We were sent a map for review. All words are my own honest opinion. There was no financial incentive received for this review. 

One of my greatest passions is the outdoors. I absolutely love to be outside, exploring and having an adventure. When I run I take random roads and random paths just to see where they go and where I end up. My children also seem to have the same love of adventure. Getting on our bikes and seeing where we end up, although they are not such a fan when an uphill appears. The opportunity to review a map, which promises to be filled with amazing adventures and the funnest things to do was something I could not turn down.

Now that covid restrictions are starting to ease slightly and we have a little bit more freedom I think we are all ready to start exploring further afield and discover new places. I am not ready yet to travel too far afield, but I am ready to discover some new places close to home.

This new map from Marvelous maps is aimed at children and aims to spark imagination and give inspiration to any budding explorer. The map is absolutely bursting with information and had my children engaged for quite some time. 

The map features:

AMAZING ANIMALS

Wild wildlife

Animal adventures

AWESOME ACTIVITIES

Action and adventure

Underground fun

Theme parks

Marvellous museums

Glorious food

BRILLIANT BEACHES

THRILLING QUESTS

Welly walks

Cycle routes

Train rides

Boat, plane and other journeys

SUPER-FUN FESTIVALS & EVENTS

FUNNY PLACE NAMES

LEGENDARY PLACES

Myths and monsters

Fabulous fiction

Amazing people and history

Cool castles

Record breakers

GREAT GAMES to play at home and on the road!

TICK BOXES to mark places you want to go / things you want to do!

GINORMOUS COLOURING-IN MAP on the back!

NOTES SECTIONS to create lists, write stories and generally mess about!  

I am truly blown away by all the information on the map, yet at the same time the map doesn't feel too overloaded with information. My children absolutely love it. Trying to find things to do, looking at places they have been and planning journeys. It has sparked conversations about things they remember seeing and places they want to go. It has created a fascination with maps and map reading and looking and planning for future adventures. 

The girls planned a day out after finding Nostell Priory on the map and we headed over for some Easter fun. 

The girls have already started planning our next adventure and I have been googling some of the places on the map to learn more about them too. 

The Juggleezz featured was provided in exchange for a review. No financial incentive has been received and all words are my honest opinion.

The beautiful sunshine gave us the perfect excuse for some fun in the garden. Our Juggleezz arrived just in time too and we wasted no time taking it outside.

The items mentioned in this review have been provided in exchange for an honest review. There has been no financial incentive. 

Shielding has ended and the world has begun to open up slowly, which means my son now no longer has to stay in and can venture back into the world again. I have been doing things very slowly with him but trying to explain calmly to a just turned 5 year old not to touch everything and keep his hands clean is very difficult. 

My 8 year old decided to test out the slime initially before working out which pot she was going to share with her siblings and which she was keeping for herself. She settled for the red one. First test was a smell, she decided there was a little smell similar to had gel but nothing strong. She then got to playing, and was surprised it wasn't too sticky or slimy and that she could stretch and see through it.

You may have seen over on my Instagram that I made a little announcement recently, in case you missed it

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I am incredibly proud to announce that I am the Running Mayor for Barnsley!

 It has been a while since I last wrote a post. In fact it has been a while since I last did anything related to the blog. That hasn't been intentional, like most other people lockdown has changed routines and habits. Covid has pretty much changed everything.

September last year saw a major change for me, I returned to full time employment. After working for myself for so long it was a scary but exciting change and a leap I am glad that I took. With the children at school I had a really good work life balance and was finding time to tick off many things I had been meaning to do for sometime. At the moment though the children are home and I am juggling homeschooling and working full time. Everything else has taken a back seat.

I worked really hard just before the first lockdown and managed to pass my strength test to run again, but I have taken it easy. I do not know if this is due to a lack of races and things to train for or if it is a fear that is now inbuilt subconsciously to stop me breaking my ankle again. Whatever it is I now cover the same mileage in a month that I used to cover in a week. I will build it back up again but am in no rush.

Which again sees another mind shift. I now just run. I don't actually know where my running watch is, I haven't worn it for such a long time and I am ok with this. I enjoy just running. I have an approximate idea how far the distance is from running the roads around here for years, but in terms of pace I really do not know. I actually really like it. I like just running and listening to my body. Slowing when it needs me to and pushing when it feels ok. 

Whilst I might not wear a running watch I do sometimes set a timer and just go for a run for a set period of time. I will set a challenge of trying to get further than the last time I ran that route. With home schooling I am not able to get out as often as I would like to but when I do get out I am really enjoying my running again.

This day I love It's been a while