The Wednesday of our week in Cornwall was a perfect opportunity for me to indulge my inner train-spotting geek. I don't hide the fact that I love a good steam train and seeing as both the kids are huge fans of Thomas the Tank Engine too I was pretty sure that they wouldn't mind me dragging them along to the Bodmin and Wendford Railway after that morning's feed run on the farm. So, the start of our trip to the railway wasn't exactly brilliant. Somehow me trying to pay by credit card caused the whole chip and pin machine to blow up when I entered my pin number and then when they'd ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Learnabout… Party Games
Whoops - it appears to be Tuesday again, despite me spending the morning convinced it was Monday. And worst still, last week's Ladybird Tuesday appeared to go AWOL. Apologies. But, this is the last Ladybird Tuesday of the summer holidays here (noted by the torrential rain falling outside) so let's celebrate with a spot of Party Games from the Ladybird Learnabout series 634. And first thing's first - you can't have a party without party hats. Party Games was probably one of the last new titles in the Learnabout series that was published with a matt cover, coming quite late in ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 13 – Discovering the Camel Trail, revisiting Tintagel and Port Isaac
After all yesterday's excitement we kept things a bit closer to Coombe Mill today. We started off with the feed run which once again the children loved. Master C found a new way to rock his baseball cap, Mr C got a ride in the tractor trailer and Little Miss C loved helping to find eggs in the chickens' field. After the feed run we decided to head towards the Camel Trail and in particular the Snail's Pace Cafe which we'd seen lots of signs for, and which sits at one end of the trail, just a mile or so down river from Coombe Mill itself. This lovely little cafe holds the title of ... read more
Barefoot walk at National Trust Godolphin
Some days end up with you doing something completely different from what you imagined when you woke up that morning, and one of the days of our Cornwall trip was exactly like that. It's fair to say that Godolphin is one of the National Trust's smaller properties - the guy checking membership cards was based in a gazebo (a posh one, but a gazebo all the same) and the tea room was small but perfectly formed. We were handed a leaflet about the barefoot walk that they have - aimed to help children check off one of the 50 things to do before you're 11 3/4 - and pointed us in the right ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 12 – Trelissick and Godolphin
Time to step back a couple of weeks to our wonderful holiday in Cornwall. Determined to make the most of our National Trust membership yet again we set off this morning to Trelissick Garden. Now Trelissick isn't like all the other National Trust gardens as there's something very special about its setting - on its own peninsular. The garden is high up with some spectacular views of the River Fal and some lovely twisting paths that lead you down to the water, and the ferry port at the bottom. When we were there the colours were absolutely amazing - with the hydrangeas providing a palate ... read more
My 42 days of summer – #sweeet link challenge
The summer holidays. It's a phrase that seems to divide parents. Some look forward to that extra time with their children. Others, like me, dread them somewhat. I mean, 42 days is an awfully long time to be with someone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Until I was asked to write this post for BritMums I think I was in denial as to how long it really was - for the sake of my sanity! But, as I sit here now I'm at the dawn on day 27 (over the halfway point) and they're actually no where near as bad as I feared. So, what are my tips for a great summer holiday? Plan. But not too ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 25 – Off to London to play with GoldieBlox
After all yesterday's Lollibop excitement Sunday started somewhat slower. Mr C and I were actually woken by our alarm rather than a screaming child and it was 8.30 before either of them got out of bed. Lollibop really must have exhausted them more than I'd realised. Our Sunday morning was mainly spent at home with me trying to catch up on the housework whilst Little Miss C caught up with Frozen (again!) and Master C happily played with his toy cars. We then dashed to town quickly to pick up some school trousers that we'd ordered and to shoot into the supermarket to stock up on a couple of ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 24 – Lollibop
Apologies for jumping around in my record of our summer, but three hours after leaving Lollibop today and my head is still buzzing with everything, so it seemed the appropriate time to write about it all. Now, What exactly is Lollibop for those of you who haven't been before? They describe themselves as The big bash for little people and that's pretty much what they do. It's a daytime festival (over three days) aimed at children and featuring some of the stars and brands that our little ones know and love. They've been running for a few years now and after a successful start had a bit ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 11 – A first feed run, a train journey and hitting the beach
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
Back to School – Retro lunchbox ideas
Dare I say the dreaded words "back to school yet"? By my calculations we're now past the halfway point in the school holidays and in my desperate attempts to be organised by September I'm starting to think about all the things that I need to do before Little Miss C goes back to school on 3rd September. There's more (bigger) uniform to buy and water bottles to name. A book bag to find and school shoes to polish. With her being at Infant School she qualifies for free school meals come September which will not only save us money, but also mean that I don't have to get a lunchbox ready every ... read more