[libbylu]

My DH, his brother and father are going to Ireland for 10 days on a blokey ancestry beer drinking mission. This will be in the middle of our 8 week trip to Europe/UK.
SIL, myself and our kids will need to find somewhere to hang out during that time.
I will have DS age 6 and baby 4 months, and my SIL will have baby 10 months.
We will be in the UK but will need to find some accommodation for a week, preferably as cheap as possible, somewhere relaxing where there will be things to do for the 6 year old and life is easy with the babies!
Be are both nature lovers and beach lovers, but not sure how exciting the beach will be over there compared to what we are used to in Oz.
Any suggestions as to where we can book a cottage for a week not too far from London (I guess 1.5-2 hours max) that is fairly cheap?

[Libster]

I highly recommend Center Parcs in Longleat Forest, it is a couple of hours from London, although it might be a bit pricey. You pay for the accommodation and any activities on top of that, although there are playgrounds dotted around the place so you could get away with just using those and hanging out in the huge swimming dome which has a wave pool and waterslides.
There is a range of accommodation choices, might be worth a look?
http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/villages/longleat/index.jsp