Time is really flying and Oisín turned 10 years old a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately its not the best time of year for a birthday weatherwise but he’d been to his mate Brian’s birthday party in West Cork Secret during the summer and was fairly insistent he wanted to celebrate his birthday there too.

To be fair, its a 10 year old’s paradise. We were lucky in that we got a bright, albeit quite cold December afternoon for the party. But the boys had an absolute blast. Finbar, head honcho at West Cork Secret, recommended the boys wear very old clothes or a wetsuit  if they had one and to bring a change of clothes and footwear and a towel so they could avail of the hot showers after all the play.

The day started off with the boys being split into 2 teams and tackling puzzles and and go kart races in one of the fields.

Then came the race to see which team could transfer enough water along the pipes to fill the container at the finish line. This initially was quite a test for the boys but it ended up a very close finish as they began to cooperate very well.

By this stage they were fairly wet but none seemed to mind. Next the army obstacle course. Under the netting, balancing on the ropes over the water, through the tyres, over and under the wooden logs in the water. They ran around and around. The finale was the monster water slide. They loved it and I lost track of how many times they went down it. By this stage, soaked to the skin and covered in suds but having a ball.

As it was getting dark, they decided they’d had enough and headed to the warm showers and changed into dry clothes. Finbar served homemade pizza cooked to order in the wood burning oven. Needless to say, demand was very high after all the activity. The pizza was delicious.

Oisín had a brilliant unforgettable party.

Many thanks to all at West Cork Secret. Would highly recommend it. There is no doubt that we’ll be back!

A couple of Sundays ago, we awoke to a rainy dull day in Bandon. So myself and 3 of the kids decided to hit the road to Tralee. We had been meaning to try out its Aquadome for ages so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

To make a long story short, we had a terrific day there, spending over 2 hours in the pool. The children loved the intervals when waves would traverse the pool. The smaller slides were perfect for the 5 year old, whilst his older siblings tackled the much larger flume slide.

The lazy river, various water showers and sprays, jacuzzi and spa pools were all tried and tested. It was great fun.

8 year olds and younger have to wear arm bands which is no harm as parts of the pool complex have water depths which are above their heights. I felt the whole set up was very well run. There were plenty of staff and life guards keeping an eye out.

My only minor gripe is that I felt the individual changing rooms were on the small side. I would have preferred a larger family one in which we all could have been accomodated rather than the hassle of splitting the children up into their own rooms.

It is quite expensive but there is a good deal on offer at the moment where you get a second family visit for half price which we availed of the following week which I guess is another indication of how much we liked the place. It was a great way to spend an otherwise dreary Sunday and I can definitely see us heading there quite often over the next few months.

Oscar has just completed this summer camp and is raving about how good it was and how much he enjoyed it. It took place on Garrettstown beach. We were fortunate that the weather was relatively good this week and there were some waves. All equipment was supplied by the surf school. The children were kitted out with wetsuits, booties, boards etc.

So from  10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday himself and 15 other kids aged 8 to 12 years old had a blast on the beach. They had great fun learning to surf, kayaking, coasteering and cliff jumping. The instructors were excellent, I had no worries regarding Oscar’s safety. He was taught safety procedure, what to do if in trouble and good surfing rules and etiquette. After this camp he is now at the stage of being able to judge the waves and get up to standing on the surfboard.

It was an action packed week,  he was exhausted most evenings. He made some good friends and most importantly had a really fun time. There was a good mix of boys and girls participating in the camp. Would thoroughly recommend it. The SuperSea camp cost €150 which initially did seem expensive. But after seeing what he got out of the week, I reckon it was good value for money.

He is now talking about saving to buy his own wetsuit and surfboard as he intends to  continue surfing.

The beginning of the school summer holidays saw my middle three children eager to do something energetic. Some of their pals were doing the Bandon Athletic Club Summer Camp so that’s the activity they selected.

It was held in the Bandon Grammar school grounds which was great as in addition to outdoor running track and facilities, there was access to indoor halls should the weather turn inclement.

The three aged 5, 6 and 8 years old had a brilliant week. They really enjoyed the range of activities which included:

• sprints
• long jump
• high jump
• relays
• javelin
• hammer throw
• discus
• shot putt

The camp cost €65 for the first child and €50 for each subsequent sibling which I rate as good value for money. It ran from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. I found it really well run. There was  plenty of supervision and coaching. Each child recieved a certificate of attendance and a medal on the last day. They were chuffed.

Would definitely recommend.

* This was Fionn’s query when his older brother suggested he attend the summer camp for running training