Thorpe Park, Water Rides and Cuddly Toys

Part of my role as a Thorpe Park Ambassador meant that my family and I were gifted with annual passes so that we could visit the park and experience all that it has to offer. Last month we made our first trip up there so I thought I'd let you see just what we got up to.

The nice thing about having annual passes means no queueing up to get in. We were able to scan our cards at the barriers and let straight through. We made the decision to get up there when the park opened to avoid waiting around too long and actually even though we didn't waste any time getting in, this worked to our advantage as it meant the queues for rides were also rather short at that time of the day.

Thorpe Park Island Ambassador 2017

Guess what, I have a bit of news for you all. I'm rather proud to say that I have been chosen as one of Thorpe Park's Island Ambassadors for 2017, squeals a little bit! Now I'm looking forward to visiting the park and bringing you all news of new attractions and rides coming up and with Amity Beach opening up on the 1st of May I am excited to spend days out in the Summer with my family.

For those of you that don't know, the park is situated between the towns of Chertsey and Staines, Surrey and has over 30 rides and attractions. The park within a good distance of Central London and is a member of the Merlin family. I remember visiting the park with my family when I was little and in fact the first time my eldest daughter went she wasn't even a year old.

Going Ape With Simply Health

I think we all want to be fit and healthy but sometimes the thought of exercising can be a daunting one. So what if there was a way of getting a good workout in without you actually knowing that you were doing any sort of exercise at all?

Getting Nostalgic With Dreamland

When someone mentions Dreamland to me I get nostalgic and I think about my childhood. I spent many days out there in Margate with my family and they are all fond memories. Going on various rides, placing 100's of 2ps in the arcade machines and lets be honest simply making the most of being a child. The day it closed down it was quite a sad time so when it became known that it was reopening I was hoping it would be the same, well at least similar to what I remembered.

Parks, Books and Getting Creative

I can't believe we are already half way through the Summer holidays, it has literally flown by so far and luckily we have been blessed with good weather for the majority of it. We have filled our days with so many activities and I wanted to share with you some of what we've been up to, perhaps give you some ideas of free things to do including park trips, reading lots of books and getting creative on those rainy days.


One of the things we've been doing a lot of is going to the park. This doesn't cost a penny and we're are very lucky to have quite a few parks local to us so we can go to a different one each time. Our favourite has to be Connaught park as it is only 5 minutes up the road from us and there is plenty of space to wonder around as well as an enclosed park to play in.

Ben and Holly Live

Part of being Ben and Holly ambassadors means that we were given the chance to go and watch Ben and Holly Live, our chosen venue The Marlow Theatre in Canterbury, Kent.

I think I was more excited than the girls but in the end we all had a brilliant day out. Nannie came along with us and the day started with a train ride which is always fun, especially when Nannie buys snacks for everyone. Layla was fascinated watching everything go by out of the window.

#Summerdaysout With Petits Filous

My kids are ruled by the stomachs, even when they are not at home they've come to expect food at certain times of the day. Snacks on the go are a must, especially on days out and now that Summer is slowly making an appearance time out of the house is becoming more frequent.

We were recently provided with vouchers to purchase some of the new Petits Filous pouches. Available in three different flavours : apricot, raspberry and strawberry, these yogurts are packed full of yummy goodness.

And what goodness is that I hear you ask?!!

Vitamin D and calcium to help build strong bones, no artificial colours or sweetneres, no added preservatives, gluten free and suitable for vegetarians, this is the snack that is perfect for any child (or parent).

So what's new? Well the yogurt is still the same (hooray) however the packaging has changed. Don't worry you can still buy their convinient pots but the new pouches have been designed to make outdoor snacking easier.

What stands out is that each pouch is resealable, no need to worry about yogurt escaping and covering any items you may have in your bag/changing bag, this has happened to me before and I'm sure many of you know that this isn't the easiest mess to clean up.

Another plus for parents is that a spoon isn't needed, the yogurt is consumed by squeezing the pouch and sucking it out of the spout at the top. This in turn means no washing up and fingers crossed less spillage. I can't tell you how many times yogurt has been dropped off the spoon onto clothes or the carpet.

Now I wouldn't be testing these pouches out properly if I didn't take the kids out with them, so just where have we been with our Petits Filous pouches??

Well even Summer days can be rainy days so my youngest daughter actually had her first try sat at our dining room table at home. Layla is coming up to three and needed a little help squeezing the last bit of the yogurt out of the pouch.

A real test was letting her have one whilst she was sat in her pushchair when we went for a walk. The yogurt definitely got the thumbs up from me in the instance, no pesky crumbs left over the seat and with the lid screwed back on it was no bother waiting to find a bin to throw away the empty pouch.

Our last stop, the library. It was nice not having to rush off, with the Petits Filous pouch with us I was able to sit and read Layla a book whilst she filled her tummy, no fuss and no mess.

I think my only real problem with these pouches is that because the contents need to ideally be kept refrigerated you should really have some sort of cool bag/ice pack with you to keep them cool, especially on really hot days.

Overall I can see these becoming a family favourite. Perfect not only for snacks but ideal to pack in a scrummy picnic/lunch. Tasty yet healthy, appealing to everyone, not just kids!!

xxxx

Visiting The Natural History Museum

We live fairly close to London but up until now we hadn't taken the kids there. A mix of not knowing where everything is and a fear of getting on the wrong tube stopped us when the children were younger.

However times have changed. My FIL actually owns a flat in Greenwich so this was our base. We stayed there on the Friday night, or as my girls were telling everyone, we camped out. This meant that we didn't have to get up ridiculously early in the morning to make it London for a good time.

The below picture shows how excited the girls were :

Sea, Sun and Wind

When the sun comes out to play the first place that always springs to mind to go to is the beach. It is days like this that I'm reminded how lucky we are to live by sea.

I was excited at the idea of fresh air and sunshine whilst the girls were happy about the prospect of ice cream, either way it was going to be a good day for all.

This was actually the first time that I'd taken all four kids out by myself without putting Layla in a pushchair. So with sunglasses and Goldbug reins at the ready we set out to walk down the seafront.

It didn't take as long as I thought to make it down there, although I did end up carrying little legs for part of the distance.

However once down there the wind took over from where the sun began, it was shall we say a tad blustery, this didn't deter us though.

You can see from the smiles below.

A Long Walk to Welcome Spring

With the Easter holidays upon us most parents, if you are like me will be worrying about just how to entertain the kids and how to do it without breaking the bank. The people at Ffrees Family Finance asked some bloggers including myself to share with you all the best family days out for under £20.

Some of my favourite activities actually have a very low cost or even better they are absolutely free.

Playing at the park.

Trip to the library.

Geocaching.

Movie day.

Crafting.

The best days out are actually the spontaneous ones. We recently went out for a walk up in the fields behind where my husband used to live. It was wonderful to be out as a family together in the fresh air, blowing away those cob webs that have formed over the Winter months.

Climbing hills

Our Day Out To Chessington World of Adventures

I was very fortunate when SuperBreak offered tickets for my family and I to go to Chessington World of Adventures last week, what did I need to do in return?? Enjoy our day out and tell you lovely lot all about what we got up to.

We live around an hour and half car drive away from the theme park, Chessington opens at 10am so we set off at 7.45am as we needed to get petrol and travel sickness tablets before we could get on our way. Well turns out the petrol station we normally use wasn't working, first set back, then Daddy Hazelden realised he had forgot his drink and music CDs, quick about turn to go back home, good job because I swiftly decided I needed a wee, oops.

We eventually got on the road about 8.30am and we still managed to arrive at Chessington before 10am so we made good time and an added bonus is that we got parked right by the entrance.

SuperBreak had provided me with a printout that included our reference number so all I needed to do was hand this over at the ticket office and we were provided with our tickets to enter the park and maps to help us find our way around.

Once in the park Freya decided to be chief map holder, although I struggled to understand it so I wasn't sure where we would end up first.

Only One of Me and Four of Them

I love getting my girls out in the fresh air and their favourite place to go is the park, doesn't matter what park but that is always their first response when asked what they want to do with the day. I admit to struggling sometimes though, with there being only one of them and four of me, I don't like the thought of not being able to see them all and the trouble with a lot of parks is that things are so spread out that I can't be everywhere all at the same time.

It is funny how time makes you forget things though. My mum happened to point out to me recently that there is a park near where she lives, I should know, I did live with her for quite a while ;)

This park has recently had a makeover with all new swings, slides etc so we decided to go round there with nannie last weekend.

It has now become my favourite park. Not too big, something for all the kids to do and most importantly it is a big open space surrounded by fences, I can see what all of the girls are doing from wherever I'm standing which left them free to go and play on whatever they wanted.

Exploring Dover Castle

We are very lucky to have Dover Castle literally 5 minutes away from our home. We are also members of the English Heritage so after paying the initial membership, it means we can visit as many times as we like and it doesn't cost us a penny. It is one of those places that we just love exploring.

Our go to place whenever we take a trip up there is to the Medieval tunnels, the girls love sitting on the cannons whilst Daddy Hazelden tries to scare them as we walk further into the dark.

I See Blue Skies

It feels like such a long time since I have been able to get outside of the house with the girls without getting drenched by pouring rain or blown away by the strong winds which keep coming back. Finally when looking out of the window yesterday, I happened to see blue skies all around, something that we just had to take advantage of!!

We decided to take a walk up to our local park and take the time to explore a little.

It's The Simple Things In Life

For many of us it has been half term this week, another time for parents to think of things to keep the kids occupied without it breaking the bank.

We've kept it simple this week :

* Dvd day snuggled under blankets - Cost = Nothing
* Baking day - Cost = Nothing (we already had ingredients in the cupboards)
* Trip to the library - Cost = Nothing
* Halloween treasure hunt - Cost = £3.00 for sweets

and finally

* Trip to park

Balancing

 Climbing

 Sliding

 Spinning

Total cost of a week off £3. Fun needn't be expensive. What have you all been up to this week??

xxxx

Is there really an average family size??

Now that the Summer holidays have arrived, I am trying to come up with things that the kids can do because I don't want them to be stuck at home all the time, not that my kids would complain, they are quite happy playing in the garden, reading books, making craft etc. You only have to look at the photo below to see that they know how to keep themselves entertained.

I think I just want to give them more, trouble is most activities don't come for free and the ones that do can get fairly boring if you are doing them day in day out.

Tickets for theme parks etc, I find to be extremely expensive and companies just don't seem to cater for larger families, it really puts me off going if I'm honest.

This got me thinking. Why is it that when you go to purchase a family ticket, that it is for 2 adults and 2 children? Is this really still the average sized family? A lot of my friends and family have three or more children, I myself am one of three children and as you will know from reading my blog, I have four children myself. It almost seems like we are penalised for having a bigger than "average" family and I know I sound like a stroppy teenager but well that just isn't fair and yes I do say this as I stamp my foot on the floor!!!

Just like in supermarkets and shops, ticket prices for theme parks, zoos, national trust etc seem to rise year on year but the same can't be said for people's wages. There is always moaning about the economy and people not spending enough to help out businesses but surely if they want us to keep visiting these places, they should be doing something to entice us in?

It would be really nice if there were family tickets for bigger families. I'm not saying we should pay the same price as families of four should because I am aware there are more of us going in. You could however set different price family tickets depending on how many children you have but still save the families money, instead of having to buy lots of single tickets.

Do you find days out expensive, have you found ingenius ways to save money on days out? Would love to know any tips that you care to share!!

xxxx

A Rare Day With Gracie

Having four children means I sometimes struggle to share my time equally between them. Things happen and I end up having to spend more time with one daughter than I do with the others. It also seems a rare occurance that I get uninterupted time with one of my lovely girls.

Yesterday was the day for Gracie's playschool trip. Parents are required to go with their children, this was a great opportunity for me to get some one on one time with my lovely little three year old.

The trip was to Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent. Gracie actually made everyone's day by a passing comment she made whilst we began her journey, we had only just started going and she said excitedly, "this is the way to the tip", Daddy Hazelden really takes her on the best trips :)

We saw lots of animals ranging from tigers, penguins, monkeys, flamingoes, owls, crocodiles and squirmy snakes.

Bless my Gracie Cakie, her favourite parts of the day were when she got to choose the ice cream that I had promised her and of course lunch time, anyone would think I starve my children!! Infact her first words when we arrived were "is it lunch time yet?".

Of course there was the obligitory posing for photos, Gracie magically turned into some different animals. I wish you could have heard her roar when she turned into the tiger.

I took so many photos yesterday but I didn't think you would want to see a whole albums worth so I just put a few more together in one picture. My favourite photo of the day has to be Gracie leaping off of a bench, nice to be so care free!!

Of course the day wouldn't be complete without a little paddy throwing. My lovely daughter decided mummy's company was indeed rubbish and would much prefer to spend the day with her favourite teacher Christina, I was really feeling the love then, the little monkey.

So have any of you been on your children's school trips this year, where did you go??

xxxx