Twixmas on the Isle of Wight with Steve, Michaela, Darren & Isobel

Twixmas on the Isle of Wight

We couldn't wait to start our Christmas celebration's here at Norton Grange. The whole place had been decorated with beautiful, colourful decorations. It was like a winter wonderland. 

Christmas day was here! We excitedly opened our presents from our loved ones. We loved seeing what everyone had received. Then all of a sudden we could hear bells and sirens! We ran outside and to our surprise, there was Santa, arriving in a fire engine. We didn't hesitate to have a chat and have some photos taken with him. 

 

Lunch was soon upon us and we took our seats at our table which had been decorated with crackers, party poppers and streamers. We ate our fill of a delicious Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. It was a feast fit for a King. 

Every evening we boogied on down, enjoying the live entertainment. We were treated to fabulous dancing and singing to Badness, a tribute act to Madness. We danced to the resident band Higher Ground and perfected our line dancing routine. Not forgetting the fantastic Jersey boys show.

There were so many great activities for us to get involved in. To our delight Andrew was crowned champion in the shuffleboard competition! We joined in the towel modelling workshop where we were taught how to make an elephant, pig and some beautiful swans. We were all very impressed by our great modelling skills. We enjoyed showing off our artistic side by decorating our own Christmas stocking. These unique personalised stockings were all colourful and perfect for us to take home as a memento. 

We spent the morning visiting the the Lifeboat station and learnt about the amazing work they do here.

It was time for the much-anticipated pantomime, Aladdin. We were given a complimentary ice cream whilst we watched the show. A great time was had by all as we joined in with all the traditional booing and hissing! Luckily for us we managed to get some photos with the cast after the show, too.

We spent the afternoon at the bowling alley where we split into three groups. Everyone played with a great competitive spirit and some great scores were had. 

We visited the infamous landmark, The Needles.....

and went on a boat trip to Yarmouth. We admired the incredible boats in the harbour and we had a fantastic view of The Needles, getting really close up.

We couldn't wait to start the New Year celebration's. We made our way outside for the fabulous firework display that lit up the night sky. After another wonderful meal we made our way to the ballroom for the show stopping extravaganza. Back to the 80’s saw some fabulous tributes to 80’s pop legends, including ABBA, Michael Jackson, Queen and some hits from Motown. Before we knew it the countdown to midnight had begun with the Bagpiper playing an "Address to the Haggis". The dance floor started to fill up with the other guests and we joined them in counting down the time. Party poppers popped and the balloons fell from the ceiling as we welcomed in the New Year. We hugged each other wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

We visited the Dinosaur Isle Museum. This fantastic museum is an interactive museum where we were able to encounter the sights, sounds and smells of the Cretaceous and see the amazing fossils that had been discovered on the Isle of Wight.