Ever since our little man started his first year of "big school" in September, we've found ourselves fully hooked into the "party" circuit, and especially at this time of year we seem to be picking up birthday party bags and fresh invites virtually every week.

Last Saturday was no exception - a month or so back, we got an invite from two of his pals to a party at Rand Farm Park. When the wife and I clocked the invite the location was a bit of a surprise - being over the other side of Lincoln, about 40 miles from us. But we weren't going to disappoint the little fella and we're always up for finding new days out places. So Saturday morning, we hotfooted it over there straight from his weekly swimming lessons (we just about managed to get him towelled down first!!)

It's actually a few miles North of Lincoln centre, on the A158 , close to the village of Wragby (and only 30 miles or so from Skegness for any holidaymakers looking to escape the delights of "Skegvegas" for the day)

As we were running late, we found a spot in the Overflow car park and skipped right past an impressive looking Outdoor playground, featuring a central rope climb tower, and plenty of interesting looking obstacle course type options. Probably better left for the warmer months, but there's also a Pedal Go-Kart track.

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A warm welcome
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I just about had chance to cast a glance at the entrance prices as we scrambled inside, and at £6.95 for an adult / child , £5.25 for senior citizens and free for under 2's seemed pretty reasonable. When we got to the desk, I noticed an electronic board up with the latest updates and information (very efficient), and the staff were very quick to get us organized. As party guests we got one adult and child in free and an orange sticker, while muggins here got to cough up the cash and a yellow sticker in return.

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Moo, Baaah, Oink, Tweet, LUNCH!
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It is a working farm, and our party had already begun with a spot of animal feeding, but we were soon on the trail to catch up with our group. I have to admit being quietly pleased that we'd missed out on the opportunity to have my hands covered in slobbering tongues as little man generally delegates the feeding task to my good self. They offer lamb and calf feeding as well as opportunities to hold and touch the animals.

They certainly seemed a very contented and well looked after bunch with their pens equipped with stereos playing soothing classical music and the like.

But it was the tearoom equipped with 120 places that provided the pot of gold at the end of my morning Rainbow. Our party guests had their own table in an adjoining room (handily right by the toilets) so we could keep an eye on them and still get on with our own lunches. I had a splendid Jacket Potato with Chilli, and the wife enjoyed a lovely freshly made sandwich or three, all very reasonably price I thought.

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Tractor Time
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Time for some fresh air next, and while we waited for our turn on the tractor ride, there was a nice little under 4's playground for them to limber up on.

Sadly, there wasn't quite enough room on the trailer (which probably seats about 25) for all the adults, so I had to watch the mighty blue tractor thunder majestically away with my son and wife on board and wait for the tales of exciting adventures (or more accurately the big smiling faces) when the returned 10 minutes later.

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Discovery Time
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Next up we were back indoors in a little activities / educational centre. Our group's main challenge on this occasion was uncovering layer upon layer of newspaper for the purposes of the noble art of Pass the Parcel, but in my idling moments, I spied a nice little stage area and shop, again very well presented. I do believe one or two of the more opportunistic parents nipped out to the nearby farm shop.

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Play Time
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No doubt, the crowning feature of the place (particularly at this cold time of the year) was the splendidly appointed Indoor Adventure Play Barn a.k.a Soft play. Featuring all manner of interconnecting rope bridges,
twisty and helter skelter style slides and foam ball cannon fire, there's plenty to keep them occupied here. With a minimum age of 4, and some areas reserved for the over 6's, when it gets busy there's always the chance of a small bump or tumble, but overall it seemed pretty safe to me.


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Shopping time
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One of the surprising extra features of this place, is the toy shop area just adjacent to the soft play. They've obviously got friends on the board of Playmobil or something because there are at least 3 shelves stocked full of all the Playmobil kits you could possibly ever want. Very handy indeed if you've got a little one who's into this stuff.


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Home time
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Overall , we spent a very happy three or four hours here at Rand Farm Park, and the best recommendation I can give is that now we know about it, we'll definitely be paying another visit later in the year. For anyone local, I believe they even offer a season ticket for a very reasonable £30.

There's plenty to do both indoors and out, and for me what's particularly impressive about the place is just how well organised and presented everything is

We'll be back!