Wickham Park Golf Club

Wickham Park Golf course is a lovely 18 hole course between Portsmouth and Southampton.  It is probably catering more for the budget end of golf but it is generally well maintained and recently they have been spending some money elevating tee boxes and replacing worn paths.  With pretty wide fairways and very little water in play it is a great course for beginners but has a few challenging features to keep it interesting for the more experienced golfer.   

The course includes a range of par 3, 4 and 5 holes and is set in some very pretty grounds, along with the course is a driving range, and pitching and putting practice area, and a comfortable bar area to relax and enjoy a beer and a burger after your game. No matter what your golfing ability, I would recommend a game at Wickham Park golf course.

Planet Ice, Gosport ice skating rink

We visited the Gosport Planet Ice, ice skating rink on Wednesday evening for my sons friends 9th birthday party.  They all had a really good time, they had an hour of skating on the ice followed by a meal and an ice cream.  The rink was quite, there were a few instructors helping skaters with some complicated looking moves, a couple of families and us.  They also supplies small penguin supports that the children could hold on to while they found there feet.  And for the very young, they had dual bladed ice skates that allowed you to easily stand on the ice, although my youngest (2) only lasted about 2 minutes before decided he definitely didn't like ice skating. Overall it was a great event, I was a bit disappointed with the condition of the arena, as the whole area has been regenerated recently with a new gym and hotel, but the Ice Rink has a very run down feel to it, with holes in the ceilings, grubby floors and walls, it all feels like it could use a bit of a make over.  If you can see past this however, it is a great way to spend an hour with the family.

Father Christmas at Keydell nurseries

Last night we went back to Keydell Nurseries to see Father Christmas, the kids both loved it, we were led into a small room with a fireplace and a large chair by Mrs Clause, and soon after an elf brought in Santa, he sat in the chair and spend 5 minutes talking with my children, asking them what they wanted for Christmas, if they had been good.  They took a lovely photo of all of us with Santa, and then we were led through to the toy making room. 

There were elves making toys and 2 walls of toys for the boys to choose from.  Typically they went for the sword and shield option, and spent the rest of the evening having sword fights together. 

After picking a toy we saw the Reindeer again, they also had goats and donkeys to see this time, then looked around the Christmas shop.  

The whole garden centre looked amazing at night with all the Christmas lights, it was magical.  I would defiantly recommend a visit to Santa's workshop. 

Making some fun shakers

Make a shaker, its an easy and fun thing to make with the kids, using an old drinks bottle, or some pill boxes or any container really.  

Open it up and fill it with something that will make noise, seal it up and paper mache all over.  Then paint and decorate. 

We made a few different shakers and put different things in each to see what different sounds they would make, we used rice, pasta, and pebbles as the contents. 

Very simple craft project for all ages.

Keydell Nurseries Christmas tail

We visited Keydell Nurseries as they have set up a Christmas attraction, Keydell Nurseries is a garden centre in Horndean, they have different events throughout the year, such as Halloween and Christmas where they set up a trail for the event.  Along with the trail they have a massive selection of Christmas decorations with nativity scenes and snowmen and Santa's scattered along the way. 

The trail was brilliant, they had created a winter wonderland with Santa's sleigh that you can pose in, and at the end of it they had real life rein dear.  We might have to return to see Santa before Christmas.

 After visiting we stopped in the cafe which was very nice and they sold duck food so we were able to go and feed the ducks in their pond (not sure what is wrong with a slice of bread, but there you go). All in all it was a fantastic few hours with no entry charge.  Definitely worth a visit.

Making salt dough Christmas decorations

This is a great one to do with kids before Christmas (or any other time of year really).  Very simple and cheap, but gives you some great gifts for people or simply some personal decorations to add to your Christmas tree.

Here's some we made earlier...  (sorry couldn't resist) 

What you need :
1/2 a cup of Salt
1/2 a cup of Water
1 cup of plain Flour
2 small hands that like to get messy 

It's very easy to mix, put the salt and flour into a bowl, then slowly add the water kneading as you go.  It will take 5 to 10 minutes of kneading until you have a soft mouldable ball of dough.  If it is too sticky you can add more flour, if it is too dry add more water, but we found the above worked perfectly. 

Now you want to roll the dough out, we made it about 1cm thick and press out shapes with moulds (or a glass if you haven't got any).  Poke a hole through the shape so you can hang them.  Pop them on a plate and stick them in a microwave on full power for around 3 minutes, ours took a bit longer, but you want them be be dry and firm.  You can also use an oven on a low heat for a few hours, or leave them for a few days in the sun. 

Once they are cooked, allow them to cool and paint away, we used acrylic paints and added glitter to the wet paint.  You can also add a layer of varnish to add some shine and make them last for years and years. 

A little bit of mess, and a lot of fun.  Give it a go. 

Staunton country park

On Saturday we visited Staunton Country Park, we have been before and spent a day walking around the park and the gardens and feeding the animals, there is even a hedged maze.  

This time we only had a few hours to spend, we came armed with buckets and bought some animal feed at the entrance.  My boys both enjoyed feeding the animals, the pigmy goats are my sons favourites. 

During our visit we saw, stroked and sometimes fed, alpacas, a variety of goats and pigmy goats, deer, pigs, llamas, cows, donkeys, peacocks, sheep, rabbits, ferrets, a lot of chickens, guinea pigs, ponies and turkeys. 

Whilst it's not always there, this week there were some Donkeys from Hayling Island that children could ride for an additional £3 charge.  The organisers were very friendly any my youngest son (2) absolutely loved it. 

Staunton is a working farm, but you can get up close an personal with the animals, there is a gated area that you can go in so you aren't always feeding through fences, although you have to be careful with young children as the goats are quite insistent at getting any buckets of food taken in.  There is both an indoor and outdoor play area, that both boys love, a cafe with indoor/outdoor seating and a nice selection of cakes. I would definitely recommend a visit to Statunton Country Park if the opportunity arises.