October Park Life

I don't know about you but I was pleasantly surprised last weekend to find the sun still shining brightly, even though we have reached October, I mean the Autumn season means golden leaves, wind and the beginning of colder temperatures doesn't it?

As with anything I think we have to make the most of these moments and what better thing to do than visit the park.

I mean, the park isn't just for kids is it…

 

Nice having that feeling of freedom to run around.

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.

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.

Half Term Viewing

It is that time again, kids are all off school for half term week. With the weather taking a turn for the worst, I've been having trouble trying to find things to keep the kids occupied and out of trouble.

I thought the best way to come up with ideas was to ask the girls what they would like to do.

The answers I got started to formed quite a list :

* Go to the park.

* Bake cakes.

* Go to the library

* Have a sleep over at nannie's house.

* Go to the cinema.

* Go swimming

* Go somewhere for dinner.

Well yesterday we got off to a bad start because I woke up with a sickness bug, so we didn't manage to tick anything off the list, it ended up being a lazy day snuggled up under blankets watching TV.

Today we have been to the library for the morning and we will be baking with Nannie this afternoon and we could possibly persuade Nannie to let have a sleepover later. However I'm already thinking ahead though, trying to organise the rest of our week in advance.

We all love films so a trip to the o2 cinema could be in order seen as Daddy Hazelden is working near there at the moment, it would be a great excuse to see him too.
The question is what to watch? I really like the look of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, the older two are voting for Turbo and my 3 year old wants to watch Smurfs 2, again!!!

What are all of you up to during half term week? Do you have any more suggestions which we can add to our list of things to do??

xxxx

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Sliding The Time Away

Whenever you ask the kids what they want to do, their first response is always, "go to the park", not just any park though the park with the silver slide!!!

Both myself and Daddy Hazelden have fond memories of this park from our own child hood, so I think it is nice that we have been able to share this with the kids.

As you can see from the picture to the left, this isn't a small slide.

It takes the girls a while just to climb the stairs and reach the top.

However, coming back down takes next to no time, especially if you don't hold on and bring your feet in the air.

It has become a competition recently as to who can go down it the fastest and whether you can reach the end of the slide.

Infact my kids have turned into daredevils, sliding on just their bums is boring, no they no go on their tummies, their backs, head first.

Elise only yesterday came sliding down on her feet instead of her bum, my heart was in my mouth!!!

What I love is that it is something that we can all join in with, Gracie has gained a lot of confidence on this slide because we first started bringing them, she would only go down on Daddy's lap and now she goes down all by herself just as fast as her sister's.

First we have Freya

Then Elise

Bring up the rear is Gracie

Oh and even Layla gets in on the action, on Daddy's lap of course

I think the park is one of the original and best ways to spend a day together as a family, it is free and fun, what more could you want?

Do any of you have fond memories of certain parks you went to as a child, have you taken your kids there??

xxxx

Fun in the Sun

The day the kids broke up from school, we were off on our jolly holiday to Ibiza. This was actually our third time going as a family and Daddy Hazelden's fifth time, can you tell we love the place!!??

What I love most about Ibiza is that it caters for both families and younger people and people who want to have time out without their kids. We managed to spend our days entertaining the kids and when the evening came around my lovely mummy was on hand to babysit the kids once they were in bed so Daddy Hazelden and I got some much needed couple time. I think as our relationship has continued I have found having time to ourselves more and more important!!

It is surprising how much there is to do out there and unlike in our country, everything is more than affordable. We did a different thing with the children every day of the holiday, we got to enjoy the gorgeous weather whilst keeping active too.

Our first day there, the kids spent there time on the go karts, it was 1 euro a go but as you can see from the photo, we all paired up sitting on them and they went round the track a good few times before their turn ran out.

I had a turn with Freya driving, I was scared for my life, she is definitely a girl racer, turning on corners at the last sec, banging into the tyres.

Her older sister sped round the track, not taking her foot off of the accelerator.

The good thing was, there was a bouncy castle, trampolines and a soft play area too and these were free, so both Gracie and Layla were kept entertained whilst their sister's zoomed round on their bikes.

We had so much fun here that we spent our last evening here too!

The second day Daddy Hazelden took the eldest two down to the beach with a couple of nets to try and catch some fish whilst Layla and Gracie were having an afternoon siesta.

This meant them spending time by the sea, climbing over a rocks, a real mini adventure.

Not surprisingly they didn't manage to catch anything, although you can see from the picture on the right the Elise did catch a Nannie in her net.

It was really nice for them to get a bit of time alone with Daddy Hazelden as this is a rarity when we are at home.

I think this may be something that they can do at home as Daddy Hazelden used to go fishing a lot so it would be nice for the girls to join in with something that he enjoys, rather than him having to play princesses!!

Day three was a park day. Even when away from home, the kids love going to the park, a free and simple way of keeping the kids happy.

There are a lot of parks to choose from in Ibiza, literally everywhere you walk there is a different kind of park and they all cater for younger and older children.

The problem is trying to find one in the shade.

With the average temperatures around the 30 degree mark, if the park isn't shaded, then the park apparatus is left extremely hot, making it impossible to sit on without burning your bottom.

Trust me, I attempted sitting on the slide, one word, ouchie!!

Day four came. Who could have a holiday without playing a little bit of mini golf!!!

Less than 20 euros for the whole family to play and there was 18 holes to get round.

We decided to go in pairs, Daddy Hazelden and Elise, me and Freya and Nannie and Gracie together.

Layla sat in her stroller watching and we took it in turns to push her around the course.

Now Nannie and Gracie won but there was a little bit of cheating here because Gracie didn't really play a lot!!

It was funny watching the girls trying to hold their clubs properly and get them hitting the balls in the right direction, lets just say it took a while to get to the end of the course!!

Day five we spent the day at the beach which was literally outside of our hotel.

We spent a tiny 13 euros and rented out a pedlo for an hour.

Daddy Hazelden ended up doing most of the pedalling but the kids took it in turns going in it with him.

At one point there was Daddy Hazelden and I pedalling whilst I had Gracie sat on my lap, a tad difficult.

It was nice being out in the sea, watching the ferries go by, seeing other people in their pedlos and watching people float past on their lilos, really lovely views.

Pity the kids legs weren't longer so that they could pedal whilst Daddy and I laid back and soaked up the sun, maybe one day.

One thing we tried to do every day, was spent at least an hour in the swimming pools.

There were three pools, a bigger one more for adults, older children, a smaller shallower one and one with lots of slides and showers etc.

We actually spent the time trying to teach the kids how to swim and by the end of the holiday Elise was swimming along with a float, Freya was almost swimming without a float and was quite happy putting herself under the water and even little Gracie was telling everyone how she was managing to kick her legs.

The one complaint I had, was that the pools weren't very warm, it was a shock to the stystem the first time I stepped foot in them!!!

Layla was able to go swimming thanks to the lovely people at Bambino Mio sending me one of their swim nappies to review. These adorable nappies come in fours sizes and eight different prints. I picked the pink daisy print, so cute.

However, I was umming and arring which size to get because Layla was at the top end of one and not quite in to the size that was bigger. I opted for the medium size and I was pleased that I did. What a fab fit, no gaping around the legs and a lovely snug fit around the waist. Both the leg cuffs and waist are elasiticated so made it easy for Layla to freely move around. It is so soft and Layla definitely tested it to the max.

She wasn't overly keen on going into the swimming pool and it took a while to persuade her to sit down in the water but she did enjoy people watching whilst cuddling with me. She gave me a clear sign when she wanted to get out though, little monkey decided a number two was in order, but I am happy to report that it was all kept contained in the nappy and unlike disposable swim nappies, it stayed the same size no bulging and hanging down between the legs. And because it is reusable, we only needed the one nappy all holiday, more space for souvenirs in the suitcase!!!

On the last day we took the kids bowling. Again amazingly priced compared to over here, 24 euros for 2 games for 6 people!!

The nice thing was that there was a ramp for the kids to use to help them with the bowling, I really could have done with this myself as I am truly rubbish at bowling.

Just to prove how rubbish, I came last overall and my 5 year old came first!!

The best thing in Ibiza is that you don't have to wear those horrible sweaty bowling shoes!!

It was a great end to an amazing holiday.

It was a real shame it had to end, even the kids are asking when can we go back again and it really didn't help that we came back to rain in the UK the day we came home!!

So where has everyone else been on their holidays?? What places do you recommend??

xxxx

Disclaimer : I was sent the swim nappy free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.