The Do's and Dont's of going to the Beach with toddlers

Going to the beach can be a lot of fun especially with toddlers. They love the free space to run around and let of some energy. There is also a lot of risk that comes with going to the beach so here is my list of Do's and Dont's for going to the beach.

DO play in the sand make sand castles.

DONT let your children eat sand and then get gastroentritus and you end up in A&E covered in toddler sick and poop (true story, of course I wouldn't go to A&E now that was many years ago)

DO paddle and play in the water.

DONT take lots of photos and then your toddler falls and you end up dropping your phone in the water. Doh

DO get a ice cream, they are mainly what going to the beach is about right.

DONT drop it you wally!!! Oh wait my toddlers do this EVERY TIME. Then cry meaning you have to pay £500 for another ice cream, why arnt they 99p anymore?

DO cover the children in sun tan cream on sunny days.

DONT forget it meaning buying a really expensive cream from the beach shop or worse trying to keep them in the shade aka going home. There is a lot of shame for the parent who hasn't covered there kids with cream (I am actually one of those mums who forgets it on the reg doh).

DO take towels or a blanket to sit on

DONT forget to bring them as you may get a wet bum on the sand, you don't want to walk round looking like you have wet yourself.

DO take some food for the toddlers otherwise they will demand Ice creams every two minutes.

DONT forget the sand and it ends up in your sandwich nothing like a ham and sand sarnie .. GRIM

DO take your shoes of on the sand.

DONT forget flip flops when rock pooling as a cut from a shell is as bad as child birth and nearly as much blood (ok thats a massive exaggeration but you get my drift).

DO take spades it nice to dig in the sand.

DONT take spades as the toddlers will bash everyone and everything with them.

DO take swimming stuff in case you fancy a dip in the water.

DONT go in the water its freezing.

DO buy some chips or anything unhealthy.

DONT let the seagulls see you will be there victim in less than 60 seconds.

DO take all crabbing gear.

DONT get all cocky and try and pick up a red eater crab, it will end with you backed up against the wall  whilst it tries to get you with its claws (been there not fun).

DO make sure you empty your shoes before leaving the beach.

DONT forget otherwise you get home and your carpet will be covered and you will be finding it for days.

DO make a safe area where you can see the toddlers at all times.

DONT sit to near other people or your toddlers may help them selves to the other peoples food and drink, its very embarrassing.

DO go for a paddle in the water.

DONT let your child go for a paddle then they get soaking wet and cry because there clothes are wet!

 So here is my tips - be prepared and have fun. Or as much fun as you can have chasing toddlers!

Wicked Wednesday - Not impressed with REX

Toddler High Street Fashion - Holiday Edition

I love children's clothes and much often would rather clothes for the kids love me any day. I also love it when I find a good bargain especially as my little monkeys are not the cleanest of children, another reason my hubby would tell me off big time if I spent too much. So with that I spend ages looking for clothes and love to find lasting items. Especially good quality clothes that will last a long time. So here is my little holiday fashion for toddlers.

Festival Babe

I brought this little dress for £2.99 from H&M and what good value. It has cute watermelons on with smily faces. Looks like it should have cost more than £3. Ami chose the wellies too it was a sunny day but would look great at a festival. 

Son Son the dude

I love boys clothes and you can not beat a good T shirt short combo. I brought this little T-shirt that says Daddy is my superhero, I loved it so much I got a bigger one for Ami so it can also be passed down in a few years too. 

Beach Chick

A very popular T-shirt this one, seen a lot of other children on instagram with the same t-shirt on. I love it who doesn't love cameras. She also chose her shorts too which were a right bargain at £3.00 for two pairs, perfect to stick in the bag when at the beach.

Short Love

A sad fact I love these shorts, I buy the two pack every year and have done for the last 8 years. They go with everything and last well, if you get them big enough they will last 2 summers. Also Can not beat a good polo shirt. 

So heres a few little outfits my little toddlers have been wearing lately. They are more fashionable than me!

Eurocamp Adventures - La Croix Du Vieux Point - Part 1 Travel and Accommodation

Holidays are such stressful / heart warming times. Theres the hours of packing, travelling/ getting lost. To then be over whelmed by the time you have together. Those little moments where the kids are being nice and you sit and enjoy each other. No work, no life getting in the way. You and your family and thats what I love the most. IT was our first ever holiday just the 5 of us we wondered if it would be a little boring but it was far from it we loved each others company and did not rush at all the whole week. 

The Monkeys on the Journey to France

We were contacted by Eurocamp to choose any one of there resorts to choose and have a holiday. With that we spent a good few weeks deciding the pros and cons of where to go. Weather we wanted to drive or fly somewhere, thankfully we live a 20 minute drive from Dover which makes the travel so much more handy where driving abroad. I was thinking about a little Tuscan holiday with the moutains as our back drop, like the holidays we had growing up. Sadly the attractions of some of the parks pulled me away and we decided on Le crux de vie point, In France. The benefit of it being only 2.5 hours from Calais was a winner, with two small toddlers and a noisy 8 year old being stuck in the car for hours can be tourture. Also we chose here in case we decided to go to Paris or even better Disneyland. 

Our Home for the Week

The time came round before we knew it we were leaving for the holiday. We tried to prepare as much as we could but we ALWAYS forget something. Our France holiday last year it was only the blooming pushchair but the most drastic thing we forgot was tea bags and sugar! After a quick breakfast (followed by a bigger one on the boat) We were in France. The kids were beside them selves to be on a boat taking in the sights of France. “It doesn’t look like we have left Mum” Said Asti. He compared all the streets until he realised we were driving on the other side of the road.

Thanks for the Welcome Pack Eurocamp it had some teabags in which I was very grateful for!

When arrived at the park there was screams from the back as they spotted the pool and all the other attractions. We were greeted by the Eurocamp team and shown to our villa. By Villa we say little palace, we’ve been on this type of holiday before and this villa blew the others out of the water. Me and my husband looked at each other in disbelief, we saw it online but did not believe that we were actually here. To the furnishings and the quality of the furniture. There was tons of space and 3 bedrooms. There was lots of little cupboards meaning things can be kept away and out of sight. We had a little decking with a gate to stop the toddle beasts escaping. We were over joyed and feeling so blessed. 

Our villa consisted of 3 bedrooms, one double with an ensuite and two double single cabin beds. The kids chose there beds with Asti and Ami sharing and Son Son on his own they even unpacked there clothes and wanted to put there duvet covers on so they could go under the sheets. We unpacked what we had and set of for a little walk to explore. We had a proper kitchen with a whistling kettle. There was a little table and chairs which was an added bonus, with two double doors that lead out to a wooden decking. Eurocamp provided us with an added safely gate to help us try to contain our toddlers.

Daddy loved all the BQQ's we had!

Every meal time was outside it was pure Bliss

Theres lots of things to do here at the park for us I think sometimes we are a little boring and tend to stick to things that we are familiar with (such as swimming). There was plenty of swimming to be had with indoor and outdoor pools. Even a little man made beach ( I deffo felt at home at the beach how ever small it was). Soft play, laser quasar and bowling for the rubbish weather days. With so much more out door activities and sports we were blown away with what to do.

One of the Many activities you can do at the Park 

One of the Many Parks 

Theres lots of things to do here at the park for us I think sometimes we are a little boring and tend to stick to things that we are familiar with (such as swimming). There was plenty of swimming to be had with indoor and outdoor pools. Even a little man made beach ( I deffo felt at home at the beach how ever small it was). Soft play, laser quasar and bowling for the rubbish weather days. With so much more out door activities and sports we were blown away with what to do. 

Check out Part 2 here - Mummy's Little Blog: Our Eurocamp Adventure Part 2 - Diary of what we got up too

and Part 3 where we have a lovely video too - Part 3 

MY Sunday Photo 07/06/2015

Guest Post - Spring Clean Check list

Today I have a lovely guest post all about spring cleaning from the lovely Samantha at Coco Butter Blog , if your house is anything like mine at the moment (Full of cobwebs) then this is perfect.

Spring Cleaning Checklist

As it’s spring (well, almost summer) it’s time to do a big clean. Yes, it’s time to do all those jobs that you don’t usually get time to do when your cleaning time is filled with hoovering, washing pots and cleaning the bathroom. I sometimes find it hard to remember which bits I need to do when I’m doing a really big clean and so here’s my spring clean checklist to help…

Kitchen

• Clean out the cupboards and throw away any out of date tins (we all have them!)
• Wipe the cupboard doors
• Clean out the fridge
• Empty the crumbs from the toaster
• Clean out the bin

Living room

• Clean the skirting boards
• Dust in the ceiling corners and the tops of the lightshades
• Wash sofa and cushion covers and hoover underneath the covers

Bedroom

• Put away winter clothes and this is a good excuse to get rid of some stuff. Give things to charity, swap them with friends or sell them on Ebay, if you’ve not worn something for a year then get rid of it! Imagining filling up your wardrobe with lots of lovely new clothes will make this easier…
• If you’ve got storage under the bed go through this and get rid of anything you don’t need
  
  

Bathroom

• Deep clean the shower. I usually use the daily shower shine spray every time someone has a shower but every now and again they need a really deep clean to get rid of any grime!
• If you have cupboards in your bathroom have a sort through these and check that your make-up and beauty products are still in date. If they’re out of date then throw them away to save space!
  
  
  
  
  

And some other things not to neglect…

• Carpets
• Insides of windows
• Mirrors

Guest Post - Gone to the Races

Today I have a guest post from the Lovely Lena from www.forayintofashion.com 

It was recently my partners birthday and so of course I wanted to take him out. He's not one for pubs or clubbing so was looking for something different that wouldn't break the bank. We had driven past Henlow dog racing tracks before and both mentioned it was something we would like to try so imagine my excitement when I found a Groupon deal which for the measly sum of £8 would not only gain us both entry and game cards but would also provide a meal (a very greasy hot dog and chips, and they didn't even have onions) and a drink! Pretty fab deal! All in all a pretty cheap night out as we were only putting minimal bets on all the races.

So it was all arranged, little one went to his Nan's and we had the night to ourselves. I loved my outfit of jeans, beige cowboy boots, light pink floaty blouse, hooded cape, lots of jewellery and a fabulous beige hat. He’s not much for drinking so was happy to drive and off we went.

Now I have to say on the lead up I was very excited, it was to be a new experience and we do not go out very often.

We pulled into the so-called car park which was very busy and with bated breath we entered only to be very disappointed. Where was the atmosphere i was expecting? Where was the jovial excitement? I expected there to be loads of men in camel coats touting for bets on their soap boxes, however there were only 2 and neither lived up to the image I had in my mind as to what they would look like.

Once the racing began there was hardly any cheering or over the top pantomime booing. No one ripping up their betting stubs and dramatically throwing them to the floor when they lost. Though I admit I felt like doing so.

I was ecstatic to win, even though it was only about £1.30, it still got my blood pumping and my heart beat rapidly increasing. Of course my partner thought it was hilarious that I was excited about such a small win, but hey, it’s better than a kick in the teeth.

Would I go again? Probably, but that is more to do with the cheap night out than the actual excitement of dog racing!