Looking Forward To The Blenheim Palace Christmas Lights Trail

There’s nothing lovelier, in the run-up to Christmas, than going to fetch the Christmas tree or visiting a Christmas market. But if you want an extra special treat, why not book a trip to Blenheim Palace Christmas Lights trail. We went for the first time in December 2020. It was the first time we’d been out of our village as a family …

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Our Cool Caravans in Print!

Our cool caravans —Dolly 1 & 2— were featured in Reloved magazine! A full 4 page article talking about my caravan makeover ideas!

Inspiring Young Readers with Julia Donaldson Books

When our boys were born the house went from magazine-worthy to mega-mess almost overnight. Our wonky little cottage — that seemed roomy for two grown adults — felt like a bit of a squash. The kitchen went from clear to cluttered, just hours after bringing them home. It’s single meagre work surface housed an extra kettle, bottle …

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A Recipe for Homemade Mini Milk Ice Lollies

Looking for a recipe for homemade Mini Milk Ice Lollies? This variation is so like the real thing — but the great thing is, you can make them as big as you like! There is not a great deal nicer in life than an ice lolly on a hot day is there? When I was …

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Little Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

With Mother’s day fast approaching, I thought I’d stick a little list in here — just in-case (dear husband are you reading ;) ? ) someone might like some Mother’s Day gift ideas! This little round up contains the usual — flowers and chocolates — but also a couple of curve balls because, well let’s …

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Introducing The Playmobil VW Camper Van | AD

We were given the Playmobil Camper Van for the purposes of this review. All thoughts, words and images — as ever — are entirely my own. I always wanted a VW Camper Van when I was younger. They always seemed so much cooler than boring, beige caravans; and the hippy in me was desperate for …

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Do We Celebrate Grandparents Day In The UK?

Have you ever wondered if we celebrate Grandparents Day in the UK? It’s on the national day calendar, but it’s not something we generally celebrate in our family. It’s the kind of thing that I feel is an American marketeer’s creation; a ‘Hallmark holiday’ if you like. But, when we were given a Land Rover …

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Summer in Lockdown 2020

Disclosure: My summer in lockdown post contains gifted items from Lighthouse Clothing. A big thanks to the lovely folk at Lighthouse Clothing for the boys fabulous shirts and my beautiful dress and bag. This is not the post I’d planned to write. Initially when Lighthouse Clothing got in touch, to ask if we’d like to share some of …

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Our family road trip from LA to San Fran

This time last year we were preparing for our long awaited, family road trip from LA to San Fran. Mr D grew up in San Francisco and — even though we’ve spent loads of time in the USA as a couple — we’d never gone to the west coast together. We’d planned our holiday for …

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Back to School {Featuring Start-Rite} | AD

Unbelievable to think that the boys will be back to school again next week. Our hotly anticipated lazy, six-week holiday has been gobbled up, Gone in a merry-go-round of festivals, camping trips, days out and sports camp. It feels as though it’s ending just as soon as it began. I don’t want it to be …

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Boys, Cars and Toy Trains { An Honest Ford Kuga Review}

‘This honest ford Kuga review is in paid partnership with Vertu Motors. However all thoughts, words and images are entirely my own.’ Although we’ve never pushed gender specific toys on the twins — always offering them a choice — like an inherent magnet, they’re inexplicably drawn to cars and trains. Ever since they were very …

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Could You Go Plastic Free For a Week? {The Family Sustainability Challenge}

Would you ever consider taking part in a family sustainability challenge? There’s such a buzz around ‘sustainability’ at the moment, isn’t there? Everything from banning single use plastics, to reducing meat production; saving energy to recycling. It seems to be everywhere you look.  I think we humans are starting to become increasingly more aware of …

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A Night at The Wood Norton Hotel

We went away for a night at the Wood Norton Hotel and it made me think… every once in a while, getting away with your significant other and rediscovering ‘why’ you got together in the first place is a wonderful thing. And before you get carried away with the smutty references; I wasn’t *necessarily* referring …

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Is Lapland UK Worth The Money? Our Lapland UK Review

Is Lapland UK worth the money? I thought I’d write my Lapland review for any parents looking to book tickets. There’s no denying that it’s expensive — but is it worth it? Read on… ‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house,Every creature was stirring,As they’d all been kept awake by two very …

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Is It a Bird? Is It a Plane? {Play Kitchen Review-AD}

The first week of December has given us a bitter wind and the clearest, bluest skies. As you know, I’m not keen on the short dark days but I make an exception for the final month of the year. I love December. From the very first day — to the very last — it’s a month …

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A Walk in Joules autumn collection

I am not a fan of the cold, I think it’s fair to say but a walk in Joules autumn collection will put a smile on my face and some roses in my cheeks. Hibernating for six months of the year just isn’t an option, with two very active little twin boys to entertain. Embracing …

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Is the land rover discovery sport a good family car?

‘This is an unpaid Land Rover Discovery Sport Review. Disclosure: we were given a Discovery Sport HSE LUX to test-drive for a long weekend, in order to give an honest review. The Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE LUX might look like a total babe but it doesn’t just have a pretty face; it definitely has a …

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A Day Out at The Chiltern Open Air Museum

On Saturday, as part of our Landrover Discovery Adventures, we took the boys to The Chiltern Open Air Museum for the afternoon. It’s a really fascinating family day out I’d highly recommend it, if you’re looking for something a little different to do. Founded in 1976, with the aim of rescuing threatened buildings; more than …

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The soggiest Camp Bestival ever — summer 2017

Camp-Bestival-2017

What makes Camp Bestival 2017 stand out from any other year we’ve been? It rained. And rained and rained and rained. But as a very wise man, called Gilbert K. Chesterton, once said; ‘When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.’ And I think that perfectly sums up …

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A week at Bosinver Farm Cottages in Cornwall

After our St Mawes adventure in February, we followed it up with another trip down to Cornwall in May. This time to Bosinver, near St Austell. I wrote a little post saying that we’d booked to go, back in September of last year, and we’d been looking forward to it for the best part of 8 …

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A night at the Bath Spa Hotel

I thought I’d write down my thoughts about our stay at the Bath Spa Hotel, whilst I remembered. Last Friday evening, my boys and I had just checked in there; courtesy of our lovely friends at Joules. We’d had such a fun day with them at Badminton Horse Trials and they’d kindly arranged for us …

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Our Review of The Hotel Aiguille Percee in Tignes

Looking for a review of the Hotel Aiguille Percee in Tignes? Here’s what we thought. Our Trip to Tignes With Mark Warner For someone — like me — who’s never been to the mountains before, the coach journey from Grenoble airport to the ski resort of Tignes was pretty spectacular. Winding through the French Alps, looking …

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207 weeks and 2 days | Me and Mine {February} featuring Joules

February. A very short and very memorable month for me and mine. We’ve done some decorating. Been  planning and getting very excited for our upcoming ski trip with Mark Warner. And, of course, we celebrated our wedding anniversary down in Cornwall; at lovely Dreamcatchers; courtesy of St Mawes Retreats. It is definitely one of the most …

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Celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary at St Mawes Retreats

At around twenty past two on the third of this month my boy and I had been married for sixteen years. The happiest times of my life have happened with — and as a result of — this amazing man. I love him more than words can say. I’ve written about our wedding day before. It’s bizarre that it was …

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Golden Anniversary Weekend at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

Back in October we celebrated my mum and dad’s golden anniversary weekend at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest FIFTY YEARS!!! Such a huge milestone! They had decided ages ago that they wanted to take us all away for the weekend. We wanted somewhere that would appeal to all ages and — as my heavily pregnant sister wasn’t able to fly …

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The GLTC Fix It Workbench | {Siblings November}

Recently, as part of their Great Little Trading Testing Team duties (literally the BEST job ever!) my little man-cubs were asked to try out the GLTC Fix It Workbench. A cool bit of kit for handy little boys and girls; especially ones like mine who regularly see their daddy using a big grown up version. The …

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Day of The Dead Halloween Party | Me and Mine {October}

A couple of weeks’ ago I mentioned that we were planning to throw a Halloween party. We’d decided to make it a bit of a village affair — invite all the neighbours and their children — and decorate the house and garden in a suitably spooky manner. Although we spent hours scouring Pinterest for games and …

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181 weeks and 2 days | Camp Bestival 2016 — Out Of This World

Camp Bestival 2016. What an epic adventure. Unbelievably it was a few weekends ago now that we were packing up Dolly The Caravan; to make the journey down to Lulworth in Dorset. I took almost 1000 pictures over the 4 days that we were there (!). And have been ploughing through them, trying to work out what to write about …

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Our holiday at the Mark Warner Perdepera Resort in Sardinia

Disclosure: We’ve been working with Mark Warner this year as part of their ambassador programme. We were sent to review the Perdepera Resort in Sardinia. This is a collaborative post but all thoughts, words and lifestyle images are entirely my own. I love my blog; this little tiny corner of the internet. Since I began writing my …

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Caravanserai at Camp Bestival

Caravanserai at Camp Bestival

Caravanserai. Now there’s a word you don’t hear very often. Initially, I thought it was a name made up by those clever bods who brought us Camp Bestival – but it really, really does exist! CARAVANSERAI /ˌkarəˈvansərʌɪ,-ri/ noun historical an inn with a central courtyard for travellers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa. a group …

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Have bed will travel… GLTC Bed in a Bag Review

I thought I’d post a GLTC Bed in a Bag review; our findings might help another family. Since the boys were born, we’ve never had a proper travel cot. I hate how big and clumsy traditional travel cots are and decided to look for an alternative. So after a lot of research, we bought a …

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Welcome Home | The GLTC Showroom Launch Party

On Saturday, my three boys and I hotfooted it down to London for a very special housewarming party. Our friends at the Great Little Trading Company have just created the very first GLTC showroom and we were very privileged to get a sneak preview before the doors open to the public. It’s in Wandsworth, south London, so was …

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Pictures of a Pirate Birthday Party | Siblings March

Looking for pictures of a pirate birthday party? I took more than 400 images of the twins’ third birthday at the weekend! I’ve managed to cut them down as much as I can, but you’ll still see what we got up to in the pics below. As quick as a flash, the not so ‘terrible …

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Room For a Little One Campaign with Silentnight

Disclosure: This is an unpaid collaboration. I was given two sets of children’s bedding for the Room For a Little One Campaign with Silentnight. Now, the boys’ room hasn’t really changed a great deal since they were born. I shared a little nursery tour last year. And apart from a couple of new bits and …

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The perfect family holiday | #MarkWarnerMum

What makes the perfect family holiday? Even though the boys will be 3 years old, in less than a month’s time, I don’t have much to reference in terms of our ‘perfect family holiday’ as we haven’t actually had one yet. And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a pity party, we’ve had some lovely, lovely weekends …

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143 weeks and 6 days | Welford Christmas Tree Farm

Last weekend we revelled in the most wonderful of family traditions. We went Christmas tree shopping at Welford Christmas Tree Farm. As Andy Williams immortalised in song ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year’ and — for me it really is — the lead up to Christmas is magical. I can’t quite put into words just how much I enjoy this little …

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Family Fun at Shambala Festival

August has been the month of festivals for us! As July gave way to August, we were at Camp Bestival, then my boys and I have just seen the summer out with a bang at our last festival of the year — Shambala Festival in Northamptonshire. Funnily enough, last year’s Me and Mine post in August was also based …

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2015 Camp Bestival Review With Video

Disclosure: I was an official Camp Bestival blogger for 2015. My family and I were given tickets in return for our coverage and honest opinions of the festival. As ever, all thoughts, words and pictures are my own. So there we are. All the excitement, planning, packing and anticipation has been and gone. And my head …

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121 weeks and 5 days | Camp Bestival 2015 here we come!

I *might* (OK, totally did — and on more than one occasion too) have mentioned that a couple of weeks ago my boy and I left our littles, for almost a week, and headed off to the biggest and best garden party in the world. The Pilton Pop Festival. Or — as it is now more commonly known as — Glastonbury Festival. Hanging …

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116 weeks and 2 days | Baby milestones

Since the twins have arrived, I’ve been using my blog to chart their progress and I’ve often noted that they are developing in totally different ways and hitting their baby milestones at totally different speeds. Cosmo-Bear has been a real conversationist from a tiny age. Even before he could form words that any regular person …

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Home is Wherever We Are Together

Home. A little tiny word with enormous meaning. What feelings and emotions does the word ‘home’ evoke? What does it mean to you? I’ve been thinking about this long and hard and I can’t think of a single straight answer. Home means so many different things to me. I can’t narrow it down to just one …

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Easter Bonnets and Cake!

The Easter weekend was so much fun, I wish we had more four day bank holidays! It was all about Easter bonnets and cake this weekend. Those extra couple of days — tagged on to the weekend — give us so much more time to make, do, relax, socialise and generally catch up on life. I feel as though I did so much …

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108 weeks and 1 day | A day out at Folly Farm

A couple of weeks ago we visited the Bluestone Resort in Pembrokeshire and whilst we were there, had a day out at an amazing tourist attraction called Folly Farm. It’s located close to Tenby so brilliantly close to Bluestone and a must-see if you’re ever down in that neck of the woods. Whilst it’s name would suggest …

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Our Bluestone Review 2 | Getting Around

Disclosure: We were given a complimentary 4 night stay in return for an honest Bluestone review. All photos, thoughts and words are my own. The Bluestone National Park Resort is set over 500 acres of amazing Pembrokeshire countryside with some breathtaking views and gorgeous fresh Welsh country air. Needless to say the site is pretty …

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The Twinterview | Beth from Twinderelmo

My fifth guest post Twinterview is with the fabulous Beth who blogs over at  ‘Twinderelmo‘.  She’s given some fantastic insights into what it’s like to be a mama of twins; with some lovely positive thoughts on her birth experience plus top tips — and advice — for any new mum (or dad) of multiples.  How did you feel when you first found out you …

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Dolly The Caravan Goes Camping

These captured moments were taken last year. It was July and we’d taken Dolly The Vintage Caravan to a farm nearby our home; for a camping weekend with a couple of other families. It was a baking hot weekend and our friends were due to arrive,  from London,  later on in the day. We’d finished setting up …

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The Twinterview | Karen from Mini Travellers

  Our third Twinterview guest post is with Karen who founded the amazing  kids travel blog ‘Mini Travellers‘. She’s bravely stepped up to the plate and has agreed to answer the questions that every new parent of twins would love to know! How did you feel when you first found out you were having twins? Absolutely horrified initially! Lily was only 5 months …

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The Twinterview | Jess — Mummy Of Girl and Boy Twins

My first Twinterview guest post is with the lovely Jess who blogs over at ‘Mummy Of Boy Girl Twins’. She’s kindly put herself in the spotlight and has agreed to answer a few questions that any new (or expectant) parent of twins is dying to ask…  over to you Jess!   How did you feel when you first found …

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Planning a Non Religious Naming Ceremony

Are you planning a non religious naming ceremony? As my boy and I are not religious, we would have felt hypocritical to have our sons Christened in a church. That said, what do you do, when you would like to mark a child’s arrival in a significant way but want something more than a party? …

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The Twins Naming Day Celebration

Back in May of this year, we marked the birth of our baby boys with the twins naming day celebration. I’ve mentioned it a couple of times over the summer. I wrote about the naming ceremony invitations that I designed, months after the event happened. But up until now have not had the time to sit and write …

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Me and Mine August 2014 | Scenes from Shambala Festival

This month’s ‘Me and Mine photos will certainly be some of the most memorable in years to come. This August — having been to SO many festivals as a couple — we took our children to Shambala Festival for the very first time. Many would balk at the idea of taking two tiny people to a 4 day festival but this is …

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Bertie’s Egg Allergy (& The Egg Allergy Test)

After ‘Bertie’s Egg Allergy‘ episode happened, we had been quickly referred for an appointment at Birmingham City Hospital. For Bertie’s immunology testing. Odd — seeing as Leicester (which is closer) has a reportedly amazing immunology department . But hey, we dance to the beat of the NHS drum. So we went along with it and …

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34 weeks and 2 days | An allergic reaction to egg.

What a crazy week. Health visitors, new routines and Bertie having an allergic reaction to egg. Wednesday started off brilliantly. The health visitor came for a home visit — the first since The Twinkles were four months old — and I was so excited to find out how much they both weighed. Historically, there has …

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9 Twin Mom To Be Tips

Today I stumbled across a blog written by a girl who has just been given the news she’s expecting twins — well, a week ago, but that’s not very long at all to get your head around something so enormous. She had written a list of questions, similar to the kind of things I would …

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26 weeks and 5 days | The Twinkles are 6 months old!

I cannot believe how quickly time seems to be going. It’s as though someone has pressed the fast forward button on my life and everything is double the speed. The Twinkles are 6 months old! It certainly doesn’t feel like half a year has passed since they were born. The days have gone by in …

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25 weeks old today | 6 month routine

Twin baby 6 month routine

My beautiful Twinkles — where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that we were being taken down to the delivery suite, to welcome you to the world and now you are very nearly half a year old and we’re trying a new 6 month routine. I can’t believe half a year has almost …

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Our 4 Month Twin Baby Routine

a blog post on our 4 month twin baby routine

So. I tried the new twin baby routine. As predicted, the Twinkles are really not keen on sleeping from 3pm until 5pm in the afternoon. This part of the schedule is an epic fail… I tried the new routine for a couple of days, but on each day either one — or both — twins woke at around …

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15 weeks and 6 days | 15 Week Baby Routine

So today I’ve decided to pluck up the courage to try out a new 15 week baby routine Since they were born, we’ve had the twins in a really good routine; and — as a result — they’ve been such good babies. They have been feeding every 3 hours; but, as a lot of the …

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10 weeks and 6 days | A routine for newborn twins

Time has absolutely flown… tomorrow my boys will be 11 weeks old! I can’t believe how much they’ve grown and how things are changing, literally, day by day. I’m so grateful to the midwife who stressed the importance of a routine for newborn twins. I don’t know where I’d have been without it, if I’m honest. …

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My Twin Pregnancy — 28 Weeks Pregnant With Twins

I'm 28 weeks pregnant with twins and this is my 4D scan pic!

I’m now 28 weeks pregnant with twins! And yesterday we had the 28 week scan. What a great day! Such a milestone as it now means that these precious babies have a 90% chance of survival, if they were born! I was holding my breath when the sonographer started the scan… as I haven’t felt the …

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My Twin Pregnancy Diary — 27 Weeks Pregnant with Twins

Where, oh where has the time gone??? I’m 27 weeks pregnant with twins; and my babies are officially ‘viable’!! Wooo-hoooo!!! I have been desperate to get to the point of viability. The doctors use that term as though it were some magic charm. And I suppose it is. It means that if the twins were …

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