Our first full day at Coombe Mill started off pretty much perfectly. A reasonable night's sleep (never likely to be good whilst looking after Master C!) and a beautiful morning. So nice in fact that I was able to sit outside with my morning cuppa and listen to the birds and the River Camel running through the site. A much more relaxed start to the day than I'm used to. Once the kids had woken up though everyone was buzzing with excitement as this was our first morning on the famous Coombe Mill feed run. The way this works is that every morning, bar changeover day, Farmer Nick (or one of ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 10 – Travelling to Cornwall
Finally the day was here - holiday time! Now, this year was our first real holiday with both children and the first proper holiday we've been away for in years, so we were pretty determined to make it memorable. Not feeling brave enough to fly with the kids again yet we instead went for a UK holiday and after seeing so many rave reviews online we opted to stay at Coombe Mill in Cornwall. If you've not heard of Coombe Mill, let me set the scene. Imagine a small farm, run by a family, where children are at the centre of the holiday. The whole site is set up so that they have an absolute ball, ... read more
Summer 2014: Days 3 & 4 – A weekend without Daddy
It's been a bit of a funny old weekend in that most of it didn't feel like a weekend at all. Mr C's been away in the Netherlands at a wedding, and without him about it's kind of made the days merge into last week a bit, and it certainly hasn't given me the break that I so need by the end of a busy week, especially when we're in the school holidays. The first alarm went off at 2.50am on Saturday morning for Mr C to get up for a 6am flight to Amsterdam and combining that with a couple of wake-ups from Master C - who was struggling with the heat - it meant that Saturday started feeling ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 2 – Old friends and new experiences
In the middle of the usual morning rush of trying to get up and through the shower before the kids awoke (which I failed at thanks to Little Miss C's 6.30am wake up!) I'm pretty sure I heard Chris Evans say something about thunderstorms and torrential rain in London today. There was other stuff going on so I asked Mr C. Nope, he had no recollection of hearing it, so I just kind of forgot about the weather forecast. Bit of a big mistake it seems when you're having a day out with the kids. An old university friend of mine is currently over from China with his wife and one year old son, so ... read more
Kids go free with CBeebies Magazine #CBeebiesMagKidsGoFree
There's no denying it any longer - the summer holidays are here and across the country parents are desperately trying to come up with ways to entertain their little ones without blowing the household budget in the process. School holidays are perfect for days out, but it's not a cheap thing to do. Entry ticket prices can seem very high and then you also need to contemplate the costs of getting there, plus refreshments whilst there (unless you're thrifty enough to bring a picnic). Help is at hand though as CBeebies magazine have teamed up with Merlin Entertainments for a summer long campaign ... read more
A first cinema trip
What was the first film that you saw at the cinema? I've probably seen hundreds there over the years, but that first trip always sticks with you. I have absolutely no idea at all when people normally take their kids to the cinema for the first time. I remember going to the old Odeon in Rotherham with my Mum to see the Jungle Book and being strangely scared by the toilets there, but I can't remember how old I was at the time. I do remember the trip though and can still cast my mind back to the amazement I felt at how big the screen was compared to our little telly at home. Photo taken ... read more
Enjoying a Winter Little Adventure
Do you realise just how lucky we were last week? It was half term here and we actually had a day where it didn't rain. And for a little while the sun came out too! I know I do bang on a lot about how "there's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing" but this winter has challenged even my Yorkshire optimism about the weather. I've never seen so much rain! All is well when children can just pull on a pair of wellies and head outside regardless, but it's a bit more challenging when you have a 17 month old who seems to think puddles are for sitting in ... read more
A need to just run and jump
As my journey through motherhood continues I find that I'm constantly learning from my children and regularly surprised by what they are teaching me. Now I've got three years of parenting under my belt I realise that some of those earlier lessons are actually quite obvious, but possibly not when you're new on the job. One of those first lessons, which now seems so blindingly obvious, is a child's need to play. It's the way that they learn, work things out in their heads and express themselves. So many times in the past I've heard a frustrated Little Miss C complaining ... read more
How the National Trust get it right when it comes to children
I've been a National Trust member for as long as I can remember. First as a child on my parent's family membership, then an adult member in my own right, and now as a joint member with Mr C. The kids aren't yet old enough for us to need family membership, but I'm pretty sure that will come next. Every year when I pay the annual direct debit I have to admit that I do briefly wonder if it really is worth it, but just a few moments remembering some of the amazing days out we've had and there's no question that we'll continue. These last few weeks we've been making ... read more
Escaping to the beach
Amazingly the hot spell here in the UK seems to be continuing, and to be honest when the weather's as hot as it has been, sitting with a hot laptop on your knee isn't exactly fun. I'm sure I'm not the only blogger who has spending time away from their keyboard to make the most of the weather. Last Monday we decided that it was time to make a dash for the coast from our inland home in St Albans so we bundled the kids into the car and headed north to Hunstanton for the day. It's a 200 mile round trip and on the way there the traffic around Cambridge did make me wonder if it ... read more