Our Stay At Simgill Farm Cottages

We have just returned from a lovely family weekend break to the Lake District. We love visiting the Lakes and have previously stayed in a little Bed and Breakfast, Caravan Park or Hotel. This break was a little different as there were 14 of us in total so we needed to book somewhere big enough for us all. After a lot of searching the internet my brother in law found Simgill Farm. It's described as luxury self catering accommodation with properties that sleep up to 18 people.

What To Prepare and Pack Before Taking The Kids Abroad

This time of year, most of us are thinking about holidays. I love preparing for a holiday as I like to be organised and have everything ready quite early on. I think the earlier you prepare, the less stressful it can be. especially if travelling with little ones. I am one of those parents who has a huge tick off list of all the things I need to do, prepare and pack for the trip. These are my top 5 tips of things I prepare and pack before taking the kids abroad.

Limassol Wine Festival, Cyprus 2018

We have visited Cyprus a few times now and have another holiday planned. Other than the Disney parks its our favourite place to visit. Whenever you visit a new country or resort you are naturally a little nervous about what it will be like but as soon as we went to Cyprus we fell in love. Everyone is so friendly and families are more than welcome on the island. John and I were actually thinking about going to Cyprus, just the two of us for a little break and to experience one of it's many festivals it celebrates throughout the year. The Limassol Wine Festival looks amazing and it's the perfect time of year for us too in August / September.

Top Tips When Booking A Holiday

As soon as Christmas was over we started talking about a Summer holiday for 2018. As we went to Walt Disney World in April last year we didn't have a Summer holiday and the 6 weeks dragged and I really wish we had booked something even if it was just a week somewhere. Usually we would have something booked by now but for one reason or another we haven't so over the last week we have been trawling the Internet for possible destinations. We have spent every night for hours looking for something suitable but we still haven't found anything. I have however gathered a few top tips when booking a holiday which could help you save unnecessary time.

Travelling To Majorca With The Kids

Majorca was the first holiday we went to as a family of 3 way back in 2003. As we had never had to plan a holiday with a baby before we relied heavily on recommendations from our family and friends and whoever we spoke to Majorca always came up as a possible destination. If you are a parent, when it comes to booking a holiday to Majorca you want to know that it is suitable for your children and what we have found over the years is Majorca ticks every box.

Our Top Tips For Staying Safe In The Sun

You may have read our recent post about our favourite places to go on holiday, one of the things that we always plan very well for when going abroad is the heat.  Whether it be Florida, Majorca, or even at home in the UK, its always important to stay safe when the sun is out.  The last thing you want to happen on holiday to either yourself or your little ones is Sunburn.  You can lose a good few days from your holiday to the effects of sunburn and it can be easily avoided.  

Favourite Holiday Destinations

Summer is almost upon us and for most people that means they will be heading off on their Summer holidays. Whether it's in the UK, Europe or further afield, getting away is something we all love to do. It's nice to know that we can 'switch off' for a week or two and forget about the real world and just float about in our holiday bubble. When it comes to choosing where to go we all have different ideas of the perfect holiday. Whether it's somewhere you've visited before, a recommendation from a friend or through browsing sites online, such as Clickstay.

We tend to visit places we have already been to before. We like the familiarity and also the no stress worrying whether it is okay, as we've been before. I recently asked a few blogger friends what their favourite holiday destination is and why? The results are fab and it has actually given me a few new places to take a look at.

Planning Our Next Holiday To Cyprus

You may already know that we visited Cyprus in August for the 2nd time and it was amazing. Cyprus was never on my destination list until I won a holiday back in 2014. There was a huge list of places we could choose from and after months of deliberating we chose Cyprus - best decision ever. We stayed at the Malama Beach Holiday Village and it is perfect.

Our Family Fortnight - 03/09/16

The last two weeks have been very busy. We have had a few events to go and they have all been so much fun. We love heading out on little adventures, seeing and trying new things. We do try and combine the events with other fun things too, so while we attended a Netflix event we also made the most of our time in London and headed to some of the major attractions.

Premier Inn - Hemel Hempstead Central Review

As you may already know we recently visited London for the weekend. When booking our trip we decided to stay at the Premier Inn Hemel Hempstead. Although it's not actually in London it's quite close and we have stayed there before and never had any problems.

Our New Year Bucket List

I hadn't thought about writing a bucket list before as I thought a bucket list was things you wanted to do before you die. However, I have noticed that some people have seasonal bucket lists on their blogs. They write down all of the things they want to do in the following three months. We have had a little think and there are a few things we want to do so I've decided to write them down.

Our New Year Bucket List 2016

Holiday Extra's - Holiday Inn Express, Manchester Airport Review

For our recent trip to Paris we were offered the chance to stay over at Holiday Inn Express - Manchester Airport before our early morning flight, thanks to Holiday Extras. 

Malama Beach Holiday Village, Cyprus

Last September I won an all expenses trip to a commonwealth country by texting a special code that I found on a bottle of Rubicon. I do love my competitions and this has probably been my best win ever. The decision on where to go was a hard one. The budget was just under £5,000 and of course we would have been happy to pay more if needed as Daddy and I fancied Barbados. After weeks of thinking and checking out our options, In the end we decided to try Cyprus as we thought it would be more family friendly. 

Airport Parking With BookFHR

I have never considered airport parking before as both of the airports we use are within driving distance. We usually get a lift to and from from airport so it wasn't something I thought would be worth paying for. We were recently asked to review BookFHR, which offers affordable airport hotel and airport parking.

After checking out the website we decided we would give airport parking a try for our Summer holiday to Cyprus.

What To Pack In A Teenager's Suitcase

Big J has just arrived home from his third trip abroad without us. Its so weird to think he has experienced parts of the world without us. He has been to Rue in France for 5 days, Skiing for a whole week and last week he went to Spain for 5 days.

When it came to packing his suitcase he really wasn't interested at all. I think thats a boy thing because Daddy doesn't like packing either. They both are just happy to watch me do it. I did make a list of things he needed to make it easier for him but I still ended up doing it.

First I packed his hand luggage. He didn't have much in it as the school already had his Passport, EHIC and Euros. His hand luggage just had his phone, earphones, wallet containing some english money for the airport and plane and a book.

10 Reasons Why I Love June

I am so excited that June has finally arrived and here is why.

1. Daddy and I had our first ever date in June. It was the 21st June which is the longest day. This year the 21st falls on Fathers Day too so it's twice as special.

Looking Back - June 2010 Central Park, New York City

2. Daddy and I were married in June. This year we will be celebrating 15 years together and 5 years married. We were married in New York City and it was the best day of my life. It was so amazing and very personal as I had always wanted to get married in New York and Daddy made my dreams come true.

Going On Holiday - How Do You Choose?

I was watching the boys in the garden last week and they were playing in the water. It was bright, warm and sunny and it got me thinking about our Summer holiday.

Sa Coma - June 2003 

The Waterpark At Alton Towers Resort

Last weekend we visited the Alton Towers Resort. We had been invited to a special In The Night Garden Party but we decided to arrive a few days earlier and enjoy some family time together. We stayed at the Alton Towers Hotel but when we arrived our room wasn't ready even though check in time is 3pm and it was later so we decided to head to the Waterpark.

The Alton Towers Hotel

I wasn't going to blog about our recent visit to Alton Towers as I have blogged so many times already about Alton Towers but we did so much over the three days we were there so I wanted to give it a mention. We only decided to stay over very last minute and we managed to get a really good deal on the Alton Towers Hotel. We originally booked for just Saturday but later extended it to Friday and Saturday.

Big J and Little J Outside The Alton Towers Hotel

Holiday Inn - Leamington Spa

When planning our recent trip to Warwick Castle we decided to book a stay the night before at a hotel. Usually we head straight to Premier Inn or Travelodge as we have never had a bad stay at either. They are always cheap and perfect for us. Anyway while we were browsing hotels near Warwick the Holiday Inn - Leamington Spa popped up so we had a look at the details.