My Sunday Photo 09/06/2019

Busy

Hey readers,

This week for my word of the week I choose the word:

because even though the kids have returned back to school it has been busy. 

Both boys now have joined a couple of after-school clubs. This is my youngest first time and he absolutely loved it because he loves being just like his older brother.  Plus going swimming and scouts it has felt very busy. 

At the weekend Saturday was gorgeous. We visited one of our favourite park locally to us and had a picnic.

On Sunday we went to an open day at a local fire station and the boys had a lovely time checking out the fire engines and even got to sit in the front of one which pleased them greatly.

In other news, my youngest received a gold sparkly pencil which children can get for doing really well in making improvements to their handwriting. 

Hope you have had a good week. 

Cheers for reading. 

top 11 tips for visiting Thorpe Park.

Hey readers, 

Thrope park is a great place to take the family and have a good day out. In this post, I am going to going to give you my top 11 tips that I have found really beneficial when visiting Thorpe park. 

1. Tickets. 

It is much cheaper to book online for tickets then paying at the door. Alternatively, what I did was I purchased a Merlin pass which cost £11.99 plus £34.99 per person a month. This allows me to get into other popular attractions (38 in total around England). I also don't have to queue as I have the added benefit of fast track and I don't have to pay for parking as that is all included in the membership fee. 

2. Fast track. 

It can be a pain waiting for the fast track which in some cases be over an hour for a ride so might be worth thinking of paying for a fast track. There are different packages, to find out more click here.

3. Supermarkets 

Check out the local supermarket nearby for food. If you are eating at the park then check out places further afield from the main entrance. They also have a children's meal offer which makes it a lot cheaper and there is also eateries like KFC. 

4. Take a picnic.

A cheaper way to reduce food costs is to bring your own picnic as there are plenty of places to sit and enjoy your food. 

5. Refill. 

A good investment is to get the drinks vessel from the park which cost £10. I shared that with my husband and two children. You can refill as much as you want and there are over 100 different flavours so the is a variety of drink flavour to chose from. 

6. Clothing.

Bring spare clothing as there are wet rides and might be a good idea to bring raincoats/poncho. However, you can buy from the store but come with a cost. 

6. Heights.

Check children's hight beforehand and to make it easier to plan the day with what rides you want to visit. 

7. Storage. 

There are lockers throughout the park at a cost of £2 for a one time go. This is a good idea if you want to store and collect at the end of the day so you have to hurdle loads of bags with you all day. 

8. Lost.

A good tip if you are a parent is to write down your contact details on a piece of paper and put them in your child's pocket. Therefore if your child does get lost then it is easier for someone to help your child get in touch.

9. Planning. 

When choosing where to start it might be a good idea to start at the back of the park where there are fewer cues because people normally just head straight to the first ride that they see. 

10. Strollers.

 There are plenty of strollers if you need them as it is a lot of walking for a little child. 

11. Early bird.

Go early as the car park charges £10 a flat rate all day. Plus if you get earlier more change of getting more rides. 

Cheers for reading X 

How to make gratitude paper chains

Hey readers,

A fab little mindful activity to do with children is called gratitude paperchains. Where you make paper chains and write about something you are grateful for. You could ask your child what they think something that you are good at or what they do well in. These are great types of questions to ask. If they are struggling with ideas then you can give examples such as having a warm bed, being kind, playing and swimming. 

What you will need. 

- Coloured paper

- Scissors 

- Glue 

- Pens. 

Method.

1. Cut some colour strips of coloured paper. 

2. Write something that you are grateful for. 

3. Make a ring (make sure you glue one end and turn over the other end to glue and join both ends together to form a ring shape. 

4. Loop the ring into each ring to make a paper chain.

Cheers for reading X 

My Sunday Photo 02/06/2019

Holidays.

Hey readers,

My word of the week is

As you probably guessed why to bring half term holidays hence the name of my word of the week.

We had a mini break down south. We went to visit Thorpe Park which was great fun but also challenging for me and my son due to autism. However, we still had good times and went on lots of rides. I am just glad we had a fast track pass thingie.

The next day not far we went to Legoland which the boys loved and were more suitable for younger children as my sons are 5 and 7.

The second was better as it was really warm compared to the day before which was pouring it down. Legoland was packed but we are planning going back when we have our next teacher's training day.

Hope you have had a good week.

Cheers for reading X 

10 reasons to do a staycation.

Hey readers, 

Have you heard of this buzzword that is flying around called staycation if not it then the term means to choose to stay where you live or travel in your own country as appose to going on holiday abroad. Down below I have given 10 reasons why you should consider a staycation. 

1  Greener. 

Opting to chose to have a staycation is greenery because you are not traveling by airplane can contribute to the air emissions and using more than 4 months of driving just in one flight. 

2. Stress.

Of course, opting to stay in your own country means less stress with not having travel, going somewhere that is foreign speaking and trying to communicate and generally navigating around a country that you are not familiar with. It is so much easy staying local because you know where you are and less stress travellin. 

3. Local attractions. 

Staying locally is a fantastic opportunity to check out somewhere new that you haven't been locally and it also helps local businesses as your putting the money into the local economy which will benefit businesses and services greatly. 

4. No plan. 

If you stay locally where you are familiar then you don't have to plan ahead. You can be spontaneous and it won't take a long time to get there as you are more likely to know where you are going.

5. Save money.

Because you can save money on staying locally you don't have to pay for accommodation, travel flights and the like means it is a great chance to save some money which is always a winner.

6. Tourist. 

You don't have to go anywhere special to be a tourist as you can be your own tourist in your own city and check out what the local attractions are. You may even surprise yourself by finding something new that you haven't heard or tried out yet. 

7. Relaxing. 

When you stay local it means your relaxed as you have less stress from traveling to another country, For instance, you don't have to wait in massive ques, or finding your way to your hotel in a new country. It all adds to additional stress whereas staying in your home or traveling not far means you can relax and have not much to worry about compared to somewhere new or in a different country where it is different to what you are used to. 

8. Time.

 You don't have to go long holidays it can be a day out because even though holidays are meant to be relaxing going away say for two weeks is a long time it can be exhausting doing things constantly where if your at home you can relax more and not feel as much pressure to constantly go, go, go. 

9. Packing.

Of course one the best elements of a staycation is not having to pack and make sure that your suitcase is the right weight with all the things you need.

10. Family/friends. 

Having a staycation means it allows you to incorporate if you wish to see friends and family.

What do you think about a staycation? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Cheers for reading X