Over the Christmas period we visited Mini Moos Adventure Land in County Durham. There was lots of festive fun to be had including a little indoor ice rink and a lovely reindeer.

If you get the chance visit Mowbray Park in Sunderland over the Christmas period.

Despite our love affair with camping we recently decided to take the plunge and buy a caravan. Hoping not only to extend our season but to make it easier to get away for weekends. We decided to try our first Camping and Caravanning Club rally at Thorpe Thewles and we had a scream.

We escaped to Gibside at the weekend, a local National Trust property. Gibside is like a grand forest garden. We walked for miles through the woodland, or should I say some of us did :)

Despite the wet weather we decided to visit Beamish Wild and I'm so glad we did. We had a cracking day. The boys loved the adventure playground and spiders web.

Mowbray Park in Sunderland hosted a Sunderland against the public sector cuts day recently. The boys had fun dancing in the park to the band before having their faces painted.

Whilst in France we had an amazing day out at the zoo.

We visited the castle of Langeais and it's medieval garden.

Lac de Rille was a lovely spot for a picnic in the forest clearing. The boys happily played in the sand and the lake.

We enjoyed a fun day at Parc de Loisirs, an outdoor family park with trampolines, bouncy castles, slides and swings. We went on a pedalo around the lake and the boys went on a pony ride. Ben also rode a naughty donkey.

18 hours after leaving Sunderland we finally arrived at Le Chant D'Oiseau, a gem of a little campsite in the Loire countryside in France.

Team McLean enjoyed a fab weekend camping at Tamworth, Staffordshire recently. We found a gem of a little site, despite only having limited facilities (toilet only) the boys loved it.

Alex and I have been gramping again, we stayed in Nan Ann and Grumps caravan at Bramham International Horse Trials in North Yorkshire.

We had a lovely few days Gramping (camping with Grandparents)in Jedburgh, Scotland recently. Nan Ann and Grumps in their caravan and us in our tent.

We had a fab time camping at The Quiet Site near Ullswater recently. The weather was lovely :) we packed a picnic and attempted a walk to Aira Force waterfalls, unfortunately we got a little lost.

We spent a nice weekend camping over Easter at Highside Farm in Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham. Highside Farm is a tiny rural site with only 5 pitches. It's a bit like camping in someone's back garden but essentially that's exactly what we did.

We found ourselves taking an impromtu road trip to Cornwall this week. Following an 8 hour road trip we arrived at Arthur's field, a campsite on the cliff-top near Portscatho.

Ben, Alex and I went to Barnes Park today. Daddy Stewart is working night shift :( so we left him to sleep in peace.

We enjoyed a family day out at Marsden beach on Saturday (19th March). The weather was unusually pleasant for this time of year and Ben was even brave enough to dip in the North Sea (Mammy, Daddy and Alex weren’t quite as brave).

We took a stroll up Penshaw Monument this week. Positioned on a hilltop, Penshaw Monument is a Sunderland landmark. Our wee man Alex has been poorly sick this week so Daddy carried him up on his shoulders. Ben on the other hand quickly made his way to the top.

Team McLean absolutely loved camping at Fisherground, Eskdale. After a rather terrifying drive over Hardknott Pass we arrived safe and sound. The weather wasn't particularly great but our boys don't seem to mind getting wet. There is something a little magical about Fisherground, with an adventure playground, pond complete with tyre rafts and it's very own steam locomotive station it's a family paradise.