Walking in a Winter Wonderland

As my paternity leave draws to an end we planned to take the kids to the Bluewater Winter Wonderland straight after school today. I pre-booked all of our tickets for the grotto, Mrs Claus kitchen and the 4D cinema in advance to minimise queueing. The boys were very excited as they left school and we all put on our cheesy Xmas jumpers ready for a festive evening of fun. Holly was dressed in the most beautiful little Santa dress.

 

Holly all dressed up for the Winter Wonderland and to meet Santa (again!).

Daddy with his cheesy Xmas jumper and his beautiful little girl.

When we arrived at the Winter Wonderland the first thing we saw was the indoor ice tyre slide. Joshua was old enough and tall enough to ride on his own, but Brandon had o ride shotgun with me. The slide may not look that impressive but your stomach really drops as you descend and at the half way point you get fully airborne as you ride over the bump.

Joshua finishes his run down the indoor ice slope.

Me and B land safely after a little flight over the mid way bump.

Joshua and Brandon in front of the Bluewater Wonderland Xmas tree.

Despite having tickets booked for specific times the Winter Wonderland was pretty quiet and we managed to get into a lot of the activities earlier than our scheduled time. So our first port of call was the amazing Grotto to meet Santa himself.

Santa's Grotto looked spectacular.

Meet Snowman Joshua.

Snowman Brandon - his arms barely reaching the arm holes!

Penguin Joshua.

A lovely picture of penguin Brandon with Joshua hiding in the arm hole.

The setting around the Grotto was decorated beautifully.

Holly was captivated by the lights and had a good look around from inside the buggy.

An Elf led us into the Grotto where the boys got to meet Santa for about the 4th time this year. Neither of them were shy this time and Brandon introduced himself and asked for a golf set, Joshua asked for a stunt scooter. Santa was very pleased to see a 12 day old Holly and said he would bring her plenty of teddies and some pink clothes. Santa gave both the boys a present which we allowed them to open early. Brandon got a dinosaur activity book and Joshua got a puzzle book as well.

A nice family picture of us 5 with Santa.

Look at this funny looking Elf.

My two boys having a great time at the Winter Wonderland.

Next on our agenda was to visit Mrs Clause's kitchen to make some biscuits and cakes. Once again the kitchen setting was amazing and Mrs Clause was really good with the kids. She made them all clean their hands first before touching any food and then asked them to help her identify and mix all the ingredients for a cake in a bowl. Once the ingredients were in the bowl she put a lid on top and asked all the children to copy her with a magic phrase and then throw their magic at the bowl. To their amazement the mixture had turned into little cake bases ready for them to decorate with a filling and some sweet toppings.

 

Brandon outside Mrs Clause's kitchen.

The children listen intently to Mrs Clause in the kitchen.

Mrs Clause quizzing the children on what ingredients she needs for a cake.

One weird mixture is starting to come together.

The well scrummy kitchen backdrop.



The ingredients are in the magic pot and the lid goes on ready to magically change them into cakes bases.

The kiddies all then take their cake bases and fill them with either chocolate or strawberry sauce and then top with handfuls of sweets and sprinkles.

Joshua seemed to really enjoy the cake making but over did his toppings somewhat!

Joshua's home masterpiece cakes before having more topping and sprinkles dumped on them,

Joshua doesn't even wait until he is outside the kitchen before he starts tucking into his tasty creations.

So Brandon follows suit but looks up at Mrs Clause feeling guilty me thinks.

Whilst the boys were busy baking, me and Princess Holly sat and had a cuddle in a throne.

The were various kids rides and activities around the Winter Wonderland to keep the kids entertained (and the Dad's wallets empty!). So whilst waiting for our 4D cinema experience the boys had a ride on the merry-go-round.

Joshua riding in a hot air balloon.

Brandon opted for a ride on a horse.

Bluewater have also set-up a beautiful winter garden area which looks spectacular lit up at night. So after grabbing a bite to eat me and the boys took a stroll outside to check out the lights.

The stunning outdoor Xmas tree reflecting nicely in the water below.

Lovely reindeer's brighten up the Wonderland garden.

Joshua getting a bit photogenic posing by the outdoor Xmas tree.

Just lately the two boys have really been enjoying watching the ski jumping on Eurosport at breakfast time. So whilst Holly had a quick milk feed the boys enjoyed some time on the bouncy castle ski jump (although I am not sure why they call it a ski jump when they are super strict on no jumping!). Still the boys had a great time and it all tires them out so we get a good nights sleep and a lay in tomorrow morning (oh, no that won't happen as Holly will keep us awake!).

Joshua mid way down the ski jump.

Brandon all smiles after his first jump and ready to go again.

Joshua always has to mix things up a bit and tries coming down on his belly (slightly hurting his foot in the process).

The picture doesn't show just how steep this castle is and it actually took Brandon sometime to get his little legs up all the steps.

My happy little B finishes his last slide and we say goodbye to Winter Wonderland for another year.

We all had a great evening out and was amazed that the Winter Wonderland was not a lot busier. I am sure we will have two very tired and grumpy little boys tomorrow after a late night tonight. But it was worth every minute of it. It is so magical to see the look on their little faces when they meet Santa. Having that belief in the magic of Xmas is just so amazing. As we drove home they were asking if Santa was now heading back to the North Pole to build and wrap more presents with the Elves. Just priceless.