Gift ideas for our soon-to-be three year old

With the 2nd of June growing ever closer, I have started to think about potential gifts for our three year old. I love buying her bits and pieces, but when I actually sit down to think what she may like I often find myself slightly stumped! Luckily, she has been very vocal about her likes and dislikes.

At the moment, Darcie;s current go-to bed times story is her Katie and the Impressionists. It's a story all about a girl called Katie who goes to the gallery with her Grandma on her Grandma's birthday. The book has beautiful illustrations of famous paintings my artists such as Monet and Renoir. It's a lovely book that opens children up to the world or art. The Katie books have been going for around 25 year, and though I never had any as a child - I think they are brilliant and have fallen in love with the series. Next on our list is Katie in London or Katie in Scotland. Amazon (£5.99)

This may seem like a slightly bizarre gift for a three year old, but she is a determined madame. At bedtime she is now starting to hate to wear PJ's - I'm guessing as it is getting warmer she is finding them a little uncomfortable. So instead, she asks if she can wear dresses to bed. Unfortunately we have never got her a nightie, so I think this is a must for our little, strong minded girl. Next (£12).

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Darcie loves role play. She has started to take an interest in what I do for my day job (teaching) and so often want's to have a go at being a teacher herself. An easel would be the perfect tool for this budding teacher! Ikea (£16).

Sticking with the role play theme, Darcie has taken a liking to picnic's with her toys. This soft picnic hamper would make the perfect addition to her fun. Not on the High Street (£32).

Showing a growing (see what I did there?) interest in gardening, this little watering can and seed set would be the perfect gift for a little one wanting to take ownership of a spot in the garden. Not on the High Street (£16).

Finally, a superhero cape for a super little girl! I can just picture Darcie charging around in this and mimicking superhero poses. Perfect for any kiddaroo... I wonder if they make them in adult sizes....? Not on the High Street (£29).

I hope you have found my picks useful if you have an upcoming little person's birthday. 

Mummy B xoxox

Happy Easter | 2015

Happy Easter all! I hope you're having a wonderful day with loved ones - we most certainly have! Our day started off with an indoor Easter Egg Hunt followed off by a walk through High Lodge Forest in Thetford - However Jamie decided to  do some mountain biking with a friend and ended up in A&E, luckily he is fine just suffering with aches and pains and a rather poorly shoulder. So we will be spending the rest of our afternoon and evening eating chocolate and watching films no doubt! 

Our Halloween 2014

Our Halloween was nice and quiet again this year. If I'm honest I'm not sure how I feel about halloween, I don't like the idea of Trick or Treating - I know strange right?! But knocking on random peoples doors asking for sweets... I just don't feel comfortable doing that! So, instead I have decided to take the stance that we do get involved, but its something nice we do for our neighbours by giving them treats. 

We spent the morning carving pumpkins, Darcie liked to scrap the seeds and mulch out which me and Daddy carved!

St. Ives Honeymoon Day 6-9

Hi guys! I'm back again with another update of our wonderful honeymoon... hope I'm not making anyone jealous in light of the awful weather some of you have been having lately!

All the last few days have blurred into one, I can't actually describe just how wonderful this trip has been. I think it has been especially nice to be able to just switch off for a change and not have to worry about anything! 

We have mainly been having beach days recently as everyday they have threatened rain, so every morning when we wake up with glorious blue skies we immediately head out to the beach in order to make the most of the weather. But we did take a trip to the Eden project.

The Eden project is somewhere I have wanted to go for a while, it wasn't around when I used to go  to Cornwall as a child, but have always been intrigued when I have seen photos. One big draw to the place was the fact they had a dinosaur exhibition at the moment - Darcie loves her dinosaurs (thanks for that peppa!). Here are a couple of pictures of our visit...

The Eden Project was a definite hit, plenty to do, lots of interactive elements and perfect for any age! It cost around £23 each for me and Jamie (Darcie was free) but this gives us free entry for a year - not bad if you're locals!

Like I said, the rest of the past couple of days have been beach days, surfing, sandcastle making, flying kites, stuffing our faces with chips and ice cream... what more could you want!

We only have four days left now, there is still a couple of things left I would like to do before we leave. Like a boat trip to see if we can see any seals, dolphins or Baskin sharks and also to the Minack Theatre but both these things depend on the weather... lets hope we stay lucky! 

Mummy B xoxox

St. Ives Honeymoon - Day 1-5

Snuggled in our little cottage (The Little Snug!) I thought I would spend some time writing down a few of our memories. We have had an amazing time so far and I'm loving being in our wedding/honeymoon bubble!

So, our trip down here was an interesting one! Jamie got very sleepy so we had to stop off in Windsor. Whilst he had a nap and me and Darcie played in a park, a very nice park I may add! I knew tho would happen as we were a little silly to have made that trip the day after our wedding! You live and learn peeps! After his nap we headed off again and ended up arriving at 11pm. The cottage is just perfect, completely to our taste and is in such a fantastic location!

On our first full day (Monday), we decided to stay in St. Ives and explore. 

The Harbour area is beautiful, we love it when the tide goes out, it is the perfect conditions for toddlers to splash around in the shallow  puddles! After playing around on the beach and browsing the many wonderful shops, we headed to dinner at the 'Fire House Bar & Grill". The Food was delicious! 

On Tuesday we headed to Wadebridge towards the Camel Trail. Every year, as a child, we would either take our bikes or hire bikes and ride along the trail. I was soo excited to hop back on a bike and head towards Padstow. 

Whilst in Padstow we had an amazing lunch at the Habour Inn. I had a traditional Ploughmans and Jamie a Halloumi Salad, both were very tasty and full of fresh, local produce.

Wednesday, we spent a day on St. Ives beach, soaking up the sun and braving the beautiful clear (but chilly) water. Darcie has loved being by the sea, everyone morning the first thing she asks is "can we go to the beach?"- so sweet!

Today, Thursday, we spent at Polzeath beach. This is a place that is very special to me, I spent all my early childhood summers here when my parents were together (they separated when is was 9) and  so have many memories here. One thing I always looked forward to when I became a mother was the day I would take Darcie to Polzeath and today that little dream came true! We sunbathed, made sandcastles, surfed and even bought matching wetsuits!

So far are honeymoon has been perfect! I'm feeling very lucky right now! Plus we still have another week here!! Lots more adventures to come!

Mummy B xoxox

Choosing The Right Honeymoon For You

A honeymoon is supposed to be one of the most memorable getaways of your life, so choosing the right honeymoon for you and your partner can be a little challenging. 

For us, choosing was a little difficult, especially as we had a little person to consider. The first step was to decide whether or not our little person was going to be with us or to have a traditional twosome honeymoon. The decision was easy, we knew we had to include her and share this wonderful holiday as a family. 

Next step was to decide whether we wanted to go abroad or stay in the UK. A major consideration here is your budget, especially if you're honeymooning during school holidays like we are. You can, of course, get some amazing deals, with options of all inclusive or beautiful self catering villas. Here you must also consider what you want from a honeymoon, ultimate relaxation? exploration? or both?  We decided we wanted both, we knew with a two year old, two weeks on the beach staying in a hotel may get a little tiresome. So we wanted the opportunity to both relax and explore. The decision to stay in the UK or go abroad, in the end, didn't come down to money. Like I said, there are amazing deals to be had, so a dream honeymoon abroad can certainly be on the cards even with a smaller budget. But what did decide it was the fact we wanted to minimise any stressful encounters, like travelling on a plane for the first time with Darcie.

(Image Source)

We opted on a UK honeymoon, Cornwall to be exact. We have got a beautiful cottage in St. Ives, right on the front with sea, with views of the harbour and beach and a balcony. It wasn't cheap, but its in the UK so it will be familiar for Darcie. We adore St. Ives and Cornwall and knew it would be the perfect place for us to create some amazing memories and start our marriage in the best possible way. For us we didn't want to risk, being somewhere so unfamiliar that it would bring unnecessary stress. Of course if we were just Mr & Mrs and not a family of three, we would perhaps have chosen something more adventurous. I always imagined something like Thailand or Sri Lanka... Maybe one day when Darcie is a little older!

My top tips would be,

1) Decide on what you want from your honeymoon, relaxation, adventure or both?

2) Set a budget. Remember weddings are already expensive, be realistic with your budget. You don't want to start your marriage with any financial stress.

3) Choose a few of your ideal locations, weigh up pro's and cons for each. Perhaps try speaking to people who have previously visited for advice.

4) Once you have decided on a location, shop around for accommodation. Remember to work into your budget food costs, it may be worth looking at all inclusive options.

5) Depending on your location remember you may need vaccinations. Make sure you plan for this and allow enough time for these to take place.

7) Work on a daily budget for expenditures whilst you're there. It's easy to get carried away... (I'm guilty of this!!).

8) Be ready to make amazing memories, and don't forget to take a camera!

I'm really looking forward to our honeymoon, we still have a few things left to do, like arranging car parking (some of you may know spaces are limited) and creating packing lists. We have to be super organised here as we are leaving the next day after our wedding!

What would be your tips for packing for a two week family honeymoon?

Mummy B xoxox

Easter Egg Hunt!

This morning we had our very first family Easter Egg Hunt!! It was super exciting, especially as we have never done one before. Its funny how when you have children your world opens up to so many exciting things!

Before we could begin me and my dad had the small task of setting up the Hunt whilst Jamie distracted Darcie. I had purchased a gorgeous set of signs especially for today and we were very kindly sent the chocolate from Lint. 

Even the bunnies had come out to play and left some of their carrots behind!

Once we were all set I gave Darcie her "bucket" as she called it and showed her the first sign. I explained to her that we needed to follow the signs and look out for eggs and bunnies and off she went!

We were so surprised how well she got the concept, she kept finding them and saying "hooray I got it!!", it was so unbelievably cute!

Of course once we had found all the eggs and bunnies, it was only fair to inspect the goodies...

Its fair to say, Darcie was a BIG fan of all the goodies! I'm so glad we decided to do one, it was the perfect morning!

After this we chilled in the sun, drinking tea and my Mum gave Darcie her Easter present, which included a fantastic Easter Bonnet which she demanded we make right there!

A big thank you to my dad  & step-mum, Sarah for hosting! It really was better than I imagined, already planning an egg and spoon race for next years!

Hope you're all have an amazing Easter weekend.

Mummy B xoxox