New Year Celebrations - Lakeside with Lorraine & Netty

New Year Celebrations- Lakeside  

We couldn't wait to start our New Years Eve celebrations and we knew that it was going to be a night to remember!

The night started with a magical lantern walk to the lake where we were kept warm with hot chocolate.

We watched a wonderful firework display and there were lots of ‘ohhh’s and ‘ahhhs’ as the night sky lit up in a kaleidoscope of colour. 

This was then followed by the bagpipe player 'piping in the haggis', as is tradition, on New Year's Eve. Our evening meal was exceptional with a Scottish flavour, which included a choice of haggis tart with whiskey gravy. 

Excited for the night ahead we made our way to the entertainment lounge where we hit the dance floor and rocked and rolled away to the 70’s tribute band Showmaddymaddy. As the clock struck 12, the atmosphere was electric as balloons fell from the ceiling and party poppers were popped all around us. The whole room were on their feet as we joined hands to sing Auld Lang Syne. The party carried on as we danced into the early hours of 2022 with a late-night Abba Show. It hade certainly been a night to remember. 

Our active group made use of the fabulous onsite facilities.

It was game on as we challenged each other to a game of darts, table tennis, air hockey and snooker. Everyone played like true sportspeople and the competition was fierce! 

An incredible afternoon tea was in order, whilst watching The Spirit of Music, a compilation of current popular music.

We took a short drive to the coast as the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We walked along the beach, watching those brave enough to swim and those catching some waves windsurfing. It was lovely to blow away the cobwebs of last year and breath in the fresh sea air. 

Everyone was looking forward to the afternoon  pantomime Little Red Riding Hood. The cast members had us in stiches at their slap stick performance and we all loved booing the big, bad wolf. After the show we had the opportunity to have our photographs taken with the cast, which made a lovely memento. 

Christmas Celebrations- Lakeside with David & Åse

 Christmas Celebrations- Lakeside 

Merry Christmas!!!! What a memorable start to this special day. Presents were exchanged and we all received gifts from JollyDays and chocolate delights from our hosts at Lakeside but we were all sure that Father Christmas and his helpers had something to do with that! 

At the crack of dawn, we witnessed Father Christmas glide past our rooms on his magnificent sleigh, bells ringing and lights flashing. 

                

We were keen to join in with the organised activities and we kicked off with a curling tournament. It was a fun, yet quietly competitive few games.

Our sporty group then played softball tennis and had a few very impressive rallies! We had certainly worked up and appetite for our Christmas feast.

    

We put on our Christmas finery for the best lunch with all the trimmings. The turkey was brought through the dining hall and shown off to all the guests, this has been a tradition for years. We loved watching as the chefs carved the succulent meat in front of us. We got in the party mood very quickly by pulling the Christmas crackers and putting on our silly hats and of course telling the funny cracker jokes. The finale was a delicious plum pudding with brandy custard! Luckily, we had saved some room!  

The beginning of our night started with a singalong with James Cooper playing all our favourite songs from the 70s and 80s.  Call me Queen, kept us on the dance floor for the rest of the night, showing off our fabulous disco moves. It had been a Christmas to remember.

There was some nail biting action down on the pool table as we tried our best to pot the black. A friendly ping-pong tournament was a must and we laughed out loud as the balls went flying across the table.

We took out seats for the afternoon Pantomime of Little Red Riding Hood. The performance was full of laughs, silly antics, and plenty of “he’s behind you”. We were lucky to have some photos with the cast afterwards. 

A morning was spent at the archery shed, where we did our best Robin Hood impression. 

As the evening drew in we headed out for a lantern lit walk around the lake before being amazed by the incredible firework display whilst enjoying a warming hot chocolate. The flashes, bangs and sparkles lit up the night sky and it felt magical. 

A fantastic Boxing Day evening meal was enjoyed with entertainment from the ever-talented team. This was then followed by the incredible James Benn, a graduate from the prestigious school of acting in Guildford. 

We of course danced along to his dulcet tones before the evening drew to a close. With Union Jacks in our hands, we waved them in time to songs from Last Night of the Proms. We sung our hearts out as we celebrated our last night together.