This day I love.......: Uk

The ancient city of York is just over an hour away from our house. Whilst York is accessible by car I highly recommend travelling by train. The train station is just outside the city walls and around 5 minutes to walk into the centre. York is wonderful to walk into, the girls absolutely love walking through the city walls and into the city itself. It is such an easy, beautiful and pushchair friendly walk that travelling by train makes such an easy option. As you walk through the city walls, you take a walk over the river Ouse which is a beautiful place to simply stop and watch the world go past.

We stood on the bridge and watched rowing boats, the boat tours and ducks all go past. The side of the river is lined with hotels and cafes and my youngest loved to watch people go about their daily lives.

York is well sign posted but if in any doubt simply head towards York Mister, the iconic towers can be seen for miles around.

As the seasons change York changes too. Ghost tours take you on a mysterious walk through the city and delves into its gruesome history. The railway museum, located right next to the train station, has plenty to see and do and you can easily spend a day here. There are plenty of theatres to watch a show, or even head to Jorvik to learn more about the history of York. We wandered around looking at the Christmas festivities, a living nativity with real Donkeys caught our eye situated by the base of York Minster.

Christmas markets featuring the best of Yorkshire. An indoor market selling local produce and hand made items, for the truly unique gift. The indoor and outdoor markets were bustling with shoppers looking for the unique and perfect Christmas gift. The girls eyes lit up at all the items on the stalls.

Christmas would not be Christmas without chocolate, well in our house anyway! York Chocolate story provides an insight into the history of Chocolate in York.

We took a tour and delved deep into the history of chocolate. The girls listened intently and got to sample chocolate throughout history.

Before receiving a lesson in the correct way to sample chocolate! I was so surprised they followed the instructions and resisted temptation to eat all the chocolate.

Little Man however found it rather difficult to resist temptation!

There is something truly special about visiting the ancient city of York. There are cobbled streets, with their quirky original buildings. A mismatch of architecture that simply adds to the charm of York. The streets are bustling with people going about daily life, with the mix of tourists stopping to look at all the different sights. Each street has something unique about it, no two are the same. Independently owned cafe, coffee shops and products are around every corner which for me adds to the charm of York. York is a place where old meets new, and where you get a real sense of a cities history. A wonderful family friendly city that offers something for everyone!

We had a wonderful 12 hours in York and cannot wait to visit again!

This day I love 12 hours in York

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At the beginning of June Little Man had his first holiday away, our first holiday as a family of 5. The girls were incredibly excited as and in their own words, we were going on Skyline gang holiday. After taking the afternoon easy on site we checked in and headed over to watch Aladdin rocks.

I am going to write a separate post on the entertainment at Butlins, as I want this one to focus more on our holiday, but it goes without saying the show was fantastic. A true family show, which the girls loved.

It was then that Little Man achieved another first, his first night away from home. As Little man was born at home, he has always known his bed and his space, this was new for him and the first night he woke up every hour just to check I was still there. We had the opposite problem with the girls, they were simply so excited to be on holiday and sharing a bedroom that they would not go to sleep.

The girls had a special invitation for the morning, a practical joke academy with Dick and Dom. The prospect of learning some new tricks had my eldest grinning like a Cheshire cat

Not wanting to miss out on the fun my youngest joined in too. The practical joke academy was run by Dick and Dom themselves, the kids watched as Dick and Dom demonstrated a trick and then broke it down step by step for them to follow and try themselves. The girls managed to do some of the tricks, others not going according to plan, but each one greeted with a giggle and a huge smile.

The girls were rather excited that after the academy they got to meet Dick and Dom and even came home with one of their joke books. The girls have been practising their practical jokes at home and all I would say is do not accept a banana from them.

After the excitement of the Practical joke academy the girls needed a much calmer activity, and with that we headed over to the craft box. The girls decided to make a money box each and it was just the calm down they needed before lunch.

Scoop was not open during our last visit to Butlin's and we decided upon a treat of waffles and ice cream for lunch. Our main problem was picking which flavour ice cream.

Butlin's is all about families and their enjoyment, and this runs through the entire village. Everything from the activities to the entertainment, to the over sized deck chairs and photo opportunities.

For the girls Butlin's is known as the Skyline gang holiday, they talk about the Skyline gang almost every day and ask to go to see the Skyline gang for their holidays. Our holiday to Butlin's always involves planning our activities around the Skyline gang performances. We often get there early, a good 30-45 minutes before a performance, so the girls can have a good seat to watch the show.

One of the things we love most is the evening entertainment. Often planning our dinner first to then catch a later show. The girls see this as a real treat and we love our time together as a family. After watching Aladdin rocks on our first night, the show on our second evening was Dick Vs Dom.

In all honesty I was not sure what to expect but upon reflection am so glad we went. The girls each picked a team and we bought them the corresponding foam finger to match. As the show progressed the competitiveness appeared from each girl, as each team took part in the challenges. Although they began seated, the girls began to get out of their seats and jump up and down cheering on their teams. I don't think I have ever seen them as excited or joined in with a show so much. Dick V Dom had the girls laughing out loud and cheering at the stage, it was pure enjoyment watching them, and a very welcome surprise for a show we had known nothing about prior to attending.

One of the activities which really stood out was 'Circus skills with the Skyline gang'. Due to its popularity this is a pre bookable event, and I had done so without the girls knowing. As they sat with the other children they had no idea who was about to appear. Their faces were simply prices, the mouth opened wide and huge eye look as their idols walked out and said hello to them.

The Skyline gang made time for each and every child. Giving them all one on one attention, and treating them all like their best friends. Each child came away from circus skills simply buzzing, and you could see the joy on all of their faces.

There is something rather magical as you walk around Butlin's. The Skyline dominated by the Pavilion, the heart of Butlin's. The girls skip along the path as the pavilion edges closer, and they begin to ask questions about our next adventure.

Our final adventure was another first for Little Man, a trip to the swimming pool.

The girls now older, taller and with much more water confidence took advantage of these facts and took their Dad down as many slides as they could. Each time coming back to see how Little Man was doing in the baby pool. He enjoyed splashing around and watching all the bright lights and colours, but after 30 minutes he got tired and hungry.

Little man had a feed and a sleep in the pool whilst the girls played with their Dad. It was a beautiful sight watching them all play together and the girls loved the time they got to spend with their Dad.

Our weekend was quickly drawing to a close, and a final dinner was fast upon us. The weekend had flown past far too quickly, and we did not want our fun to end.

Until next time Butlin's

This day I love Little Man and his first weekend away

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Self employment and pregnancy combined can be a bit of a minefield at times. When I was in employment maternity leave was all taken care of. I had no financial worries to think about, well not really and it was all taken care of for me. This time around I am having to find out everything myself.

During my research I stumbled upon an article which was titled Benefits Britain. Now not really what I was looking for but the opening sentence caught my attention and so I continued reading:

51% of people in the UK do not believe that UK benefits are too generous

Half of the people of the UK believe they are too generous and the other half don't, how can there be such a split. I felt as if the split would have been more heavily swung in favour of one or the other.

The survey the article was referring to was carried out by Myvouchercodes and surveyed 2158 UK adults aged over 18. The article went on to discuss how people view the changes to the benefits and tax made by the current government. This is what I found really interesting as the article states that families are some of those affected the most by the changes and I do have to agree.

Families now have to declare and pay tax on child benefits, not that we fall into this financial bracket but it is worth noting if you do, my maternity pay is no longer the equivalent of SMP instead it is £30 a week despite having paid tax and my NI contributions and benefits are now assessed on income but not the full outcome picture. In some ways I find this worrying, regardless of what your income is in monetary amount if over 2/3 of it is simply to pay the mortgage/rent and bills then the remaining third is used for food, clothing etc surely there should be some help available? It would appear not. Surely a Mother who wants to work to support her family be that in employment or self employment should be entitled to the same maternity pay? It would appear not. A family who are simply working to pay the nursery/child minder bill each month surely they deserve some support? It would appear as they are working they are not.

I don't have a solution but I do feel that those who work and support their family should be able to do so with support available if needed and that regardless of employment or self employment those rights should be equivalent. What are your thought on the article?

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