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This day I love.......

The girls, their Grandma and I set off to the Tropical Butterfly house at Aston today.  Having visited several times before the girls get very excited on the approach to the house.  Our first stop is always the butterfly house itself.  

The thing I love the most about the Tropical Butterfly house is that no matter what your age there is something to do.  The park grows with your children so each time there is something new or different to explore and discover.  My youngest spent most of the day trying to say bird and pointing at everything.  My eldest took great pride in showing her Grandma all the different animals.  The park is constantly investing meaning new animals and different attractions open up.  The latest of this is Lemur heights and I will be putting the date in my diary for the grand opening.

Lemur through the windowGrand opening of Lemur heights


The girls would spend all day in the play area, as there is so much for them to do.  There are different areas dependant upon a child age, which means the under 4's do not feel  over whelmed by bigger children.  As the area is fenced you also feel safe that your little one is not going to wander off.

happy hoperzsee saw


playing in the sandwheels






All this playing made the girls hungry so we stopped off in the cafe which has a good selection of both hot and cold food.  There are also picnic tables available and I keep thinking next time I come I will bring a picnic but always forget.

dinner time

We stopped to listen to one of the very popular talks before continuing on our journey looking at all the different animals.

parrot show

learninggiant tortoise


hen on a fenceducks
One of the most popular animals is of course the meerkats

meerkat

It was then time to head inside the Butterfly house.  The girls really love it in here and would spend all day, I am sure, looking at all the different animals.  We could not spot the Iguana this time but we did find many other animals

leaf cutter ants


butterflybat


pointing at the birdsfeeding time for the birds




butterfly on leafin the butterfly house

I really love how my girls can find fun anywhere.  On the way out you disinfect your shoes, my eldest loved this and my youngest was trying to copy stamping feet,  it was a very sweet moment

splashing on the way out

I have to say a big thank you to #lovecravendale for providing us with tickets to enter the Tropical butterfly house at Aston.  Love Cravendale is a loyalty reward scheme where the more cravendale milk you drink the more family fun.  Simply collect the codes from 2 litre bottles of Cravendale and turn them into a treat for yourself, an activity for the adults or even some great family days out, there is a whole host to choose from.

This day I love sand, see saws and splashing






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There is so much choice on the market for children's car seats.  Rear Facing or Forward Facing? what group do I buy? Harness or impact shield?  These are just a few of the questions I have asked myself whilst purchasing seats for my girls.  It is such a tough choice.    

One of the sites I often use is Which? as they are independent and purchase the seats to test.  As an example I have embedded the video from their site on the difference of a good seat Vs bad seat,  The video is a little upsetting even though crash dummies are used


Which? test their car seats beyond the tests required for the ECE R44/04 which is compulsory for all UK car seats.  They test to 40mph, 10mph more than the ECE R44/04 test and use a full car instead of a mock up of the back seat.  They test both rear collisions and side impacts.  This element of the test accounts for 60% of the Which? rating with the other 40% down to ease of installation of the seat.  As a correctly fitted seat is key to the seat performing correctly in a crash.  Although I appreciate there are other sites and reviews Which? is the one I personally value most for its Independence and thoroughness.

For the question of Harness Vs impact shield.  I personally prefer Impact shield.  From 6 months of age my eldest daughter worked out how to get out of her harness.  It did not matter if it was in the pushchair, car seat or high chair she could get out of them.  No matter how tight or what gadget I used, she would work out a way to get out.  At one point I had to do an emergency pull over and stop as she had climbed completely out of her seat.  With the impact shield I have never experienced this.  I know in some instances some children don't like the feel of the shield and so its always better to try a seat before you buy it but for us the impact shield is much safer.  

An impact shield, I have found removes the element of the child being unable to climb out of the seat or undo the harness.  I find it easier to get the impact shield on my daughter and fasten her in if she she is having a tantrum.  With a harness I really struggle to fasten her in correctly if she is having a tantrum and generally not wanting to sit in the seat.  I also personally feel reassured, as I often worry I have not done the harness up correctly.

When researching a car seat for my youngest I decided to go for rear facing after watching this video


However, I then encountered a problem.  The only car seat I could find which was rear facing had harness and not an impact shield.  I decided to go with it as the video had convinced me to go for rear facing.  The car seat arrived and to this day I am not 100% convinced it is installed correctly.  It was difficult to install, incredibly heavy so we cannot transport it between cars and my daughter can escape from the harness, which leads me wondering how effective it would be in a crash?  It also is one of the smallest on the market but it still takes up a lot of space.

Having bought a Kiddy Energy Pro for my eldest I turned once again to Kiddy for a solution.  They have the impact shield I prefer and also a Which? best buy.  


Kiddy Guardian Fix Pro 2

There are several points I love about our Kiddy car seats, the first is how incredibly light weight they are.  I can lift it one handed whilst carrying my daughter in the other arm.  This makes it easy to transport between vehicles, and would be ideal to use on an aircraft.  The second is how easy it is to fit.  The Energy Pro is simply placed on the seat, whereas the Guardian Fix pro 2 has isofix bars.  It took me less than 2 minutes to install using isofix.  This leaves me confident it is installed correctly.  

isofix














The third is that Kiddy really do love kids, so much so they put it on the tag


Kiddy loves kids







Kiddy really have thought of everything when they designed their seats.  From Easy one touch recline, to adjustable footrests and to the Side impact protection.  The covers come off and are machine washable which is great for me, as my kids love to make a mess.  There is a wide range of colours to choose from too, meaning there should be something to suit all tastes.


side absorber




This will be a seat that will last and grow with my daughters right up until they are 12 years old.  My daughter loves her Kiddy car seat and after a hard day at nursery can have a place to rest her head whilst she naps.

Sleeping in the Kiddy

Kiddy loves my kids and my kids love Kiddy.

Kiddy very kindly provided me with a Guardian Fix pro2.  All words thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Silent Sunday 30 06 13

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Argyll Holidays are running an amazing competition at the moment.  You could win a full years holiday for your family worth up to £10,000.  Yes I had to read it twice too!  It is really simple to enter, all you need to do is record a one minute video, it can be on your phone, saying why you should be chosen.  Then go here and upload the video and complete a short entry form.

active family logo

Best of luck!

The full terms and conditions are

  1. To enter the competition, each family must submit a short video (no longer than 3 minutes) introducing themselves (on a smartphone is perfect) and upload it to our website (www.argyllholidays.com) or our Facebook (www.facebook.com/holidaysargyll). This should be accompanied by a short paragraph from each family member on why they should be the ‘Active Family 2013’.
  2. By entering this competition, all entrants agree to write short reviews of their free holidays in the form of ‘blogs’, which will be published on our website (www.argyllholidays.com), should they win.
  3. The competition is only open to persons who are resident in the United Kingdom.
  4. Entries must be made by Thursday 1st August 2013 and in the manner set out in the Competition Terms. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.
  5. There is no requirement to make any purchase in order to enter the Competition.
  6. Only one entry per family is permitted.
  7. Competition finalists will be contacted from Monday 2nd September, with the overall winner announced on Tuesday 1st October.
  8. The ‘year of free holidays’ includes numerous breaks throughout the year across our parks, as well as free activities and use of leisure facilities. These will be decided at Argyll Holidays discretion.
  9. Prizes are non-transferable and there is no cash alternative.
  10. Argyll Holidays reserve the right to cancel or amend all or any part of the Competition and/or the Rules without notice for any event that is outside of our control. Any changes to the Rules, or cancellation of the Competition, will be posted on our website (www.argyllholidays.com).
  11. In the event of any dispute regarding the Rules, the conduct or results of the Competition, the decision of Argyll Holidays shall be final.


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baking cakes

Sunday

After the excitement that was Britmums Live, all I wanted to do on Sunday was spend some time with the girls.  My eldest wanted to make cakes and so we spent the afternoon baking.  A fantastic way to spend some quality time together

playing in den

Monday

The girls wanted to build dens after exploring the garden and looking at all the dens the animals had made.  They took their chairs under the table and even built a space to put their car.

busy bee

Tuesday

My eldest came across a plant full of bees and started asking questions about bees.

eating noodles

Wednesday

A long day at work meant I had to make a quick dinner before bathing and putting the girls to bed.  My youngest just decided to play with her noddles, but it was fun to watch.

reading, drinking and on the phone

Thursday

I just love the look of concentration on my daughters face.  Phone in one hand, drink in the other whilst reading a book on her chair.

rolling the ball

Friday

My youngest has really taken to rolling balls backwards and forwards.  Apologies for the blurred picture she would not stop moving and my phone could not keep up.

watching butterflies

Saturday

Thanks to #lovecravendale the girls, their Grandma and I visited the tropical butterfly house in Aston and had an amazing day.

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My eldest looked at me with those gorgeous big eyes, her hands curled around her prize

the prize is held tight

She is very pleased with herself and starts singing incy wincy spider, nothing out of the ordinary.  Her younger sister comes over to see what she has in her hand.  


A cheeky plan, was formed.  Hold it sister.  The prize is handed over, youngest is not impressed and eldest finds it rather funny.

that is one big spider

I am unsure if to laugh or cry but the situation soon resolved itself, thankfully.

This day I love a cheeky plan


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'Mummy come quick, look at this Mummy' called my eldest, I went over to where she was stood and looked

Eldest looking at flowers

She was absolutely fascinated, glued to the spot in amazement, as she watched the bees on the flowers.  The more you looked the more bees you could see, the plant was covered.  'What are they doing?' She asked me.  I told her they were picking up all the pollen so they could go back to their  hive and make you lots of honey.  I then got a scrunched up nose and a shake of the head and she said 'don't be silly Mummy, you don't make honey from flowers.  You buy honey from the man.'  I had to smile at 2 I guess the concept of bees making honey must be a little hard to understand. 

Bee on flower

I love how each day her interest in nature is growing and her curiosity is getting stronger

This day I love the bees

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This weekend I attended Britmums Live 2013.  I still cannot quite believe it.  It was a totally amazing experience and one that would not have been possible if it was not for my amazing sponsors Yoomi.  Yoomi have also had an amazing weekend having just won not one but two Silver Loved by Parent awards, Many congratulations.

Britmums Live 2013

I attended some fantastic sessions over the course of two days.  I have two areas in particular I wanted to focus on.  The first of which is photography.  I would love to be able to capture better photos of the girls.  It was great that there were several sessions that I could attend on photography and some that focused on smart phone photography, which is great as I don't yet own a camera.  I tried to put some of the things I learnt in the sessions in use today to take this picture on my phone, I would love to know what you think

bee on a flower

Another area I wanted to look at was Pinterest.  Its an on line tool which, if I am totally honest, I do not fully understand how to use.  This was my aim to understand better and to have more confidence to use.  The session was fantastic and gave me lots of ideas that I want to put in to practise.  

As well as all the amazing sessions there was also the chance to meet some amazing brands.  I want to say a huge thank you to all the brands that attended Britmums Live, it was fantastic to meet you all.  

The Visit Orlando team had a green screen and we made a virtual postcard, having watched it I am not going to rush into acting any time soon, but it was a lot of fun.  I think I need to plan a holiday to Orlando just to escape the embarrassment of the video


Acer also had a fun photo booth

acer photo booth

Which I must admit to visiting on more than one occasion.  Amongst the many celebrities walking around which included Katy Hill, Kirstie Allsopp I managed to have my picture taken with two, Hedwig from Harry Potter and Alex from Madagascar

Hedwig Harry Potteralex from Madagascar

 The best thing by far was to meet all those wonderful people I have become friends with on line in real life.  It was such an amazing experience, one I will never forget.  I have learnt a lot, laughed a lot and made some friends for life.  Thank you Yoomi for sponsoring me for Britmums Live 2013.   

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My eldest daughter loves watching wildlife in our garden.  Earlier this year we built an outdoor hideout for the hedgehog who likes to visit the garden looking for food.  We collected twigs and leaves and built a den, which to the untrained eye looks like a pile of sticks and leaves.

hedgehog den

This though is perfect for the hedgehog to hide away in.  It is in a sheltered spot in a place the dog cannot get to so it is perfect for our hedgehog.

I decided to show the girls other outdoor dens and hideaways for all the animals that visit the garden.  We have one for the bees

our wooden bee house

One for Ladybirds

our ladybird house

Even the birds have tried to build a nest in our garden

nuilding nest

My eldest loved looking at all the different animals dens, and houses.  This inspired her to create her own den whilst I was cooking dinner.  First she tried with just a cardboard box, 

building the denhiding in the box

Which worked OK until her sister wanted to come in and she wanted her chair,


lying in the densister opening the den





She soon decided that it was a bit of a squish with her chair in too so she asked me to move the table back for her so she could make her hideaway under the table.  

sharing the denbuilding under the table

Her sister was able to join her and they could both sit on the chairs, they enjoyed a tea party

tea partyhaving fun in the dentwo girls in the den



If you wondered what the box was for at the side of the table, well its for parking the car in

car journey
parking the toy car
car in the box







My eldest loved looking at how anything outside can become a den for an animal.  I loved watching her and her sisters imagination in building their own den inside and to be creative to make somewhere for their car too.

This day I love who lives in a house like this?

This is our entry into the Tots100 and Center Parcs June challenge

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About me

About Me

Welcome to This Day I love.

My name is Leyla, also known as Mum to my 3 humans and dog Mum to J. I have a passion for the outdoors and love to run. I can often be found off road exploring the trails and fells and covering distances all the way up to 50 miles. As a family we love travelling and discovering new adventures, as I try and run around the world!

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