Autumn
Showing posts with label Autumn. Show all posts

5 Reasons Why I Love Autumn

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Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year. I usually start preparing for Autumn once the kids go back to school. I love to pack up my Summer wardrobe and swap it for knitted jumpers, leggings and boots. I also like to change the furnishings around the home to match the season and give it a more cosy feel. I'll introduce lots of browns and oranges and choose a candle that smells just like Autumn.

a pathway through trees



I could honestly think of so many reasons why I love Autumn but I've listed my top five. 

boy looking in to a clowns mouth


1. We have so many traditions that happen in the last few months of the year including our trips to Alton Towers for their Scarefest and Fireworks celebrations. We have been visiting every year for the last 20 so it's something we look forward to all year.

2. Binge watching TV Boxsets. This is mine and John's time to chill in the evenings and catch up on all the TV we missed over the Summer. We don't tend to watch a lot of TV during the warmer months as we are usually out and about or chilling in the garden in the evenings. This year we are looking forward to a new series for us, Manifest. Also we need to finish the Marvel movies then get stuck in to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and then Loki.

3. Cooler nights means we can get out our cosy blankets and put the central heating on. It only ever feels like true Autumn when you can hear the central heating system making its little noises. We also get the candles out to give us a warm effect in the house too.

boy and woman walking

4. Autumn walks are a must. We would much rather prefer to go for walks this time of year as the colder weather starts to creep in and the leaves begin to fall. Since we joined National Trust we have found so many properties to explore and cannot wait to find more this year. 

5. The countdown to Christmas begins. I always feel that once September comes, Christmas is here before you know it. I know some people don't like hearing Christmas songs in the shops especially when it's only September but I love it. I love seeing all the decorations going up and visiting Blackpool for the illuminations is another sign for us that Christmas will soon be here.

Do you love Autumn? What is your favourite thing about the Season?

Michelle
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Pumpkin Picking At Kenyon Hall Farm

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We did our first ever Pumpkin pick a few years ago and at first we had no idea which pumpkin patch to choose as there are quite a few local to us, however we heard lots of good recommendations for Kenyon Hall Farm so we chose to visit there. We loved it and chose to go again this year too.

pumpkin in pumpkin patch
What To Expect At Kenyon Hall Farm, Warrington WA3 7ED
Kenyon Hall Farm has been growing pumpkins for over 30 years and has become one of the most popular and biggest pumpkin patches in England. 

As well as the Pumpkin Patch you can also enjoy a bite to eat or drink at the cafe, visit the shop or let the little ones explore the play area.

Boy in pumpkin patch

Boy in pumpkin patch
Pumpkin picking begins on the 1st of October and lasts right through till Halloween. (31st October).

Pumpkins can last up to 3-4 when un-carved so you can visit earlier on in the month however there is no guarantees it will last till Halloween. The only bonus about visiting early is the Pumpkin Patches will look prettier earlier on as they can become very muddy. 

pumpkin patch

pumpkin patch



pumpkins
If you don't manage to find a pumpkin in the patch you can head indoors where you will find lots of pumpkins to choose from which have already been picked and put on display.

Pre Booking your ticket is essential when visiting Kenyon Hall Farm. 

Tickets cost £2 each for adults and children. Children under 18months go free.

The play area is free to enjoy and was fully revamped in 2019. 

If you would like to visit the cafe, no booking is required. Turn up and order your food and collect from the hatch. There are picnic benches around the farm however indoor seating options will be reviewed during the colder months. 

Kenyon Hall Farm is open every day 9-5pm.

woman picking a pumpkin


I am always so grateful for any support I receive on my blog and social channels. If you did find this post useful there are a few ways that you could say thanks and support Playdays and Runways.

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Michelle
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Our Sainsbury's Halloween Goodies

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Sainsbury's Halloween Goodies

What do you get if you pop into Sainsbury’s for bread and milk with a 4 year old? A trolley full of Halloween goodies!! Last week was the first time I have seen little J be so excited for Halloween. As we walked through the door of our local Sainsbury’s we were stopped in our tracks by a huge display of Halloween decorations. Little J instantly ran over and started pressing try me buttons on light up lanterns and dancing pumpkins. At one point he had three dancing characters on the floor watching them as they spun around. I do usually buy one or two new decorations each year to add to our collection so I had a silly idea of asking little J to choose two new items . . . he wanted everything. 

We always have a Halloween house party each year but as big J is too old now and little J wasn't old enough we haven't had one for a few years, just a little tea party for the 4 of us. However this year I am looking forward to hosting a Halloween party for some friends. 

Sainsbury's Halloween Goodies
Whilst little J was playing with the Halloween toys I popped in the trolley some partyware. I know that we will have tons in the loft as I buy lots of it every year and never end up using it all but I had to buy a new table cloth, plates, cups and napkins. There were 3 variations but I went for the ghosts design They say Woo and Boo and the tablecloth has lots of eyes on it and is wipe clean. They were priced at £2.50 each for packs of 10 for the cups and plates, napkins are a pack of 20 and the tablecloth is single and cost £3.50. I also bought Halloween crackers which are cute and cost £4 for 8.

Sainsbury's Halloween Goodies
Little J wanted to get some spiders and spider webs which I think are great fun and look so realistic. We have had some similar before and they are very creepy but the web gets everywhere. It comes in a ball with the plastic spiders attached and the idea is you pull the web and the more you pull the more it looks like spooky cobwebs. We always put it over the lights, around the fireplace and up the stairs. These were great value for money and priced at £3 including lots of web and 6 spiders,

Sticking with spiders I bought some door decorations. They hang over your door frame and have glittery webs and hanging spiders. These were priced at £6 each so I bought two as we have two main doors downstairs however now thinking about it I should have bought 4 as I am guessing they will only cover one side of the door. 

Sainsbury's Halloween Goodies
This was my favourite buy and I just fell in love with them when I saw them. Halloween Ghost Bottle String Lights, They are sound activated however there is a try me on them and once I pressed them I knew I had to buy them They play the Alton Towers music. For those that know us will know we are huge fans of Alton Towers so this was a must buy. They were priced at £12 for 10 lights. 

Last but not least little J decided to choose a dancing pumpkin which when pressed spins round and dances to The Monster Mash song. There were others to choose from, including a witch and a skeleton. It was priced at £12 and is really cute. 

So that is just a few of our new additions to our Halloween decorations this year. We still haven't been to Costco yet which we usually do every year and will normally find something to buy so watch this space. 

Have you bought any decorations for Halloween yet?

Michelle 
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Autumn Days Out With The Kids

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The summer holidays have now come to an end. Trying to keep the kids entertained for six weeks can be challenging but we found some days out that were not too expensive but we had lots of fun. For some help in finding a day out you can always visit my Family Days Out page or I have listed a few of our Autumn Days Out With The Kids.

woods

1. Cinema 
Going to the cinema can be very expensive when you have more than one child to take. Big J sometimes goes with his friends now and we don't get much change from £20 after he has paid for his ticket, drink and snack. Little J was never to keen on the cinema so we didn't want to pay full price for a ticket so we took advantage of the Last Chance or Kids Screening as these are a lot cheaper than a normal ticket. Showcase Cinemas offer Last Chance and Odeon Kids Club is just £2.50 and you can see films every Saturday or Sunday morning and every day during school holidays. Perfect for a wet day.

boy at the farm

2. Farm
We recently took little J the farm and he really enjoyed it. It cost £2.50 per adult and £1.50 per child to enter. There was an option to feed the goats or chickens by buying a bag of food at 50p each. We chose Goat food as they are so funny and always hungry. Little J thought it was hilarious when they were eating the food out of our hands. There was a woodland walk which was a little muddy but as long as you have suitable clothing for the kids such as children's waterproof over trousers, wellies and a rain jacket they can have lots of muddy fun. We finished off the morning with lunch in the cafe. This made the visit more expensive as it was approx £4 per person for a sandwich and drink. There were plenty of people eating picnics outside on the grass and picnic benches so if you want to cut the cost take a packed lunch

3. Swimming
Swimming is perfect for a wet day. Sometimes on weekends or school holidays our local pool bring out lots of inflatables and the slide is usually open too. We have a lifestyles pool close by which is free for big and little J. John usually takes them on a Saturday morning and it is reasonably quiet. They start in the little pool and then they all go in the big pool for a play and swim.

boy on the swing


4. Park
We love going to the park and could happily spend a day there. Depending on your park you can usually spend quite some time on the play areas, exploring the woods and visiting the cafe for a pit stop drink. 

Beach


5. The Beach
Most kids love visiting the beach and if you choose the right one you can have a really good time. We have a few within driving reach and its perfect for a lovely Autumn walk. Take along a bucket and spade and you can have so much fun, even if its cold and windy. We have some water shoes and flip flops always with us in the car just in case we decide to visit a beach. We then have a little paddle in the sea and have a look for crabs and starfish.

Do you have a favourite Autumn day out?

I am always so grateful for any support I receive on my blog and social channels. If you did find this post useful there are a few ways that you could say thanks and support Playdays and Runways.

Leave us a comment below and let us know what you thought. 

Like us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram


Share This Post With Friends Who May Also Find It Useful. 

Michelle
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Bedtime Stories Perfect For Halloween

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Disclosure - We were sent the products below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our unless stated. This post contains affiliate links. 

Halloween Books

Do you have a collection of seasonal books for the kids? We have lots of books and I try to keep collections together so that I can get them out depending on the season. As Autumn is here it's time to dust off our Halloween books and start reading them before bed.

We have two favourite books at the moment Boo and Ten Spooky Skeletons

boy in bed reading a halloween story

Boo is a fun novelty rhyming story all about finding out who is saying Boo. Each page has a different character on, Pumpkins, Wizards and little witches and each page says the same. for example "Spider, Spider was that you? Were you the one who shouted Boo?" Then there is a picture of the spider saying "it wasn't me" Little J loves this and as each page turns there are holes were the eyes should be so when I am just about to read out Boo I look through the holes and shout Boo. He finds it so funny. We love Little Tiger Press books and I can't wait to dig out some of big J's old books because I know we have lots similar to Boo that little J will love.

boy in bed reading a halloween story

The next bedtime story is Ten Spooky SkeletonsSimilar to Boo there are peek through holes on each page as one lonely skeleton goes on a search to find more skeleton friends. I always pop my fingers through the little holes which little J finds very amusing. A lovely story and a great way to talk about numbers and counting as each page starts with the number of Skeletons and a new skeleton is added every time. One, Two and so on. There is a lovely glow in the dark finale too.


I'm sure little J's favourites will swap and change all the time because I remember big J having a new favourite every night. I think reading to our children is so special and a lovely way to spend those last few moments of the day together before sleep time.

Do you read to your little one? What is their favourite story?

Michelle

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Spooky Ghost Cake Pops Recipe

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Disclosure - We went sent ingredients to try out this recipe. Any thoughts and opinions are our own. 

We love baking and we recently tried this fun recipe to make Spooky Ghost Cake Pops. They are perfect for Halloween or a rainy day activity to do with the kids. 

ghost pops
SPOOKY GHOST CAKE POPS

Preparation time: 2 hours plus cooling and chilling

Cooking time: 40 minutes plus 10 minutes to melt 2 lots of chocolate

Ingredients

For the cake balls
120g Cocoa Extra Dark Fine Cooks Chocolate
150g soft unsalted butter at room temp
200g Light Muscovado Sugar
3 medium free range eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp Madagascan Vanilla extract

For the cake pops:
2 X 100g bags White Chocolate Chips melted for sticking the balls onto the sticks & coating the cake pops
Teaspoon of vegetable oil

To decorate the ghosts:
1 x  pack of Dr. Oetker White Regal Ice
Icing sugar for rolling out
Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing for sticking the regal ice to the cake pops
Dr. Oetker Jet Black Gel Food Colour.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F, gas mark 1). Grease and line an 18cm (7 inch) square cake tin.

To make the fudge brownie mix melt the extra dark chocolate in a microwave on medium power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted,  or in a heat proof bowl on a gentle heat over a bain marie. Leave to cool.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand beater for approx. 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. If you haven’t got an electric mixer you can do this with a wooden spoon in a bowl .

TIP: if you are in a rush or the butter is quite cold, the addition of a couple of tablespoons of boiling water at this stage, beaten on slow until mixed will speed up this process.

Add your eggs on a slow speed about a third at a time, mixing until combined.

Add your cooled chocolate stirring continuously.  Add the vanilla Extract and stir. On slow speed mix in the flour until just combined. Do not over beat. Alternatively fold in by hand.

Pour the mix into your cake tin and bake for approx 40 mins. Check it with a sharp knife or metal skewer. You want this to be slightly under baked, so the knife should come out pasty, with a nice paste on the knife.

Leave to cool, then turn out into a bowl and crumble with your hands to fine fudgy crumb.

To make the cake balls, take a handful of fudge cake mix and squeeze together tightly - you are aiming for little balls about the size of a large walnut, approx. 30g each. If the mixture is dry, the addition of a little chocolate or vanilla butter cream will help the mixture stick

Once you have all of your balls ready, dip the end of your stick into the melted chocolate chips  and push the stick into each ball, about half way in. Hold the ball to stop it splitting open when the stick goes in

Once all the cake pops are ready, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours before dipping them, or pop into the freezer for 30 mins, so the balls are firm enough to hold when dipping in the coating

To coat the cake pops melt Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks White Chocolate on low power in a microwave bowl until just melted -  stirring occasionally.

Plunge each cake pop into the chocolate coating until completely covered. Tap the cake pop gently on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. Once all are covered, dip each cake pop again

To decorate the ghosts roll out half the white regal icing into a large rectangle using plenty of icing sugar and a large plastic rolling pin. Roll fairly thinly – 2 to 3mm thick. Squeeze a little Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing onto the tops of the cake pops or brush with some melted white chocolate, to aid sticking of the sugar paste

Using a cake cutter or small bowl, cut out circles of regal icing and place on each of the pops, smoothing down with your fingers to create the white sheet effect. Allow a little wavy movement by using your fingers to create smooth.

Give them a try and we would love to see your creations. Tag us on socials @PlaydaysRunways.

I am always so grateful for any support I receive on my blog and social channels. If you did find this post useful there are a few ways that you could say thanks and support Playdays and Runways.

Leave us a comment below and let us know what you thought. 

Like us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram


Share This Post With Friends Who May Also Find It Useful. 

Michelle

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