Butlin's Skegness with Toddlers

As I am away this week enjoying everything Butlin's Bognor Regis has to offer, I thought it would be rather fitting to have a guest post from the lovely Louise at A Strong Coffee about her experiences of Skegness.  Keep a look out for my review of Bognor Regis very soon, and please pop on over to Louise's blog if you want to read more about Butlin's Skegness

Once you have children, relaxing holidays by the pool become a thing of the past. Finding activities to entertain your children take priority. This February half term we headed to Skegness to see what Butlin's had on offer. On arriving I was shocked at how big the site was. I highly recommend that you take a pushchair with you even if your little one likes walking as you will want to explore everything the site has to offer. When it comes to entertainment then there is plenty for your toddlers to enjoy. Inside the Skyline Pavilion, there is a teacup and ladybird ride for the under fives. These are free of charge and we found it difficult to walk past them without having a quick go. In here you will also find the shows. Mike the Knight, Thomas and Friends and Fireman Sam were all enjoyed by my boys. The shows are around half an hour long so they capture the imagination of toddlers without them losing interest.

On a nice day there is nothing better than paddling in the sea and there is easy access to the beach directly from the resort, but Butlin's has it covered if the weather isn't as good as you had hoped. There is a soft play area which will keep them happy and the Splash Waterworld has a great toddler swimming area. There are 3 small waterslides along with sprinklers, which my boys could have splashed around in for hours.

If you are looking for somewhere to eat, The Deck and The Yacht Club restaurants (included in the premium dining plan) offer a great choice for toddlers. There is a special children's station or they can enjoy the other food on offer. As it is a buffet they are able to choose for themselves and juices are also included in the price. 

We had a great week at Butlin's and there was a great choice of activities included in the price. We had to go in half term due to our eldest being at school, but if you only have a toddler then the "Just for Tots" term time breaks may be worth looking into as well

If you want to read more from Louise, then check out her blog, twitter and facebook.  Look out for more posts on Butlin's soon!

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An African Adventure

My beautiful and brave little sister has just returned from a summer spent really making a difference.  For 10 weeks she has been improving the quality of so many people's lives in Tanzania, Africa and I am so proud of all she achieved.  She challenged herself mentally, physically and emotionally and has agreed to write a little something about her trip for me.  

When asked the question what is the most essential thing in your life people have responded with family, love, house or money, but the one thing we take most for granted is water. We use it without a doubt every day; drinking, cleaning, cooking and washing are just a few ways in which water is essential to our lives. This summer I got the opportunity to spend 10 weeks with a community that before we arrived had no water.  

Going with

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Britax Bob - A Man's Perspective

As well as testing the Britax Bob Sport Utility Stroller myself, I asked a male friend to help me out with this review.  Despite my best intentions of getting fit, I know I still have a fair way to go so our friend Nick has been helping out.  I think with a pushchair like this it is helpful to have more than one opinion too and as men are quite often taller and faster, their experience will be different.

Nick has been taking his 2.5 year old son out with the stroller and here is what he had to say:

My initial scepticism, upon taking this buggy out for the first time, was soon replaced with a level of respect for the design and quality of build. This has clearly been designed and built for running. It is light and rolls forward with minimal resistance. The lack of friction results in the runner requiring very little effort to keep the forward momentum going on the buggy. From the runners point of view the ride of the buggy is smooth and fills you with confidence. The buggy’s suspension and tyres handle minor bumps, potholes, low kerbs and grassland without a fuss.


The fixed wheel at the front works well despite my initial concerns. Cornering and sudden changes of direction are able to be accomplished intuitively and without too much disruption to the run. The handlebars sit at just the right height and allow for regular shifting of hand position. The hood is the best I have come across – it actually keeps the sun off the little cherubs face when the sun is directly in front. Everything about this buggy suggests utility and quality.


I have also taken this buggy shopping into a busy town centre. Whilst the lightness and ease of movement made for an easy trip from the house to town, once in the shops it was easy to forget the length of the buggy. This resulted in a few apologies to other shoppers after they received a bump from the front tyre. Having said that it was extremely manoeuvrable even on the shiny floors of a supermarket and made for an easy, uphill walk home when laden with shopping.


I would compare this buggy to a good quality hybrid bike. For example, running uphill with it is uncannily similar to riding up a hill - leaning on the handlebars as your legs feel the burn. Running along with this buggy genuinely evokes the feeling of cycling.


Taking this buggy out for a run changes the very nature of that run. The real danger that this buggy could encumber and annoy the runner has been ameliorated by excellent design and superb build quality. This is refreshing and I am genuinely pleased that I had the opportunity to use this buggy.

So it sounds like this is a stroller that can take the pace, and is suitable for dads as well as mums for running with.

Disclaimer:  I was sent the stroller for the purpose of a review 

but all thoughts and opinions are my own (and Nick's)

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Guest Post - Pregnant And Apart: Things That I Wish Were Different

 

Firstly, a huge congratulations to Bex on the arrival of little Squish – what a cutie! 

It’s a hectic time for any parent in those first few weeks and months, so I’m here today with a guest post to take away some of the stress and worry of keeping the site updated during such a busy time. 

And, in-keeping with the flavour of the month, I’d like to talk to you about what pregnancy can be like from a man’s perspective and what I could have personally done differently in an ideal world. 

I was relatively young when our first-born came along – still only 20 years old and in the final year of university. 

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Guest Post - My Boys

I have a second guest post this week from the lovely Kat at Kat Sighs. 



 I am a Mum of three boys. The Big One is 12 yrs and firmly rooted in tweenager-dom. He is a lovely lad and I am sure he will emerge the other side of his teens equally as lovely. Who knows what will fill the gap!? (He is from my previous relationship) Next up is Chaos who is 2 on Sunday. He is a regular whirlwind and entertaining to boot. He fills a room and steals your attention, however much you try to ignore him. Then there is Squish Pot. He is 10 months and completely adorable! He is the angelic, cute, quiet one - at the moment! 

Having kids is a total lottery, you never know what you're going to get. Even with a box of chocolates the options are limited! I was 22 when I had Big. I was naive enough to think having a baby wouldn't be that big a change - PAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Stupid girl, I know. I didn't really consider what this lump I was sporting, would turn into. I just didn't want to get too big as I was struggling to ride my horse every day. Once again, Stupid girl, I know! 

When I was pregnant with Chaos, all those years later, it was a totally different story. I knew what was coming this time. Another bundle of grinning, puking, cuddly, poopiness that I would fight to the death for. I knew that number 2 would be different to number 1. They were two different people so of course they would have different personalities. They would like different toys, foods, colours and clothes. I realised that. What I didn't realise (and nobody told me) was that EVERYTHING would be different!! 

Big was a healthy breastfed baby - Chaos dropped weight like a hot potato and was readmitted to hospital at 7 days with Jaundice.

Big was a great sleeper - Chaos had undiagnosed reflux and would scream for ages if we led him down but slept instantly on us. He also used to gag in his sleep (terrifying!)

Big would eat anything - Chaos was still eating puree at a year due to his reflux (any lumps made him gag and vomit)

I suppose I thought the fundamental things would be the same. I thought they would sleep and eat the same. It was a total shock and I remember saying "Big never did that" a LOT in the early days.

Now we have Squish as well and he (curiously) looks and acts like Big. They are both blond haired and blue eyed, quiet, easy going and happy. Squish slept through the night from a few weeks old, eats everything within reach and has had no problems at all. He is the most infectiously happy baby you could ever meet. He is always smiling and has a collection of hearts he stole from every health visitor he ever met! 

It is interesting watching how they get on together. Big always wanted a little brother so I thought he would be made up when he got one and he was. He soon realised his little playmate had a lot of growing to do before they could play football together! He was worried about breaking him initially but watching them now you wouldn't believe that was ever a concern! They wrestle and muck about to the point I have to remind Big he is playing with a little boy not a rag doll!! Chaos never seems to mind and laughs his head off. Stupidly, I thought Big would be more tolerant of the time the little boys require as he is old enough to understand. He may well understand but it doesn't stop him feeling left out. This is something we are working on at the moment. 

Chaos and Squish are very cute together. Chaos loves his little brother and gives him kisses but he also gets a bit rough with him, usually when he takes his tractors! They are starting to play together more now as Squish becomes more mobile. It is lovely to watch the three of them playing together. Squishs little face lights up when he sees his brothers, he follows them about as fast as he can crawl, bless him. I am glad when he was born that I tried really hard to involve Chaos so he didnt feel jealous or left out. He was quite heavy handed so I got him involved in other ways. He used to fetch nappies or wipes for me. He would pick up a dropped toy or dummy. Carry things to another room or just sit next to Squish if I had to pop to the kitchen. If Squish cries, Chaos still comes running to see if hes ok from where ever he is. He tells me if hes hurt or what happened if I wasnt looking. Squish doesnt like being on his own so I taught Chaos to just sit with him so I could make his bottle. I suppose that has stayed with him and he still sits with him if I pop out of the room for a minute. 

Boys will be boys but I love my boys, they are great!



I may be a little scared now as big one sounds a lot like Dylan but I have my fingers crossed for another hungry little sleeper (can you really be that lucky twice?)

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Guest Post - Trouble times Two

I have a wonderful guest post today from the lovely Rachel at Three Years and Home.  Rachel will have two little boys from early next year as well and much like me is wondering what she is letting herself in for! 

           Like Bex, I already have one troublesome toddler on my hands who will turn two at the end of this month. Just as things started to calm down at the end of last year and we settled him in to a routine that both my husband and I could cope with, those pesky hormones took over and persuaded us that yes, now we get time to eat meals while they are still hot and enough sleep to not render us exhausted come 3pm, let’s go through it all again! So come January, our family of three will become a more complete four. We’ll have two little boys on our hands; trouble times two!

Looking back to when CK was born, I can’t believe how overwhelming everything was. Was I feeding him enough? Was I changing him enough? How often should we bath him? Should I entertain him every waking moment? Could I take a shower while he sat in his bouncy chair? Was it okay to leave him in the playpen while I popped to the kitchen to make a cup of tea? Not to mention the horror of him refusing to be weaned before 7 months and not sleeping through the night until 14 months. And everywhere I turned, I received conflicting information. It was hard not to panic.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and now I can say that essentially, I worried for no reason. This has made me determined to take a more relaxed approach with trouble number two. I have more of a sense of what to expect and now know to just let things happen. Baby’s take their own time to develop and while books are great for general ideas, they’re not to be relied upon religiously. 

I am a little concerned that my husband and I are going to lose our tag team approach during the tough times. Two versus one is great to see you through the nights of teething and illness where you can work in shifts. With two wanting and needing our attention, I imagine there’s going to be very little rest in our small apartment. I picture myself snatching a mere moment to take a shower with trouble number two settled in the bathroom in his cradle and trouble number one pulling back the curtain every second to play peekaboo. It might not be glamorous, it might not always be fun but right now, I can’t wish for anything more. 

I am definitely going to be more relaxed second time around as Dylan has taught me that they all do things in their own time and worrying doesn't do anybody any good! You can find Rachel on twitter as farfromhomemama 

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Aromatherapy Play Dough - Guest Post

Today we have a guest post with a brilliant idea for a money saving activity.  We all spend so much on toys and games for children when there are so many things we can make to encourage their imagination and creativity.

Hi everyone, it is Jen from The Mad House, A Thrifty Mum and Frugal and Fun 

Home Made Aromatherapy Play Dough 

Ingredients 

1 and half cups (1 cup is 250ml) of salt 

3 cups of warm water 

3 cups of plain flour 

3 tablespoons of oil 

6 teaspoons of cream of tartar 

Food colouring 

Essential oils 

Method 

1. add the salt and water to a large pan and heat until the salt to melt has melted 
2. add the flour, oil and cream of tartar and heat over a medium heat, stirring continuously until it starts to pull away from the sides (you need to be quite vigorous) 
3. Tip out the dough and need for about 2 minutes 
4. Split the dough in to smaller amounts and add food colouring and essential oil 
   
   

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Caring for your Cloth Nappies - Guest Post

The lovely Sarah at Fluffy Dumplings has written a guest post for me about caring for your cloth nappies.  Looking after them well will not only keep them looking and smelling great, but helps them stay super absorbent.

Normally washing does not excite me, not one little bit. Now don't get me wrong I am house proud but I don't get any particular thrill out of washing and cleaning as a housewife/mummy/home maker the washing is just one of my roles.

Cleaning my daughter's nappies, now that's something I do get a little pleasure from. I have no idea why but its with immense satisfaction I see my little wicker basket full of freshly washed and dried cloth nappies. I imagine them all sitting in there fluffing themselves up, trying to be noticed first shouting "pick me, pick me".

So what is the best way to wash your cloth nappies? Here's a little guide:

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Real Nappy Week 2012

I would like to introduce. . . . . The Bloke, doing a guest post on the blog  about Cloth nappies for Real Nappy Week 2012. 

As it is Real Nappy Week, I have a few things to say.

Real nappies work much better than imaginary nappies.  We have tried imaginary nappies once or twice.  They smell better than real nappies but they leak quite a lot.  Definitely not the best option to use overnight.

As with many (but not all) dads, nappies have been forced in to my life.  My relationship with nappies is a bit love/hate.  I do hate nappies.  But I couldn't live without them.  Since having a baby, The Mrs has decided to swap her girly obsession of buying new handbags and shoes, and replaced it with an insatiable addiction to cloth nappies.

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