Family day: Marwell Zoo

As a family we love going out and spending as much time as we can together. We especially love to visit and explore new places. We love going to zoos, farms and aquariums because we all love animals and we actually all have a membership card to Twycross zoo. With our membership card we get to visit other zoos for free, and one of those zoos is Marwell. We visit family in Portsmouth, the zoo is only an half an hour drive away, and have been saying for years about going and on our latest visit we finally decided it was time. Being honest, we've read a bunch of mixed reviews on the zoo and so was interested in our own experience and so this post will highlight our day and the zoo and final thoughts.

We drove to the zoo, and it was sign posted well (even though I may rely on my satnav far too much) from Portsmouth and no worries about parking as there was ample spaces. There were members of staff directing us which way and booth to enter through and it was quick to get into the zoo. The zoo has a wide range of animals, with over 135 species and 1200 animals. There was a great variety, which kept it exciting for Casper. The zoo is based on 140 acres, with large enclosures for the bigger animals.

Casper did amazing walking around the zoo, as it was definitely spaced out but between the excitement of the next animal and next playground he kept going. There was five different "playgrounds" in the zoo, which included traditional slides, sand pit area, climbing frames and swings and also areas with animal statues to climb on and have photo opportunities. The only downside to say with the playgrounds was that the majority were for older children age ranged 6-10, and so Casper at almost 4 struggled to do a lot of them alone - he did manage with daddy's help. The only play areas designed for ages 0-2 and 2 and up was the one with the statues to climb and the one with the sandpit. Unfortunately, the play area with the sand pit was quite busy and so we didn't spend too much time on it.
In addition to the play areas there was a train ride and a tractor which was pulling carriages around the zoo. We didn't go on these, as we was trying for a budget day out, but did take note that they were £2.50 per person and under 3 went free.

Whenever we go out we try to take our own packed lunch - joys of having fussy children (Casper) - and so we were pleased to see that there was plenty of outdoor picnic benches spread across the zoo and two indoor picnic lodges. It was so cold so we enjoyed our dinner inside and out of the weather and was happy to find that even at dinner time we managed to snag a table and highchair for Tabitha. If you are not a picnic fan there was several cafes and food booths situated about the zoo, with a variety of choices.

We went on quite a cold day and I definitely want to point out that the majority of the animals are in outside spaces, with little having indoor viewing. There were a few indoor exhibitions, including tropical house, reptile house and through the treetops, however other than those I'd say to expect to be outside and if you can then go on a warmer day, if not be sure to wrap up warm. We were lucky that the rain kept away, but on the map it did show quite a few areas that you could stand out of the rain. Toilets were ample, with baby changing facilities available in both the male and female toilets.
The gift shop had a good range of items for all ages and I liked that it was placed out of the way, so you didn't have to walk through it to exit the zoo and be pressurised to buy before you go - though I'd love to meet a child who doesn't expect a toy at the end of the visit.

We had a really good day at the zoo and seeing all the animals and was lucky enough to see almost all of them out and about, the only animal we couldn't spot was the cheetahs. We was there for about 5 hours in total and that was a perfect amount of time for us as Casper was getting tired but I definitely think you'd be able to make it last all day if you wanted to spend the full day.

Overall, it was a great experience and something we'd love to do again, though I'd definitely want to aim for a warmer day next time. It's definitely a day out for people of all ages and there was lots additional activities to get involved in. I would like to note though, that if you are going as a family and pay the entrance fee and then do the extras inside the zoo, you will be looking at quite an expensive day out.

Thank you for reading :)
Natalie x

Review: Scootaheadz + Scootaseatz

In our family we are big lovers of being outdoors and walking, but with the children so young sometimes it's hard to encourage them to walk a little further. Thankfully, Casper loves being on his scooter, and it helps getting him to go that bit further, and when I was offered the opportunity to try the Scootaheadz and the Scootaseatz I jumped at it.

The scootaheadz is a scooter accessory (it also fits some bikes and trikes), that you attach to your scooter handle bar to give it a fun and unique appearance. There are several fun designs, including dinosaurs, unicorns, horses and even a shark. It was easy to fit, with a t-shape mechanism, that just needed a bit of force to push onto the scooter. We picked Danny Dino, because Casper is obsessed with dinosaurs and his favourite colour is green! We got lucky that the green and blue colouring matched his scooter perfectly. Casper couldn't wait to get it out of the packaging and pop it onto his scooter and have a ride. It definitely spruced up his scooter, and gave him new excitement. Massive positives to me are that it's waterproof, and so I'm not worried about water damage and it's so easy to clean - just needing a wipe down and so not needing to remove.
It retails at an affordable £14.99* and you can purchase it directly on the Scootaheadz website.

The next product we got to try was the Scootaseatz, which is also a scooter accessory that gives you the ability to sit a cuddly toy in front of a scooter. It is simple to fit, using just velcro wrapped about the handle bars, and easy to remove. Along with the Scootaheadz it is waterproof and easy to clean. It has a unique owl design and comes in the colours aqua and pink.

Casper is big on taking toys out with us, and generally tries to take two, but we are so reluctant to let him take his more loved teddies out and about with us as I would hate to lose them and have a broken hearted Casper. I have to say I was a little nervous taking out his Jellycat bunny today, that he was given as a baby, as it means so much to the both of us but it was definitely fit snug in the seat attachment with it's clip seatbelt. We managed to fit both Scootaheadz and Scootaseatz on the scoot (Casper was wanting both on) but without of the Scootaheadz the bunny sat up right - definitely going to try and persuade him to take a small teddy next time. After I felt confident it was staying put, it definitely eased my mind that we wasn't going to misplace bunny. Casper loved that his bunny was going with him super fast and directing the way.
The Scootaseatz is priced at £14.99* and available directly from the Scootaheadz website.

Both the Scootaheadz and Scootaseatz were unique concepts to us, and I can say I've never seen another product like them. I am looking forward to Casper having a renewed love of his scooter and that I won't have to be mean mummy by saying no to taking out his cuddly toys.

These products were mummy and Casper approved and I will definitely be looking at getting Tabitha them when she has a scooter (mummy so wants a unicorn ;)).

Thank you for reading!
Natalie x

They didn't tell me that!

Hey everybody, hope you are well. I was reading Lauren's blog a few weeks ago and loved reading her post which included things she had learnt the first year of being a mum, I definitely thought I wanted to do something similar and here it is! A post about things that people didn't tell me I'd be doing or saying as a mum...

1) Poo checking - honestly who knew this was a thing? Right from the first poo when it's really just black gloop to poos when they are 3 years old, to make sure there's nothing wrong. I never knew that being a mum meant that I was going to avidly check poo, probably every nappy change, and some how know everything that was wrong with my child because of said poo. If you don't have a baby yet, I assure you that this is a thing, a shitty thing ;).

2) Baby wipes will become your life - this probably isn't a negative thing but honestly baby wipes clean everything. A spillage on the floor, that has gone sticky, will easily be cleaned by baby wipes. To say how kind they can be on your baby's bottom they literally clean everything. I will honestly grab a packet of baby wipes to clean... take your makeup off, wipe down baby items, clean bums, clean floors. Obviously you'll go over with other things, but they are a saviour. Jamie and I have both said that we'll still have baby wipes even when Tabitha has long gone nappies.

3) You will look like a tramp whilst your children look like a million dollars - obviously I am very envious of those mum's who look like a million dollars, with make up and lovely clothes, but this mum is rocking Jamie's big t-shirts, primark's finest leggings and a mum bun. Tabitha and Casper, however, are rocking handmade clothes where one outfit probably costs the same as my entire wardrobe. Who knew this was a thing? Before children I did daily make-up, my hair was beautiful and I generally cared about my appearance - I now give myself a high five if a manage to brush my hair and then generally put back in a mum bun. I am always saying my children represent me, but they far surpass this mum.

4) You will know the ins and outs of specific child's tv programmes/films and find yourself watching them when the children aren't in the room - our programmes at the minute are Waffle the Wonder Dog and Hey Duggee. Jamie and I must have watched each episode maybe 10 times. It baffles me how they don't get bored, I enjoy Criminal Minds and have watched through twice but I definitely couldn't watch on repeat - mind numbing. Yet, I find myself watching these on repeat and not totally hating them because they may keep my children quiet for 10 minutes so my heads stops pounding.

5) You will tidy 20 times a day and it will still be a mess at bed time - I guess we could all predict this, but I envy tidy houses because in my household it is a mess from 6am to 6pm. I will literally tidy every hour and look back 5 minutes later and it's worse than what it was. I ask myself why bother and I should just leave it until bed time but I just can't - for some reason I give into the torture and tidy again and again. I literally cannot wait for my children to be of the age where they actively tidy up after themselves.

6) You will argue with a mini version of yourself - Casper is 3 going on 30; he thinks he knows everything and honestly have an answer to every thing. I never knew I would have daily arguments with my child, and sometimes he wins :O. He actually wins. He is so clever and some of his points I literally cannot argue against and I get smarted by a 3 year old. Being a mum definitely tests my patience, when all you want to do is tell him where to go.

7) Telling them off is so hard - I always thought this would be easy but sometimes they do some things which are hilarious and you have to tell them they are wrong but you are struggling not to laugh. Jamie and I have had moments when we are in hysterics but trying to compose ourselves to tell them that they are wrong. I try to hide my smile behind a pillow and tell them no, totally winning at it really.

8) Washing is never ending - before children I was able to do a clothes wash for Jamie and I every 3 days maybe, but now I'm lucky if it's just one load a day. I don't understand how they create so much washing, when they are such small people. You will cheer when you finish the washing and drying, then look back and mysteriously a new pile has appeared. I am sure they laugh behind your back and just make mess on purpose, just to wash more. I dread when we go on holiday because it takes about a week to get on top and be left with one load, I was excited when we went on a caravan holiday in June and the caravan had a washing machine! I get ecstatic when the sun is out and my washing will dry on the line. Who knew being a mum would mean I get joy from my washing.

Well these are just some of the things I've learnt since being a mum. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Take care,
Natalie x

Top Five: Overrated Products.

Hi everyone! Hope you are well. I thought the next topic to bring up, after our top 5 recommended products, would definitely be overrated products! Just to say our overrated products didn't work for us but may work for you, it's all individual choice ;).

1) Baby bath

This should not be surprising based on our favourite 5, but I just don't get the point of a baby bath. They are just so bulky and have no real purpose. Bathing with your baby is so much easier and, if you don't feel as safe, bath seats are a great purchase. We ended up just putting our baby bath in the loft because it took up too much space and was just unneeded.

2) Ewan the sheep

This is one I really think depends on the baby but we bought it for Tabitha with such high expectations and it just flopped for us. It never really settled her and definitely didn't send her to sleep. I will however say we had the original Ewan the Sheep, they have now released a Deluxe Ewan the Sheep which has developed technology vs the first. This means when your baby is unsettled it will automatically turn on again. I'd be interested to see if this would actually work for Tabitha, as the time it takes us to get upstairs she gets herself it a little tizzy and no soothing sound helps.

3) Baby shoes/slippers

I think this will be a personal choice really. We actually bought baby Converse and other brand shoes for Casper, and although they were adorable kind of a big waste of money. Converse did stay on, but with the slippers and slip on shoes we spent more time putting them back on Casper than time actually spent on him. We actually didn't buy any shoes before Tabitha was born and she wore one pair when she was 2 months old (for a very short period of time) for her Auntie Victoria's wedding but I'm really glad we didn't waste money this time around. It meant more money for dresses and hair bows (which totally are not pointless like shoes.... right... haha).

4) Burp cloths
I definitely can hand on heart say we never used them. Neither of our children were sickly children, and actually both barely brought up wind by burping and so just another thing that went in the loft. It's really a one use product and so instead I'd recommend just getting a couple of big muslin cloths. They're great for quick clean up, the massive ones are a great cover for breastfeeding if you are not comfortable just whipping it out and they're perfect instead of a blanket in warmer weather.

5) Cot bumpers and expensive bedding sets

So this one we actually didn't buy, but I really wanted to mention it as an overrated product. Before toys r us went into administration, I worked for babies r us and the amount of people I saw buy the bedding sets - with cot bumpers was unreal. Did you know that an empty cot is a safe cot? That is what should be repeated in our heads, so just bed sheet, blanket (or ideally sleeping bag) and baby. Cot bumpers are so unsafe and raise the risk of SIDs. It just isn't worth it. I understand people enjoying the look of the nursery all done up with these bedding sets and they can look beautiful but in terms of use for the baby you wouldn't really be getting any use out of it.

That about winds up my top 5 overrated products, do you agree or disagree with any? What do you regret or would advise against new mum's buying?

Thank you for reading! Hope you have a great day and I'll see you again soon ;).

Natalie x