Mote Park in Maidstone and Stone Bay, Broadstairs make up Our Kent Family's third week

Time flies when you're having fun. Or so they say. And I think as we hit the school holiday halfway mark it's perhaps true of our last three weeks.

Having spent a considerable amount of time worrying about how we would fill a month and a half without the distraction of our normal routines I now stare at the calendar and think about just how fast the days are passing.

We're getting ready to go away soon, we have another surprise short break planned towards the end of the holiday and we've still got faces we haven't got round to seeing, play dates to fit in, not to mention the school uniform and shoe shop to do.

There's now a distinct danger that rather than longing for the end of the holidays I'm starting to feel like it's a deadline creeping up on us that will signal the end to the fun we're having.

Though give me two rainy days with children swinging from the lampshades and I'll quickly tell a different story.

But for now, here's our top picks from week three...

Mote Park

Mote Park is a stunning green space which has lots for children to do.

The paths are good for scooters and bikes, the play areas are well equipped, there's a good cafe, and most importantly lots of green space in which to run around.

The only thing which I think lets it down, solely from my point of view, during the school holidays is perhaps the small selection of funfair rides next to the playground.

Parks are a safe bet for families needing a cheap day out and I think lots of parents don't bank on needing to negotiate the little people perstering for fairground rides when they come for a quick (and cheap) go on the swings or to feed the ducks - not to mention the small issue of coming with enough cash when you had only banked on the £1 for parking and maybe the cost of an ice-cream.

But we did come to feed the ducks, and feed them we did.

For those looking to do the same, Maidstone Borough Council is urging visitors to not bring bread for its wildfowl, which it says offers little nutritional value for them and in large quantities can cause problems for the wider environment.

The cafe sells boxes of duck food but if you're bringing from home - defrosted peas, unseeded grapes cut in half and grains including wheat, barley and oats are all on the approved menu.

Baking

Mary Berry eat your heart out. OK, so maybe I wouldn't go that far but halfway through the week despite the dry weather we opted for a day indoors flinging sugar and sweets around the kitchen.

Both my children enjoy nothing more than to make a mess, so if you throw in enough sweet stuff to rot their teeth and enough bowls and spoons to lick the cake contents from, it usually signals a pretty successful afternoon.

They do sometimes get bored quickly so I tend to measure and mix for them and let them come in for the glory at the end with the decorating, which perhaps works well for all of us.

But the cupcakes cakes kept us going through a couple of picnics later in the week, so everyone's a winner as they say.

Stone Bay

As a family of self-confessed beach bums, I'd like to think we know our county's coastline pretty well.

We have our favourite spots for skimming stones, eating chips and building sandcastles depending on the day, the time and the weather.

However we were dealt a game-changer on Friday when friends took us to Stone Bay in Broadstairs.

We'd never been here before but it honestly is the most fantastic little beach, which has left me wondering whether we have time for one more visit before the end of the holidays.

To reach it you go through the town centre and out the other side. There is free on-street parking close to the primary school on Stone Road, the beach has a cafe at the bottom and toilets halfway down the flight of steps you use to reach the sand.

The steps were the only minor issue for us, which meant leaving our pushchair in the car (so useful for carrying all our bags!) and had to lug our belongings and help small children down the concrete flight.

(A big thank you to the kind lady who offered to take various little hands, carry buckets and nets to the bottom and walked in front of our children as they edged their way down the steps.)

The beach is small, and quiet, and the sea when out exposes some lovely rock pools for delving in.

When the tide is in, the water comes a good distance up the beach which is brilliant for being able to watch small children having a splash from the comfort of your dry picnic blanket.

You can even walk the path round the bend and back into Broadstairs.

It ended our week, and the first half of our holidays on a real high, and has left us all looking forward to what the second half has in store - where hopefully the weather is just as dry, the adventures big and (for as long as it's sunny) the days are long... very long.