Butlins..was fantastic.

Butlins was fabulous fun and J had a great time trying out the various activities on offer.

Despite his little quirks which were very apparent at times especially in the presence of noises and sounds he found unbearable we had great fun.

J hears a sound he doesn't like and shows his usual reaction (hands over ears) which is apparently typical of children with sensory processing problems. J has been showing this reaction to certain noises since age 2 years.

Heights are NO problem for J as seen from this photo......

...and even worse this photo of the ride he loved most and on which I was compelled to accompany him due to his age and height.

The best and most favourite activity though was without doubt Splash Waterworld pictured below (courtesy of Butlin's website - better say I nicked it from there in case I am infringing any copyright)! Believe me it was nowhere near this empty during our stay Check out the boat going down the chute.

J and I went to Waterworld every day and queued for 40 mins+ each time just to get in the door. The pool was obviously, a heaving mass of humanity but had to be endured as J enjoyed it so much.

Splash Waterworld has a feature called The Master-blaster which is a chute with various twists; turns and what seem like vertical slopes. You ride through the chute on an inflatable boat and have to be 8 to qualify for it. Of course if you are under 8 and want to ride it (like J) then you have to take a suitable adult (that means Mug Mum) with you. After a 30+ minute wait you finally reach the front of the queue and climb in the boat with Mum sitting in the back.

“Don’t worry” said the Lifeguard with a reassuring smile the first time we climbed aboard, “if the boat stops en route just stay put and we’ll come and rescue you”! With this our boat was hauled to the edge of what seemed to me like a steep (vertical) drop and off we went.

J absolutely LOVED it and we did The Master-blaster again and again (complete with long queue). Our best time was 37.58 seconds and our worst 50.39 seconds. Competitive - moi?

Much of the time though was spent in the pool which was full of children with their parents who were mainly BBs and BBs (that’s Big Birds and Big Blokes). So J’s Daddy (who uses his weight as an excuse to NOT go into the swimming pool) will be made to attend next time so that he too can experience the heaving masses. Maybe he’ll enjoy The Master-blaster too – or how about the massive slide which J comes down in all manner of positions and with seemingly no sense of danger?

I have to confess to rather enjoying the slide myself – not as much as the Jacuzzi though – even J enjoyed that. I have to thank J here for finding 5 minutes of fascination with the Jacuzzi which allowed me to sit in blissful relaxation for that time before being hauled off to join the queue for The Master-blaster once more.

So we are home...and Lara’s report is here of which I will report more once I’ve had time to read and digest it. In the meantime here are a few more pictures of Butlins.

J enjoys the bike track - but at £1 a go he didn't spend too much time here much to his disgust,

The Merry Go Round was FREE though.

Thursday was a beautiful day and J spent time playing in the wooden play area pictured to the back of this photo. Meanwhile Mummy.....

...drank some Vodka but at £3.25 a bottle couldn't afford to get drunk!