Summer is here! Its official. How do I know? Because the Lido is open! Yippee! I have to pinch myself every year at how lucky we are in Cheltenham to have this absolutely beautiful place to spend our summers, and boy do I take advantage!

Open 7 days a week 11am - 7:30pm (with 9:30am starts on Tuesday and Thursdays), it's the perfect place to set-up camp with the kids on those hot… and not so hot days. We braved the opening day on Friday 14th and even though I was sat in trousers and a coat, the main pool was busy as was the children’s pool; full of excited kiddies not feeling the cold.

We settled in the children’s pool area and unpacked the various mats/toys/towels/drinks/snacks etc required to keep a 3 and 1 year old distracted. There are lockers available for those that travel lighter (tokens are £1) or are using the main pool – it’s trickier to keep an eye on your belongings in such a big space.

Before we even laid down the mat my 1 year old Paloma tried to escape into the pool. So, my original plan of letting her stay on dry land with me had failed in the first five minutes. Instead I let her brave the splash pool with some toys and - despite it being colder than the kids pool (which is kept at around 27C) - she absolutely loved it! It was just shallow enough for her to crawl around and pull herself up supervised. Perfect.

Bertie, aged 3, on the other hand is much more fearful of the water than his sister, but he soon realised that he is now tall enough to touch the bottom throughout the children's pool, so donning his life vest he felt very brave being able to be in there without holding my hand.

The children’s pool is a great size for him to be able to play but I can keep an eye on him and there is always at least one lifeguard watching.

Bribing him to get out of the pool was another matter, luckily with the play areas (and there are 2) we can make a deal of some playtime and food! Sometimes I’m organised enough to bring my own picnic, but there are some days when only hot food will do; cue the café!

I stocked up on caffeine, and the kiddies worked their way through the enormous portion of chicken nuggets and chips – there are healthier options for those whose threenagers eat non-beige food. Sigh!

And to burn off dinner? A final run-around in the larger play area situated on the main lawn beside the big pool. The perfect end to a lovely day.

Already looking forward to our next visit.

Hannah, April 2017