The weather gradually improved over the Bank Holiday weekend. The first day was wet so we were happy to spend it indoors at the local shopping centre. Sunday was better but we still spent a lot of time indoors, this time at Ikea seeking some storage solutions! Come Monday we were all itching to get out and about so we packed the car with the Bugaboo Bee, scooters, buckets and spades and headed to Ruislip Lido to tick another activity from our Summer Bucket List. The Bugaboo Bee was perfect for coping with the Lido as the terrain quickly changed…
-
-
I’m very proud to say that today is Day 2 of our holiday and we’ve used our National Trust membership on two consecutive days! We’ve been members for years but have found the children never really enjoyed our trips – until now! Yesterday we had a lovely walk around Avebury stone circle and today we were at Lacock Abbey. Family fun at Lacock Abbey It’s been a while since I last visited and is now laid out through the memories of the last resident, Matilda Talbot. The children enjoyed following the children’s trail, watching the Zoetrope go round and spotting…
-
Living in London we’re spoilt for choice over things to do. I love summer in the city as places really come alive. Today I have a fabulous competition for you which unites world-class music with a breathtaking backdrop to create the most spectacular musical experience of the summer calendar. Live By The Lake has an outstanding line up of world class music, scheduled over six days – August 23rd-25th and August 30th-September 1st; you can enjoy performances from Suede, Keane (and guest Laura Mvula), Michael Ball with friends singing Gershwin; the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra; the English National Opera and…
-
We’re having a super busy week. On Monday we had a fun family day out at Legoland. Both children loved it and the amazing weather we’re finally enjoying in London definitely helped. On Tuesday we visited the toddlers’ new school and I attended my first parent’s meeting! For the last couple of days we’ve been enjoying the beautiful countryside and staying with my mother. I bravely took the children on the train on my own and I have never seen my children so excited or happy as on that train journey. Today we were joined by my husband before we…
-
Today we were invited to take a special tour of the Sea Life London Aquarium. I jumped at the chance as we’d been before and loved it, and I knew the toddler would enjoy it even more being a bit older. Preschoolers and the London Aquarium This was our third trip into central London in 4 days so we were all feeling a little tired but we had a great time. As soon as we arrived at the London Aquarium we were greeted by a penguin (not a real one, obviously!) and the toddler was given a pair of paper…
-
We had the most amazing day out today at the London Eye and South Bank. It’s one of my favourite places in London and there’s lots to do for free! We didn’t tell the toddler where we were going until we were right underneath the London Eye and luckily he was excited about going on it. The weather was perfect so we all enjoyed the view from our pod. There was enough space for the children to move freely around and they were very well behaved. After our little ride we went for a walk along the South Bank which…
-
Have you heard about the exciting new exhibition called Mums Show Live!, the UK’s first show for parents of 4-12 year old children? The show is taking place at Alexandra Palace which is a brilliant venue (and right on my doorstep!), from 16th-19th May 2013. There’s a range of really interesting speakers lined up, including: · TV presenter and vocal coach Carrie Grant, who will be speaking candidly about her experiences raising children with learning difficulties · Betty Herbert, a 35 year old sex expert, who will be offering her advice on how to keep your sex life exciting despite…
-
We’re huge fans of the London Transport Museum so when we heard they had an open weekend at their depot we bought family tickets for today. The last time we went we didn’t have children so I was interested to see how our visit compared. London Transport Museum Depot Happily we all had a great day out. This year they’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the underground and we had the chance to see the newly restored Metropolitan Line Steam Locomotive No. 1 and the Metropolitan Jubilee Carriage 353 which was originally built in 1898 and is one of the…
-
A friend told me about the William Morris Gallery and Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, not far from us. Perfect (i.e. dry) weather was forecast this morning so we headed there. The building was beautiful and behind was a hidden gem, a huge public park with formal gardens, a moat, children’s park, cafe and much more. First of all we let the children (and daddy) run around the park. They loved it, everything was new and shiny and they had fun on the slides, trampoline, swings, slide and sand pit. The shiny paths were perfect for scooting along and there was…