Thursday 19 April 2018

... Kinetic Rock 3-in-1 Loader ...

Kinetic Rock 3-in-1 Loader. Drill, crush, and scoop with Kinetic Rock’s 3-in-1 Loader. Equipped with three clip-on tools, this loader is ready for business! 
Each set comes with gold Kinetic Rock! 
Made from natural rock, it magically sticks together and is fun to squeeze, shape, and mould! 


Did you know that Kinetic Sand is the number one sand brand* in the UK.




Key Features

Children 3+ years 
RRP £16.99
Poseable construction figure and shovel, pick, wrench and lunchbox to create a real construction jobsite!

Included in the box 
8 oz. (226 g) of kinetic rock gold,. 
1 deluxe construction vehicle,. 
3 attachable vehicle tools,. 
5 accessories,. 
1 character figurine


Ru was over the moon to recieve the Kinetic Rock 3 in 1 loader, he loves playing with his Kinetic Sand sets and was super excited to try out something a little new!

As soon as we opened the box and Ru saw the magical gold rock and said it looks just like 'pirate gold Mummy!!'
Ru loves feeling all sorts of different textures and I could tell he was really enjoying the texture of the  Kinetic Rock as he played.
He couldn't stop squeezing the rock in his hands and watching it fall to the table.

Ru got right into playing, digging away with the Loader and then switching his tools around to see which tool worked best.

He then decided to hide the toy diamond inside all the Kinetic Rock and then use the pickax to dig it out again, just like his brothers do on Minecraft.





Once Ru was finished I had the task of tidying it all away, and what i thought might be a bit of a task was actually really rather easy.
The Kinetic Rock does what it says it does and sticks together nicely and it me took a matter of moments to tidy it all away back into the box, ready for the next time Ru wants to play!

Find out more about Kinetic Rock over on the Kinetic Sand website...
Kinetic Rock 3 in 1 Loader is avaliable from most good toy stores.

**I Was sent the product for free, in return for an honest review. 
All thoughts are my own.

Keeping The Spark Alive When You Have Kids

When you first get with your partner, your now husband or wife, I can guarantee that you don’t think things will ever change between you. A spark might fly every time you catch one another gazing into each other's eyes, you go out, you enjoy each others company and life seems good. Fast forward to now and you have children, a house that it chaotic, perhaps pets to deal with and a total of zero time for one another. Sound familiar? While you are probably navigating the ship that is a family life together, it is still important to ensure that you spend some time on your relationship. After all, it is the glue that sticks it all together. I wanted to share with you some of the ways you can keep the spark alive. It might be something you do once every few years or something you make a more regular thing, but the investment is worth it.


Let’s talk about the biggie, a couples only holiday

The big one is, of course, the chance to go away on holiday just you two. This may be something you work towards for when the children are a little older. Perhaps planning a once in a lifetime trip that sees you take in the sights and sounds of locations like Costa Rica, starting your journey at the Courtyard San Jose Airport Alajuela, enjoying a cruise along the Panama Canal, taking in the glorious beaches of Los Cabos in Mexico and taking a road trip around some of the iconic states of the USA. Just a few suggestions there on your bucket list, but it is definitely something to daydream about and plan for the future.

A cheeky night away

Something not as far reaching as a holiday is a night away together and this can work wonders for your relationship. It may only happen on special occasions like birthdays, but these once or twice year opportunities are just what the doctor ordered in terms of reconnection and time to rekindle the romance. It doesn't even need to be anywhere too far or elaborate, often the time you get far outweighs anything else.

A date night

Date nights are one of those things that many couples argue they don’t need, and while it shouldn't take fates to keep your romance alive, they can really help you just enjoy each others company in a different setting. The cinema, a meal out of a coffee date is often enough.

A date at home

Not all of us have the luxury of extra funds to do what we want when we want and so dates at home have become really popular. Taking it in turns to cook, watching box sets or choosing different films to enjoy. It can be a great way to spend quality time without leaving your front door, and the best part of it is you can do it in your pyjamas.

Simple communication daily

Finally, something that can be done daily to keep the spark alive is communication. You don’t need to debate worldly affairs or the latest revelation in politics, but you can discuss each others day, no matter how mundane or boring you think it may sound. Openly discussing what you have done gives insight into each other's lives and it can be the simplest way to just strike up a conversation and be in a moment together.

I hope these ideas help you keep the spark alive in your relationship when you have kids.

Tuesday 10 April 2018

... Cousins, Beach Walks and The Funfair ...

Last Thursday Kelly and the girls came to stay.
It was a bit of a spur of the moment plan and it was lovely having them all here.

Esme slept in the twins room, as the twins share a bed normally so Esme got a whole bed to herself, Kelly took Ru's bed as that's usually empty and Isla shared with Noah on the first night then the next two nights shared with her mum in Ru's room.

Our table was full and it was nice to see all the kids happy and together.


Friday.

We headed out early to soft play getting there for when it opened in a bid to miss the mad rush but thankfully it wasn't too busy and the kids had two hours of running around like crazy loons.
Afterwards, I tried to get a nice photo for my mum of all the kids together but as you can tell from the picture about they really weren't feeling it!



After lunch, we decided to walk to North beach and let the kids run around and have an ice cream.


I bought them some bucket and spades after the ice creams and they all ran off to build sandcastles, the tide was out so they had plenty of space to run around on and try and build a sandcastle village.
Ru gave up pretty quickly but then ordered me to build him a sandcastle rainbow...





As the weather was nice and we had no real rush to get home we decided to attempt to walk along the beach to Hunstanton.

I had told Kelly it would only take 10 minutes....even though I had never done it before.
Thinking about it now, it takes 10 minutes in the car so I should have known it would have taken longer.

...... It took about an hour or so.



The kids were actually really good and hardly moaned at all!
Esme, Isla and Noah ran along the sand collecting shells and bits and bobs as they went, Ru was in the stroller and I knew he wouldn't walk from our house to the local beach let alone all the way to Hunstanton, and the twins both walked beside me looking at all the lovely holiday houses along the seafront.


They were all really impressed that they'd walked to Hunstanton and can't wait to go back to school and tell their teachers!



As a treat for the kids being so good, we took them into the funfair, we all went on the caterpillar roller coaster and everyone enjoyed it, though Ru is still a little unsure if he liked it or not.

His favourite was the car merry go round and he went on those a couple of times.
Everyone apart from me and Ru went on the bumper cars ..... turns out Noah's a bit of a dangerous driver!

Before we left Isla and Noah went on the twister and from the ground, it looked as though Noah was going to cry but apparently he loved it.





Saturday.

We spent the morning lazing around at home, letting the kids do as they pleased.
After lunch, we took them back over to Norfolk Lavander and went into the Animal Gardens and Play Park, hoping they would get the rest of their energy out there.

On entry, they were all given a little quiz and a sheet to use in the maze to collect stamps so that they'd win a goodie bag on the way home.


They all ran around looking at all the animals and trying to find the answers to the questions, we let them loose into the maze by themselves.... to which I'm pretty sure they all cheated as it didn't take them long to find all the stamps and they all came back out the way they went in.


Their best bit was getting to handle some of the animals, the boys all loved holding the snakes and Noah made friends with a bearded dragon.
Ru loved the Tenrec as he had a wet nose that wriggled around!
I tried to get a good photo but it was just too wriggly.

After they had finished looking at all the animals they went and played in the play park.

The girls and Kelly headed back to London on Sunday morning. 
It was lovely having them here and the house felt rather empty once they'd left.
It was really nice having a few busy days and we all felt better for it.
We are all missing them now and Rupert keeps asking when they are coming back.