Soooooooooo if you’re not the sort of person who likes to hear about Christmas look away now.

If you’re still here then we must have something in common! Christmas is coming and I can’t wait!

The first signs of Christmas are starting now. One of the first things I love doing is visiting Bents Garden and Home Centre Christmas displays.

I’ve written about Bents since my blog began. One of my first posts back in 2014 was about Bents at Christmas. I love the place. Its amazing! All year round there’s something for everyone, young and old.

2017 saw the opening year for their Winter Food Market and each year so far its returned.

This year I was so excited that the team at Bents invited me to a sneaky preview of their Christmas displays, which officially opened yesterday (16th October). Each year the room displays are just amazing, this year it seems to have expanded once again and now all the Bents colleagues are getting involved in decorating the store. I think one of my personal favourite parts of 2019 shopping area is the lit up archways, its magical!

The table displays are inspiring! And the cafe display this year is just stunning. I can’t pick a favourite display, they are all awesome and very Christmassy.

I’ve made a little vlog about Christmas at Bents this year because pictures don’t do it justice.

Of course the best way to see it is to visit Bents which is easy to find and has loads of free parking onsite.

If you haven’t been to Bents before make sure you leave yourself enough time to see everything. Theres so much to see, including the food hall, plants, home, gifts, clothing and of course Christmas. Theres a huge choice of places to eat, you’ll defiantly find something to suit everyone.

In better weather theres even mini golf to play.

Thanks so much to Bents for inviting me for a sneak peak of Christmas. I can’t wait to take the boys next week!

Yesterday we were invited to go on a day out to Salford Museum and Ordsall Hall. Both attractions have free entry which is fantastic! We were gifted lunch at the museum. I was not paid to write this post. As always my opinions are my own and our reviews are open and honest.

Our first stop was Salford museum and Art Gallery. Now this is somewhere I have been before a long time ago. When I was doing for my A-level art I chose the artist L.S Lowry to study so visited the art gallery to learn and be inspired.

This visit however is different as its the first visit the boys have taken. I’m seeing the museum through the eyes of a child.I did wonder what they’d think about it. Museums have to be engaging to keep small fry entertained. Especially small fry that can’t really read yet like my 5 year old.

We headed to ‘Lark Hill Place’ first. It’s a recreation of a victorian street, with all kinds of shops and house to view.

Even Roo was enjoying the view

This part of the museum is great for people of all ages, my 1 year old had loads of fun walking up and down the street looking in all the windows. It’s safe to let them walk and they can touch anything that’s at their height which is great as you’re not on pins constantly about them reaching for something they shouldn’t be.

After we’d spent a good deal of time at Lark Hill Place we went to look at the other parts of the museum. If you’ve got toddlers I wouldn’t recommend just letting them wander, there’s lots of amazing exibits to look at but lots of things are labelled as do not touch. I totally understand why you can’t touch them but trying to tell a 19 month old they can’t is nearly impossible. So we didn’t spend a lot of time in the other area, I would definitely go back without him though. It seemed like there was a lot to see.

We stopped for lunch at the museum before we headed off to Ordsall Hall.

The children lunch box deals are great value at only £4 with a freshly made choice of sandwich.

Salford museum and art gallery are free entry. What a fabulous day out in itself for anyone who lives not too far away. If you don’t drive the nearest train station is Salford Cresent, from there its a short walk to the museum.

Ordsall Hall

Our second stop was Ordsall Hall, a place I’ve never been to visit. It’s one of those places that I’ve often heard about but never thought to spend time there. I’m so glad we got the chance to go today. By the time we’d finished at the museum and made our way over there (which isn’t far) we were ready to do some more exploring.

ordsall hall pop up banner

Ordsall Hall is the oldest building in Salford and we learnt that it’s over 820 years old. It was certainly well built! Visually it’s a beautiful building to look at and its history is fascinating.

child in the stocks

We were able to learn through play and recreating scenes from history. The boys dressed up as kings and knights. The chainmail was very heavy and I think it helped Thomas realise just how hard a knight has to work!

small game to play at ordsall hall with spinner and pieces to move around the world

I loved looking at the ornate wood carved features, it’s hard to believe it’s so old and that it was all hand carved.

metal chandelier hanging down from the wood carved ceiling at ordsall hall
beautiful hand carved dark wood table in the hall at ordsall hall

And the windows were beautiful. Even on a dull raining Salford day their beauty shone through.

Beautiful stained glass oval window on the first floor of Ordsall Hall.

Ordsall Hall (like Salford Museum) is also a free entry attraction. There is a pay and display car park which is £2.50 and a little cafe area for light refreshments. One of the areas I’d like to go back and see is the gardens, unfortunately due to the rain I didn’t get chance yesterday.

Small cafe area at ordsall hall for light refreshments

I’m not sure why I haven’t been before. We will definitely be coming back again since it’s so close to us. It’s has something for all ages and children are very welcome, with something for them to do in each room. It was a real surprise for us. I’d highly recommend a visit if you have small people to entertain this summer holiday!

Thanks again to Salford Museum and Ordsall Hall for asking us to come and visit and providing lunch for us.

Well my middle baby turned 5 at Easter time. I can’t believe 5 years has passed since I gave birth at home to my middle baby. If you want to read the birth story it can be found here.

Felix’s birthday was going to be the first day of our mini break to Yorkshire so we decided to go to Eureka on the way over to our holiday home for the week. We’ve ever been before but we’ll definitely be going back!

I made a short vlog about our day at Eureka national children’s museum and to remember his birthday.

So I know it’s taken me forever but I never seem to get a moment to myself to sit down and edit the holiday videos. It was back in October 2018 that we went to our favourite place in the whole world, Walt Disney World.

For this trip we stayed at Walt Disney World Beach Club Resort on the club level at Stone Harbour Club. A tour of our room can be found here.

We absolutely loved it and at some point I will be adding videos of the lounge at the Stone Harbour Club. Although if you ask my 7 year old his favourite thing was the flavoured water which changed each day. He would prob now still give you a review of each one.

I’ve finally finished day 2 vlog and its up on my youtube channel. If you want to see Day 1 (travel day) click here.

So without further ado this is day 2!

In 2018 we were lucky enough to stay at Walt Disney World Beach Club – Stone Harbour Club Level Room for 2 whole amazing weeks. Now when I was doing my research for this vacation although I found lots of info about the Walt Disney World Beach Club hotel. I didn’t find that much about the Stone Harbour Club level rooms or lounge. So whilst we were there I tried to make sure I took lots of film and pictures to share once we were back.

If you want to see our travel day video click here.

I’m still working my way through the footage and trying to find time to edit it all. For the first one I’ve put together a room tour.

Stone Harbour Club – Brief Room Tour in Photographs

We stayed in a standard studio room up on the Stone Harbour Club level. The room number was 5708.


 

There were 5 of us, two adults, two children (7 and 4) and a baby (under 1). The Stone Harbour club level room entitled us access to the club lounge which serves refreshments throughout the day. As well as its own private concierge cast members who you can contact at anytime at their desk up until 10pm. Special shout out to Robin from the desk who made our trip magical, the boys miss her a lot!

 

The room we stayed in had two double bed (I’m not sure what size they were as US sizing is different) so I will refer to them as doubles as they defiantly fit two people. It also had a single sleeper size sofa. It was advertised for a room suitable for 5 people and I’d say that was fair. Before we went I thought we’d be cramped in the room but actually it was ok size wise.

The bathroom area had a twin sink vanity area. A large mirror and a small illuminated vanity mirror. The toilet area was separated by a lockable door and had a toilet, and small bath with shower over.

 

 

The entrance area contained a fridge and coffee pod machine. There was also a wardrobe with sliding door with two robes, an iron and board. The safe was inside the wardrobe and suitcase stands. Inside the wardrobe there was also spare pillows for the bed.

the plate showing room number 5708

 

The television area had some surface space as well as draws and cupboards.

There was a desk area with a smaller pull out table on wheels. We used the table as a dining table on the days where we ate in the room.

The balcony had a view over the hotel roof, you could see the main entrance area as well as the globe at Epcot.

Video Tour on YouTube

I’ve done a video with a commentary (please forgive my boring voice!) which probably illustrates the size of the room a little better than photographs do.

Early in the summer the Worsley Park Marriott turned 20 years old and to celebrate yesterday we went along to a family fun day!

Worsley Park Marriott

7 year old boy sits in a swing boat with a smile on his face

I’ve been to the Worsley Park Marriott quite a few times for meals, celebrations with family and friends and events as it’s local to us. I always have a great time as the staff are lovely and the food is always delicious too. So when we were invited along to take part in the fun day we were going to say yes!

The trip out also gave hubby a chance to try his new iPhone XS Max camera too.

a happy couple are smiling holding a baby

The highlight for the boys was collecting conkers, something they haven’t done before and there were hundreds in the beautiful hotel grounds. The hotel facilities include a golf course, country club, spa, driving range and well regarded restaurant ‘Grill in the Park’.

young boy shows delight in collectting conkers from the ground

I also can’t mention the Worsley Park Marriott without linking to their wonderful breakfast which we reviewed last year.

As people are starting to think about Christmas I thought it was worth mentioning all the wonderful events that the Worsley Marriott are planning for this year. If you are North West based I thing Worsely Park Marriott will be a strong contender for meeting the big guy himself Father Christmas. For children they are holding two Santa Lunch events on consecutive Saturdays in December (8th and 15th December 2018) For more information or to make a booking call: 0161 975 2000.

I haven’t seen the hotel decorated for Christmas but every time I go they have some beautiful decorations out for the season so I imagine Christmas there is extremely magical.

floral decorations at the worsley park marriott

 

Thanks again to the Worsley Park Marriott for inviting us along to join in the fun!

This past week I went to Friendsfest with my mum. This is not a paid post or an advert. I paid for the tickets as any other person had but wanted to put up a post mainly of the pictures as we had such a great time! If you are interested in visiting then you can find the friendsfest website here.

Friendsfest is a small travelling festival incorporating set mock ups and real props from the sitcom Friends. It happens to be one of my all time favourite TV shows and I still find it as funny now as when it first aired back in the 90’s.

If you want to watch Friends all 10 series are currently on Netflix.

I’ve also put together a vlog of our trip which I’ve linked below if you wasn’t to have a watch!

But for now here’s our highlights!

We started our trip in Central Perk where we were able to stand behind the counter, sing smelly cat and sit on the famous couch!

 

 

 

 

This scene of course is very famous and if you know Friends then you’ll be shouting ‘PIVOT’ right now in your head!

The One with the Set Tour


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Could I BE any more cheesy with my grin?

 


 



friendsfest


If you want to watch the vlog about our trip to Friendsfest click below

 

This week we were kindly invited to try the new Jurassic Cove adventure golf at Bents Garden and Home centre.

I’ve written about Bents lots of times before, more recently at Christmas for their fantastic Christmas food market. I love Bents, it’s such a fantastic family friendly destination. I’m lucky that we only live 20 minutes away from it. I’d definatly recommend a trip if it’s within reach for you. Bents has grown to be an amazing place over the last few years.

It’s a shopping destination for everyone, young to old. The food is fantastic wherever you chose to eat while there and for children they playground and indoor beach will keep them entertained for ages.

Bents have had a 9 hole dinosaur adventure golf for a while but this year they have doubled the size of the course.

You can now play 18 holes which are both dinosaur and pirate themed!

The first 9 holes are the original dinosaur theme, whilst the last 9 are the pirate ones. Yarrrrrrr me hearties (thats pirate speak!).

We played all 18 holes and had a fab time. The boys were loving it. It has all the elements of a great adventure golf. Fun obstacles combined with tilts and curves. It’s sure to be a fun time for the whole family. When you’ve worked up an appetite I highly recommend eating there too.

After the Golf

 

Even after all the years Bents is still a family buisness and it shines through with how proud they are and how lovely all the staff are when you visit.

The food is locally sourced where available and is soooooo delicious!

If you’re interested in a visit to Bents their website can be found here.

We made a video of our trip too, we loved it!

Thanks to Bents for inviting us to try the adventure golf. I have not been paid for the post and all opinions are my own.

Last bank holiday we headed to the beach. Living in the UK we are very lucky to be surrounded by beautiful beaches. No matter where you live you’re never that far away from a beach. Even if you don’t drive you can get out and about with a trian or bus!

On bank holiday Monday we went to St Annes beach in Lancashire. We are quite practised at beach days. We tend to go to the beach quite a lot. So we know what to take with us to have a great day. However while we were there I realised there are still things I’d forgotten. So this is how the blog post was born. A list of things to take with us, a reminder to myself and others what things make a great day!

Beach Essential List

  1. Sun Shelter

We have had a few beach shelters in our time. The one we found to be most useful is a pop up one as it offers the most protection from the sun as well as being ready in seconds. My only word of warning though is practice putting it down before you use it on the beach for the first time! Once you know how to put it down its really easy to do in future. You don’t want to look like a complete fool on the beach though when you come to pack up! This one is a fab pop up version as it has mesh panels which are great if its windy!

 

2.Wind shelter

When you think of a beach wind break, you think big stripes and poles. Thats exactly what I’m talking about. I made the mistake first of buying one that you would use at camping and on the beach its no good as the poles you drive into the ground aren’t sturdy enough for sand. You need to get one with big wooden poles. This one is so cheery and I love it!

3.Dry Bag

Use this once your set up to store your valuables in so you know where they are when it’s time to leave. Things such as house keys, car keys, wallet, purse etc. The last thing you want to do is get to the end of a wonderful day to find that you’ve lost your car keys in the sand somewhere when they fell out of your pocket! As the description says the bag will keep things dry (and most importantly safe!)

 

4. Picnic Basket

Apart from the obvious a picnic basket is great for storing all your food in to keep it cool of rite day. IF you get a silver lined one like below the frozen ice packs will keep your food and drink nice and cool all day long. Be sure to store it in the shade of the sun shelter though.

beach day essentials

5. Chairs

Rather than lugging big fold out chairs with us to the beach we prefer these anywhere chairs as they literally fold up when your done and are so easy and light to carry. The weight of your bottom makes a great support for the back part and as a breastfeeding mum you defiantly need that when feeding on a beach. No one wants to come home with a sore back after a day in the sun!

beach

6. Towel

I always take one or two travel towels with us. They are super lightweight but absorb a lot of liquids. Great for drying of wet children (if they venture into the sea) or mopping up spills if there are any in the sun shelter.

7. Bucket and Spades

It’ kind of obvious but I forget nearly everytime and end up having to buy more! Theres so many great sets you can pick up for making sand castles etc. Our boys use the buckets and spades in all sorts of different games using their imagination.

8. Picnic Blankets

Now I’ve purposely written picnic blankets as a plural because we always need more than one. We use one to line the bottom of the sunshade tent to sit on then one out a little bit onto the sand for picnics etc. They are not expensive but save wet bottoms for those not wanting to sit on any wet sand! Again they fold up small and are lightweight.

9. Travel Potty

Ive had this one for years but its ideal, you can use swing bin liner bags so nothing to tip away and I line it with cheap sanitary pads (the really cheap value ones)

Potette travel potty 

There are other things we take too like spare clothes just in case I need to change the boys as well as a travel potty. Of course all the things that you need with a baby nappies etc. As long as I’ve got the above items though I feel like we are set up for a fab day on the beach. Is there anything else you like to take? I’d love to know so please drop me a line in the comments below!

I’ve dropped the link below for the short video I made of our day out!

Items on this list are affiliate links which means if you click through to buy an item I will get a couple of pence at NO EXTRA cost to you at all.

Winter Wonderland Manchester – Eventcity

Winter Wonderland Manchester is back and we’ve been to check it out!

Manchesters biggest indoor Christmas attraction is not to be missed!

This week we kindly invited to check out this years Winter Wonderland at Eventcity, right next to the Trafford Centre.

We’ve been before so knew what to expect but this year really is bigger and better!

Legendary children’s TV show Rainbow are the star attraction of this year’s Christmas extravaganza, Winter Wonderland 2017!

 Winner of the Best Family Day Out at the Raring 2 Go Awards 2015, the festive family favourite event is back for its fifth consecutive year.

 The fabulous festive event will return to Manchester from Saturday 9th December 2017 toMonday 1st January 2018.

The mammoth 22,000sqm exhibition space at EventCity will be transformed in to an unbelievable wonderland extravaganza, featuring over 50 family rides and attractions all under one roof – including new rides for 2017, and all included in one ticket price.

When you book you’re tickets you can chose a 4 hour time slot. During that 4 hours you can ride as many rides and see as many shows as you want to. Tickets are available to buy here. But be quick, it’s a popular event and some dates may sell out so it’s advisable to book online before you travel.

winter wonderland

We had so much fun in the fours hours we were there. I lost count of the amount of rides we went on. Theres rides suitable for everyone. Theres even a baby chill out zone for those little people who just want to play with some toys.

We took little Roo who is only 10 days old and he was really good. I even saw a few friends I know who were more than happy to have cuddles with Roo!

winter wonderland

With food stalls a plenty, a visit to Father Christmas included and a whole host of fun. Winter Wonderland is once again sure to be a great day out for the whole family this Christmas. Have you been yet? If you have let me know what you thought!

With thanks to Winter Wonderland for inviting us to come and have some highly recommend festive fun!