Picnic Time

We may be cooped up in the hospital for the summer, but that isn't stopping us enjoying a good old-fashioned picnic.  The beautiful weather this weekend coupled with a suffocatingly hot ward meant we were over the moon when the nurses agreed to let us take the little man into the hospital garden (albeit with bed attached to him).

We skipped the blankets and bundled on the little man's bed instead with our bread rolls, scotch eggs, cocktail sausages and the picnic staple - strawberries.  

We enjoyed the fresh air and Dylan's cousins made the most of all the toys that the children's ward have on offer.  My little superstar did not even moan when he saw the motorbikes, wendy houses and trampoline, instead finding a police helicopter and an ambulance that he could play with on the bed.  Archie loved the activity centres and the freedom as he is now rolling around all over the place

The fresh air certainly worked it's magic and bed time was much simpler and faster than usual, with the littles settling early enough for me to enjoy the garden again with my laptop and some choccy treats.

We may be missing most of the summer, so we are really making the most of every bit that we get!

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Barcelona with a Toddler

We have recently returned from a lovely family holiday to Spain with our toddler son and Barcelona was an amazing place to visit with a small child.  We are already missing the warmth as we snuggle under blankets back home! 

We had a fantastic time although I was initially worried about taking a 14 month old who has just learnt to walk on holiday.  Luckily it all went rather smoothly and we managed to keep him awake for long enough that he slept through most of both plane journeys - result!  We found that Barcelona was the perfect choice for a holiday with a toddler as the country is very family friendly and Dylan absolutely adored all the attention.

We stayed in an apartment a few stops away from the main attractions so as to have a bit of a quiet place to wind down in the evenings.  It did mean having to get the Metro complete with baby and buggy, but luckily it was much easier than using the London Underground with a child.  Most of the stations had clearly marked lifts that meant getting around was easy.  There were a few that didn't and luckily we had bought our lightest stroller (Cosatto Super-Lite) as the bloke ended up carrying both buggy and baby up and down the stairs in an effort to be chivalric and not make me do any lifting whilst pregnant. ( I think he secretly enjoyed the exercise as there were usually offers to help.)

On the tube Dylan never had to sit in silence.  Everyone wanted to wave and blow kisses with him and they all marvelled over his chubby cheeks and blonde hair.  Even the most unlikely candidates were cooing over him and he never tired of this, playing up to it all every time!  I found that without fail I was offered a seat on every train so I think my bump must really be protruding now!

Out and about we found that every restaurant had a high chair and although none did children's menus, it is not really necessary with tapas and Dylan loved each and every thing we gave him to try!  Some places were amazing with him and bought over colouring, bubbles, toy cars and took him for walks around the place too which made eating out very easy!

Attraction wise we did things for each of us.  There was plenty of time for shopping and looking at the architecture but we also visited the aquarium and the gorgeous Park Guell where we let Dylan explore and his fascination with going up and down the steps began!  

After a lovely day in the gardens and parks of Montjuic we saw the amazing light, music and sound show at the magic fountain as the sun set and although the little dude was getting tired he loved to watch it.  It was a complete highlight for me as it was in a beautiful place at the end of a long day walking and exploring and it made for some beautiful photos!

Having an apartment was the best choice we could have made as when we got back of an evening, Dylan went straight to bed and we could have a lovely sofa and kitchen space to wind down ourselves and make snacks.  He loved being able to walk around and explore and luckily there were no proper accidents considering it had a very hard floor and he had been walking all of a week unaided before we got there! 

The three of us had a fantastic holiday made easier by the fact that Barcelona is a great place to take a toddler, and his naturally flirty personality was very welcome! We enjoyed our last week away as a family of 3 and are already pining for the sun!

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Baby Brain

Today baby brain got the better of me.  I had an opticians appointment and desperate not to wake the baby, I had the pram ready outside.  All I had to do was lift him out of his cot, down the stairs and into the pushchair without waking him and we were off.  Well I managed that.   I put him safely in the buggy and covered the top with a blanket to keep it a little darker in there.  I shut the door and walked down the front path before realising, just as I heard him waking from his slumber, that I had left my sunglasses and bag in the house.

Panic hit me as I realised I had no money and no keys and the bloke wasn't due home until 7pm.  Luckily my trusty phone lives in my pocket or I would have been really stuck! I managed to put my sensible mummy hat on and we strolled down to the bank where they nicely let me withdraw some money even with no ID - lucky as I somehow had to feed my son with no money otherwise!  I arranged for my dad to bring us a spare key when he finished work at 5pm and we had the day to amuse ourselves!

With the temperature reading at 27 degrees, there was only one thing for it! Dylan and I strolled down to the seafront and got busy playing with the sand.  He has always loved the beach, but every time I have let him dip his toes in the big blue sea I have been met with screams. I decided to try again today though and suddenly he loved it! I held his hands so he could stand and as he giggled he walked forward, before plonking himself down where the tide would keep washing him.  He loved watching the waves roll in and over him, covering his nappy and the bottom of his T-shirt in salty water, and even kept his hat on nicely for a little while!

It was lovely to see him enjoy the seaside properly and it won't be long until we are building sandcastles and paddling.  Although my nappy bag is always pretty stocked (luckily we had suncream and a sunhat in there), I had not brought a change of clothes with me, so he spent the rest of the afternoon in just a nappy- not that he was complaining!  We went up to the greengrocers and chose some fresh fruit to have our own little afternoon picnic and made the best of a bad situation.

It was a lovely day but in future I do find having my purse and keys pretty handy!

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Folk Week Fun

 Every year one of our local towns holds a folk week festival.  The seafront pubs have live music all day and the stalls sell everything from funky clothes and jewellery to delicious fudge.  Clarence the Dragon and the Hobby Horses walk along the clifftops as jugglers and balloon makers entertain the children.  The atmosphere is friendly and all inclusive during the day and lively in the evenings with the pubs being so full the streets are lined with people until late into the night.

The perfect place for a pub garden

This year we celebrated rather differently to

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Silent Sunday 19.08

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You make me Smile - Week 6

We are now into the sixth week of You make me Smile and it is never too late to join in.  All you need to do is take three photos capturing three things that have made you smile this week, pick up the badge and join the linky!

I am pretty sure everyone this week has been smiling about this gorgeous weather, but a photo to capture it? I have gone for one of my gorgeous little man on the beach yesterday.  We had a lovely hour down there in the afternoon and then went for a sneaky ice cream at our favourite fancy ice cream parlour!

I posted last week about

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Finally some Sun - Picnic and Carnival

We had given up hope of seeing the sun. 

Summer dresses had been stuffed to the back of my wardrobe and my warm winter jumpers were getting a lot of wear.  Birthday parties had been moved inside and summer days out cancelled when the forcast changed.

Yesterday's beautiful weather looks set to be the start of our summer and we are making sure we enjoy every minute.  The suncream has come back out and my shades are set to be a permenant feature.  We spent yesterday picnicing in the glorious sunshine for a friend's birthday and tucked into some perfect homemade (not by me!) cupcakes. 

They had even made a tiny one perfect for the little dude and his table manners were nowhere to be seen as he stuffed it in in one!

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Outdoor Play - Flexibath Review

The summer weather has meant spending as much time as we can outside.  As well as day trips, picnics in the park and time at the beach, we are choosing to be out in the garden rather than stuck inside.  One of the wonderful benefits of this is the lack of mess.  I am not a brilliant housewife as I am sure the bloke will tell you and having less to clean up certainly makes the house look good for longer!

Being outside isn't just for playtime though.  Dylan's new found love of throwing his dinner into each corner of the room is less stressful when it goes over the fence into next door's garden.  Equally his insane splashing that begins the moment his feet touch the water and ends only when he is forcibly removed from the bath covers the ground in a layer of water rather than the bathroom carpet.

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Platypus UV Swimwear Review

There may have been plenty of rain so far this summer but on the odd warm days we have been enjoying the great outdoors.  A cheap paddling pool and some resilient toys makes for a lovely afternoon splashing and Platypus were kind enough to send some of their stylish sun protection for the blonde haired boy.

Based in Australia their 2012 range is in sizes 00-14 years and is now available in John Lewis, House of Fraser and online.  Their outfits have a UV protection rating of 50+ which is perfect at protecting babies delicate skin.  We were sent a baby sunset and a hat and absolutely loved them.

The quality of the products was obvious as soon as we opened the wrapper and they felt soft and flexible.  It was a perfect fit on the little man and we put it to the test in our back garden.  I think the pictures show just how comfortable they were and how cute they looked.

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