Sunday, 27 April 2014
Saturday, 26 April 2014
Family Day Out: Hatton Adventure World
The lovely people at Hatton Adventure World in Warwickshire offered us some tickets to go and visit them last weekend. If I'm honest, I have to admit I had never heard of Hatton Adventure World, even though they are only a 45 minute drive from our home in Leicestershire.
On arrival at the park there are some beautiful little shops selling a range of different items from antiques to old fashioned sweets; Ruby was in too much of a hurry to get into the adventure park that we didn't get a chance to go into the shops until nearer home time.
As soon as we entered the park, Ruby decided to head straight for the farm park area of the site. We found the farm park to be very well looked after and clean compared to some other parks we have visited, we also were surprised at how many people were around to assist if help was needed.
The farm park had so many animals but the girls much preferred seeing the baby chicks and guinea pigs, which you are able to handle at certain times of the day.
After spending time in the farm park, we decided to stop off at one of the restaurants, we were impressed that there were so many home-made items on the menu and I ate a very yummy cheese bake whilst Phil had fish and chips and Ruby and Lottie shared chicken nuggets with chips and beans. I think it's safe to say the food was a hit as clean plates were left over. Price wise, an adult meal was approximately £8 which I feel is reasonably priced based on the quality and the portion size.
There is a very large and clean soft play area within the restaurant, which is based in a huge barn; I was very impressed to see a separate area for Lottie's age group, including some sensory play activities. Ruby loved the bigger slides and I think hubbie did too!
We then explored the various different rides and attractions; Ruby thoroughly enjoyed herself. There was so much to see and do including bouncy castles, toy ride on digger and tractor courses and a helter skelter to name a few.
When we entered the park, we were handed a map and an Easter egg hunt check list. Scattered around the park were 12 big bunny signs, each with there own unique colour. Ruby loved going around spotting the bunnies and writing the colours on her sheet. Lottie particularly enjoyed the chocolate bunny that was given to her for completing the list!
On exiting the park, we sopped by a beautiful shop that sold lots of traditional wooden toys; there was something to suit everyone's budget.
I think it's safe to say that we will definitely be coming back soon. Tickets are priced at £11.95 for adults and £12.95 for children.
Ruby + Lottie Rating: 9/10
Disclaimer: We were kindly given free entrance to the park as well as vouchers towards our lunch, however all thoughts and opinions are our own.
On arrival at the park there are some beautiful little shops selling a range of different items from antiques to old fashioned sweets; Ruby was in too much of a hurry to get into the adventure park that we didn't get a chance to go into the shops until nearer home time.
As soon as we entered the park, Ruby decided to head straight for the farm park area of the site. We found the farm park to be very well looked after and clean compared to some other parks we have visited, we also were surprised at how many people were around to assist if help was needed.
The farm park had so many animals but the girls much preferred seeing the baby chicks and guinea pigs, which you are able to handle at certain times of the day.
After spending time in the farm park, we decided to stop off at one of the restaurants, we were impressed that there were so many home-made items on the menu and I ate a very yummy cheese bake whilst Phil had fish and chips and Ruby and Lottie shared chicken nuggets with chips and beans. I think it's safe to say the food was a hit as clean plates were left over. Price wise, an adult meal was approximately £8 which I feel is reasonably priced based on the quality and the portion size.
There is a very large and clean soft play area within the restaurant, which is based in a huge barn; I was very impressed to see a separate area for Lottie's age group, including some sensory play activities. Ruby loved the bigger slides and I think hubbie did too!
We then explored the various different rides and attractions; Ruby thoroughly enjoyed herself. There was so much to see and do including bouncy castles, toy ride on digger and tractor courses and a helter skelter to name a few.
When we entered the park, we were handed a map and an Easter egg hunt check list. Scattered around the park were 12 big bunny signs, each with there own unique colour. Ruby loved going around spotting the bunnies and writing the colours on her sheet. Lottie particularly enjoyed the chocolate bunny that was given to her for completing the list!
On exiting the park, we sopped by a beautiful shop that sold lots of traditional wooden toys; there was something to suit everyone's budget.
I think it's safe to say that we will definitely be coming back soon. Tickets are priced at £11.95 for adults and £12.95 for children.
Ruby + Lottie Rating: 9/10
Disclaimer: We were kindly given free entrance to the park as well as vouchers towards our lunch, however all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Monday, 21 April 2014
Easter Day
Easter means so much to us as a family, and it has nothing to do with the chocolate eggs that we give and receive as Easter gifts. Easter celebrates the day in which Christ was risen from the grave and overcame death. Easter is a great celebration for us as a family as we reflect on how Christ died on the cross for us and became our advocate in heaven. I am not going to go deep into a religious blog post as I know for many of you, religion is not something they want to hear about.
We started off Easter morning by all having breakfast and lots of cuddles in bed. Even just reflecting on the morning brings a smile to my face as I feel so incredibly blessed to have two amazing daughters and a loving husband.
We then had to quickly get ready for church (this is something we do every week). Upon arrival at church we were quite taken a back by how many people had turned up compared to a normal Sunday, it was so nice to see so many new and unfamiliar faces. During the service we sang various hymns whilst Ruby made tissue paper flowers to be placed onto a wooden cross. Lottie on the other hand played in the children's corner with her daddy and me.
After the service, the church had organised an Easter egg hunt around the church yard - fortunately the weather remained good and one of the youth took Ruby around on the hunt whilst Phil and I went and had cake and coffee in the church hall.
After arriving home it was time for our very own Easter egg hunt; last year I had bought some plastic egg shells that can be opened and filled with random bits or chocolate, I tried to be as creative as I could when hiding the 18 eggs in the garden, but it wasn't long until Ruby and Lottie had found them all - any tips for next year would be most appreciated as I obviously didn't hide them well enough.
We managed to get some really good shots of the girls having fun on their egg hunt.
I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Easter however you celebrated.
We started off Easter morning by all having breakfast and lots of cuddles in bed. Even just reflecting on the morning brings a smile to my face as I feel so incredibly blessed to have two amazing daughters and a loving husband.
We then had to quickly get ready for church (this is something we do every week). Upon arrival at church we were quite taken a back by how many people had turned up compared to a normal Sunday, it was so nice to see so many new and unfamiliar faces. During the service we sang various hymns whilst Ruby made tissue paper flowers to be placed onto a wooden cross. Lottie on the other hand played in the children's corner with her daddy and me.
After the service, the church had organised an Easter egg hunt around the church yard - fortunately the weather remained good and one of the youth took Ruby around on the hunt whilst Phil and I went and had cake and coffee in the church hall.
After arriving home it was time for our very own Easter egg hunt; last year I had bought some plastic egg shells that can be opened and filled with random bits or chocolate, I tried to be as creative as I could when hiding the 18 eggs in the garden, but it wasn't long until Ruby and Lottie had found them all - any tips for next year would be most appreciated as I obviously didn't hide them well enough.
We managed to get some really good shots of the girls having fun on their egg hunt.
I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Easter however you celebrated.
Sunday, 20 April 2014
Saturday, 19 April 2014
Easter Card and Egg Decorating
Last week was the final week for Ruby at school before the Easter holidays commenced. I have been somewhat surprised at how much attention has been focused on Easter whilst Ruby has been at school as they certainly didn't do as much for Christmas. To celebrate Easter the children visited the local church where the vicar conducted a special Easter service; Ruby has also made a beautiful Easter card which I will treasure as it's so very lovely.
We also received a letter last week saying that the children would be having an egg rolling contest and a competition for the best decorated hard boiled egg. I will put my hands up now and admit that I wasn't even sure how long you are supposed to hard boil an egg for, so I had to ask around and the answer appears to be anything from 10 minutes onwards - but boil the eggs from cold water so that the shell doesn't crack (you can tell that we don't eat boiled eggs in our house!). So I did as I was instructed and I'm pleased to say I'd hard boiled the eggs enough without cracking them so Ruby was able decorate them.
Ruby was really excited to be decorating an egg as it's something she had never done before. Currently, Ruby is obsessed with the movie Frozen and so decided that she wanted to make her egg into Elsa. She started off by painting her egg pink for Elsa's face then painting a toilet roll blue for her dress, we let these dry before she drew a face onto the egg and added strips of yellow tissue paper to make her hair, she also added some sparkle and glitter onto Elsa's dress and made a white cape out of Crete paper. I think it's safe to say Ruby thoroughly enjoyed this and has already asked if she can make an Anna and Olaf to add to her Frozen egg collection.
Unfortunately last Thursday lunchtime I received a phone call from Ruby's teacher saying that Ruby had been upset and complaining she felt cold when in fact she was burning up with a fever. I brought her home and put the tv on so she could have some quiet time, and within a few minutes she was fast asleep. Ruby's school had planned a treasure hunt for the last Friday of term and I'm so gutted for Ruby that she missed it - however I do have some plans to create our own Easter egg hunt.
I still can't believe that when Ruby goes back to school we will be entering into the last couple of months of her being in her foundation year, and then she will be moving into year 1, I have no idea where the last year has gone or indeed the last 5 years, my baby is growing up way too quickly and I'd really like her to slow down a little bit.
We also received a letter last week saying that the children would be having an egg rolling contest and a competition for the best decorated hard boiled egg. I will put my hands up now and admit that I wasn't even sure how long you are supposed to hard boil an egg for, so I had to ask around and the answer appears to be anything from 10 minutes onwards - but boil the eggs from cold water so that the shell doesn't crack (you can tell that we don't eat boiled eggs in our house!). So I did as I was instructed and I'm pleased to say I'd hard boiled the eggs enough without cracking them so Ruby was able decorate them.
Ruby was really excited to be decorating an egg as it's something she had never done before. Currently, Ruby is obsessed with the movie Frozen and so decided that she wanted to make her egg into Elsa. She started off by painting her egg pink for Elsa's face then painting a toilet roll blue for her dress, we let these dry before she drew a face onto the egg and added strips of yellow tissue paper to make her hair, she also added some sparkle and glitter onto Elsa's dress and made a white cape out of Crete paper. I think it's safe to say Ruby thoroughly enjoyed this and has already asked if she can make an Anna and Olaf to add to her Frozen egg collection.
I still can't believe that when Ruby goes back to school we will be entering into the last couple of months of her being in her foundation year, and then she will be moving into year 1, I have no idea where the last year has gone or indeed the last 5 years, my baby is growing up way too quickly and I'd really like her to slow down a little bit.
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Monday, 7 April 2014
Selfie Day
It seems that every day is national something or other day, and today happens to be selfie day! Selfie is a fairly new word and one I've only come to know in the last couple of years or so. A selfie is a photo taken of yourself, most selfies are taken when visiting a place of interest or doing something you enjoy. A recent BBC survey concluded that selfies are designed to show other people what is important to the person who's taken the photo, and this is true as the photos create memories of special occasions and moments in our life's. In order to mark selfie day my sister taught Lottie how to say "selfie" and this is the video, it comes with a warning that it is very cute :)
