Let them Be Bored Challenge with Petit Filous

If your a regular reader to my blog you may remember a couple of weeks ago I wrote about how important free play is for our children especially as screens are becoming more prevalent in daily life. If your not sure what Free Play is all about it's pretty simple, you turn off the screens and let your children enjoy some unstructured play without you being tempted to dive in to direct it (of course if it's becoming unsafe you do need to step in), allowing them to learn through play. All you need to do is simply provide them with a safe space that will allow their imaginations to run wild, whether this be inside or out. We are pretty low screen in our household as it is with having little to none Monday to Friday and a movie or two on the weekends. Outdoor play is something I am very passionate about although lately even I have felt screens have been creeping into our lives more than usual mainly due to all the wet wintery weather. So taking on this challenge I really want......

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The perfect picnic & Sweet Coconut bread

Rejoice for Picnic season and eating Al fresco is upon us and it's something that is very much apart of what summer means to us as a family. Having grown up in South African, a outdoor loving country with a huge bbq culture, it meant I spent many warm evenings sitting outside enjoying good food and it's something I try to recreate here in the UK at every opportunity and this week we took full advantage of the dry weather and enjoyed our first picnic of the year. Al Fresco eating should be all about celebrating what is in season and it's time to get colourful with bowls of beautiful fresh fruit, homemade salsa's and cloudy lemonade. Wether a picnic or having friends around setting the scene is key, although you really don't have to spend loads to make eating outdoors a cosy and comfortable affair. I am in love with this beautiful Mexican jug from HomeSense  I recently popped into HomeSense which have a huge array of outdoor accessories and furni......

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Bosinver Farm Cottages, Cornwall Part 1

Earlier this month we were invited to a short stay at the beautiful Bosinver Farm cottages near St Austell in Cornwall and from what I had heard about this place through other reviews I had read it was going to be a great little getaway. I actually studied half of my degree in Falmouth and have a real soft spot for the South of England and couldn't wait to head back down with the kids. Bosinver is made up of 20 luxurious self catering cottages, spread across beautiful and peaceful Cornish farm ready for big and little ones to explore. With so much on offer at Bosinver there was no way I could fit it all into one post so in this post I am going to focus on the accommodation and outdoor activities. We managed to drive the whole way down without stopping as the baby fell asleep an hour into the trip meaning we made up some time as we left a little later than expected. Once we arrived we found the keys in the door of Wells Close cottage, the heating had been put on so it was ......

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A Parisian Adventure

Well where to start? We managed to fit quite a lot into our 3 days in Paris before heading down to the South of France. I thought I would do an overview post of what we got up to with smaller more in-depth posts on our favourite things we did, including an amazing lunch on the left bank as an early 30th birthday present from John. As soon as we stepped off the Eurostar into the city of lights and found our lovely little Airbnb apartment, which was conveniently located near the Seine river, we were out the door walking along the riverside on our way to the Notre Dame and the love lock bridge. It was a lovely warm evening and Mr A loved running past all the boats and taking in the inspiring scenery. We had heard of a good Falafel place near the Notre Dame but after wondering the little streets we settled for some fresh hand stretched pizza, a big chunky vegetable one, which was light and super tasty, I know it's not really typical French food but it was getting late so we went ......

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Five Fun Outdoor Activities That Your Child Will Love

Sometimes it can be hard to get your children out the door and into the sunshine, but it’s really just a matter of picking the right activities. When you are trying to choose, do make sure you consider your child’s interests, as well as any costs that may be incurred. If you decide on something a little more involved, you might need some equipment to help you get started, and for activities like skateboarding or blading, specialists like Penny Skateboards UK can help you find the right things for your child. For those of you who may be a little more undecided, here are five activities your child will adore.  Swimming Every child loves playing around in water, and swimming in a pool is good exercise, as well as getting the children out of the house and into the pool. For a special treat, plan a trip to the beach or pool parties with friends, and make it into a fun and social event. Mr A getting to grips with his new Nikon  Photography Photography is ......

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Finding outdoor fun on a city break

No matter where we are we always make time for outdoor fun and have never struggled to find a little wild time even in cities, in fact some of our favourite adventures have taken place in some of the beautiful parks in and around London and Cardiff so when we visited Brussels last month we were eager to find somewhere perfect for a toddler to run around in and have fun We had heard good things about Parc de Bruxelles, the largest urban park in the centre of Brussels so on our second day in the Belgium capital we made a beeline through the city and the small and beautifully landscaped Jardin Du Mont des Art gardens which provided a stunning view over the city. Once we arrived at Parc de Bruxelles we enjoyed running around on the grass under the archways and through the little walkways and found a lovely little kids park on the further end which had a sand pit, a climbing frame and the normal bits and bobs. Mr A started playing with some local children which was lovely t......

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