UK city breaks don't have to be exclusively limited to arts, culture and sampling city life; many offer some fantastic outdoor attractions and adventures too. This guest post from Extra Mile Coaches explores what's on offer in and around Glasgow to tempt you outdoors and into nature. Enjoy! In addition to incredible architecture and art galleries, Glasgow is gaining a reputation for the excellent quality of its parks, nature attractions and ...
Family fun for free: Great British Tennis Weekend
It’s that time of year when I become hopelessly unproductive for two weeks. The Wimbledon Tennis Championships have started! I certainly can’t be described as a big fan of watching sport, but tennis is the exception. Every year, the last week in June and the first week in July have me in a frenzy of excitement, as I try to juggle work and family commitments so I can watch as much tennis as possible. I’ve always loved tennis. My mum got me ...
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016: inspiring my own garden
Last Saturday I visited RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the first time. I've been longing to go for ages; not only is it THE place to see the top garden designers showing off their talents, there's so much inspiration elsewhere, with the amazing floral marquee, the smaller artisan and fresh gardens, and the hundreds of stalls offering gardening retail therapy. We had a fantastic day, immersing ourselves in each garden we came across, and learning ...
BlogCamp Birmingham 2016
Last Saturday I was up with the larks and on the earliest train I've ever caught, heading for Birmingham and BlogCamp 2016. Organised by the team at Tots 100, this is a free blogging conference which is packed with advice, inspiration and friendly faces. I was invited to have breakfast with the sponsors, the Wood Window Alliance, before the conference kicked off. We spent a really interesting hour sharing our uPVC window tales of woe, ...
Our day at RHS Malvern Spring Festival
On Sunday we visited the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, and had a brilliant family day out in the sunshine. The RHS Malvern Spring Festival takes place every year at the Three Counties Showground. I've been a few times now, and each year it just gets better. You can expect all the usual features of a flower show; floral marquee, show gardens, celebrity talks, workshops, food and drink, entertainment, and lots of plant stalls to tempt even the ...
Review: Geronimo Family Festival Harewood House
If you're a regular reader of the blog, you'll know that this year we're ambassadors for Geronimo Family Festival. After much excited anticipation over the last few weeks, we spent a day at Geronimo Leeds on the first day of the festival last weekend. And being a bank holiday weekend, obviously it poured down! We knew the day was already sold out, so to avoid the busiest time we tried to arrive for the gates opening at 10am. Unfortunately ...
Exploring the plant shop at Woodthorpe Grange Park
Local parks and green spaces are fantastic places to spend some outdoor time with the kids, and there are often hidden treasures to be found on-site. On our trips to local parks we’ve stumbled across all manner of things to explore, including willow tunnels, tree trails, wooden carvings and sensory gardens. Last week I came across the gardening equivalent of a child in a sweet shop: plants for sale! Woodthorpe Grange Park in Nottingham is ...
Tea with the Easter Bunny at Wyevale Garden Centres
On Good Friday we spent a lovely afternoon at our local Wyevale Garden Centre as special guests of the Easter Bunny. We had such a great time! Wyevale Garden Centres run regular family events throughout the year, and for Easter you can visit your local centre for Breakfast or Tea with the Easter Bunny, with lots of fun activities included for the kids. The event costs £9.99 per child, and £3.99 or £7.99 per adult, depending on your choice of ...
Review: Thomas Land at Drayton Manor Theme Park
Over the weekend we were invited along to Drayton Manor Theme Park, to attend the first day of their Thomas & Friends weekends. What a brilliant day we had! Now, we’re no strangers to Thomas Land. Our eldest (now approaching nine years old) was a huge Thomas fan when he was younger, and with Drayton Manor just under an hour away from home we’ve spent many happy days there in the company of Thomas and Friends. But we haven’t been since ...
Family fun at Geronimo Festival 2016
I’m delighted to announce that we’re official ambassadors for this year’s Geronimo Family Festival - so exciting!Have you heard of Geronimo already? It launched last year, and was so successful it has expanded to a second venue for 2016. Geronimo is a fantastic outdoor family festival, aimed at families with children aged 2-12 years old. It takes place at Tatton Park in Cheshire on 29-30 May, and Harewood House near Leeds on 1-2 May (both are ...