Luke and Jack shopping, eating & playing
by Louise Wilson, editor of MADE Magazine.
Great family fun-filled day out The Centre, Livingston recently – shopping (mostly for me!), eating & playing at Aerial Adventures.
First up was a visit to one of our favourite restaurants, Nando’s, which always hits the mark, especially with the boys, Luke (11) and Jack (almost 7), who always go for chicken burgers with fries and a side of tasty garlic bread. We went for the grilled halloumi sticks with chilli jam dip, Double Chicken Pitta with sliced chicken breasts infused with Nando’s classic PERi-PERi and grilled with your favourite spice, and a portion of flame-grilled Spicy Chicken Thighs - it was all amazing! The service was fantastic too and it was great to be able to sit outside as it was such a beautiful day!
Next up was some serious playtime for the boys at Aerial Adventures starting off with their trampolines, which run during the school holidays, located in the mall near Waterstones and the two amazing giant-sized artworks by Cassandra Harrison and Gregor Louden which are part of The Centre’s year-long art and photography exhibition.
They absolutely loved it… sure they would have bounced around all day if they had the chance!
Then some hi-wire fun for our two daredevils over at HiClimb Adventures, which is 12m of suspended vertical obstacles with 10 challenging climbing routes featuring cargo nets, inflatable balls, rope ladders and glass panels, as well as a giant’s staircase, and HiFall – a 12m free fall bungee experience.
The boys have always loved climbing since a really young age so we knew a visit to Aerial Adventures during the holidays would be right up their street.
The new climbing tower and giant’s staircase at HiClimb Adventures were a big hit - from the beginner level Ringtastic route to Sawtooth and Bubble Trouble, all of which offer different styles of climbing holds to test climbers’ skills.
They climb at very different levels and speeds, so the fact that there are lots of different routes on offer, meant they could each do their own thing in their own time.
It was great to watch them in action and see Jack’s confidence grow - however my heart was in my mouth when I watched them do the bungee fall! Yikes! But they both really enjoyed it and said it was their ‘favourite thing ever’!
They’ve really got something for all ages, including a soft play area for younger kids with crawl tubes, slides and a ball cannon – and mums and dads are well catered for in the beautiful Wintergarden Café which overlooks the shopping centre, where we enjoyed a nice relaxing coffee and cake!
As a special treat the boys were allowed slushies after their activities and a few goodies from Smiggle, including funky pens and new lunch boxes as well as cool trainers from schuh Kids.
There’s a great mix of shops at The Centre, and I could have happily shopped all day in stores like Lush, H&M and River Island. We’re definitely planning to go back soon to go to Stack & Still as we all LOVE our pancakes!
If you fancy having a go at any of the fantastic activities at Aerial Adventures, which are great for thrill-seekers, check out aerialadventures.co.uk for more information, where you can also reserve your slot online.
