possibly back to that Haven site in a few years. If this trip was a guide, then our family holidays in the future are all going to be a lot of fun for all.