• days out - parenting - Wiltshire

    Old Sarum {exploring Wiltshire}

    We’ve been National Trust members on and off for years now. Writing that makes me feel really old! I love history and so it made sense to join an organisation looking after historic buildings and landscapes which also offered great days out for the family. Whilst staying in Wiltshire last week we realised that quite a lot of the local historic properties were managed by English Heritage so joined up. To make use of our membership we decided to stop off on our way to the Isle of Wight and visit Old Sarum. We knew they were hosting some special…

  • Christmas - parenting - toy review

    Playmobil Royal Ice Skating Trip Advent Calendar

    I love Christmas and have been excitedly working on filling up our Advent Crate which is delivered by our little Elf on the 1st December. Every one in our house gets an Advent Calendar and I love looking round for the latest must-have calendars. We’ve been Playmobil Playologists for a while now and were lucky to receive one of the new Playmobil Advent Calendars to review. Playmobil is a top manufacturer within preschool toys and make the best Advent calendars! In 2013 we reviewed the Playmobil Pirates Treasure Cove advent calendar, in 2014 we reviewed the Playmobil Santa’s Workshop Advent Calendar in 2015 we reviewed…

  • parenting

    Creating a keepsake of Christmas memories with Snapfish

    Now that Halloween is over for another year it’s time to turn our attention to Christmas. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that I’m pretty big on celebrating the seasons and family traditions. Snapfish recently got in touch and asked me if I would like to create a photo book with them, celebrating all our little Christmas memories and traditions (read to the end for a very generous discount from Snapfish). I’ve made a few photo books before. There was one for my mum’s recent special birthday, and I also made one for my daughter’s first…

  • Halloween crafts - Happy By Nature - parenting

    Limited edition BEAR Claws for our Trick or Treaters!

    My children have been (almost) climbing the walls with excitement for most of October. They just adore Halloween and have been dressing up, pleading with me to get the Halloween decorations out of the loft, and helping me bake spooky treats all month. Halloween can, and should be, a really fun festival for children. They love decorating the front of our house to make sure that Trick or Treaters know they can call on us. To get them in the mood for Halloween, they were sent their very own trick-or-treat boxes from BEAR. I left them out for the children…

  • parenting - toy review

    Hot Wheels Track Builder Stunt Bridge Kit review

    It’s been a while since we reviewed any Hot Wheels sets but today we have a brilliant one to share with you. Both my children have always loved toy cars. They are always close to hand in the living room and I love the different ways my children play with them. We have a few Hot Wheels tracks. They come up with all sorts of genius tracks to make play really fun and spark imagination. Today we’re going to tell you about the Hot Wheels Track Builder Stunt Bridge Kit from Mattel. Hot Wheels Track Builder Stunt Bridge Kit The Hot…

  • days out - Local Review - London - parenting

    Snazaroo Halloween event at KidZania London

    Today we were invited along to KidZania at Westfield London to experience their Snazaroo Halloween event. My kids adore KidZania so we were delighted to go along. KidZania is an indoor city run by kids, giving kids the opportunity to try out over 60 activities for themselves. We went along this morning and managed to keep it a surprise until we were outside. The kids were so excited when they realised where they were going! We handed over our boarding passes for 4 hours of fun! Over half term kids have the chance to transform into their favourite Halloween character and…

  • film review - parenting

    PJ Masks Time to Be a Hero DVD

    My 5 year old has recently become a fan of PJ Masks. I ignored this for a while but since she started quizzing me on their names and catchphrases, I sat and watched an episode with her and feel that I now know more than I need to about PJ Masks. When Connor, Amaya and Greg put on their pyjamas and activate their animal amulets, they turn into their alter egos – Catboy, Owlette and Gekko – before embarking on adventures filled with action. Along the way, they solve mysteries and learn valuable lessons too. My daughter loves Gekko and…

  • competition - film review - parenting

    Win 1 x 3 copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul on Blu-ray

    Earlier this year we all enjoyed a screening of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. We all absolutely loved it! In Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, The Heffley family road trip to Meemaw’s 90th birthday celebration takes a wild detour thanks to Greg’s newest scheme to attend a video gaming convention. Based on one of the best-selling book series of all time, this crazy, cross-country adventure turns into an experience The Heffleys will never forget. Don’t miss your chance to keep the kids entertained this October half-term as Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The…

  • competition - film review - parenting

    Win a Warner Bros. Halloween DVD bundle

    Yay for half term! We’ve all been looking forward to half term for a while. The weather isn’t great so it’s so easy to stay at home and catch up on some films. I love embracing the seasons and watching seasonal films so have been watching some classic Halloween films from Warner Bros. including Beetlejuice, Corpse Bride, Scooby-Doo Zombie Island and The Witches. Read on to find out just why we like these films and for your chance to win them! Beetlejuice (1988) After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country…