Reviews

A globe to inspire a love of travel and the stars

The Earth and Constellations globe is a must for any child who loves finding out about the stars

The Bug is a fan of the stars. He has glow stars stuck to his ceiling, a room totally devoted to Star Wars, and he’s constantly on the lookout for a falling star, now that the nights are getting longer. Whenever we’re out at night, especially on a camping trip, he spends hours browsing the Skywalk app, trying to figure out what he’s looking at in the night sky. It’s a lovely thing to love, I think. But when you marry that interest with a love of travelling, and understanding the world, you’ve really got a recipe for inspiring a …

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Travel Books for Kids: review and giveaway

The Travel Book is one of Lonely Planet Kids new travel books for kids

I met my husband on holiday. We bonded over gluwein and ski-runs, and never looked back. Always forward, to the next trip. And we’ve had some great trips over the years. Dubai, the Maldives, California, Aspen, Cape Town and Turkey are just some of the places we’ve ventured. When children came along we stayed a little closer to home, but not for long. Our wanderlust and love of new experiences has us back out there now that the kids are a little older, and they’re proving themselves to be very enthusastic travel companions in their own rights. Lonely Planet introduces travel …

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Dear Type 1 Diabetes

Raising money for JDRF, the Type 1 Diabetes charity

Dear Type 1 Diabetes, I’m just writing to let you know what I think of you. I haven’t ranted too much in the last year since you rudely set up camp in our lives, but the time has come. It might get sweary. Actually, strike that; this is going to get totally sweary, and I make no apologies, because it’s about time you were told. Type 1 Diabetes, you are a nasty, vindictive little terrorist, with an impeccable and malicious sense of timing. I have gradually come to accept that you are a law unto yourself. It’s not about food, …

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Travel: Top 10 activities at Duinrell holiday park

A lovely traditional carousel provides the centrepiece for the pancake house at Duinrell

Our summer holiday this year took us on a family week to Duinrell holiday park, in the Netherlands. We’ve done a lot of campsite holidays, and several with Canvas, but this was probably the most successful of all of them. And it wasn’t due to the weather! Duinrell is a bit different in that – once you’ve paid for your accommodation – you have a range of rather unusual on-site activities included in the price, including access to a full-scale theme park! We honestly could have spent the whole week on site. Here are our top 10 things to do …

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Travel: What we loved about the Tikibad water park in Duinrell!

The terrifying (and wedgie-giving) Pelican slide at the Tikibad in Duinrell Holiday Park is not to be missed!

Without a doubt, the main reason you will stay at Duinrell is the Tikibad. Aside from the fact that it is a genius addition to a park where the weather isn’t always of the beach variety, it is quite simply the most fun you will ever have in a soggy swimsuit. I’m not the biggest fan of water parks since passing the hedonistic age of 21, preferring to stay dry and warm, and to keep all my belongings where I can see them. But I was the first to beg for another day at the Tikibad, once I’d sampled the …

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Diabetes: This is WAR

This weekend we played a game of Bananagrams. One of those games that you either love or hate. My need for order and precision, my discomfort with change means it’s not my favourite. But it grows on you. Those who like to shake things up, change them for the sake of it, experiment, they love it. It makes GG happy. If she doesn’t like a word she’s used, she’ll change it. I wish everything was that simple. I left them to tidy up, and when I next looked, they hadn’t. They’d all wandered off, apart from her. She sat at …

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Travel: A Very Clever Beach Towel – Hammamas Towel Review

Colourful but clever Hammamas towels are the solution to space-saving on your holiday packing

I’d never heard of a Hammam beach towel until Hammamas got in touch to ask me to review theirs. If you’re also in the dark, read on to find out the benefits of a cotton Hammam towel that’s lightweight and small enough to save luggage space, but absorbent enough to do the job! Ad: Hammamas gave us four of their adult-sized towels for this review. All opinion and images are our own. Why Hammam beach towels are perfect for a holiday Every now and then, when you’re reviewing products on a blog, you find one that you love so much, …

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Travel: an Incredible Day aboard the Thames Clippers

Seeing London from a boat's-eye-view gives you a whole new perspective on the capital

  Yesterday we spent the day on the river Thames. I say we spent the day; in actual fact we spent just two 30 minute trips on the Thames, and filled the rest of our time on its banks, enjoying some of the things that – despite living a 20 minute train ride away from the Capital – we’ve never bothered to do before. It was such a fun day, that we will definitely be going back. We were invited as guests of MBNA Thames Clippers, to experience their fleet of boats that transport both tourists and commuters across London. …

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Passion Fruit Ice Cream Recipe with White Chocolate Chunks

This passion fruit and white chocolate ice-cream was really easy to make in our Sage ice-cream maker

How good does that look? That, my friends, is passion fruit ice cream, made in our new Sage by Heston Blumenthal ice-cream maker. Stuff of dreams, right? Now, imagine if every bite had a small chunk of white chocolate to go with the tang of all that passion fruit. I can see you nodding, so here you go… If you love a good gadget read how our family pizza nights have become legendary since we got the brilliant Roccbox pizza oven Passion fruit and white chocolate ice cream We’re reviewing the Sage by Heston Blumenthal Smart Scoop ice-cream maker this summer. It …

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Travel: A Sleepover at the Zoo

Sleepover at the zoo

What do Frubes, Minions, and chimps have in common? Not much at first glance, but when you bring them together they’re a huge amount of fun. This week the people from Frubes took us on the experience of a lifetime – a sleepover at the zoo! To celebrate their partnership with the new Minions movie, Frubes have launched a limited edition banana flavour, and they were keen to let us sample the new packs during an overnight stay in the lodges at Whipsnade Zoo. Jane, from Northern Mum sips wine on deck. The Lookout Lodges are set across the road …

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Being Brave: BritMums and Type 1 Diabetes

In June 2015 I attended the BritMums Live conference for parenting bloggers. I have been many times to the event, and have transitioned from nervous new blogger to being relaxed and excited to catch up with friends and discover new brands. I have spoken at the event in previous years, and gained valuable experience in public-speaking. I have even read a blogger keynote speech before – a funny one that gave me the satisfaction of a few audience laughs. This year though, I was brave. This year I spoke out about what it means to suffer a life-changing event in …

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Travel: Sandbanks – Possibly the best beach in Britain

Is this the best beach in Britain? Yesterday we were in Poole, awaiting a ferry to visit family in the Channel Islands. With the ferry scheduled to leave first thing in the morning, we decided to skip the early start and head down to Poole for the night, to enjoy the harbour and the wonderful beach there. We spent a happy couple of hours wandering round the gift shops and staring open-mouthed at the enormous boats in the Sunseeker boatyard, before heading over to Sandbanks to relax at the Sandbanks hotel. Sandbanks is a 1 kilometre stretch of sand which …

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Merry Christmas! Pines and Needles Christmas Tree Delivery Review

Oh yes I did. I did just wish you a merry Christmas. And I appreciate that with many of you just about to head off on your summer holidays, Christmas may not be top of your agenda right now. But it should be. Because I have an offer for you that you really don’t want to miss. Christmas Tree Decoration image from Shutterstock Christmas Tree stress You know the romantic image you have of heading out a week before Christmas Eve together to choose your tree? That one special tree that is destined to be yours, that then won’t fit …

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Home: Boys Room Makeover (part 1) GLTC Bunk Bed

A new bunk bed for the Bug. The Bug has been needing a room makeover for a while. When we moved to this house 6 years ago, the room he acquired was pink. He wasn’t quite 2, so it didn’t seem a big deal, and we put it on our to-do list. Six years later, we still hadn’t acted on our plans to create a cool bedroom for our boy, so when GLTC offered us a bunk bed, we knew we could delay no longer. GLTC are well-known for lovely kids furniture, and we have previously gone for the white or …

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The Railway Children

A review of The Railway Children stage production, by GG… Recently we went to see the railway children in London. It includes a real steam train and it feels like you’re sitting on a platform. First you enter the theatre and it looks like a proper train station waiting room. We bought some malteasers to eat in the theatre. When you walk in the cast walk around the stage and talk to you. The actress playing the mother came and talked to us and she was very friendly. When the performance started ,the children talked about the story as if …

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Orla Kiely Backpack review

I am not known as a designer bag girl. I have friends whose cupboards are filled with thousands of pounds worth of beautiful bags; who transfer the contents of their handbags daily, so they can sport the perfect tote for their day, or their outfit. Personally, I’ve never seen the point, when there’s so much money to spent on shoes, and holidays, and gorgeous food. Until now… Orla Kiely backpack review The Pod Company – possibly spotting a style need in me – offered to send me an Orla Kiely bag to review, and another one to giveaway. Now, I …

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My kids made a computer! Kano review

Kano on screen

My children scare me. They are only ten and seven years old, and yet they baffle me on a daily basis. And I’m not just talking about their command of the French language, or their impressive grasp of binary arithmetic (who ever uses that beyond primary school anyway?)! No, these kids know how to code a computer. They tell me weekly about some new game they’ve made in their lessons, using Scratch, or a trick they learned to floor their opponents on a game they created. I confess it makes no sense to me, so I nod vacantly and pray that the …

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7 Easter Gift Ideas for Kids without the sugar fix

Genius backpack - the perfect alternative Easter gift

Hold the chocolate! I swear I saw a Creme Egg on sale at our local garage on New Year’s Day. Although I love chocolate as much as the next person, I hate how there is so much of it in my face every time I walk through a shop door. It creates a desire that wasn’t there to begin with, and when you have kids in tow, the compulsion to stuff themselves with sugar is a never-ending battle. Which is why, every Easter, alongside a small token from the Easter Bunny, my kids look forward to a different kind of …

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Time for a change…

Honey? Knock, knock, knock… Do you wanna clean your bedroom? Or pick your clothes up from the floor? I wish you’d put your books away, I’m turning grey, becoming such a bore. You really should be sleeping. Please don’t paint your nails on your pillowcase! Do you wanna clean your bedroom? Please stop using so much perfume. Time for change… A bedroom makeover from Bespoke Room When we moved into this house six years ago, it was mostly brown. Whilst The Bug and Actually Daddy settled in quickly, GG and I missed our old home. She was four, and craved her …

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Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2015 – the big day

The very special women who are the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards winners for 2015

On Sunday, 1 March, 2015 I attended a very special event indeed. Appropriately dated to fall close to Mother’s Day, the Tesco Mum of the Year awards pays tribute to an exceptional group of mums; mums who have worked hard to support others, after much personal sacrifice of their own. I was lucky enough to meet these women in the ‘green room’ (I know!), and was humbled by how normal these extraordinary women are. Incredibly nervous, worried about tripping up the steps, and coming face-to-face with celebrity presenters, these are just everyday people. Except they’re not. Tesco Mum of the …

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