In a former life I was a nanny, and then a maternity nurse. I spent a lot of time giving help and advice to new parents, despite having no children of my own. Which seems like a bonkers thing to do but goodness, I had boundless energy and the ability to not be embarrassed by anything. Those are good skills to have when you are on a 12 hour flight with a small child that won't settle. In fact, making long plane journeys with small babies became … [Read more...]
EdinburghAtoZ: an Instagram tour of our family visit to the Scottish Capital
We were in Edinburgh over Christmas. We shared the fun of our latest Home Exchange trip over on Instagram in the form of an #EdinburghAtoZ. If you missed it, then I have compiled the images here so that you can see what a fun place Edinburgh is to visit at any time of year. A is for Arthur's Seat. B is for Bagpipes. They sound less unpleasant North of the Border. C is for Cobbles. D is for Drambuie. Or a dram of something else. E is for … [Read more...]
10 Reasons you should try Home Swapping
I was recently interviewed by Mums Do Travel talking about our experience with Home Exchanges. It's something I get asked about a lot because of all the photos I post on instagram, but never seem to write about. So I thought I would share with you 10 reasons you should try Home Swapping. 1. Cost: er, hello, free accommodation! What's not to love about that? Given that accommodation is one of the greatest costs of a holiday, the … [Read more...]
The Art of the Brick London exhibition
The Art of the Brick London exhibition has been extended to April 12th 2015 due to popular demand. I confess I had heard nothing about it but DH was very excited when he booked tickets for us all- due in part to the fact that we would be taking The Girls to his old stomping ground around Brick Lane in London. Housed at the Old Truman Brewery, one of CNN's Top Ten Must See Global Exhibitions features sculptures created by former lawyer Nathan … [Read more...]
48 Hours in Edinburgh with children
Packing for Christmas is always challenging. But we were lucky with the weather when we went to Scotland last month. If you are heading North of the Border soon, here are some things you could do if you have 48 Hours in Edinburgh with children. A quick hour or so from Gatwick, you barely have time to enjoy the proffered complimentary crisps-or-cookies with your on-board beverage, before The Girls want to know why their ears are popping. It … [Read more...]
Visiting Santa in his Harrods workshop
Last year we were invited to visit Harrod's Santa for review purposes, and whilst we enjoyed our experience, we had a few criticisms. This year, assured that these had all been addressed, we once again travelled into London to experience the wonder of a "Big Name" Santa, visiting Santa in his Harrods workshop. And I have to say that Harrod's Santa 2014 was a vast improvement on 2013. It was an actual Winter Wonderland- a forest of white … [Read more...]
Simple Halloween party ideas
It is surprisingly easy to put together a Halloween party, even if you weren't planning one. We certainly weren't when The Girls insisted we have one last October half-term when we were in Belgium. They do say that necessity is the mother of invention, so here are a few simple Halloween party ideas that we used. A party needs three things: 1. food 2. activities 3. dressing up. For some parties, Dressing Up may just be putting … [Read more...]
