Beat the Cold: Adventurous Winter Date Ideas

The winter season can be a magical time of year, filled with cosy movie nights with family and friends and hot chocolate, yes it is a lot colder but despite the drop in temperature, it's still a great time for adventure seekers. If you are looking for some active or outdoor ideas that go beyond a brisk winter walk then hopefully this blog post will give you some inspiration.  Don't let the cold weather keep you from having fun with family, friends or on your own – embrace it and get ready for some exciting winter date ideas! Have hot chocolate in the woods  My kids and I love heading out into the woods with our Ghillie kettle 0 similar to a Kelly Kettle, getting the small (and very controlled) fire going and heating up water for a warming hot chocolate out in nature, we do this every winter and it's something we really look forward too. If you don't have a camping stove or kettle then just take a flash out with you and a picnic blanket to sit on, you will surprised how ......

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Guest Post: When in Cuba swing to the music

Cuban music is a dynamic, percussive, electric, colorful thing. It’s a hum, something that floats through the eaves and spills out of windows and infects all aspects of the culture. Its roots are deep and stretch across oceans, borrowing its guitar from the Spanish, its driving drums from West Africa, its lilt from Latin America. It is a breathing testament to the great diversity of the island; therefore, any true understanding of Cuba and its people must also involve an understanding of its music. The earliest forms of popular music in Cuba were the Spanish Zarzuela, a bright operetta; the Bufo, comedic and satirical; the Guaracha, comedic with a rapid tempo; and the Trova, which was performed by traveling rovers who moved through Havana in the 19th century. As Cuban music evolved, it became more focused on dance: the Waltz, the Zapateo, the Criolla, the elegant and European Danzón and the Son, the most popular of Cuba’s traditional dances, most closely related to the Brazilia......

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Travels of Late

The two boys in Amsterdam So it's been a little quite than usual on the blog but not because we haven't been up to much, in fact the complete opposite, we have been travelling so much the past two weeks and with various dodgy to no wifi and a lost power adaptor has meant some scheduled posts did not go live and what not, so I thought I would do a little instagram roundup of our travels of late. Over the past two weeks we have made three trips to London with one night in the lovely Montcalm for Britmums and then two nights at a new Aparthotel which is not yet open to the publish but I am looking forward to sharing with you. We also spent 3 amazing days in Somerset a the most amazing organic farm Huntstile before heading across the sea on the overnight Stena Ferry lines from Harwich to the Hoek of Holland on our way to Amsterdam and an amazing stay at the Mercure Canal Amsterdam . It's been two weeks full or trains trips, trams, underground, ferries, buses and everyt......

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Big Feastival has Food and Fun for Whole Family

I can be easy to understand why some people get a bit jealous of child- free friends in the summer months. Of course it's always great to see everyone having fun in the sun, but as dedicated record fanatics it can be difficult to see all the amazing Instagrams snaps from some of the best (slightly less baby friendly) music festivals in the world—Wireless, Glastonbury (have been & I know they encourage families but we will be going when the boys are a bit older) etc to name a few. Mr A having fun at The Beyond the Border festival last year We are not complaining though as there are now tons of fantastic festivals aimed at not only teens and youthful festival goers but also families with small children and we are actually planning on going to Camp Bestival and Just So  Festival this year and we also recently came across an amazing family friendly foodie one that is the Big Feastival  up in Oxfordshire. The festival is curated and organised by Blur bassist ......

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Bath City Break Part 2

On our second day in Bath, during our # BeAGreatWesterner weekend adventure we decided to head out on the water and take a 25 minute boat ride along the river Avon to Bathhampton where we came across a stunning countryside pub, nestled right by the waterside and enjoyed some tapas and a cheeky cocktail in the sun. It was such a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, with Mr A running around, climbing trees and coming across a damselfly, we felt like a million miles away when in fact we were just outside the city. Bath is undoubtedly a beautiful place and offers so much for all the family, if I had my way we would live in this part of the world as it's such a visually interesting city with so much heritage and with the river Avon running through it you also feel really connect with nature. Mr A loved the boat ride and meandering down the river on a sunny afternoon really cannot be beat. Once we returned to the city centre we had a stroll around th......

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Sand Dunes in South Wales

Oh the bliss of discovering new and beautiful places pretty much on your doorstep. A few weeks back a friend invited me to Merthyr Mawr sand dunes near Ogmore-on-sea a beach we have visited many times but yet had never hear of Merthyr Mawr before. I always get quite excited at the prospect of exploring somewhere new so Mr A and I headed off to what turned out to be a very fun day, so much so that when the bank holiday came around the first thing Mr A wanted to do was take John to see the sand dunes and the ruins of castle nearby. There is an amazing tree on the top of one of the smaller sand dunes which has the most incredible roots and is perfect for climbing, in fact Mr A ate his lunch up there. The landscape of the place almost reminds me California and the fresh sea air is perfect for the soul. The drive to Merthyr Mawr through little country lands pass chocolate box thatched houses only adds to the magic of the place, as you arrive in the carpark which is......

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Bath City Break - Part 1

If you follow us on instagram you might already know we recently jumped on board a First Great Western from Cardiff on a family city break adventure to the historical city of Bath. We love a good train trip and its easy to forget how accessible Bath and Bristol is from Cardiff and it was really refreshing not taking the car and instead enjoy watching the countryside fly by from the comfort of a table seat. We have been to Bath a few times but mainly day trips so we had a few things planned, including visiting the Roman Baths, museums and taking a boat trip on the river Avon. We arrived just after lunchtime and once we found our hotel the Premier Inn Bath City Centre which was walkable from the train station we headed out to explore, first stop however was a cup of coffee and some homemade pastries from Society Cafe, a lovely independent coffee shop and the perfect way to start our holiday. Once we had filled up we made our way over to The Roman Baths, Mr A was particular......

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A family road trip with Fiat 500L Beats

As some of you may already know just before Mr G came into the world we did a final family road trip as just the three of us. The lovely people over at Fiat asked if we would put their new Fiat 500L Beats  Edition to the test as it's designed for family adventures and living life to the full. It'd a real tardis for one thing with a huge boot perfect for weekends away and this would also make a great festival/camping car as you could fit all your gear inside with no problem. Running on the beach at Tenby During our time putting it to the test we enjoyed a great day out at Cosmeston , a little city adventure to the Museum and Bute Park and a overnight trip to Tenby in West Wales were were we had fun at Heatherton Adventure Park and exploring the coastline in the glorious early spring sunshine.  Tenby is such a beautiful and quaint seaside town in West Wales and has become one of our favourite spots during the off-peak season as it......

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Trees Trees Trees

Wow what glorious weather we have been having lately and that can only mean one thing, lots of outdoor adventures, exploring new places, picnics and spending time with friends in the wonderful sunshine.  Bute Park right in the heart of Cardiff were running two fun outdoor inspired days during half-term - as Mr A is at home we usually avoid these type of things during half term as they are normally so busy it can be overwhelming and opt for countryside walks but at they were doing a Tree activity day and a Bat day we couldn't resist and to our surprise it was very quiet - I don't think many knew about it. The tree day was a great combination of outdoor fun and educational activities from tree and bark rubbing to making green tree monsters as well as learning about the rings on the trunks and telling it's age as well as planting our own tree seed to take home. The Bat discovery day was more a drop-in style event at the Bute Park Educational centre a......

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