Banksy Dismaland - How did we get tickets?

Several weeks ago I was looking to arrange a seaside day trip as I do love the sea and haven't been able to take a trip for a couple of years, living in the midlands and not being able to drive myself it can be difficult. So when I saw a local coach company offering trips to Western Super Mare I thought 'oh that is a good way to get out for the day in the school holidays', booked up my tickets and didn't think much more of it.

Then the news broke that Banksy had installed a new attraction on the seafront, surrounded by excitement and mystery. I couldn't believe it when it said this was at Western Super Mare an otherwise fairly quiet seaside town and so I eagerly read what was there.

The news articles sounded fantastic the photos popping up online looked incredible, I tried helplessly to get tickets so we could be sure to go in ourselves, along with seemingly millions of other people!

The tickets website crashed (or was simply never going to deliver tickets on that opening day) and I was left like all others scratching my head and wondering what was happening.

The next few days I scoured the internet looking for real information, what was it like inside? could children go? and most importantly how likely were you to be able to get inside if you turned up at the door?

News broke that tickets would go on sale online from Tuesday lunch - great we were heading there on Tuesday... but  I wouldn't have a laptop handy, and needed a ticket for the daytime not evening. No way of securing tickets before this point.

I figured this could be a blessing, as people waited at home to book their tickets could we perhaps get lucky by being at the door?

So with a glimmer of hope we set off on the coach, it took us 4 hours to arrive, and I had become unsure of our chances of getting inside dismaland, arriving after dinner not ideal when ques could be hours long,  I told my three older children not to expect guaranteed entry and to remember we had booked this day trip without even knowing about dismaland in the hope to avert from serious disappointment.

As it happened we drove past the entrance of Dismaland  and parked up a few meters away, the ticket booth looked open but not busy, the ques certainly looked manageable in a short time frame.

We went straight off the coach, at around 1pm, towards the ticket booth, £3 entry each - a real bargain, the trickest part was navigating through the mud and twisted barriers, with only a handful of people ahead of us we quickly had stamped wrists and were ready to enter the second section of metal railings and join the main que.

This moved slowly with only a handful being allowed in at a time, there was possibly 100 people ahead of us, not a massive que by any means. It  took us around 40 minutes to get to the front.

As we entered the park there was probably 200 or so people waiting behind us, and the lady told me the que was moving slowly as the park was nearing capacity.

Once inside it was amazing - the staff so in character from the first people at the cardboard security who spent time talking to each guest (which is why only 5 or 6 allowed through at a time) to the dismal greetings of the stewards crossing you over the road - there was so so so much to look at, the instant sights such as the castle, the police boat in the moat, the sweeping bendy bench are stunning to look at, but the detail in every aspect of this bemusment park could take you hours upon hours to absorb and you still would not have seen everything it has to offer.

The day was amazing - we all thoughtly enjoyed every minute of it - the dismal weather of windy Western Super Mare was not even noticed, we spent 4 and a half hours there and left reluctantly to catch our coach back home.

If you are lucky enough to have a ticket be sure to go and experience this yourself.

look out for more posts soon :)

Fun with Orbeez and a balloon pool party!

This summer is flying past, we have been trying to find things to do at home to ensure we can have a lot of fun without spending too much.

Holidays can be expensive but you can have fun at home.

Especially when the sun shines!

We brought a paddling pool at the start of the summer so with the sun finally coming back out the past few days we have been able to get out and enjoy the pool.

Having a pool party.

To make it a bit more fun we added lots of balloons, normal latex balloons with a tiny bit of water in each so they are not water balloons or water bombs, but just enough water in them to weigh them down slightly to prevent them blowing away! they gave a fun extra to the pool and the children loved splashing and throwing them about along with the other inflatables.We also brought some giant balloons - punch balloons from poundland which are great fun!

Take a look at our pool party  in this video here:



Another fun summer activity is growing orbeez or water beads, these tiny little beads absorb water and grow 10x their original size. They are fun play with and all ages love them.

Have a look here as we have fun growing and playing with thousands of orbeez. even tipping pouring them into the bath!

8 months old...

Noah you're now 8 months old.

You are growing so very fast and finding your own personality more and more.
The last month has once again seen you jump in leaps and bounds with the things you can do.

You love to snuggle and are happiest close to someone, but your fast becoming more independent.

You now have two  teeth at the bottom and often suck in your bottom lip pulling such serious yet funny faces.

You adore your siblings and you look for them all the time, and light up every time they enter the room. Your eldest brother the one who is calm and comforting, Mikey is the fun one who can make you laugh till you fall backwards by being silly, Chloe who is always there to wash you, change you and settle you to sleep.

You have a favorite program - Zou, and will stop whatever your doing if the theme tune is played.

You love to jigg along to music and clap along to songs, getting increasingly aware of rhymes and sounds as every day passes.

You can now crawl, in the traditional manner, and you have a love for the fireplace and things you are not supost to touch!

Balloons entertain you for ages as you crawl after them and bash them too and fro

Your smile is infectious and your eyes shine so brightly you draw everyone in.

We love you Noah <3

one week in

The weekend has slipped by quickly (and once again I am apologizing for not blogging every day!)

The first week seems to have passed in a quick daze, we didn't have a lot panned enjoying the days where the sun shone and we were able to enjoy a bit more time outside.

We are all settling into the more relaxed days of the holidays, although early mornings are still happening - not due to Noah, but my eldest and his paper round!

We enjoyed time with the cousins - a house full of the next generation, it's always nice to get everyone together the children get along really well and always have a lot of fun

Thursday Already

I can't believe its already Thursday - I blinked and it went from Monday to here, and as a result I have already broken my blog each day hope. But I don't think I'm doing too bad as I'm happy to miss a few days - it doesn't seem possible to find time every single day.

Yes there are hours when I sit with my laptop but I am so tired I can't function enough to do much more than stare longingly at the screen and watch other people seemingly having much more fun on Facebook. I certain don't seem t be able to concentrate enough to string sentences together.

So what has actually been happening?

The past few days have been engulfed with car MOT's (fails and retests) garden updates and sleepless nights - Thanks Noah!

The first week of the holidays and we haven't actually done a great deal, the children have spent alot of time on Plants Vs Zombies (the original game) and have once again set their minds to a marathan to complete the adventure mode. I must admit I do love that game and can get addicted to it too.

Noah has cut two bottom front teeth, although he's not been terribly upset with them, he has been a little off his food - which means he's been up on his breastmilk - which is fine, but tiring for me, especially through the night.

We have added a gate to the garden to separate an area for the dogs, which Mikey thinks is a climbing frame, and his love for climbing has given me an idea for the wall(add some foot rests to make it an abseiling/bouldering wall)  but I am not sure how or if we will actually put that into place.

Anyway thats my time up, Noah is grumbling at my feet so I'll leave this here.

Waiting for Summer

Today is the first official day of the summer holiday here, with the children now being off school.

I love having them home, I love the late nights, lazy mornings, the no homework relaxed nature the holidays bring.

I would say I love the warm days the sun, swimming pools, sun glasses and ice creams.

But unfortunately the weather has other ideas as the past few days its been cold and wet and not summery at all.

Which is a shame.

I wonder if we already had the summer? What with the odd hot day last month. Maybe that was our lot.

It really was lovely and warm. In  our excitement and hope for a hot summer we brought a 8ft pool for the garden, along with the filter system and cleaners to ensure it can stay up and clean all summer long.

The kids love it, swimming and splashing around with the snorkels and floats and I hope that the sun does com back so we can enjoy it again.

Silent Sunday