Olympian Denise Lewis takes her family to Center Parcs

Add to My Stories Sitting still and doing nothing is a problem. I just cant do it. The other night, I tried watching a costume drama on television. I settled down with a glass of wine, but only managed to stay put for half an hour. Then I was up and running around; loading the dishwasher, putting out the rubbish.
So taking my husband Steve and our three children on an activity holiday to Center Parcs seemed a good idea.
We spent a week at Elveden Forest, in Suffolk, and it wasnt long enough. There were so many different pursuits - such as archery, abseiling and sailing - that you never had to do the same thing twice. In fact, there were 150 pastimes. You can imagine how that appealed to someone like me, whose life has been sport.

Family frolics: The outdoor swimming pool at Center Parcs in Elveden Forest, Suffolk We chose a four-bedroom lodge with enough room to take my mother along. She still lives in Wolverhampton, where I grew up, and we live in Buckinghamshire, so we dont see her enough. She brought me up on her own and we are very close.
Our aim as a family at Elveden was to experience things we had never tried before.
In Mums case, that meant riding a bike for the first time. The resort is set up for cycling: you hire the bikes, and there are wonderful cycleways and 400 acres to explore. So we could all whizz around, including our youngest son, Kane, who is nearly two, strapped into a baby seat on my husbands bike.

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I would like to say that we succeeded with Mum, but by the end of the week she was still a work in progress.
In my case, I hadnt done any aerial sports, like the zip wire, before. I was determined to have a go, but I was apprehensive about my eight-year-old, Lauryn, coping ! with the heights. In the end, though, she was fine and I was the more nervous one.
As part of the Aerial Adventures course, we spent an afternoon suspended 45ft above the ground. We began by swinging from ropes, tree to tree, like Tarzan. I felt like I was taking a walk among the treetops, and then we tried the zip wire.
It wasnt that nerve-racking because everyone wears a safety harness and the instructor boosted our confidence. I just followed his advice and felt a great whoosh of adrenaline.

Denise says: 'Sitting still and doing nothing is a problem. I just can't do it'Thats the legacy of being an athlete - I know how to listen and to stay focused. My body is nothing like it was when I was competing. Im 38 now and Ive had three children, but I still exercise three times a week. As well as looking after the children, I work as a sports ambassador and a commentator for the BBC, so I dont always have time to go to the gym.
That means I exercise at home. I have a cross-trainer, and Ill put cushions down on the living room floor and do timed circuits with a stopwatch.
Ten years after I won the gold medal in Sydney in the heptathlon, people still recognise me, particularly if I have my hair scraped back and Im in a tracksuit.
At Center Parcs, I signed a few autographs. Im happy to do that. Sport has given me so much, and I cant wait for next years Olympics.
At Elveden, we ended up doing our own family heptathlon. Instead of hurdles and shot, it was running, kayaking, archery, bowling and the zip wire.
Together with cycling and the rowing, that made up the seven events. After all that, we had such good weather that we ended up barbecuing on the terrace most nights, even though there are plenty of restaurants.
The highlight for me was conquering the zip wire. I liked being out of my comfort zone. It took me back to my days of competing. And the bonding time was so precious w! ith our children and my mother. There are moments in life when I have felt completely happy, and the time at Center Parcs was one of them.
As we packed to go back home, the only thing that stopped our children whining was the promise that we would be back next year.