When Mia and Lottie Met Santa…Twice! -

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It’s been a weird year for everyone hasn’t it? When it got to October, I decided to try and book in our usual Christmas activities in the hope we would get to at least one of them. After so many things cancelled at short notice, it was a risk, but I booked in a visit to see Santa at our local garden centre and then saw a Covid-safe Christmas event at Silverstone which sounded amazing! We also were lucky enough to get tickets to the Christmas at Wollaton Event too!

We were happy to hear that our Santa visit was still going to go ahead as it was an outdoor event, so we popped down to the garden centre at the start of December. We had to book it in advance, and it was £10 per child. Lottie didn’t remember seeing Santa last year as she was only a year old so it was going to be interesting to see how she would react! The garden centre had a great safe system of just one family in at a time which made us feel really comfortable. We wore face masks, but the kids were able to get close enough to have a good chat with Santa. We also got a nice socially distanced photo!

Lottie was the quietest we have ever seen her and spent most of the time behind my leg but Mia was great at getting trying to get her involved and she chatted to Santa no problem! Maybe next year Lottie! The great thing about seeing Santa like this was the fact you didn’t feel like you were rushed through the grotto at all. There was plenty of time to take photos, look at everything and the girls also got a good 10 minutes to talk to Santa.

3 days before Christmas, we were so excited to be going to Silverstone! I booked the Silverstone Lapland Event as Mario is an F1 fan and I read that you got to drive round the actual racetrack! It cost us £40 for the car which I didn’t think was too bad! We knew it was going to involve a light show but that was it! It’s about a 90-minute drive for us so we bundled the kids into the car with lots of activities and their blankets and pillows with a promise of a MacDonald’s on the way!

We stopped at the MacDonald’s just outside Silverstone and tuned into the radio station especially for the event. As you drive round, Christmassy music plays, and you can get shout outs too which Mario did. We got 2 shout outs which just added to the excitement! Our slot was 5:30pm so about 5pm we drove into Silverstone. Again, it was so well organised and designed so that you never get out of the car. You literally drive in and onto the track. Each set of cars follows (an actual!) safety car round the track, and it was breath-taking!

As you drive round, there is a light and Laser show, and it was truly amazing! About halfway round, you get to the starting grid and as you are driving at about 5 miles an hour, I lined us up on pole position to go under the start line! It was so exciting! As you near the end, Santa and his elf are sat in a huge blow-up bubble and waves to all the cars going by. The kids were so happy to see Santa again! I think this event was more for me and Mario to be honest, but the kids did have fun too. If you’re an F1 fan, you will love it! We will definitely be booking again next year!