The arrow soared through the air towards the target in the distance. Squinting through the morning sunshine, I tried to work out where it had landed.

It seemed to be on the red, but that surely wasn't possible. Then I looked around to see the astonished faces of my family and realised that it was.

"I can't believe you just hit a bullseye," declared my 13-year-old son, as his 11-year-old brother and my husband looked on incredulously.

Anyone who knows me would know that hitting a bullseye on my first go at archery on a PGL Family Active break was not the only remarkable thing. It was 9am on a Saturday morning, a time when I prefer to be still in my pyjamas. So why was I doing archery in a wood at PGL's centre in Liddington, Wiltshire, with a group of children and other parents? I have to confess. it wasn't what I had planned. The only reason I'd decided to go on one of the PGL Family Active weekend breaks that are part of an extended range of options introduced by PGL was because our eldest son has been evangelical about them ever since he went when he was 11.

He enjoyed everything from sharing a dormitory to learning to surf and team challenges. Since then he has gone on another PGL holiday, and has done various other outdoor activities, and later this year will be going on an expedition to Morocco.

My thinking had been that PGL Family Active would provide a lively few days for him and his younger brother, while my husband and I got to have a coffee and read the papers in peace before catching up with our offspring at mealtimes.

But I suddenly changed my mind when we were about to see them off for the archery session, which was the first activity on our weekend break. It was the most perfect morning, with shafts of sunlight illuminating the woodland path that led to the archery area, and I suddenly decided that I wanted to go too, and was not even deterred when eldest son stopped me and said: "You don't have to do this, you know."

When I replied: "But I do want to," he replied, "Well, I just don't want you to make a fool of yourself…"

Needless to say, that made my bullseye a few moments later even more satisfying. Suddenly my kids were seeing their notoriously unsporty mother in a new light. Respect.

Alas, it transpired that my feat was beginner's luck, and most of my other shots went on to the yellow or the blue. Not that anyone really noticed, as arrows from our group were raining down all over the place.

As our instructor Dave remarked, it was just as well there weren't any cows in the field behind the targets at which we were aiming. In the end, scores were almost irrelevant. We – and the other parents and children in our group – had enjoyed ourselves together on an equal basis: a rare occurrence for most families.

On the drive there down the M4, I had begun fretting about what the accommodation would be like. On a previous trip to drop children off – with a sleeping bag – he had seen that the dormitories were fine for kids – but not ideal for adults.

Those fears were quickly dispelled as we arrives at the huge, modern centre that used to be a four-star hotel before being bought by PGL and opened in 2010. And its hotel past bore fruit – we had a twin room for adults and neighbouring twin room for children, both with ensuite bathrooms and bed linen provided. Other guests attending Family Active included groups of Girl Guides and Scouts, members of the St John Ambulance, and a group of diabetic children. Most of the members of these groups shared rooms that slept a maximum of four.

With so many different people to cater for, the self-service dining area was extremely busy at mealtimes, catering for guests who had worked up a hunger on the 150-acre site – and all included in our full-board £616 package. The programme for our Family Active stay included a vertical challenge on a climbing wall, canoeing, zip wire, aeroball and the giant swing.

One of my concerns was that we might get coerced into doing activities we didn't want to do, but that wasn't the case. Although the instructors were very encouraging towards anyone who was feeling doubtful about doing a challenge, there was never any disapproval directed towards someone who decided that an activity wasn't for them.

We were looked after by a PGL group leader, who gathered us together on the first night, and organised a variety of games so that everyone got to know each other. By the second evening, the parents were all socialising together in the reception area and bar, while the children took part in a scavenger hunt or watched a film in the cinema.

One father who had come with his daughter, a very shy only-child, said that it was the first time he had ever seen her really enjoying herself with children she had only just met.

The combination of challenging activities and good-humoured, supportive staff meant that just about anyone – parent or child – could enjoy themselves and also feel a sense of achievement. It was a memorable weekend, and some of the best fun we have experienced as a family.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE

Other PGL sites include the Isle of Wight, Shropshire, Perthshire and Dorset. French destinations include the Dordogne, Paris and Disneyland, and Normandy. For further information and for details of special offers for February and April school holidays, call 0844 371 2424 or go to www.pgl.co.uk