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?

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.

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 Mar 18, 2015 at 5:34am PDT

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: A Dad's View on Choosing Girls Outfits by Daddy Space

My name is James I blog over at Daddy Space - UK Parenting, lifestyle and dieting. I have three children: Charlie, 4, Harry, 2, and Olivia, 1. I mostly cover parenting subjects on my blog, recently I have started to follow the Slimming World Diet and have really been enjoying posting recipes and weight loss updates. Lisa has been kind enough to let me write a guest post for you today.