Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

My Fave Fun Things to Do With the Kids

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This post is contributed by Alex.

When you have kids, your world completely changes. You’re not focused on entertaining yourself anymore, you need to keep them happy and entertained. It can also help if the way you entertain them also teaches them a thing or two! Here are my fave fun things to do with the kids. Take a look for some inspiration!

Picnics

I love going for picnics with the kids. They love it too, especially on a nice day somewhere beautiful. We take a cosy blanket, and healthy snacks as well as a few treats. I like to take flasks of tea too. I always invite other members of the family to see if they want to come along too. If the weather is bad, no need to panic; indoor picnics are fun too! On sunny weekends, we sometimes set up near the house pool, which adds an extra splash of fun for the kids. Keep your weekends free as Pools Etc. takes care of the grime.

Hiking

Hiking helps you to stay active and get some exercise as a family. I have a book that I like to pick routes from, so we only do one twice if we really enjoyed it. It’s always nice to explore new places in the area!

Arts and Crafts

I love doing arts and crafts with the kids. It helps to expand their imagination and improves so many skills depending on what we’re doing that day. We make jewellery, cards, and even just paint pretty pictures. It can get messy, but that’s what you sign up for when you have kids.

Theme Parks

If you want a fun day out with your brood, theme parks are a must. There are so many theme parks dotted all over the UK, so you have a lot of choice. There are nearly always bits especially for kids there too, with rides themed around programs like Wallace and Gromit. There’s nothing like watching your kids have an amazing time somewhere like this. And trust me, they’ll sleep well when you put them to bed.

 

 

 

Gardening

Gardening helps us all to get some sunlight and fresh air. The kids love to help me get rid of weeds and plant flowers. Even just water the garden! They learn all about bugs and things and take a real interest in gardening. You know what they say too, it’s good for them to get their hands dirty.

Cooking

Cooking teaches kids about what foods go well with other foods, different flavours, healthy meals, and so much more. They love creating things with me in the kitchen and then eating what we’ve made! We don’t always bake cakes and things; sometimes they just help me with the dinner.

Reading

Reading to kids helps them to expand their vocabulary and listening skills. If you take it in turn to read, they also improve their reading and speaking skills. You may also tell stories and introduce your child to countries of the world and their cultures, give them the right materials from little-global-citizens. You both will get to enjoy and have a great time together!

I guarantee you’ll have so much fun with your kids and love spending the quality time together. Make time for things like this at least a few times a week to help them develop and grow. Thanks for reading!

Week 26 – Monday Round-up

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Another busy week but I’m actually getting around to doing this post early (it’s Sunday night!). Monday to Friday the kids were at school but Chris was off from Monday to Wednesday. After taking the kids to school on Monday, I settled down to finish of the Murder Mystery I’d been working tirelessly. It took me all day but I finally managed it by about midnight! Obviously I picked up the kids, had dinner etc. but for the most part my day was solely spent doing this.

On Tuesday Chris and I took the girls to school and then headed to the storage unit. We needed to grab a few things, including the futon, which meant taking furniture to pieces and packing it into the car. After that we headed back home but we needed to go to Tesco and visit Chris’ nan too. We decided to go to Chris’ nan first and stayed for about an hour, we then went shopping and did a good weeks shop. Finally we got back home and Chris offered to put the futon back together while I took a bath. For a change it was a really long bath, because I got quite into the book I was reading. When the girls got home from school, via their few hours with their dad, I managed to catch him about Megan getting her ears pierced. He agreed and she was thrilled!

On Wednesday I took the girls to school and Chris was out on his driving test (sadly he failed). When I got home, he arrived shortly after me and while we wallowed for a little while, he soon headed up on his computer and I got sewing for the day. I picked out a pattern to do, traced it and cut it out. I then stopped for lunch with Chris before heading out to Boyes and buying some material. I got back and cut out my pattern pieces but then it was time to pick the girls up from school. Megan was having her friend Elizabeth back for dinner and so that pretty much took up the rest of my evening.

Thursday Chris was back at work but my mum was coming around for the day so I still didn’t get an awful lot done. She read through my murder mystery completely though (noting the odd mistake) and she liked it, so that made me feel positively about the party on Friday. She stopped for lunch and didn’t leave till I went to get the girls from school. After school we went into town and made an appointment for Megan’s ear piercing. We also picked up the Snow White Tsum Tsums which had just been released from Clintons. In the evening I had my nephew (or sort of at least) overnight as my brother and his girlfriend were working the next day when he was off school and they had no one for the early part of Friday. The kids didn’t get that long together but they were no trouble. Once they were in bed I baked some cakes, trying to bake them flat for the first time ever. It was definitely an interesting experience.

On Friday morning I had three kids to get up and ready but again they were no trouble. I took all three to school with me, met up with mum and sat with her and Charlie to watch Megan’s assembly. After the assembly finished, Charlie and I headed off so I could take him home, via McDonalds for breakfast of course. By the time I got home, I had ten minutes to grab my breath before heading out to meet Amy and Liv. I walked down to the train station to meet them and then we all headed back to my house. Since the girls were going to my mum’s that night, we didn’t need to go out and get them from school. In the end we all just chilled out together, headed in to town for a little while, played with some Tsum Tsums and watched Walle. After Olivia went to bed, Amy and I got ready for the murder mystery and finished the cake.

The evening went really well and it was nice to hang with friends. The murder mystery worked fine too so that was a relief, though not having rounds of food to break it up with, meant that it all went pretty fast (we were naughty and ordered Dominos!). Even once we finished though, we all sat around chatting and since we were a small group, that was nice too. In the end we headed to bed around midnight.

In the morning, I managed a lie-in till 10.30am but I still felt tired! The kids arrived home around midday and since they all pretty much occupied themselves in the afternoon, Amy and I spent time together in the dining room – researching everything from Paris accommodation to cosplay ideas. We were still in the dining room when Chris came home from work at 10pm, though obviously we’d got the kids dinner and fed ourselves too. We headed to bed a little earlier than usual as we were pretty tired. However I managed to lie-in till 9am again the following morning!

This time the girls got up and occupied themselves quietly until we were all up. Then we all just sat together, had cups of tea and chatted. I took Amy and Liv to catch their train at 1pm, then came home and helped Megan with her homework. Chris and I spent the afternoon strimming and trimming the front garden and it took ages! Finally I came inside, hoovered around and then ended up sorting all my jewellery supplies out. After getting everyone (and myself) dinner, it wasn’t long before the girls headed to bed. I spent the evening cutting Chris’ hair and then when he went for a bath I watched Holby City while writing this blog post! We’re now settling down to watch Humans and I’m scheduling this post and turning off my computer. I imagine we’ll head to bed after one episode as I have to be up early in the morning!

Hope you all had a good week. See you again this time next week!

Guest Post – 7 Father’s Day Gift Ideas Based on What He Loves

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Father’s Day is very much on the horizon but don’t worry if you haven’t quite got your Pa’s present for Sunday June 21st on order just yet. To save you from surrendering to a last minute supermarket purchase of a box of chocolates, this post rounds up gift ideas based on your Father’s favourite things to do. Hopefully you’ll find some fresh new ideas nestled in the list…

Cycling

Is your dad one of the growing MAMIL (middle aged man in lycra) brigade? While you might not always want to see him in his brightest and best neons, his efforts to keep fit deserve applauding and rewarding. You probably won’t want to stump up for a designer bike as the cost of these are so high they are reportedly driving some cycling enthusiasts into debt. If you can’t stomach a cycling shorts purchase, how about a caffeine based gift to fuel his rides? Everyone knows coffee and cycling go together like hands and handlebars and this aeropress kit, £20.95 from cremagoods, is suitably lightweight.

Foodie

Speaking of food, if your dad is the type of guy who appreciates food and drink in its many forms? if he’s  a regular visitor to a farmer’s market or takes trips to the local craft beer festival, you may want to invest in something that will feed his foodie fascination. Even better, why not choose a gift that may benefit you in a roundabout way? Home smoking has seen a huge surge of interest over the past few years and while you can invest a lot of money if you want to, there are some very accessible kits that will help you father bring home the bacon, smoked fish or even smoked cheese. This one from notonthehighstreet at £28.50, comes with packages wrapped in string!

Gardening

If your dad has been gardening a while, chances are he’s got a plentiful supply of plants flowers and seeds.  With this in mind, why not buy him something that will make the less interesting jobs such as leave removal that little bit more exciting.  Air compressors can move unwanted garden debris in super speedy time, which makes for less time spent brushing up leaves and more time enjoying a tea break in a tidy outdoor space. Air Supplies stock a wide range suitable for at home for use in the garden or for general garage jobs and prices start at £120.

Gamer

Buying the latest games is an expensive affair, but there are plenty of less costly Father’s Day gifts you can give to dads with a serious games console commitment. How about starting with some snazzy items they can enjoy in a dedicated games area? These Tetris stacked lights (£29.99 from Firebox) can be rearranged and fit in rather nicely with these retro geek blinds from English Blinds (prices vary according to size).

Walker

If your dad likes to explore the hills and vales of our wondrous isles, a good pair of walking socks might be a safe (and price-conscious) buy. If you’d rather add something a little more stylish to their walking collection, what about this Cartography flask (£19.99) from John Lewis? The map might not be able to help them up or down a mountain but hot tea, coffee or soup stored inside would surely give them a boost!

Photography

If your father’s into photography he’s likely to have expensive tastes – lenses, tripods and editing equipment don’t come cheap. However, if he uses Photoshop he might appreciate this nifty shortcut skin for his keyboard, which can help speed up the editing process. They might also appreciate a metal printing of one of their favorite pictures, or one with both of you in it. They last a long time, and they’re pretty versatile. Print it in the right size, and they can go on display just about anywhere!

DIY enthusiast

According to the statistics, DIY enthusiasts are in sharp decline, so if your dad is a DIY-er you could almost say he’s an endangered species and that means his hobby requires support with sentiment. Those with these hobby often appreciate things that are handmade that much more, which is why something like this handcrafted sea life bottle art should be right up their alley. They’ll place it somewhere around the house where it’ll fit nicely, and it’ll be a nice reminder of the occasion.

You should be able to find lots of places selling personalized tools and toolboxes online but if your pa’s already got more spanners than you can shake an erm, spanner at, how about treating him to this tongue-in-cheek mug? At just £9.99 it’s another budget friendly option. Alternatively, give him something he can really get to grips with… like a project to build you a new shoe rack or to fix your shower!

Collector

If your dad is an avid collector of souvenirs and unique gift items, then texas gifts based on Texas history and culture will be the best option as your Father’s day present. A specialized store will definitely be your best bet when looking for you unique items. Whenever I want to get a special gift for someone I go to this african store that I know that’s not too far. You should try to find a place like this for yourself as well. So, if you ever see a specialized store like this make a mental note and go take a look whenever you get a chance. It might turn into your go-to for those that like unique and one of a kind items. If your dad collects necklaces or chains, then you may consider surprising him with cuban links. A cuban link is a bold statement piece.

Have you got Father’s Day in hand or are you still on the lookout for the perfect gift for your dad? If you’re still to plan a present will you you be heading to the shops, buying online or making something yourself?