Thing's I Loved In July

Can you believe that it is now the end of July ? The last month seems to have zoomed by and I can not believe that it will soon be August and my baby boy will be turning two years old! I really need to start getting organised for his birthday as so far I have nothing organised. As we are almost in August now I thought that I would write about the things that I have loved this month, as I think these posts are lovely to look back on and I write them every month. 

July was a rather busy month for us as my teen had lots on at high school and Sophia left pre-school. The other half has been busy with work so we have not had as many days out as I would like, I am so looking forward to him having time off next month though. So here is a few of the things that I have loved in July. 

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring The Mental Parentals

Welcome to another week of my guest post series Other Bloggers Family Lives. This week I am featuring the super lovely Steph from one of my most favourite blogs The Mental Parentals. I have been reading Steph's blog for ages, I love reading about her family life in the Lakes, life with her two boys and the days out they go on. I have met Steph in real life and she is just as lovely and likeable as you would imagine her to be from her blog. 

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring Three Days Later

Welcome to another week of my guest post series Other Bloggers Family Lives. This week I am featuring fellow Geordie Laura from Three Days Later - which is a new blog about family life with a toddler, tips and general lifestyle posts. 

So let's find out more about the family behind Three Days Later. 

My Fairy Garden Review

Since Sophia turned three a couple of months ago she has really started to develop her own interested, two things that she seems to adore are fairies (thanks to Tinkerbell) and gardening (thanks to pre-school). So when she seen an advert on TV for the My Fairy Garden range from Interplay she was mesmerised and kept asking for a one. We had planned to buy her a one to keep her occupied in the summer holidays, but luckily we were sent one to review.

Dining At Thaikhun Metrocentre With Children

I have always wanted to try Thai food, I am not sure why I have never tried it before as everyone always raves about how delicious it is. I guess it was just that until recently there was not many Thai restaurants in Newcastle (unless there was and I just didn't realise). So imagine my delight when I heard that Thaikhun was opening in the Metrocentre, just a fifteen minute drive from where we live. I have wanted to visit Thaikhun ever since I heard that it had opened, however having a partner who works shifts and a one year old little boy who is a handful when eating out I just never found the time to visit.

So when we were recently invited to Thaikhun to try out the new menu I made sure that the other half had the weekend off work and Jacob was sent out for the day with his Grandad. Meaning that myself, the other half and the two girls could spend a leisurely day shopping in the Metrocentre and enjoying lunch at Thaikhun.

Edinburgh Zoo

Back in May we visited Edinburgh Zoo for Sophia's third birthday as she is animal crazy. We decided to travel to the Zoo via train as like most toddlers she loves trains and is always asking to go on them, the journey from Newcastle takes just over an hour and the tickets were really cheap at around £15 each return. I have visited Edinburgh many times in the past but I have never actually been to the zoo before, I had no idea it was so close to the city centre. We hopped on a bus outside of Waverly train station that dropped us right outside the Zoo five minutes later.

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring Little Miss And Mummy

Welcome to another week of my guest post series Other Bloggers Family Lives. This week I am featuring the lovely Eve from Little Miss And Mummy, a blog that I discovered a few months ago now and adore. Eve is a member of the RAF and I find it fascinating hearing about life as a military family, her blog is full of snippets of her family life and lots of Slimming World recipes and meal plans. 

So let's find out more about the family behind Little Miss And Mummy. 

Dressing The Kids For Summer With Debenhams

It is almost the end of term and my girls will be breaking up from school and nursery in a few days time ready for the long summer break. We are not having a summer holiday this year as we are in the process of moving house at the moment. I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed for some sunshine here in Newcastle though as we have lots of trips planned and two weddings to attend this summer. So when Debenhams got in touch and asked if we would like to visit are local store and test out the new summer kids wear range I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to stock up on some new clothing for are adventures this summer.  

Tennis A Fun Sport For All The Family

I have never been a big fan of sports, I don't play any and I don't watch them either, I am unfit, lazy and to be honest it just is not really my thing. However being a mum means that my whole outlook on life has changed as I don't want my own children following in my footsteps, I want them to be fit and active and enjoy sports. Having a teenage daughter has highlighted to me just how my actions impact upon my children as she is so like me and hates sports too these days and I want to change that. 

With Wimbledon being on the TV and the media full of talk of tennis recently this got me thinking that actually my teen does not dislike all sports as she actually really enjoys tennis. Whenever she goes on holiday she loves to play tennis, weirdly enough so did I as a child. It is a sport that is cheap, easy to play and suitable for all the family and I imagine would be a brilliant activity for the whole family to enjoy together. 

Other Bloggers Family Lives Featuring The Parenting Trials

Welcome to another week of my guest post series Other Bloggers Family Lives. This week I am featuring the lovey Sarah from The Parenting Trials, I only discovered Sarah's blog a few months ago and it is full of parenting posts, reviews and days out. 

So let's find out more about the family behind The Parenting Trials.

Trying The Costcutter Snack Range

During the summer months, we love to enjoy family picnic's, both at home and on days out. My children love them and seem to eat much more when we have a picnic than when we serve them a traditional meal. To celebrate the summer Costcutter sent us a hamper full of their own branded snacks to enjoy a family picnic with. Of course living in the North East it has rained for days so we ended up having an indoor picnic instead. 

I honestly had no idea that Costcutter had so many own branded products which are called Independent. The range launched back in 2014 and includes over 600 products, including products such as fresh meat, drinks, confectionery, snacks and household items. The range has even won awards. 

Baby Annabell Brother Doll Review

Having two children so close in age means that they are always playing with each others toys and fighting over them. Recently Sophia turned three and she got a baby doll and a pram for her birthday, as soon as her little brother Jacob seen the doll he took a shining to it and they fight over it non-stop. So imagine his delight when a Baby Annabell Brother doll arrived for him to review, it was love at first sight and he could not wait to get him out of the box.

Slimming World Week 2 & 3

Two weeks ago I wrote about rejoining Slimming World for the third time, since having children I really do struggle with my weight and I know the only way that I can lose weight is by following the Slimming World plan and attending group. I was over the moon to have lost 7lb in my first week and I really do feel like I am now in the right frame of mind to lose weight, we are going abroad next year and I really want to be slimmer for that. 

June 2016

Just like that another month has zoomed by and we are now more than half way through the year already. I am finding it hard to believe that it is the 1st July today as the weather has been awful, as I write this now the sky is dark and the rain is lashing down against my window - so much for summer! Anyway as it is the first of the month it is once again time to sit and write my monthly round up post of what myself and my family have been up to this past month. May was a busy month but June was a lot quieter, so here is a look at what life was like for us in June 2016.