#BloggersInvadeCenterParcs

Two weekends ago, I went away with a lovely group of bloggers and had the best weekend ever! It was a highly anticipated trip with probably thousands of WhatsApp messages and lots of excited tweets. It was a little bit daunting at first meeting 10 people I had never met before, but after 5 minutes with these lovely ladies my nervousness disappeared straight away. Shortly after arriving, the girls in my lodge (Kirsty, Jess, Adele, Bella and Vicky) and I all sat down, and started to get to know each other. Jess knew the quick way to our hearts was by bribing us with cheese strings and it certainly was a great icebreaker.We all bonded over blogging, the drama that comes with it and got to know each other. There was a slight mishap when picking up our bikes as the shop was shut whoops, Jess and I also thought we were being stalked driving round the car park but the driver of the car turned out to be Bella. We had a good laugh about it and if there was any awkwardness before there certainly wasn't after that.

Kirsty, Jess, Adele Bella, Myself and Vicky

Lodge 2

Once we got back to the lodge we had fajitas and chatted for ages, after dinner we went over to Lodge 1 were Lauren, Laura, Laura C, Laura Hainy and Rachel were staying. We had a fun chilled evening, there was lots of talking and all these ladies are honestly the nicest people I have ever met. I shared a room with Jess and we stayed up ages talking about everything and anything. She is honestly hilarious and we have the same sense of humour, it felt like I had known her for years and not just hours.

Our second day at Centre Parcs was jammed pack full of amazing and fun activities, I was so excited that I could barely sleep and didn't want to miss a moment of it. Jess and I made breakfast, I was introduced to canned croissant and I cannot believe I have been missing out on them all this time. They taste seriously amazing so thanks Jess!! We also came up with the idea for a big blogger house over breakfast, so if you saw the hashtags on my Instagram posts and thought what the hell is she on about now you know. How cool would it be if there was a blogger version of big brother?! Although there was one flaw in that whole plan, bloggers would need their phones, I mean imagine surviving months without social media and actually being able to blog. After a lot of nattering, 6 of us (Laura, Lauren, Rachel, Bella, Jess and myself) went down to grab our bikes before going canoeing but we kind of underestimated how long it would take to walk there, so in the end we went canoeing first and were joined by Laura Hainy and Laura C. Jess and I paired up for canoeing, she warned me beforehand that she may be a liability but I don't know what she was on about. I think we did pretty well, not as good as Laura C and Laura Hainy who were like pros and synchronised, but we did not capsize so I count that as a success.

Back Row: Laura Himp, Lauren, Jess, Laura Hainy
Front Row: Bella, Rachel, Me, Laura C

Jess' amazing photography! Off for an adventure...
Photo credit: Jess

Rachel, Laura Himp, Lauren, Bella, Me, Jess

After all the fun of canoeing, we had to trek up to the cycle centre with very wet bums and let me tell you it is not a comfortable feeling. Once we got our bikes, we rode back to the lodges and had lunch before going swimming. I was really excited about swimming after seeing the rapids and the steam coming off the water, so I knew it was going to be warm. The rapids were amazing, we went round them 3 times I think and it was just as fun each time. The water was so warm as well, I just wanted to stay in there forever and relax. After swimming we went back to the lodges to get ready for dinner and then bowling.

Group selfie!
Photo credit: Kirsty

We went to an American diner for dinner and it was so good, words cannot begin to even describe. I got the BBQ burger and it was incredible, I literally felt so stuffed after just eating the burger and struggled with my chips. They had lots of lovely cocktails, very tasty and photogenic (queue lots of bloggers taking photos of our cocktails).

Laura Himp, Me and Jess

It was a wonderful meal and I also got to Laura a lot better! After the meal we went bowling, I am really bad at bowling so I knew I was not going to win unless a miracle happened but there were a couple of secret pro bowlers in Lodge 2, Adele won and I am convinced she has been secretly training for it. I had such a fantastic day and loved all of the different activities.

Photo session fun
(Jess, Bella and Me)

On our third day, Jess and I biked down to the shops to pick up the ingredients for a fry up and then had a great breakfast when we got back. Us girls in Lodge 2 just talked and talked for ages, we could probably win a marathon for it! There are all so lovely and I cannot wait for the next event to see them all. Unfortunately Vicky had to leave early, she is hilarious and her impressions are amazing, especially one in particular! She definitely could have a career in comedy!

Lazy afternoon (Bella, Me, Jess and Kirsty)
Photo credit: Kirsty

We then lazed around, whilst watching a film and then Adele joined us after dropping Vicky off at the station. We then went down to the swimming pool for an evening swim, we even managed to convince Kirsty to come on the rapids with us. We also tried out some other slides, one was not so pleasant and I ended up inhaling way too much water. After swimming, we were all starving and the girls and I in Lodge 2 decided to get a takeaway. It was the perfect way to end the weekend and after dinner we all sat down to watch Sex and the City.

One last selfie

Our final morning was quite sad and nobody really wanted to leave, it had been such a fantastic weekend that I wanted to stay there for weeks and weeks. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone, but we had already started planning our next holiday and adventure. Adele, Kirsty, Bella and myself went to Longleaf Safari after checking out of Centre Parcs. The safari was so much fun and my favourite part was when we drove through the monkey enclosure, the monkeys climbed onto Adele's car and it was hilarious (sorry Adele).

Thank you so much Lauren for organising it, you are a gem and it was a great weekend. I can't wait for the next blogging holiday and to see all these lovely ladies at the Big Blogger Conference in August!