I Become an Elf...Naturally

When I returned to Exeter last Sunday I left my laptop at home. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I missed my train. Then I got off at the wrong station. All in all it was not a good day for me. But now I am finally back online and all set to tell you about our little trip to Bluestone.

"...cute and cozy lodges..."

Bluestone is a 'national park resort' in West Wales, complete with cute and cozy lodges, tiny animals scuttling around, and plenty of grass and trees. This is the second year my mother and I have taken my niece and nephew there for Kingdom of the Elves, which, as is pretty obvious, is a Christmas event. We all fell in love with the place last year. My mother enjoyed the views, the children loved the play areas, and I had my picture taken with Cinderella. We simply had to go back again this year.

Getting there, unloading the car, resolving all disputes regarding who was sleeping where, and getting everyone dressed and ready for the Kingdom of the Elves went as smoothly as we could have hoped. We had an adapted lodge because Ellis is in a wheelchair and within five minutes of us being there Lauren pulled one of the emergency cords and there were alarms and flashing lights everywhere. That was somewhat stressful. Then there was the fact that she insisted on re-packing her suitcase and dragging it along behind her everywhere she went because she didn't know what she'd need when she met the elves. I'm not entirely sure if she understood the concept of Kingdom of the Elves. I don't think she even understood what elves were.

Either way she didn't look particularly impressed when she came face to face with one. The Kingdom of the Elves is a lovely experience. This year we went through lots of different rooms and the children took part in activities, collecting badges so they could become 'elite elves'. It's such a cute idea and so well carried out. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

"I had to take one for the team."

Unfortunately I was there with Scrooge and Marley. Ellis was unimpressed with the whole situation from the outset, what with him being 'too old' for such festive frivolities and Lauren was just plain terrified. So when the elf gatekeeper asked all the children to don their elf gowns and make their cheeks rosy red, neither of them would so much as look her in the eye. I had to take one to the team and get involved in the face painting instead. I wasn't secretly loving it at all.

We made our way through Elf Kingdom. The children helped with the present wrapping, rode in Santa's sleigh, and made a magic potion among other things. But Lauren spent most of the time hiding behind my legs and Ellis gave up on the whole thing and left half way through. He really wasn't a fan of the snow machine and that seemed to be the last straw. But, right at the end, Lauren finally got into the swing of things. She was dancing with the elves, and actually smiling.

"As much as he looked like the genuine
article he was a bit eccentric."

That said, even after making that progress she was still too unnerved to have her picture taken with Santa during story time. I'm not sure I blame her. As much as he looked like the genuine article he was a bit eccentric. And his story wasn't exactly a Christmas classic. Native Americans and orphans were involved. I'm not entirely sure I kept up with the plot, assuming there was one.

Family time back at the lodge was so sweet when the children weren't trying to scratch out each others eyes to get possession of the Kindle Fire. Lauren continued to keep her suitcase nearby just in case of some kind of elf-related emergency, which made it somewhat difficult to get her to bed in the nights. But, when everyone was settled down watching Wreck it Ralph (because Ellis decided it would just have been madness to watch a Christmas movie during our Christmas holiday) it was so nice to cwtch up with my favourite little people and pretend we were a nice, normal family. And then Lauren wet the bed. And then the other bed. And suddenly we were back in the madhouse.

"Puppets aren't scary..."

"...a tray full of goodies..."

One evening we went to A Puppet's Christmas Carol. Initially Ellis was concerned it would be like The Muppet Christmas Carol, but as I pointed out, 1. The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best Christmas film. And 2. Puppets aren't scary so everyone needs to chill out. Thankfully there were no literal puppets involved so everyone thoroughly enjoyed and there were no puppet related nightmares that night. This show may have been my personal highlight. With a complementary glass of mulled wine in hand, a tray full of goodies to pick at, and a bar that served Penderyn Whisky ("the kids woke up at 5am this morning. Make mine a double"), it was nice to sit and watch Lauren dancing with the 'toys' and Ellis cautiously watching, always seemingly concerned puppets would spring up at some point.

All in all it was a lovely little holiday. The children thoroughly enjoyed the lack of bedtimes, chocolate goodies and the sight of me in a stupid Santa hat. My mother and I enjoyed our glasses of wine when said children were asleep. And I can honestly say that in the midst of the Bluestone festivities, I found the Christmas spirit. And for once it wasn't vodka.