Sunday 31 March 2013

Days out in Devon: Bicton Park

For Easter Sunday we spent the whole day at Bicton Park in East Devon (www.bictongardens.co.uk)

We have an annual ticket for the whole family which costs £45. Family day entry is £24.95 (under 3's free), so if you're going more than once then it is worth getting the membership. The membership also lets you in to Morwellham Quay near Tavistock. Bicton is open all year round.
There is a lovely train ride around the park which lasts approx 25 mins. It's a great way to see the gardens and is a must for small children. It costs £1.50 per person.

 We spent a good 5 hours at Bicton today, despite having been there many times before. This is a long time to spent out for us with 3 children under the age of 5, so gives you an idea of how popular it was! There are 2 outdoor playgrounds, some little cottages to play in, as well as an indoor play centre. During the weekends and holidays there is a bouncy castle inside the play centre and that was particularly popular with our eldest child.


 There is a cafe / restaurant which serves a variety of meals at average prices. There are picnic areas but they are all outdoors, so we chose to get something from the cafe today. Thankfully it was beautiful sunshine, but sadly still only highs of 6 degrees!
 


As part of the Easter activities Bicton had provided us with a treasure hunt and so we got explore the park grounds looking for numbered Easter bunnies. This provided plenty of entertainment as it took us to corners of the park that we hadn't been to before. We were given little bags of mini eggs on our way in so we dished those out to the children once the treasure hunt was completed.



I'd definitely recommend Bicton to families living in or visiting Devon, and I'm sure we'll be back there again during this Easter break. Thanks for reading...



Saturday 30 March 2013

Easter holidays: Making a vegetable patch


So after 8 months of living in the countryside we are finally ready to start growing our own vegetables. There's a nice patch of garden next to the kitchen window which is ideal for the purpose, so Mark and the kids have started digging it out. We've got potatoes, peas, onions, leeks and courgettes to plant.

Neither of us are any good at cultivating plants. We're hoping to learn as we go, but any advice would be welcome! So far it has been a good activity to do in short bursts as the weather is still very cold here, but there is some sunshine.

We're also planting a few flowers after growing seeds on the window sill. It has been a great exercise in patience as the children have to water the plants daily and wait to see the results.

Friday 29 March 2013

Days out in Devon: Morwellham Quay

As the Easter holidays are upon us I'm writing about some of the great things there are to do in Devon. Whether you live here in Devon or are planning to visit for a holiday hopefully this will be of some help. For more days out please check out a useful blog I'm following at www.devon-mummy.blogspot.com

Morwellham Quay http://www.morwellham-quay.co.uk/


Our family has a season ticket to Bicton Park in East Devon, and the ticket also gives us free entry to Morwellham, so we thought we'd give it a try. Day entry is otherwise £7.95 adult, £3.95 for children (under 3's free), or family ticket for £24.95.                       
Morwellham is on the border between Devon and Cornwall, near to Tavistock. It is the site of a former copper mine and so has a range of related activities. We all enjoyed a great day, despite the weather. It was a dry day but FREEZING cold, yet the children all had a lovely time and we spent 4 hours there. We visited the cottages which used to belong to miners, saw the former school, looked at one of the boats used to transport the copper and learned about the former history of the place.
 
There is also a Victorian costume room where you could try on period outfits. For the little ones there is a playground right next to the entrance which our children loved, and which we had to eventually drag them away from. We enjoyed a tasty and reasonably priced meal at the Ship Inn restaurant on-site and felt welcome there as a family (ie I was breast-feeding the baby and my 2 older ones were noisy!). There are also picnic tables outside if you want to bring your own food.
The main feature of the day is a ride on the mine train (tickets £3.50). I wasnt sure whether this would be too scary or long for the children, but all 3 were fine (aged between 5 months and 4 years). The ride took 45 mins in total, but there was quite a bit of stopping and starting. Firstly the train went along the riverside and the driver stopped to talk about the past use of the mine. Then the train entered the mine where some audio description was played and lights showed several dioramas of miners at work.
 
Parents be warned: it was very dark inside the mine, and the train was also extremely noisy as it rattled through the mine. However, I cuddled my children close and they were fine with it all. Afterwards my eldest talked about how much fun it was. We'll definitely be going back in warmer weather as there was more that we could have seen and done.
 
 
 

Tuesday 26 March 2013

I need my morning coffee

What keeps you going? I'm definitely addicted to my morning coffee as came sharply into focus when I realised by 2 year old son knows exactly how to make it.

I've tried to be vaguely healthy during pregnancy and breast-feeding, but I really can't do with my caffeine fix! With three children aged between 5 months and 4 years sleep is hard to come by in this household. Although in all honesty I was equally addicted before I had children.

What gets you through the day? I'd love to read your comments...

Tuesday 19 March 2013

10 reasons I love working from home

Working from home isn't always easy. I can rarely sit and focus without a child climbing into my lap / crying for milk / deleting my work. They are very good at making me feel guilty for neglecting them, but the reality is that I am able to be there for them a lot of the time. So here's my list...

1) I can work in my pyjamas - although I feel the need to get dressed before the postman arrives!
2) I can fit my work around other commitments. I'm able to meet other mums for coffee or take the kids to the park in the afternoon.

3) I'm my own boss so I dont have to deal with any workplace dramas (except cleaning up after the mess made by the children)
4) My work is task-based rather than time-based. I can stop work when I have finished - no more sitting around until 5pm trying to look busy!
5) I'm saving money on lunch and coffee.
6) I can get the laundry done whilst I'm working - important when there are 5 of us in the family.
7) I dont have to find childcare during the school holidays, although productivity plumments and stress increases!
8) No commuting time - the distance between bed and desk in minimal :-)
9) I'm always in for deliveries
10) I can watch TV! OK that never happens...

If you haven't already seen it, please take a look at our maternity clothes and baby gifts website: www.serenity-baby.co.uk




Sunday 17 March 2013

Why we chose unusual baby names...

Our 3 children are called Alabama, Sutherland and Harrison. These names get plenty of reactions! Usually younger people think the names are fairly cool, my parents age pretend politely to like them, and older people don't hold back from saying what they think, including "that's not a name!" (Alabama) and "yes but what's his first name?" (Sutherland).

Our desire to choose unique and interesting names has definitely left us open for judgement. Here below is some explanation of our choices. Please share your baby names and reasons below. Thanks for reading :-)

Alabama Vivien
We chose 'Alabama' just because we liked it, and it was the only girl's name we both agreed on. It is unique and yet it sounds like a girls name. We figured she can always call herself 'Allie' if she wants. So far we havent shortened the name at all.

We chose 'Vivien' after a lovely friend of ours who has led an inspiration life. Viv is an active member of the Baha'i Faith community and helped Mark to figure out what he believed.

Sutherland Razavi
My husband and I went on a visit to the Baha'i holy places in Haifa, Israel whilst I was pregnant. We had no idea about names, but whilst we were there we heard a story about the Canadian architect William Sutherland Maxwell who designed the golden domed Shrine of the Bab. When I heard the name I knew that 'Sutherland' was this baby's name. We both considered many other names but kept coming back to this one.

His middle name is after the surname of a family we have found to be inspirational. Described by one friend as a 'dynasty' the Razavi family have people in countries across the world, but some lived near to me growing up and helped me through difficult times. We decided to go with the theme of giving our children middle names after inspirational Baha'is. (For more info on the Baha'i Faith please visit www.bahai.org)

Harrison Anis
This was the hardest name to choose! We were sure we were having a girl, so were left shell-shocked after the second scan :-) 'Harrison' was one of the names we considered for our second child and we just kept coming back to it. We do love it, but know there are loads of 'Harry's' out there at the moment!

Anis (prounced A-nees) is the name of a young man who lived in Persia around 160 years ago. He was martyred for his religious beliefs and is also buried in the Shrine of the Bab.

So there you go! I'd love to read all about your baby names...

Saturday 16 March 2013

What do you do with your kids whilst it's raining?

Here in Devon we're having loads of sunshine which is BRILLIANT for looking after the children! But... it's still England so there are rainy days and also showers. Today we've had warm sunshine and then downpours. We've been out in the garden doing some digging whenever we can. Our plan is to plant some vegetables to teach the children (and us!) about the patience it takes to grow things.

I can personally recommend Hippychick's waterproof suits for children. They come in sizes for ages 1 to 4 years. My eldest two each have one, so they didnt get their clothes covered in mud whilst digging today.

You can get Hippychick's latest packasuit from our website (www.serenity-baby.co.uk). Please share your ideas for rainy days or cute pics of your kids. Thanks for reading x

Friday 15 March 2013

Do you pay for your children's haircuts?

Today I took Sutherland to the hairdresser. I've resisted for 4 years by cutting my daughter Alabama's hair myself, but I was stumped by my toddlers blonde locks. He is almost 2 years old so it pains me to pay money to have his hair cut, but I have to say the quality of the cut was much better!

Do you pay to have your young children's hair cut? Let me know your thoughts...


We had Sutherland's hair cut at the Playdome indoor play centre in Honiton. It was a good place as he could run around and play before and after. He sat VERY still and almost fell asleep in my lap... obviously relaxing and enjoying being pampered :-)

Monday 4 March 2013

Our first photoshoot!

So dear readers Serenity Maternity has finally arrived! After producing 6 different products in our own 'Serenity Maternity' range, we have now had our first professional photoshoot. Check out the images below, and to buy please go to www.serenity-baby.co.uk




The high quality images were taken by the talented Sean Afnan Photography - check out http://afnanstudios.com/