Nausicaa National Sea Centre, France

Last week I wrote about our experience of taking the short channel crossing P&O ferry from Dover to Calais as well as our fantastic stay at the rural Hotel Du Parc near the small Northern French hamlet of Hardelot. The absolute highlight of the trip was spending the best part of a day exploring Nausicaa , Frances National Sea Centre which is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year.  Located in the coastal city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the sea centre sits on the sand, looking across a long beach and straight away you can feel the connection between man and the ocean. This place is so much more than just an Aquarium, they have a real passion for conservation, education and both kids despite the age difference equally enjoyed it.  As soon as you step into Nausicaa you start to get a sense of just how large this place is and can see why it attracts around 600 000 visitors a year, especially as it's only 2hrs travelling time from both London and Paris mak......

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Blazers and Bank Holiday style

What a wonderful end to a bank holiday, after a bit of a rainy start it was nice to finish with a blast of sunshine and some time spent in Cardiff at the Street Food Circus and then a walk through the park. You can really sense that change in season with the days slowly getting cooler and more jackets are making there way out from the back of my wardrobe.  I also treated myself to this cute organic Cactus printed tee from one of my favourite ethical brands People Tree and managed to get this for a real steal in their sale and adds that little bit of colour to what would be a straight monochrome outfit. So this weekends street style outfit is Karen Millen trousers, People Tree t-shirt, Wallis blazer, Doc Marten shoes and an Anchor and Crew necklace.  I have to say secretly I am quite looking forward to Autumn, don't get me wrong I absolutely love summer as it's my favourite season of all but there is something so lovely and cosy about Autumn, as well as wa......

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Taylors Tea and saving Bees

I feel with age and each year passing I've started to see a more defined picture of myself, what I stand for and believe in and the type of legacy I want to leave behind for my children. As I get older my passion for the environment, outdoors and nature has grown year on year and as a household we aim to consciously leave as little impact on this earth as possible. As they say one person cannot make much of a difference but if we all made small positive changes together we really could make an impact. If your interested in gardening and the environment, like most people will know our precious native British honey bees have been in decline but a whole 50% over the past 25 years which really is a very scary thought when so much depends on them. The sad thing is a lot of their decline is down to us and how we treat this beautiful planet of ours, the pollution, pesticides and man-made changes to their environment so when Taylors Of Harrogate got in touch to tell me they were ......

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Northern France with P&O and Hotel Du Parc

If you follow our family travel adventures on Instagram you may have already noticed that at the beginning of summer we spent a long weekend exploring the small village of Hardelot in Northern France as well as the fascinating sea centre Nausicaa in Boulogne-sur-Mer.  We have done a fair few short European breaks taking either the Eurostar or Ferry although always as foot passengers so my eldest was extremely excited at the prospect of driving our car onto a ferry and driving off again in another country. The journey from South Wales to Dover  is just over 4hrs so we decided to stay at a Premier Inn on the way down from Cardiff to split up the journey. This meant we were only an hour away from the ferry terminal in the morning making for a far more relaxed start to what would be a long day. Once we arrived into Dover, the check-in service for our P&O Ferry   was very quick and straight forward despite there being cues later in the season our experience......

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Skinfix Giveaway

Some of you may remember that I was lucky enough to attend Britmums this year thanks to the amazing Canadian skin brand SkinFix , which has recently landed in the UK and can be found in Boots. Since Britmums we have been putting their essentials baby kit to the test and I have to say it's easy to see why they have gardened so many fans and go on to win a variety of awards.  Not only has their baby care range helped to keep Baby G's dry skin flares ups at bay but their fantastic Hand repair cream has become a permanent resident in my handbag! As most busy mama's (and Dads) know our hands take a beating with all the multi-tasking we undertake each day from nappy changes to keeping kids entertained, working and everything in-between and this has made sure to keep my hands soft and crack free. What we have loved most about these products is not only are they clinically proven to help, prevent and quickly soothe skin problems such as eczema, nappy rash and cracked ......

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A Greener home with Siemens iSensoric

As a family we are very interested in reducing our carbon footprint, making less waste, using what we have went it comes to our food shop and not only being more frugal but also more ethical and eco aware. We have wanted to implement this right across our home and are looking at ways to reduce our energy consumption, so while it may be more ideal to hand wash our clothes - something we did do for a few months last year when our washing machine broke, it's not something that is practical when you have two young children, one of which is still using both disposable and reusable nappies.  Saying that there are some fantastic new, low energy and highly economical washing machines out on the market, on of them being the new Siemens iSensoric which has an A+++ energy rating which is currently the best rating you can have making it incredible efficient as well as saving you money on your household bills.  Beautiful Aesthetics, Better Washing   So what have bee......

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Kids Style with Petit Bateau

When it comes to both fashion and travel the French always hold our heart. Both boys had some very cute Petit Bateau sleep suits when they were small and if you ope up their wardrobes the thing you will probably notice first is how many striped Breton style t-shirts they both have. So when long established French brand  Petit Bateau got in touch to ask if we would like to review their summer collection it really was a perfect fit. We decided not to go with the classic strips but rather some cute printed tees and a lovely three tone summer hat which has seen a fair bit of use this year. First Baby G I picked a vest top, a first for him and I did wonder if we would get the chance to wear it as summers in the UK are so hit and miss but on our recent trip to the Isles of Scilly and the mini heat wave we experienced in Wales a few weeks back meant it's seen a fair bit of action. I love the small and subtle print although I probably should of gone up a size as t......

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Mere Soeur

I love to support small homegrown independent business, especially those grown out of the creative surge that happens when you become a mother. I came across Carrie Anne of Mere Soeur last year and have watch her awesome business grow on Instagram and have been meaning to pick up one of the printed "Mother Daughter" tees for a while now and finally got around to doing it. She has just released a baby line of tees and new tote bags, accessories and her iconic boob mugs, she also recently put together an "Art of Motherhood" charity colouring book with all profits going to HomeStart. Like everything else in her collection is celebrates moments of motherhood and doing it your own way. I love that social media and apps such as Instagram have given so many people a platform to share ideas no matter how big or small. Carrie Ann only started off with a few t-shirts and now has a whole line and I cannot wait to see what else is in stall from this mam......

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Let them be Superhero's

Having grown up in a creative household it's always been important to both John and I to provide our sons with a space that allows them to express themselves in a safe and supportive environment. We completely encourage moments of madness, imagination and believing in the unbelievable.  So when Vertbaudet set my eldest a challenge of putting together his dream superhero I had an inclination it would include Dinosaurs but what I didn't expect is that he would pair it up with super secret Ninja skills  and creating a crime busting Ninja Dinosaur that projects the smaller Dinosaurs from any rogue meat eaters that may be prowling the plains of our back garden.  I love how free kids feel when they are in character as Mr A spent the rest of the day in this superhero suit, roaring along the aisles of our local supermarket without a care in the world, if only I could be be so unselfconscious as my 5yr old.  Competition Do your little ones lov......

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Inspiring Mini Explorers through Family Travel

Before having children both John and I had done a fair amount of travel, together we had tallied up 26 different countries and we both knew that when we became parents our passion for travel was something we wanted to pass on to our kids. Together we have had many a road trip, negotiated busy airports, taken long distance trains and overcome seasickness in the Atlantic and we have learnt a fair few things along the way. As much as we love exploring cities and we really do they can at times be a bit overwhelming and manic, especially when you have small children in tow so right now with the type of family dynamic we have our favourite destinations are those off the beaten path, more isolated, surrounded by nature offering a space to decompress and slow down. As the world becomes increasingly technology driven it has become a real priority to us as a family to make sure we don't lose sight of the simple pleasures in life such as climbing trees, collecting shells on the b......

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Celebrating Afternoon Tea Week at Park Plaza

Did you know that it's Afternoon Tea Week so if there was ever a time to indulge in some scones and cream now is the time and why not I say? Everyone deserves a little treat every now and then and if you live in or around Cardiff I can highly recommend the Hendricks Gin Afternoon tea at Park Plaza if your looking for something just for adults with a fun and creative twist. This is not actually the first time we have reviewed the Hendrick Afternoon tea, you can read my other reviews here . It is however the first time John and I have paired it up with a little spa session at Laguna Health and Spa before enjoying the teapot cocktail and indulgent cakes as part of the Hendrick's Afternoon Tea and Spa package. You have the choice of either a Laguna Signature back massage which is what John opted for or a divine Laguna Signature facial which is what I had and it honestly was the best facial I have ever had, perfect for anyone who needs a bit of a pick up. As ......

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A Dad's Guide to Learning Online

As a dad, going back to school may be something that you never saw yourself doing. Perhaps you’ve graduated from college and are already working in your dream career and have decided to further your education in order to pursue a promotion, or maybe you never went to college after graduating from high school and have decided that you want to go back and get a degree in order to be able to work your way up the career ladder and be financially better off. Whatever your reasons for returning to the classroom, mature students – especially parents – face a lot of different challenges. When I was pregnant with our youngest child John was very unhappy with his role as a shop manager, there was no way to progress and his hours had actually been reduced due to the recession so we both felt it was a good time to go back to college and retrain in a profession he had wanted to get into for years. Luckily he excelled in Barbering and had a real naturally talent and has not looked back and......

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Bringing colour into our garden

 Our garden, like many gardens in the UK is a work in progress, we try and get as much done as we can when the weather is good which can be infrequent at the best of times although this year we wanted to make it as child friend, colourful and a space we can all enjoy. Before having Baby G my eldest and I spent each month preparing our vegetable patch, growing seedlings in our greenhouse and having a bumper year last summer although we have taken a break from that this year simply due to the fact my youngest loves our plants little bit too much but hugging them a bit to hard or pulling out our potatoes way to early so instead we decided to focus on making is a place to play and have fun. We initially had my repurposed table and chairs on the decking but Baby G kept climbing up those and onto the table so decided to move them to the other end of the garden and instead put these beautiful deck chairs from Habitat , which is a perfect choice as both boys love lying ......

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