Me & Mine May

This month has been pretty special for us as we spent a beautiful two weeks in Rhodes at the beginning and then the last few days saw our little man turn three. The holiday was amazing and really gave us all chance to be a family and enjoy each other's company in a way that every day life doesn't seem to have time for.

Your Youtube #27

Huge apologies to everyone as Your Youtube is late this week. I feel like I am still catching up from our holiday earlier in the month so please do bare with me!


Little J is Three

Today is the eve of my little boy's birthday. The last day of his toddler days. Tomorrow he is three.

I can't quite believe it has been three years. I know everyone says it but it really does go so fast, especially with your second. Those baby days seem like such a long time ago and we have come so far since then.


How To Get To Manchester Airport

When we were planning this year's holiday, one of the things we had to consider was how to get to Manchester airport, where we were flying from. Unfortunately our flights were at pretty inconvenient times so asking for a lift from family wasn't an option. It is also quite hard work to get a taxi with two children, four suitcases, two pushchairs and two fraught parents. The only option for us was to drive and park.

How To Get To Manchester Airport

My Body, My Way

Since having the children and particularly since gaining weight whilst I've been ill, I have been really uncomfortable in my own skin. As a teenager and throughout my twenties I never had to worry about my figure and I was so lucky to be able to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted without a second thought. I never understood those who dieted and always felt that whatever my body type I would accept it and love it. That was then.

Aged 18

Your Youtube #26

I'm baaack!! After a lovely two week holiday we are now home and settling back into everyday life. A huge thank you to Sian who hosted whilst I was away and to everyone who still joined in. This week's top video is from Jules from The Giggles Family who does beautiful videos and also had a bit of a hard time this week.

Our Family Holiday To Greece


If you follow me on any form of social media recently you would probably have noticed that we have been on holiday for the last two weeks. We spent a perfect fortnight in Kolymbia in Greece at the Rhodes Holiday Village and had an incredible time and a much-needed break.

Guest Post: Summer Baby Essentials

Today's guest post comes from Dawn at Mummy's Little Peeps, who is pregnant with her third baby.

With both the boys being winter babies it is something of a novelty to be expecting a summer baby. Although I must admit that this time around I am far from being organised and until this weekend had purchased little more than a couple of packets of scratch mitts. So as the weeks seem to be flying by with an alarming rate I thought I would put together a little some wishlist of items that I would love for baby number three.


1) Silver Cross Surf 2 in Graphite Yellow: Perfect for a summer baby, I have fallen in love with the colour of this pram and suitably neutral too. I am already dreaming of long summer strolls with this set of wheels.

2) Mamas and Papas Jamboree knitted blanket: I am a bit of a knitted blanket fan and the boys had several each, I love the bright stripes on this, again perfect as we don't know baby's gender yet.

3) Pink Lining Blooming Gorgeous Hydrangea Bag. My current blooming gorgeous bag comes everywhere with me, and although there is a lot of life left in it yet, I love this Hydrangea print from the summer range. A girl can never have too many changing bags right?

4) Aden and Anais jungle jam muslin squares: Muslins were a life safer with boy the boys suffering from reflux I think I had one permanently attached to my shoulders from 9 months. I adore the print of these and they make such a change to the plain ones.

5) Aden and Anais jungle jam bath wrap: How cute is this? Perfect for a cuddle after a bath.

6) Babymoov Swoon up bouncer: I love the design and height on this Babymoov bouncer, it would be ideal with having too active little men on the loose too.

7) JoJo Maman Bebe tortoise print sleepsuit: Finding bright unisex sleepsuits seems like an increasingly difficult task and although I don't plan on buying too many neutral clothes baby will need a few outfits for the first few days.

8) Fisher Price Newborn to Toddler play gym: I adore Fisher Price toys and both the boys loved the Rainforest gym that we had, I like the concept of this gym being one that grows with baby through to the toddler stage with the range of activities. What were you summer baby essentials?

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Guest Post: Family Days Out in Weymouth, Dorset

Today's guest post is from the gorgeous Julie who blogs at Mama Owl.

One of my favourite places in the UK is Weymouth in Dorset. It is the quintessential seaside town, with colourful deckchairs lining the promenade on the seafront and a red & white striped Punch & Judy theatre on the sand. If you're not content with whiling away the hours building sandcastles, eating chips out of buckets, and wave hopping in the surf — there is plenty more to do besides.


THE SANDS ARCADE & FUNFAIR


Get your two penny pieces ready, there is hours of fun to be had letting the kids go on the 2p machines, or collecting tickets towards a prize. Granted, the prize is never worth the amount you will spend on the games - but it's about the experience. My kids adore the arcade, they're given a budget before we go in and once it's gone, that's it. Outside the arcade is a little funfair with carousels & bumper cars amongst other things, we buy the kids their tokens and let them choose where to use them. When we're done we let them choose a candy floss or ice cream from the traditional seaside kiosk next to the merry go round, and wander along the prom back to the beach.



SEA LIFE ADVENTURE PARK & TOWER


With over 1,000 incredible creatures from sharks and sea turtles to giant spider crabs and Octopus and a 53m tower giving stunning panoramic views of the coastline, the Weymouth Sea Life Centre is a fun & educational day out for the whole family - rain or shine. 



MONKEY WORLD APE RESCUE CENTRE


Monkey World is wonderful, and absolutely one of the best attractions we have ever visited. “Monkey World assists governments around the world to stop the smuggling of primates from the wild. At the Centre refugees of this illegal trade as well as those that have suffered abuse or neglect are rehabilitated into natural living groups.”


The enclosures and park are beautifully kept, with adventure playgrounds interspersed amongst the various living spaces, and plenty of space for children to roam and play, and learn. Just by visiting the centre you are aiding their vital work, but do consider 'adopting' one of their residents - an adoption pack even includes a year's free entry.
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Guest Post: Style It Kids

Hello I'm Kara from Innocent Charms Chats, first a huge thank you to Lisa for having me here. I have really enjoyed watching Lisa's Kids Lookbook vlogs and can't wait to see more when you return from your travels.




On the subject of kids fashion, today I wanted to share with everyone my Instagram project, #StyleItKids. If you follow myself or Lisa on IG may have seen us use this hashtag to share photos of our children styled up.

A photo posted by Hollybobbs (@hollybobbs) on
For those who have never taken part, I started #StyleItKids with my partner Jenny of Kyna Boutique seven months ago now. It is a great monthly project on Instagram where we share photos inspired by the daily prompts, which are released at the start of each month. For us it is all about fun and I have really loved seeing how each of the ladies interpret the prompts each day. We have started building such a great community and I feel so incredibly proud - people come back month after month and share their photos and I have met new friends and been inspired by so many cute outfits.


Fashion as a whole is a real love of mine, I blog about it most weeks in our "What We Are Rocking" series and knew that I wanted to create a little community on Instagram so I am pleased we have achieved that. If you love fashion and Instagram as much as I do then please do come take a look at the hashtag #StyleItKids - we love meeting new mummies or daddies and their kiddos. Below is this months prompts and head to my blog if you want to understand more. Hopefully we will see some holiday snaps from Lisa.

Guest Post: Keeping Safe In The Sun

Today's post is brought to you by Kate from Family Fever. 

I think that as parents, sun safety is something that we all worry about. There really is nothing better than seeing your children out in the summer sun, but of course we want to keep them well protected too. There are several very easy things you can do to keep your little ones safe in the sun.

Use suncream, hats and glasses.
Make sure the suncream you use is in date and offers a high level of UV and SPF protection. Personally, I like to use SPF 50 on my little ones, especially very young children. Ensure you use a good layer of suncream too, don’t be stingy when it comes to sun safety! Reapply after children have been in the water, even if using a water resistant cream. Ensure your children wear hats at all times (easier said than done I know, but do persevere) and if possible, a pair of good sunglasses can protect young eyes.

Keep out of the sun during the hottest part of the day.
This doesn’t mean you need to go inside, but for ultimate sun safety, move out of the sun and into the shade. It’s a great excuse to sit and have a picnic, play a game or even take an afternoon nap.

Use a buggy sunshade. 
It’s so easy to forget about the little ones in pushchairs, as you can be so focused on making sure older children are well covered and playing sensibly. Even with a large protective hood, babies can be exposed to the sun, so it’s important they are covered too. Using a good quality buggy sunshade that offers not only UV protection but a shady place to rest too is a must. Choose one that’s easy to store, quick to throw over the pushchair, and watch out for multipurpose options that can double up as blankets and changing mats too!

Drink, drink, drink!
This applies to all ages – parents too! I am always making sure my children drink enough but often forget to take my own advice and end up feeling headachey and tired by the middle of the day. Keep a bottle of water in the pushchair, another in the picnic bag and another somewhere else too, so that no matter where you are and what you are doing, there is always a bottle of water handy to keep sipping at. Sun safety isn’t just about protecting your skin, it’s about keeping the rest of your body hydrated and in top form too!

Do you have a sun safety tip to share? How do you enjoy the summer safely? Have you ever used a buggy sunshade yourself, or is there a certain suncream you really rate?
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Your Youtube #23

Welcome back to Your Youtube! I'm extremely excited as I type this, as on Saturday I am speaking at the Manchester blogging conference, Blog On in the Youtube session! It my first time speaking at a conference so if you are at Blog On please do say hello!

Last week's favourite video came from Julie Martin, who shared her very personal mental health story.



Sian will be watching all your videos in my absence, and will be hosting the linky for the next two Friday's whilst I am away.

I'm now asking that everyone please watch and comment on the two videos previous to your own, that way we all get comments on our videos. Sian will be doing her best to comment on everyone's videos who links up. If you are one of the first to link then it would be appreciated if you come back towards the end of the week and watch the later videos. Thanks!



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