North Wales Holiday
I AM VERY LATE WRITING THIS UP BUT IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH THE DELAY
In the summer holidays, Lee and I took the kids away for a week with my dad and his partner, up North Wales. We stayed in a quaint 3-bed farmhouse in the middle of nowhere...ok, ok it seemed like the middle of nowhere but the main road was about a mile away!
Why did we stay in Wales when we live there?
1. It was SO much cheaper than a holiday abroad.
2. Wales is known for the beautiful countryside, views, lakes, waterfalls and so much more!
3. The hubby didn't want to leave Wales *rolls eyes*, he doesn't do 'hot weather'.
We booked with North Wales Holiday Cottages and found this absolute gem of a place. It is located in the heart of Snowdonia, just off from Ogwen Lake, it was spacious, had incredible views...you literally walked out the door each morning with a 360° view that takes your breath away each time but I can not lie the thing that had me sold was the hot tub!
OUR HOLIDAY
We had so many plans in our heads about places to go, things to see but what we didn't count on was the beauty and adventures right on our doorstep and also the weather. We had one fully dry day which ended up to be a very hot day, the rest either drizzled, poured of was just grey but that didn't stop us from making the most of it.
On the doorstep
As we had taken the kids bikes with us they were happy riding up and down the path through a big puddle or we took them down the road to explore the nearby scenery. They actually had just as much fun if not more on this holiday than they did when we went to Cyprus last year.
We had a day playing badminton, using the bikes and obviously the hot tub *silently cheers* however we did had an incident where poor little Izzy Biz passed out as the hot tub was too hot but we soon rectified that and she was back in the next day. 
We could see a gorgeous waterfall across the other side of the valley which greeted us every day we stepped foot out the door. I was determined to go on an adventure with the kids to find it, so we set off through the farm, through the fields, made friends with some of the water buffalo and goats along the way. We eventually got the bottom part of the waterfall and I was desperate to go higher but it would have pushed my body too much but I'm sure you could venture further if you're more abled body then I am.
As gorgeous as this waterfall was there were many more on the doorstep - literally one on the doorstep as there was one as you entered the farm. I am obsessed with waterfalls and made Lee take me to all the ones we could see and that I could get to.
There were a few more things around like huge rocks the kids could climb up, a river with a bridge where we saw a kingfisher - I lie! Lee saw it not me which I was devasted by as I've never seen one. There were also horses that the owners owned and they let us feed them apples.
The house itself also had playing cards which we used every night and there were other games and a variety of books if you'd prefer.
Food wise, we popped to a small Tescos in Bethesda which was about 5 miles away.
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LLYN IDWAL
This beautiful lake sits up just behind where we stayed. It is a short walk but it is more of a hike then a stroll which is why hubby went on his own in the end as my body just isn't that fab! He did come back with these gorgeous pictures to share with you though.
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Down the road
Just a mile up the road was Ogwen Lake, which was beautiful. We drove to it as I'm not able to walk far and there was plenty of car parks or laybys to park but if you do plan on going I would recommend going early as they fill up fast and then you get people parking all along the roadside. The day we went there was about 3 cars because it was raining! Not that a little bit of water was going to stop us!
There was also a cafe just by the lake and a little takeaway hut next to that where you could get hot chocolates, snacks etc. Also, they sold woolly hats & gloves. Perfect if you're hiking in the winter or like us get soaked through.
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Days out
There were so many things we wanted to do or go and see, unfortunately, we couldn't do it all as my body just wasn't up for it but here is what we did manage...
Caernarfon Castle
This is most definitely the best Castle I've ever been to and it was made even more fun with the kids' adventure map! Yes I know, I'm such a kid...but I don't care, I loved it! Again, it was raining this day so there was a lot of hiding that took place too, which just made it even more fun for the kids and of course, they left with swords at the end of it.
Caernarfon itself is a lovely town and I found a great little bookshop and if you're looking for food then I can not recommend The black boy Inn enough. I had an incredible meal that involved a Yorkshire pudding the size of my head filled with a chicken dinner and red wine gravy *licks lips*, there was not a scrap left on my plate.
Llanberis Lake Railway
We had considered doing the Snowdon train but quite frankly it was too expensive for all 4 of us so we did the next best one. It took about an hour to go to the end of the line and back. You can get off in 2 places and catch the next train back if you wanted to have lunch by the lake or venture around Llanberis itself. We got on in Llanberis so it was only one stop to get off which was the picnic area but we didn't take lunch with us so we had a little wonder and hopped back on.
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We had food at the railway as we were starving by this point. I would recommend looking further afield for more hearty food, but it filled a hole.
Right next to the railway is the National Slate Museum which is free to enter by the way. Lee and I could have stayed there longer listening and learning about it all but the kids found it too boring just standing around but we did manage to see it all. Also got a few things in the gift shop - love me a bit of slate.
We ended the day in a little craft type shop where the kids got to spend their pocket money buying things they didn't need beacause that's what pocket money is for, right?!
There is SO much more to do and see around there...
Walk Snowdon
See so many more waterfalls
Go on countless walks
and so much more!
The only downside would be the WiFi. If you are someone who loves to be on social media or wanting to get work done then you will find it hard. They do have WiFi but it is through a hotspot, the owners gave us each a code when we first got there but it was very slow to load anything and after you've used a certain amount it runs out and you need to get another code.
Apart from that it was a perfect holiday and would most definitely go back to explore even more!