“STANLEY! You need to go UP the see-saw, like this,” yelled seven-year-old Eva as she attempted to master the first part of the dog agility course.
Our cockapoo puppy needed a bit of encouragement to leap through the hoops and balance on the beams.
Family fun at Meadow Bay Villages, Hayling Island[/caption]
Jessica, Emilia, Isabelle and Eva loved the hot tub[/caption]
Course successfully mastered, he returned to our lovely platinum caravan at Meadow Bay Villages on Hayling Island, Hants, for a well-earned snooze.
The two-bed holiday home is the park’s most premium and easily accommodates a family of six, plus puppy.
The caravan is tucked away near the back of the resort, which is great if you want a relaxed break away from the hustle and bustle of the main holiday park.
It backs on to pretty fields, so the view is great, and there’s a private hot tub on the decking – a hit with our kids Jessica, ten, Emilia, ten, eight-year-old Isabelle and Eva.
Inside, there’s everything you could ever want from a caravan – a fully stocked kitchen, spacious lounge and bathrooms which are roomier than the ones you would expect in a holiday home.
Things like the air fryer were a nice touch too.
Swimming’s free with your stay, but you need to book.
There’s an indoor and outdoor pool.
One of the highlights of our trip was the Wipeout inflatable obstacle course – a huge set of inflatables on the pool for kids to race through.
Two go on at once and it’s safe to say things get VERY competitive.
Our kids didn’t know we’d booked it and were thrilled when they saw the surprise.
Emilia immediately explained she’d done something similar before so would probably be pretty good – now family legend as she was the first of the four to fall in.
Isabelle got the prize for speediest runner, darting down the bouncy path and straight onto the slider.
Jessica was the bruiser of the operation – going on with her was a sure-fire way to plunge headfirst into the pool as the inflatable bounced around so much.
Eva discovered this with a vengeance, managing a backflip over the side before plummeting headfirst into the water.
Wipeout costs £7.50 each, but there are loads of free activities at the park, too.
Lovely food
There’s an adventure playground and lots of sporting areas where you can have family games of boules or golf.
Obviously, the dog agility course was a favourite with our lot, who all spent ages jumping through hoops and wobbling along high beams in an attempt to get Stanley up to Crufts standard.
Safe to say, he won’t be competing any time soon, but they all had fun trying.
There’s a great restaurant where we had dinner – lovely food with a suitable amount of beige options for fussy kids (and healthier ones if yours are more adventurous).
The Club House has discos, music events, interactive shows, bingo and other activities on offer, plus you can pay for things like paddle boats, pottery, painting and building teddies.
All in all, you know what you’re getting with a caravan stay at Meadow Bay.
It’s cheap and the kids will love it – especially if you have a wannabe show dog.