Thursday 25 April 2019

Theas Birthday at Coral Island, Blackpool

Disclosure: We were invited to this attraction for the purpose of this review however all opinions are my own.

With 4 kids, it’s often quite expensive when it comes to day trips and with Thea having her birthday party a week after her birthday, all we had planned on her birthday was a trip to the local park. That was until I was offered the chance to visit Coral Island, Blackpool to review, meaning she would have an extra special surprise when she woke up!

Coral Island, Blackpool!


Coral Island is an indoor attraction located on Blackpool seafront. It is free to enter and has everything you think about when you think of the seaside with rides, two penny machines, toy grabbers, camel Derby, VR rides, bingo and an over 18s gaming area. Coral island also has four restaurants, all of which kids eat free with each paying adult. You can choose between Peggy snack bar, Captain Jack’s, The Buccaneer or a traditional chip shop.

A spot of lunch

We visited Coral Island on Easter Weekend (which also happened to be Theas birthday!) so everything was busy. We managed to get a table to eat at The Buccaneer. 

The girls choose of the kids menu which offered chicken nuggets, sausages, fishfingers and pasta and ice cream for pudding! I chose garlic mushrooms, lamb shank and chocolate fudge cake, all of which were very tasty! Ross chose nachos, steak and cheesecake, all of which he enjoyed. 

Enjoying the games and rides


There is a huge selection of games at Coral Island ranging from traditional 2p machines through to amazing VR experience and hockey tables.

Thea had an amazing time on the 2p machines as she could win prizes from the prize shop with the tickets she won! 

The girls love that there were also a couple of rides they could go on. The Pirate Flyer on the Ghost Train. Although they were all a little apprehensive about the Ghost Train, once they were on it they enjoyed taking part in the interactive quest by pressing the button when they saw the targets. The Pirate Flyer also had an interactive game that you had to shoot at the targets while you were on the ride. 
Pirate Flyer took you on a tour of Coral Island as you rode in your seat near the ceiling, looking down on the full arcade. 

Fun at the Bingo and Camel Derby



We decided to visit the family bingo which the girls all quite enjoyed. It was a computerised window with a colour for the numbers. Although it went a little too fast for the girls the staff advised us that as long as they were tapping in the corner it would automatically mark off the numbers for us which made it much easier! 
Thea won 200 points and Rose won 150 points on Bingo so put them together and claimed a Glow In The Dark Sand Art Kit. 

The Camel Derby was really fun and interactive. The rules of the game involved rolling the balls into the targets which were worth different point values. That then determined how far your camel moved in the race. 
Unfortunately, Rose was a little too young for this however Lily and Thea adored it. 

Great Photo Opportunities 


Before we headed off to visit the beach, we found a couple of amazing photo opportunities near one of the exits which included a giant deckchair! 

Overall, Thea had an amazing birthday and we all thoroughly enjoyed our day at Coral Island, Blackpool. We left with full bellies, 4 teddies, 6 Easter eggs, a magic set, a giant ludo set, a couple of unicorn toys, a glow in the dark sand art kit and some extremely tired children!
We are looking forward to our next visit!



Wednesday 17 April 2019

Make Your Adventures With Kids Easy!

When you have children, you imagine a whole life ahead of them. You imagine all the experiences and the memories that you’re going to provide them with, and you imagine the fun you are going to have doing it all. As a parent, all you want is for your children to be happy and a big part of that is going to come from the experiences you get to provide. One such experience comes from travel.


Before you shout at me about how stressful it can be to travel or go on holiday with children, I get it. Children are unpredictable little creatures and planning to go on holiday is stressful when you’re pulling three kids across the globe with you. It’s hard, I know. People will tell you all about how you are just parenting in another place when you go on holiday, but it’s so much more than that. It’s soaking up new climates and scenery. It’s those first moments they touch another ocean from the one that they get from the stony seaside in the UK - or wherever you happen to be. It’s the new food experiences, and going to bed late after having fun at the local fairs and festivals. Travelling with children may feel like a mountain to be climbed, but it’s one of those mountains you WANT to climb - even if you have to go during the school summer holidays when the prices are higher.

Photo of Flying Birds On Beach

Image source

Holiday planning is fun and those of you who love lists and organising will love being able to sort all the new experiences you want to offer your children. There are many steps that you need to take before you can get everyone on the plane, though, and it takes some effort to successfully organise a holiday for the whole family. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the easiest ways to manage travel with children so your memories will be mostly good ones!


Plan The Finances

Before you do anything in regard to your holiday itinerary or booking anything, you need to know you can afford the adventures in your mind. The big issues surrounding taking a family holiday include being able to afford it. Travelling can be dirt cheap when you’re on your own, but when you’re travelling with children, the prices can ramp up. You can get the finances squared away in so many ways, including extended savings, picking up extra work and even secured homeowner loans if your adventures are going to be big ones. Make sure, though, that whichever route you go down to afford your holiday with the children, you can make the repayments. Holidays are wonderful, but you want to keep the stress at bay!


Book Early

Whether you are travelling by train, plane or boat, you need to get the best prices. Websites like this one can help you to get the best prices and deals for travel. Also, a nifty little hack for you to get cheap travel bookings is to clear your computer or phone cookies every time you do a search. These instructions can help you to get there faster and it means that you won’t be charged more each time you search.

Woman Sitting on Brown Wooden Chair Beside Coconut

Image source

Print Everything. E V E R Y T H I N G.

The whole world is online right now, but do you know how frustrating it can be to fumble through a list of confirmation emails for your tickets to the plane/accommodation confirmation/entry into theme parks? It’s a pain in the backside, and one of the best ways to avoid doing so is to print everything out and put it in the order of when you need it. By doing this, you can stop that ‘gate side fumble’ for information every time you’re about to enjoy a new experience or flight - or even at check in!


Book Early Flights

If you are planning to get on a plane with the kids, you need to be smart. There’s a clever phrase for parents to know: Flying west to east? It’s a beast. Flying east to west? It’s the best. And it’s SO true. Children need to adjust quickly to new time zones so that you’re not all too shattered to enjoy your break. So, flying early in the day can be the best thing that you do. Early flights are often less crowded and it can help the kids to settle into new time zones faster. You can see so much of a difference when they fly in the light and the plane lights dim for nap times.


Keep Them Busy

It doesn't matter whether you are in a car or on a plane, children will get bored. They have the attention span of a gnat, so the best thing that you can do is pack snacks, colouring books, pens and treats. The treats don’t have to be food, either! Head to the pound shops and stock up on little gifts that you can individually wrap for them. Every couple of hours, dole out a gift each and they will have a new thing to play with. On a plane, seat-back entertainment is often provided on longer flights, and they can spend a good chunk of time watching new films and cartoons when the toys run out of glitter.

Girl Enjoying on Beach

Image source

Make It Count

Holidays - for children - are rarely about much more than getting the chance to spend time with you. Particularly if your children are young. The holiday experiences in the location that you choose requires you to research and figure out the best activities for your children to enjoy. While you’re at it, check out the travel and accessibility; especially if you don’t have a car. Make the memories count and pack the days with things that will mean everything for the rest of their lives. Adventures with the children don’t have to break the bank, put you into financial trouble or be stressful - it all depends on what you want from the holiday. Trust me: a holiday can be the best thing that you and your children do this year.


This is a collaborative post 

Monday 15 April 2019

Tea with the Easter Bunny at Wyevale Garden Centres

Easter is soon approaching and all the activities are in full swing. We visited our local Wyevale Garden Centre this weekend passed as special guests of the Easter Bunny to enjoy a lovely afternoon tea. We had a great time! 

We were given complimentary tickets for the Wyevale Easter event in exchange for a review.  All opinions are honest and genuine.

Wyevale Garden Centres often run family events throughout the year, and for Easter you can have either Breakfast or Tea with the Easter Bunny along with other fun activities. The event costs £10.95 per child and either £5 or £8.50 for adults depending on food choice. 

We visited Pennine Garden Centre, Huddersfield. When we arrived, we were greeted by The Mad Hatter himself, who showed us to our table. 


The girls spotted an activity sheet and crayons on the table and eagerly set to work in completing the activity. They also each received a lovely white bunny rabbit teddy and a decorate your own easter bunny kit. 




Our food arrived quickly, where the children tucked into generous portions of homemade chicken nuggets, chips and peas and sausage mash and beans. Plates we're cleared relatively quickly too! 
Adults didn't miss out either! My OH chose the seasonal soup and crusty bread which he thoroughly enjoyed and I was greeted with an amazing afternoon tea selection that was extremely tasty! 


After food was finished, the Easter Bunny came to greet us and take us on an egg hunt! The girls were extremely excited for this and eagerly followed the Easter Bunny in aim to find the 5 egg hun posters scatted around the garden centre. 




Once we had found all of the eggs, the Easter Bunny generously shared his chocolate Easter eggs with the girls as a prize for finding all the posters. The girls all enjoyed posing with the Easter Bunny too and having a little cuddle. 




It was soon time for us to wave goodbye to the Easter Bunny and head home.
We had a really lovely time at the Wyevale Garden Centre. The food was amazing, very generous and delicious. The staff were very attentive, friendly and helpful throughout the entire experience. 

The Wyevale Easter event is on until the 28th April. You can find more details of the event and how to book on their website.


Friday 12 April 2019

3 Tips for Simplifying Your Home and Life

Image via Pixabay



There's a certain kind of comfort and happiness that comes with simplicity – particularly, the kind of simplicity that allows us to enjoy the positive things in life, without being heavily weighed down by everything else.


We all spend a huge amount of our time in our homes, relaxing, hanging out, and just living – and so, if our home environments, in particular, are overly complex and chaotic, we are bound to feel it in a pretty bad way.


Simplifying your life in general, and your home in particular, can go a long way towards boosting your overall sense of well-being.


Here are a few tips for simplifying your home and life.



  1. Pare down your belongings


Owning too much stuff inevitably causes life to become more complicated than it should be, and puts us in a state of distraction and latent anxiety.


When your home is overly cluttered, you're not going to give each belonging of yours the appreciation it should get, and you're unlikely to really feel like you are the master of your own space.


So, one of the best tips for simplifying your life is to begin paring down your belongings.


You could do this through a particular "decluttering" methodology – such as Marie Kondo's famous "Konmari Method" -- or you could just figure things out yourself.


If you're struggling to make a decision about which items to hold onto, you could still get the excess stuff out of your home, at least in the short to mid-term, by renting space in a personal storage unit.



  1. Identify what the most important and meaningful aspects of your life are – and then reduce the amount of time you spend on everything else


Time is a really crucial resource, and we never have as much of it as we think we do. In the 24 hours you have in a day, you've got to fit all your work obligations, your sleep and meals, personal hobbies, time spent with loved ones, and all the rest.


If you're trying to do too many things, you naturally overcomplicate your life, put yourself in a chaotic state of being, and more or less ensure that you always feel like you just don't have enough time to dedicate to the things you care about.


Instead of living this way, identify the most important and meaningful aspects of your life, and then focus on those as much as possible.


Reduce the amount of time you spend on everything else, and watch your life simplify itself.



  1. Be present – reduce digital overstimulation


If you feel like your life is overly complicated, there's a good chance that a major reason for that is simply the fact that you are allowing yourself to be disrupted by all kinds of forms of distraction – especially digital.


As alluded to above, the more stuff you try and focus on, in general, the less effectively you're going to manage to remain present, and to feel calm and balanced.


Keep off devices such as phones and tablets outside of set periods, as studies show that they can simply add to any sense of anxiety. Prioritise offline endeavours; if you’re bored, turn to the likes of Crafty Direct rather than social media sites. Use tools like web blockers, and RSS readers, to reduce the amount of digital distraction you face in everyday life. This, all by itself, can significantly simplify your life for the better.

Monday 1 April 2019

Why Handcrafted Jewellery Is The Best

https://pixabay.com/photos/jewellery-golden-gold-jewelry-1175533/


Every woman loves buying new jewellery, there is nothing better than picking pretty and exciting pieces to match your latest outfits. It also makes the perfect present when buying for other people, as let’s face it; who doesn’t love jewellery? However, the problem arises when deciding what type of jewellery to go for. With so many different choices available nowadays, it is no surprise that we have difficulty making up our minds. However, one of the best types of jewellery to opt for is handcrafted jewellery and in this article, I will expand as to why.

Made with care

As each jewellery piece is handled and made individually you can rest assured that every last stitch is made with extreme care. As the individual is responsible for the final product the chances are they will take great pride in their work and put their very best into making it perfect. In fact, you can even make your own jewellery? Companies like Totally Beads have made this possible. This is a great activity to enjoy with your child and you will have something beautiful to wear at the end of it.


Unique

As handcrafted jewellery is not mass produced, the same handcrafted bracelet or handcrafted necklace as yours is unlikely to be seen on anyone else. In fact, the chances are that only a small handful will have been made, and in some cases maybe only one. This means that you are buying an exclusive and original product. This is one of the main reasons why people go down the handmade route. After all, if you take a look in the popular high street stores, it seems that they all sell the same thing today.


Versatile

Handcrafted jewellery can be worn through the day and alternatively on a night out. It can be dressed down for a casual look or dressed up for a more glamorous effect. This means that your jewellery will be a value for money purchase as you will get a lot of wear out of it.


Beautiful

The most important point of them all; jewellery which has been handcrafted tends to be a lot more beautiful than those mass produced. This is because the designs are carried out via hand and thus they are a lot more intricate and detailed. This is why they are great gifts for friends and family members too.


There is no doubt about it – handcrafted jewellery is simply stunning. So next time you’re having difficulty deciding what jewellery to buy then why not take a look at a handcrafted range. Not only is handcrafted jewellery a great option in terms of adding to your own collection but it also makes a thoughtful and impressive gift too.


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