.png "Contest Corner: The best giveaways on the net!")
Win A Headband At Simply faBOWlous
May 31st, 2009Check out Simply faBOWlous for your chance to win a Flower & Rhinestone Headband – ends June 2, 2009, open to US only.
Recent Highlights
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The British Invasion – Afterparty!
May 31st, 2009
Well, my first blog party has been a ton of fun! I blogged about my adventures at Butlins, gave away great prizes, and even shared recipes. But although the party is winding down, you still have a chance to win – check out these British Invasion giveaways that are still running:
Win a $75 Royal Tart Gift Card – Ends 6/8
Win a $100 English Tea Paperie Gift Certificate - Ends 6/11
I’m also pleased to announce the winning blogger in my souvenir prize package giveaway!
The winner is comment number 6, Valerie from Sweeps4Bloggers, who wrote a post about The British Invasion here!
Congratulations Valerie, I hope you enjoy your prize! I had a lot of fun picking out souvenirs during my travels.
Sweepstakes Saturday!
May 30th, 2009
Welcome to Sweepstakes Saturday! Are you hosting a giveaway on your blog this week? Then list it below, so that we can all enjoy a few fun contests to start the holiday weekend off right! Mr. Linky has been experiencing technical difficulties over the last week, so this edition will work a little differently – just click the image below to enter your link.
And don’t forget, there’s still time to enter all the fabulous giveaways in The British Invasion blog party. You can also win granola and books!
Note: The Mr. Linky logo below says “You’re first” even though there are lots of links listed. So if you’re looking for giveaways, be sure to click through and enter all the fun contests!
Butlins Trip, Day Five: Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow
May 30th, 2009 Today is the last part in my series reviewing Butlins resorts!
On Friday morning, it was time to say goodbye to Butlins. We headed to the Yacht Club for one last meal before catching our train.
I’ll miss you, delicious fry-ups!
After breakfast, we headed back to our room to grab our bags, and made our way out. Guest services called a taxi for us, and we waited at the front gate for them to arrive. This was the first time it had rained during the entire stay, and as we huddled in the rain, two Red Coats ran over and held an umbrella over us! They were very nice, and chatted with us as we waited for the cab. “Do a lot of Americans know about Butlins?” One of them asked. No, but maybe now they will!
Our cab arrived, and we waved goodbye to the friendly Red Coats and bid farewell to Butlins.
Jai and I both had a fantastic time at Butlins, and we’re really happy that we had a chance to go. It’s a very fun place, and I think most families would have a ball there. There are so many fun activities, rides, games and shows for kids, and there’s no waiting around in huge lines for anything. I would love to go again someday!
Win A Carl’s Jr. Prize Pack At The "Cent"sible Sawyer
May 30th, 2009The “Cent”sible Sawyer is giving away a fabulous prize pack from Carl’s Jr., worth $150! Click here to enter, but hurry – giveaway ends tonight at midnight, EST!
Win A Carl’s Jr. Prize Pack At The "Cent"sible Sawyer
May 30th, 2009The “Cent”sible Sawyer is giving away a fabulous prize pack from Carl’s Jr., worth $150! Click here to enter, but hurry – giveaway ends tonight at midnight, EST!
Butlins Trip, Day Four: Waterpark Fun
May 29th, 2009 Today is part four in my series reviewing Butlins resorts!
Wednesday morning came, and it was time for another delicious breakfast:
Inside the Yacht Club
We forgot to take the photo until halfway through the first course. After this we had seconds, and I enjoyed another big fry-up. I was stuffed afterwards, but I still had a piece of fried bread on my plate and I didn’t want to waste it; so we wrapped it in a napkin and fed it to a seagull outside, who happily gobbled it up.
After we ate, we headed over to the laundrette to wash some clothes. As the clothes dried, I popped over the the Skyline to watch “Pingu’s Fun Fitness”. Pingu and a Red Coat led the audience through a series of exercises, and it was very entertaining to watch Pingu flop his wings around in his attempt to workout!
After our clothes dried, we headed back to the apartment. Housekeeping stopped by while I happened to be in the bathroom, and asked Jai if we needed anything. He let them know that we had some dirty towels that could be taken away, since housekeeping didn’t come the day before. The employee said he would come back; and later on that afternoon, the dirty towels were still there, but they had brought a big stack of new towels – so we had more clean towels than we could shake a stick at!
We wanted to head back into the town center, so that we could stop by an internet cafe and upload a few photos. Afterwards, we walked down to the shore, and I stopped in a restroom so that I could change into my swimsuit. I wanted to at least dip my toes in the water!
Here I am, splashing around in my favorite swimsuit. Recognize it? It’s by SlimPerfect – I wrote a review of it a few months back!
Then we headed back to Butlins to go to the waterpark! Butlins has a massive waterpark with all kinds of giant, twisty slides. I was too chicken to go down the big slides, so I stuck to a more mild mannered one. I could see families spending a whole afternoon just at the waterpark!
Inside the waterpark
Even the trashcans at Butlins are cute!
After drying off from the waterpark, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying all of the rides at the funfair. It was a really nice afternoon!
Walking through the skyline on our way back to the apartment, we caught a glimpse of Billy The Bear’s “Disco Download”:
Then it was time to head to my favorite place!
It was with some sadness that I enjoyed our last fabulous dinner at the Yacht Club.
First course was a steak pasty, Yorkshire pudding, mushy peas, chips, stir fry, and some delicious pizza. We were too busy eating to take any pictures of the second helping!
After dinner, we went to the Swinging Shillelagh pub in the Skyline to watch the “Soap or Soak” karaoke. Nobody wanted to sing, so the Red Coat who was the emcee entertained us by cracking jokes. He asked the crowd, “Who traveled the longest to come here? Who traveled over 3 hours?” I raised my hand and so did another table. “4 hours? 5 hours? Over SIX hours?!” I was the only one with my hand still raised at this point! “Over six hours? Why didn’t you just go to Skeg?” he joked.
Afterwards, we headed over to the Centre Stage to watch that night’s headliner, a musical review called “The Dictionary of Soul”. Then it was back to the apartment to pack and get some sleep!
Win A Hat At Go Girly or Go Home
May 29th, 2009Go Girly or Go Home is offering a chance to win a Go Girly or Go Home Hat of your choice. Ends June 9, 2009, open to US only.
Butlins Trip, Day Three: The Bognor Regis Seafront
May 29th, 2009 Today is part three in my series reviewing Butlins resorts!
On Wednesday, we started our day off right with another delicious meal at The Yacht Club. Here I am getting ready to head to breakfast:
Not the greatest picture of me, but you can see how nice the living room is.
Breakfast was spectacular as ever. These chocolate Croissants were so flaky and delicious! We also had bowls of fresh fruit.
We also had a wonderful fry-up after this. Yum!!!
After breakfast, we headed over to the Skyline, where a photoshoot was taking place with Pingu himself. I’m quite a Pingu fan, so naturally I couldn’t leave without getting a picture!
After hobnobbing with Pingu, we headed to the seafront. Butlins is situated directly in front of the ocean, and you can follow the promenade into the Bognor Regis town center. Neither of us had been to Bognor before, so we were looking forward to seeing the town.
Jai and I on the beach
The Shoreline hotel at Butlins and the Bognor seafront – click to enlarge
The promenade – click to enlarge
The sun was shining, and it was the perfect day to be at the beach.
Jai and I walked down to the Bognor pier, and then headed into town.
Here we are standing on the pier.
We looked around a few shops, and I bought a Bognor Regis teatowel. We also stumbled accross the free Bognor Regis musem, which was fun to look around.
One of the displays from the Bognor museum
Then we made our way back to Butlins, and it was time for rides, rides, rides!
We also happened to see the Skyline gang walking around the resort and entertaining onlookers:
Then it was time for “Pingu’s Chill Zone”!
After Pingu’s show, we stopped by guest services to ask for clean towels because housekeeping hadn’t come through our room that day. This time there was no problem getting the supplies.
Then it was time for another wonderful dinner! The buffet is so huge that we literally did not eat lunch once during our stay. The challenge was to work up enough of an appetite for dinner after the huge breakfast!
My first course included chips and gravy, mushy peas, sausage & rice. Jai’s dinner included sausage, some sort of macaroni and cheese, and a wonderful fish in cream sauce. Of course, we had seconds as well as dessert. I should have taken a picture of the huge dessert selection – it was lovely.
After dinner, we decided to check out “Amethyst”, a magic show that was taking place on the Centre Stage.
The Centre Stage is a huge venue, drenched in disco lights. There was a dance floor and a Red Coat playing DJ, which made it feel like a club – except the people on the dancefloor were all five year olds! It was a fun atmosphere. The Red Coats led the children in dances, and then the kids would chase them in circles around the stage. At one point, they all jumped on top of a Red Coat in a dogpile!
There were more shows coming up after Amethyst finished, but the jet lag was kicking in so we decided to retire for the evening. We had a lovely day enjoying the seafront and the various shows!
Win An Oil Painting At Still River Studios
May 28th, 2009LC Neill – Still River Studios is giving away your choice of oil painting, worth $125! Click here to enter – ends May 31st.
