Autumn Leaves at Rufford Abbey

Nature and Autumn always seem to work together to create the most beautiful colours, for the last few years we have headed out into the woods to play amongst the leaves and this year was no different.

We headed up to Rufford Abbey, a usual haunt for some autumn leaf action. It started off as a sunny autumn day but no sooner had we got our wellies on it started to cloud over. But for us it didn’t matter, we all had our waterproof coats and wellies on, wrapped up so we were snug and warm.

We played in the woods, throwing leaves, running and jumping over logs, then we looked for mushrooms and acorns and talked about the seasons.

The children climbed the trees and even rode them like horses and the ever changing season never failed to give us something to look at and play with.

As we walked through the woods we saw a log pile, so all of us broke into the Gruffalo story, it is a great way to spend a lazy Sunday morning, reciting one of our most favourite stories.

As we got towards the ford it started to rain, so we watched a few cars splash through the water and then headed into the café for a warming sausage roll and hot chocolate, a standard for us on our winter visits.

It carried on raining so we headed back around the river, covered by the dwindling canopy of the trees, the little miss still munching away on her sausage roll and me holding on to the last bits of warmth from my hot chocolate. We came to some rather sodden and hungry ducks who were eager to eat any crumbs that dropped off my daughter’s sausage roll, we befriended a duck who followed us like a little puppy.

As we came out of the woods the rain had stopped but the wind whipped round our ears and so the children decided they wanted to go home and snuggle on the sofa, but not before they pretended to be birds flying with the giant leaves they had found.

I love Rufford Abbey and the fun we have there, it is a place we visit all the time and we still manage to find something new to explore or see. The ever changing seasons offer up new colours, fauna and wildlife and that's why we love it.

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Fun with Baby Annabell

Last Saturday, we were invited to meet the new autumn/winter range of Baby Annabell dolls at our local Smyths Toy Store. When we arrived the party was in full swing, with face painting, story time and much more. My daughter was most excited about getting to meet the new Baby Annabell dolls and toys, however first she had her face painted.

With some yummy cakes to celebrate and lots of crafts from The Creation Station, it was a great way to spend some time on a Saturday morning.

With a new fold up bedroom, two fab new dolls and probably my favourite, the walking lamb, there were some great toys to play with.

The two new dolls are the stuff of my dreams back when I was my daughters age, with one that drinks and uses the potty and cries, as well as one that learns to crawl and walk, it was great for my daughter to see them up close.

I think these dolls will be on many a Christmas list this year and my daughter thoroughly enjoyed playing with them, I love things that are interactive as they enhance a child's imagination and allow them to take it to the next level.

We had a great morning getting to know the new range of Baby Annabell toys, best of all they have a host of events happening all over the country so why not pop on over to Smyths to see if there is one near you.

Dressing Up with Pretend To Bee

World Book Day is upon us and it always seems to put the fear of god into some parents, whether you choose to make a costume or buy one, it doesn’t have to be difficult. It is all about choosing an outfit from a story you love reading with your children.

Ours have been, the rat from The Highway Rat, the witch from Room on the Broom as well as George from Georges Marvellous Medicines.

This year though we have been sent some wonderful outfits from Pretend to Bee, this fab local company have some wonderful outfits, not just for World Book Day but for dressing up at any time.

I
n our house my daughter can often be found dressing up in some of her outfits, just last weekend we went to Drayton Manor and she was dressed in her Thomas the Tank Engine Outfit.

Dressing up engages the imagination and allows children to be explore life through a different lens, it helps with self-confidence and my son who is currently attending Stagecoach Drama school loves dressing up.

Whether it is a princess, lion, robin hood or a robot Pretend to Bee have something for everyone and every occasion.

This year my daughter is going to be the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, with the release of Through the Looking Glass later this year it is the perfect time dressing up as the wonderful characters from this book and soon to be film.

The dress we were sent is really quite pretty and unusual, I love the detailing on the front and the fit around the back looks really lovely with the high neck.

For my son he is going as a possibly more untraditional character, however this character does feature in several of the books that we have read over the years from Each Peach Pear Plum to the one he has been reading with his Dad recently, Robin Hood and the Silver Arrow. 

Being from Nottingham this character has always played a huge part in our lives and so this outfit will be well used and loved, my son absolutely loved the arm guard and money purse which he immediately popped some of his money in and then found a sword he already had.

The outfits themselves are quite unique and they not something like you'd find on the high street, the little attentions to detail such as the chain mail on the arm, the velvet trousers and belt with purse and scabbard set off the outfit. 

With plenty more to chose from, there is something for all tastes, like this fab Thunderbirds outfit perfect for any little international rescue wannabes.

Or how about this, perfect for spring and summer butterfly outfit, this wonderfully bright costume would look great at a summer party or for just playing in the garden.

Whatever your child wants to be i'm sure you'll find something for them at Pretend to Bee.

NB: We were sent the outfits to form this review, all words and opinions are my own.

Barbie Spy Squad Review

It is with great pleasure that we get to review yet another of the awesome and inspiring Barbie dolls that have been bought out for 2016. Barbie Spy Squad is a great new addition to the Barbie team and this time she comes with a kick ass attitude, just don't tell my daughter I said kick ass, she'll only repeat it!

This super action spy Barbie has her own pink spy glasses, pink streak in her hair and is rocking a pink glittery jacket worthy of any super spy, rather lucky my daughters favourite colour is pink then, underneath she is rocking her sleek spy suit in my daughters other favourite colour, purple.

But this Barbie has her own super spy actions and can do forward and backwards flips as well as cartwheel across the room. Using the special handle that is clipped onto her back, you can roll her across the floor and get her to loop and spin into action. My daughter found both putting the handle on and moving her across the floor a little hard to do, she is only tiny for her age though and couldn't quite hold her up in order to run the wheels across the floor, she could however spin her around in the air and thoroughly enjoyed doing this.

We even got a few of her other Barbies out for some Barbie spy squad fun, with our super spy squad Barbie finding out what is happening in The Mummy Diary house, with some funky star glasses on, my daughter was working hard to find out the goings on. Turns out someone had stolen the recipe for my world famous brownies, it has now been recovered...phew

She comes with full moveable arms, hands and legs and has flat shoes so unlike a lot of Barbies she can stand on her own.

Barbie keep coming up with these wonderfully inspiring dolls, my daughter hasn't stopped being a super hero since she got the Barbie Princess Power doll and now with her super secret spy pal she is sure to go and have even more fun.

I personally love her, the pink streak in her hair, oober cool glasses and sparkly coat are definitely my spy goals. Where will your Barbie take you?

Barbie Spy Squad will available on DVD from 15/2/16, in the brand-new film Barbie: Spy Squad, Barbie and her best friends Teresa and Renee transform from hard-working gymnasts to undercover secret agents in this exciting, action-packed adventure. We certainly can't wait to watch the DVD and see what Barbie and her friends get up to.

NB: We were sent the doll to write the review, all pictures and opinions are my own.

A Run About in the Park

Sometimes it's great to just go to the park and have a run about, in fact it's amazing how much kids seem to enjoy the simple act of running in circles.

The perfect way to get them out into the fresh air and an easy way of getting them active without them even realising they are exercising.

Running, jumping, rolling, throwing, catching and playing, so much and all you need is some grass, oh and maybe a ball and a frisbee.

Getting active needn't cost the earth either, you can take a picnic to eat and just find a large space to run about in, whether it is is a local park, national trust house or even your own garden. Make the most of the summer, enjoy running about and being free.

It's something we love to do and you get to make memories too.

Linking up to Active Family over on The Oliver's Madhouse