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musicaljojo · 2 years

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SANDITON | S2E1: “You start Monday.”

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musicaljojo · 3 years

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Heights of Abraham - Matlock Bath - October 2021

Heights of Abraham – Matlock Bath – October 2021

As a Christmas gift last year, we were bought a family day out to the Heights of Abraham by my dad, which I thought was a fantastic idea as Haribo often gets so many Christmas gifts, it was great that we had a day out already paid for us and we decided to visit in Haribo’s October half term. Where is it? The Heights of Abraham is situated with the town of Matlock Bath in Derbyshire. The…

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musicaljojo · 3 years

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The fair is back!!

The fair is back!! Our annual street fair came back and what a treat!!

After being one of the many many things cancelled in 2020, our local fair was back!! It’s an annual tradition in our local area that every October, the oldest street fair in Europe hits our town for 4 days and this year it was announced that it was back, everyone was extremely excited and the fact that Haribo had been learning about it at school for the past few weeks made even more exciting for…

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musicaljojo · 3 years

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#Ad #Gifted bakerdays occasion cakes

After a slow and steady introduction, which worked perfectly for him, Haribo is now a Full time school boy and he’s really enjoying it. He’s had his first taste of PE and he loves it and he even stopped for a school dinner after telling me for ages all he wanted to do was stop sandwiches so he now stays when he wants which is just lovely! Starting school is one of those big occasions and what…

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musicaljojo · 3 years

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Returning to Bluebells farm - April 2021

Returning to Bluebells Farm - April 2021

We were so happy that our favourite farm park was reopening for visitors so we booked our tickets for the afternoon before we visited as with most attractions they are now operating on a pre-booking basis. The website is really simple and easy to use to book your tickets. https://bluebelldairy.co.uk/ When we visited due to the Covid restrictions at the time, all indoor areas such as the play…

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musicaljojo · 3 years

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Homeschooling with little ones

During this last lockdown from January to March, I had a brand new experience for the first time ever I was having to home school, although I’ve trained as a Teaching Assistant, one of the major things I realised was how different it is when it’s your own child sitting in front of you doing the work. At school when I have my focus groups, I have all the patience in the world but when it’s my own…

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musicaljojo · 3 years

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World Book Day 2021: Our current favourite books

New blog Post: World Book Day 2021: Our current favourite books #wbd #worldbookday #wbd2021

Happy World Book day to everyone!! As I’ve said before in previous posts, reading with children is something I’ve always been very passionate about and Haribo has had access to books since he was days old and he’s also been read to since he was in the womb, I loved books as as a child and I still do when I get the chance to read them. It was going to be his first chance to dress up for World…

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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We decided to revisit an old favourite of ours now it was back open again. I had seen the posts from Bluebells Farm, showing how they had adapted to make the farm safe for the in current climate, by making sure that all the social distancing measures were in place and I have to say I was really impressed.

Firstly you must pre-book your arrival time through their website, you won’t be allowed entry if you just turn up, this can be done through their website which was really easy to do and they are also operating a cash free system, all payments must be done using a card.

Upon entry I was given a timetable of all the experiences that were happening around the park and our wristbands, plus there is opportunity for you to buy food for the animals at £1 per bag and an extra charge for an Alpaca walking experience or to have a calf cuddling experience these are £5 each. These activities are weather dependent as we were told when we entered that if the weather became too hot, it wouldn’t happen because of the welfare of the animals.

There is a one way system around the farm, but there are shortcuts for the exits and toilets which I thought was really well planned. Throughout the different areas, there are reminders of how many families or children are allowed in one area to help keep social distancing regulations and also if there is a queue for something markers are placed to help remind people where to stand which I thought was a really good idea.

Our first stop was to help groom some of the baby goats, a really nice little activity and Haribo helped groom a baby called Brownie, the young woman who helped was very friendly and they had a system in place that before entering the area you had to hand sanitise and once a brush had been used, it had to go in a separate bucket for cleaning so no-one else used that brush.

Grooming ‘Brownie’

We took a walk upto the tractor ride or cow safari as it’s known, again it was lovely to see members of staff going around spraying all the ropes that were used for queuing with disinfectant regularly and after each tractor ride, the trailer that people sat in was sprayed down so it was clean and safe for the next ride. Also there was a limited number of people on each ride, so everyone felt safe. We got to see the lovely cows up close, one even tried to get onto the trailer which Haribo found really funny, the young man who gave our tour was really friendly and even made Haribo’s day when he remembered that he told him about his favourite animal (Neil the Alpaca) whilst waiting in the queue and gave him special mention when we rode past them on the ride.

Cow Safari time

After each section and around the farm, there were lots of hand sanitiser pumps to ensure that everyone kept washing their hands.

We were going to go on the newly added nature trail but it was just far too hot so we shall save that for our next visit but it looked really interesting, there was also a maize maze but again it was too hot so I am sure we will do it on a return visit.

Haribo loves feeding animals so we spent lots of time, stroking them and giving them their food, he loves the pigs and the alpacas.

We were visiting on a Tuesday so we took advantage of the government’s ‘Eat out to help scheme‘ and had lunch from the coffee shop, Haribo had a kids lunchbox which contained a sandwich, crisps, piece of fruit, juice and a small chocolate bar and I had a delicious Mediterranean cous-cous meal, it was very good value and of course we had to have one of their delicious ice creams also, the biscoff flavour is my favourite!!

However if you wanted to bring your own picnic, there is a large marquee area set up if you wanted to eat in a covered area and lots of picnic benches.

After lunch, we played on the playground for a while whilst we waited for the sheep race. My only major criticism of the farm park is of the bouncy pillow, they had clearly put up signs saying only 3 families were allowed on the cushion at a time and each family must stay in their own blue section. However when we visited, it was very obvious that there were more than 3 families in the bouncy pillow area and no-one was keeping to their own area, it’s such a shame as Haribo loves the pillow and Bluebells had clearly done their best but people were just not following the instructions so we didn’t go on the pillow on our visit.

We had a final go on the pedal go-karts and then it was finally time for the sheep race and it was lots of fun to watch them, we didn’t win this time much to Haribo’s disappoint as he really wanted the £5 voucher but we went to our final activity before leaving as it was getting too hot, which was to stroke some of the smaller animals such as guinea pigs and rabbits.

Sheep Race!

It was a lovely trip and I really was impressed at how much effort they had put in to try and keep people safe, it was such a shame that it was being ignored in some parts of the farm park but on the whole we really enjoyed our trip!

Disclaimer: The trip was fully paid for by myself and I didn’t receive any payment for this review, these views are my own and simply done to share our experience.

Bluebells Farm -August 2020 We decided to revisit an old favourite of ours now it was back open again. I had seen the posts from Bluebells Farm, showing how they had adapted to make the farm safe for the in current climate, by making sure that all the social distancing measures were in place and I have to say I was really impressed.

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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Now places are opening up a little more, we decided to head to Rushcliffe country park, the last time I went here was when I was very small so I remembered little bits, but not a lot.

It had certainly changed a lot and there was so much to do for all different age groups.

There was a huge playground with lots of fantastic things to climb and it had a wonderful themed castle with lots of slides but it was so busy and lots of people on there and I didn’t feel comfortable getting that close so we stayed away but as I am sure we will be returning, maybe on a quieter day I’d be comfortable letting Haribo go and explore over there, there was also a skate park so if you had a child who loved doing tricks with scooters, bikes or skateboards there was certainly a lot of space for them to try it out.

We decided to have a walk around the lake, there were lots of places to sit and look out over the lake with a good mixture of benches and picnic tables. There was also a coffee van and an ice cream van nearby so if you fancied a treat whilst you were there, that was available.

As you walk around the lake, there were lots of little areas for Children to explore, a set of wooden mushrooms with numbers on, with an activity board to suggest ideas for play.

There were also many animals to climb on and a huge field where we sat and enjoyed a picnic. I loved the Hungry Caterpillar one as the steps to climb inside featured all the foods that the Caterpillar eats in the story.

It had a fantastic lake with lots of lovely ducks to feed, they ask that you don’t feed them bread as it can encourage rats but you can buy a little pot of feed from the visitors centre, which was closed but they had a little honesty box but we didn’t see this until we left but Haribo enjoyed it so next time we go, we shall have to feed the ducks as he loves doing this.

There were also different trails advertised including a pirate themed one which you could buy a map for but again because the visitors centre wasn’t open, we couldn’t take part in this but hopefully when everything is back open, it is something that when Haribo is a little older this would be great!

One of Haribo’s favourite parts was the sensory forest, it had many different areas that all featured natural or recycled materials and covered different areas of interest such as making music, numbers or learning about nature.

Of course it meant that he had to give his hands a really good wash and I had some hand sanitiser in my bag but he really enjoyed playing and it was so lovely to see him exploring all the different areas.

It was £1 for parking and we could have stayed all day with that but it was starting to get busy so we decided that we would come away but it was a really lovely way to spend a few hours and it’s only 20 minutes away from us so I am sure we will visit again.

July 2020: Rushcliffe country Park -Nottinghamshire Now places are opening up a little more, we decided to head to Rushcliffe country park, the last time I went here was when I was very small so I remembered little bits, but not a lot.

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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Please forgive that I’ve got a little bit behind on this, we’ve been doing lots of things although much of it the same and I’ve been struggling a little so I’ll do big update, to catch it all up now!

Week 8 was a week that we went a bit baking mad, lots of baking with me and also with my other half did some baking as well. We also did some of the activities from the website Twinkl, they’ve were doing a play along in May and we took part in some of the days, the website has been very generous giving free access out throughout lock down and has been a fantastic resource to get activities to help out with Haribo’s learning, I think sadly the free access has finished now but what we did use has been really enjoyable!

Week 9 was an extremely difficult week, it was my friends funeral so this was a week that my mental health took a huge dive, I struggled to get through this week, it wasn’t the easiest plus it was half term so I wasn’t at work so I had nothing to distract me. I tried my hardest to set up activities for Haribo but my heart wasn’t in it, I felt awful because I probably snapped at him more than I should but it was a very tough week.

Week 10 was the week I started back at work as the schools went back, this was quite stressful as because it meant myself and my OH have to juggle childcare, it was tough because I don’t think that that the government took situations like mine into account but we managed to work it out. Plus we gave Haribo a little treat this week of some ‘Hey Duggee’ figures, he was really missing everyone this week and full of questions, he kept asking if he could see his friends, when could he go to soft play? Plus he’s really got into small world play over the lock down, he loves figures and it’s so interesting to watch his play as he’s now started to play more on his own.

Week 11, I came down with a very nasty ear infection which completely wiped me out for two days, I was really poorly but thankfully some ear drops started to make me feel a lot better.

One of the positives though was that our local nature reserve opened back up again, we were straight there to go and feed the ducks and have an explore, it felt so good to be back to some of Haribo’s favourite places to wander and because no-one had been there for a while, nature had truly taken over. We saw lots of rabbits, squirrels, water voles and lots of baby cygnets and ducklings, it was lovely to see.

Lock down weeks 8,9,10 and 11! Please forgive that I've got a little bit behind on this, we've been doing lots of things although much of it the same and I've been struggling a little so I'll do big update, to catch it all up now!

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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Guest Post from Ellie J Photography: Tips for Photographing your children.

During this time I think we are all taking a lot of photographs of our children to create scrapbooks or even just to send to family and family to share what we are upto, I was so touched Lorraine from EllieJPhotographyreached out to me ask me to do a guest post for her lovely photography businesses blog so I was more than happy to share her post here for some fantastic tips on photographing your…

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#advice #elliejphotography #guest post #lockdown #lockdown2020 #mummy #mummyblogger #parentingblogger #photographer #photography #photography tips #photos #ukmumblog #ukmummyblogger #ukparentblogger #ukparentingblogger

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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Coronavirus lockdown: Week 6 & 7

Still coping with the loss of my friend, we moved into week 6 of lock down and it was this week that all the major celebrations for the 75th anniversary of VE Day should have been happening but of course with lockdown, none of them could take place.

However to mark it, we did some VE day themed activities with Haribo and spoke to him about what it was all for, we decorated our window with bunting…

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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My experiences of being a Vegetarian #Nationalvegetatianweek

Since it’s National Vegetarian week this week, I thought I’d write about my experiences of following that lifestyle choice as I have done from a very young age. I don’t generally make a big deal out of being a vegetarian as it’s just something that I’ve known for most of my life but I hate the stigma that is attached to it, if you mention to someone that you are Vegetarian, you either get ‘Ooooh…

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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Coronavirus Lockdown: Week 5

Week 5 has been the hardest week of them all for me, due to receiving some of the most heartbreaking news which led to a extremely difficult week.

During this week, I was informed that an university friend of mine had been taken into hospital due to this virus, she had some underlying health conditions but was generally in good health. Her fiancee posted updates throughout the week and it was…

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#blog #family #health #life #lifestyle #lockdown #lockdown2020

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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We seem to be finding ourselves falling into a routine and however for the past fortnight I haven’t been at work due to it being the Easter Holidays and I have found that pretty tough because that one day a week of being at work, made it feel slightly normal and was a change of scenery and people so I have found that pretty tough!

However I’ve been trying my best to not show Haribo so we’ve been doing lots of things to keep us busy in the house and again making most of the beautiful weather that we’ve been lucky enough to have in April, I’ve been drawing on inspiration from other ideas that I’ve seen on Instagram and also going back to my knowledge of working within the early years sector.

I don’t know if anyone else’s little ones have started to show signs of it bothering them but when we go out on our daily walk or a rainbow hunt as Haribo calls it, he can’t wait to get back home which isn’t usually like him, he usually loves exploring but he’s turned quite clingy which I really hope changes when we are allowed to get back to normal as he was such an outgoing and confident little boy.

I’ve set up some obstacle courses in the garden for him to explore and play with his outdoor toys. I also froze some of his toys in ice for him to explore playing with ice, cutting and chopping, using lots of fine motor skills, this also turned into a little roleplay activity so it just shows that you can expect it an activity to be used for one thing but they can take it a whole other way.

We also did one of Haribo’s favourite activties which is baking, we are doing so much baking during lockdown, I have to keep trying to encourage Haribo to eat it all otherwise I’m going to end up putting on a lot of weight because freshly baked biscuits and cakes are so hard to resist!

On the days we didn’t fancy going outside with played with Gelli bath, this was something that I came into contact with my training and it’s a lot of fun, Haribo had this kit for his 2nd birthday but he wasn’t really a big fan but I thought we’d try it again and this time he really enjoyed it.

I’m hoping next week will be better as I’m back to work and hopefully a little bit of normality will return but we shall see.

Coronavirus Lockdown: Week 5 We seem to be finding ourselves falling into a routine and however for the past fortnight I haven't been at work due to it being the Easter Holidays and I have found that pretty tough because that one day a week of being at work, made it feel slightly normal and was a change of scenery and people so I have found that pretty tough!

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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Usually with over the Easter holidays, we’d take a trip to visit family or go out somewhere and treat ourselves to a nice meal out as hubby would have some time off work but sadly this year due to the lockdown all of those plans went out of the window.

We’d been doing lots of baking and making salt dough ready for our Easter decorations, simply to try and keep Haribo entertained. Haribo has really started to develop his Role-Play skills, we’ve been having lots of picnics, tea parties and he’s been busy cooking in his kitchen.

On Good Friday, I found out some Easter crafts that I’d bought when we’d last taken a trip to Home Bargains before Lockdown, I’m so glad that I did! We did some painting eggs which we did as a family which was lovely, I think Haribo really enjoyed the fact that we all took part although it’s brought out my Hubby’s hidden artistic side (He always said he was rubbish) so when Haribo gets art homework, I know who’s taking control that!!

We also put up some Easter decorations around our house, I purchased some bunting and easter egg hunt signs on our last visit to the supermarket to try and make it fun for Haribo and it certainly brightened up our living room.

On the Saturday, we had a bit of a garden day as the weather was just so lovely. We all did some gardening and Haribo was a pro at taking all the weeds or branches that we cut off the bushes to our garden waste bin, although it’s not currently being collected but as I’ve said in a previous post, we are trying to get our garden sorted so we thought we’d take advantage of the nice weather and make a good start on it. We also played some games.

Easter Sunday started with an Easter egg hunt indoors and outdoors, Haribo loved finding the eggs and then we had to redo it about 5 times with a mixture of us hiding them and then Haribo hiding them for us to find, he really loved it and the Easter Bunny had left him a few new little toys as well.

We also had a little roast for dinner, well since I don’t eat meat I had alternative but it was a nice way to finish the day and after dinner, we called family members and had a quiet night.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and I hope if you celebrate Easter, you had lots of delicious easter eggs!

Week 3 and Easter 2020 in Lockdown Usually with over the Easter holidays, we'd take a trip to visit family or go out somewhere and treat ourselves to a nice meal out as hubby would have some time off work but sadly this year due to the lockdown all of those plans went out of the window.

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musicaljojo · 4 years

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So entering week 2 of lock-down I still felt pretty down so I called a few of my friends and it was really interesting to see that a lot of them felt the same way too, we all just took nipping out to the shops and seeing each other regularly for granted and now it’s been taken away.

This week I was still at work for one day on our rota system and after work I headed for the shops, I had to queue for about 30 minutes with my list in hand, hoping that I would be able to get what I wanted. I think I managed to get about 75% of what was on my list but still no flour, soap, pasta and very limited fresh fruit and vegetables, the shop operated on a one in, one out system and you were only allowed to go in alone, it was advised that children should stay at home, which is a real shame because Haribo loves helping me when shopping but I’d rather keep him and everyone safe.

We managed to Facetime some of Haribo’s friends which was lovely for them to have a chat, they were showing each other their toys and playing games, it was so nice for them to have some interaction although it was in a rather strange way.

With Haribo we’ve been doing some activities from a great book I purchased before the lock down called ‘5 minute mum‘ she’s on Instagram and she’s recently wrote a book which has all of her activities in. It isn’t an advert or a sponsored post but I just find when my mind has gone blank if I have a flick through her book it will inspire a thought for Haribo.

We’ve been doing the ‘Letter of the Day’ activity and it’s really brought on Haribo’s vocabulary and encourage him with his writing/mark making. He can now confidently write a H and he will generally have a try to write the letter that is our chosen letter of the day.

Also when I’ve done my weekly shop, I’ve picked up a magazine for him if I think that there is one that would interest him, if there’s nothing there, I’ve kept back issues for him so we try and do a bit of focused time each day where we do a puzzle or some colouring as he was due to start nursery school this September but I’m now not that sure what is going to happen with that.

We’ve also baked and when the weather has been nice enough outside, we’ve been in the garden, we haven’t lived in our house that long and this was the year we were going to decorate and sort out the mess of the garden that the previous owners left behind but those plans have been put on hold so we are trying to do bits ourselves but a lot of it requires people with a lot more experience than my husband and I as first time house owners.

I’m starting to adjust to this new way of life but I am still missing seeing my mum even though we facetime, it’s really not the same but really trying to make the most of this time with Haribo and make it as fun for him as possible.

Coronavirus lockdown: Week 2 So entering week 2 of lock-down I still felt pretty down so I called a few of my friends and it was really interesting to see that a lot of them felt the same way too, we all just took nipping out to the shops and seeing each other regularly for granted and now it's been taken away.

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