I can’t believe I’ve never been to Tatton Park before. It is stunning. Visually amazing. The road from the main entrance down to the car park is lined with huge beech trees and open fields filled with deer and sheep roll out on either side of you.

I was blown away by its prettiness.

But as I was driving I couldn’t take any pictures of that, so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself. Ha.

The Foodies Festival however I could and did take tonnes of pictures of.

We’d sold it to the kids as a chance for them to go and try lots of different types of food from around the world. The Girl was quite excited by this. The Boy, not so much. He’d be happy to eat chips smothered in ketchup for every meal for the rest of his life.

We arrived early and got a nice little glass of champaign from the VIP tent to start the day off along with vouchers to eat at any of the 4 tents next to the VIP tent.

As soon as we got there the boy started complaining of being hungry. That’s great I thought, We are at a food festival and have tickets for food from the Moroccan restaurant, a lamb restaurant, an Indian and a sea food restaurant.

But no.

“I don’t want any of the world food, mummy,” he declared, the sulky lip out already. “I want some food from the country where I speak the language.”

Ahh my funny little Anglophile, how quickly things have changed. I remember a day not so long ago where he didn’t want to east “funny English food” but would only eat things he thought were Finnish.

So we got them both a portion of chips to line the stomach and started to explore. Incidentally - best chips ever. Wish I’d thought to check the name of the place selling them.

There was so much there that it was very tempting to try everything. Dan did make a sterling effort but even he was defeated.

There were delicious chorizo and mozarella kebabs to start.

Yes, yes that is a sword in my belt. What of it?

Followed by a lovely Moroccan couscous dish. The falafel was out of this world and after some coaxing to get the Girl to try it, she ate my entire half.

Then we had cake. Lots and lots of cake.

There was salmon.

A giant water buffalo burger.

A sadly very average and under seasoned lamb dish.

And so many other things to try. Honestly, I think you could have got just about anything. Seriously.

We only did one of the classes – there were so many to choose from. From chocolate workshops and wine tasting classes to watching top chefs create amazing meals. Having young kids with us we went for the kids cooking theatre which was ace. It was all based around learning about taste and doing experiments with food.

They painted their tongues with blue food dye to see their taste buds and learnt about the 5 senses and how they work. Then they got to make tomato soup – which was delicious – and a bread bomb, which was basically exploding flour.

All in all, a grand day out for all the family.

I’d love to go again next year. Only this time without the kids and with a designated driver – there were lots of yummy looking alcoholic beverages to try and it would have been nice to be able to sit still for 5 minutes without being subjected to a barrage of questions about what we were doing next and when we were going home and could we go to the toilet again please, mummy.

Which is why I think Honda is ace for doing this.

They gave $50,000 to help start the rebuild of the Staten Island Little League after hurricane Sandy demolished the whole of Staten Island.

Well done Honda, well done.

It’s a funny thing, memory. Two people can be in the same place together having the same experience and yet it’s not quite the same to both parties. When you look back at it later different things about the experience will stick in each of your minds.

Now apply that over an entire relationship or friendship.

Which were the bits that stuck in their mind and which do they not remember?

Just how well does your partner or friend know you and how many of the same things about your relationship do they remember?

Well now you can find out thanks to Osborne Solicitors.  But you can’t hold me responsible if it turns out they got your eye colour wrong or can’t remember what you were wearing on your first date.

Just saying.

Oh and you can also play the game on Facebook.

The chance to win the two night stay at The Riverside Hotel is open to bloggers only. In order to be entered into the prize draw you simply need to blog about this app. Contact georgia.penny@biteus.net for more information.

Kids!

Blumming things.

Why are they so damned weird?

Getting ready for school yesterday morning I noticed them both stuffing things into their pockets and demanded they empty them. What on earth were they trying to smuggle into school this time? The boy had a pocket full of Thomas trains – apparently he NEEDED to take them to school but couldn’t give me a proper reason why. And the girl had a bunch of post-it notes. “But Mrs Smith doesn’t have any so I’m taking them for her.” As lovely as the gesture is I don’t think we need to start supplying the school with stationary from MY OFFICE now, do we?

And I thought that was the end of it.

Until I took the boy into class – he’s in reception and parents get to go in and make sure they actually arrive and don’t spend the entire day standing gormlessly in the corridors staring at the walls.

I’d thought the bags had been a bit heavy but didn’t really think much of it, what with having two school bags, water bottles and lunch bags to carry.

We came to get his water bottle from his bag and it was full of toys. Seriously, bursting at the seams full.

FFS.

I stuffed it all into my handbag hurriedly before the teacher saw and brought it home. And this was what I had.

2x toy gun

5x Thomas The Tank Engine books

2x pencil cases

1x sheep

1x cow

1x giraffe

1x fluffy wand

Turns out, when I picked him up after school, I’d missed 2x small plastic alien as well.

What is that all about?

Saturday morning was not a good morning. I woke with a hangover- never a good start and all Sim’s fault. All her fault completely. Yes, yes, she did force me to drink that second bottle. Practically at gun point.

It was 11am, I was swanning around in my pjs feeling sorry for myself when I realised I’d invited a bunch of people round. At 3pm. In just four hours. And they were expecting food and drinks and such like.

And not just people either but bloggers. The Bury Blogger Massive.

Oh.

Naturally when you realise there’s a bunch of bloggers all living within a mile radius or so of each other the natural thing to do is have a party. I just wish I’d remembered this plan before 11am!

And so off to Asda it was. I gathered up the children and took off in the rain and then proceeded to spend an hour getting lost around the most oddly shaped supermarket in the world: Asda, Pilsworth. It took us ten minutes to find the food isles and another 5 to convince the girl we weren’t buys some porcelain green wellies.

So what do you feed a bunch of people you’ve hardly met and their children and other halves?

After several trips up and down the aisles we decided on chicken and pizza. Everyone likes chicken and pizza, right? Naturally I’d completely forgotten to check if anyone was vegetarian. Oops. Sorry Jenny.

We went with some of their lovely Pizzas – they are huge! – garlic breads, dough balls, chicken drumsticks, Baby Bell cheese, cocktail sausages plus crisps. All for for £40! Bargain.

I even managed to find 3 bottles of reasonable-ish wine for a tenner. Which was me sorted. And I’d told everyone else to bring a bottle. So let the party begin!

So what was it like having a bunch of weird blogger types around my house? Blummin brilliant. It was lovely to meet up with other bloggers and talk about all those weird non-blogging muggle types.

The food went down a storm, the kids all got on, and more importantly we shall be doing it all again next month – Jenny, I believe it’s your turn to host the Bury blogger massive next!

Bring it on!

You can see a bunch more pictures here in the google+ album.

Oh. My. God.

If they’d told me that being a blogger in the UK meant you’d get invited to events like this, I’d have moved back sooner.

The Foodies Festival at Tatton Park looks amazing. I’d been eyeing up tickets for a while, trying to decide if we could smuggle home enough food to last a week which would justify me spending our food budget on tickets.

And then I only blummin well got offered free tickets to go!

Squeeee!

And that’s not the best bit. The best bit is you can come too!

I’ve got 2 pairs of day tickets to the event at Tatton Park to give away! It’s over the weekend 17^th, 18^th and 19^th of May 2013, and the tickets are valid for any day.

You can find out loads more about the Foodies Festival here but just a few of the things they have in store for us are:

A huge selection of hot and cold food from around the world to try.

Drinks Theatre

Producers market

Food avenue

Cake and Bake Theatre

AEG Cookery School run in conjunction with the Cheshire Cookery School

Chocolate Theatre

A specially designed BBQ Theatre

Cocktail Theatre

Wine Village (Seriously, a wine village? *faints with excitement*)

As well as top chefs in the chef’s theatre, a kid’s cookery theatre, entertainment and live music.

I’m going on the Sunday. There’s a good chance I won’t be able to walk properly come the Monday. And I really must research trains and buses so I can sample some of the delights of the wine village…

If you don’t win, I also have a sneaky 2 for 1 code for you in the image below.

Event Info

Tickets can be bought from www.foodiesfestival.com or on 0844 995 1111

1 day adult ticket – £12
3 day adult ticket £18
1 day VIP ticket £38

Children under 12 go free. There is a £5 car parking charge at Tatton Park.

A VIP ticket to Foodies includes a free glass of champagne on arrival, access to the VIP tent throughout the day, a taster meal from one of the pop-up restaurant tents, a goody bag and reserved seating in theatre and masterclass sessions.

Enter the competition

To enter just follow the instructions in the box below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• UK entries only.
• The prize is a pair of tickets for the Tatton Park Foodies Festival which can be used on any one of the following dates: 17^th, 18^th and 19^th May 2013. There are two prizes available.
• Prize is for tickets only, does not include travel or accommodation.
• Competition closes at midnight on Sunday 12^th May 2013.
• Winner has two days to get in touch before they forfeit their tickets.
• Tickets will be in the form of names on a guest list. Winners must give names at the box office to gain entry.

Please tell me it’s a boy thing. Please tell me it will pass. Or they grow up and leave home and it’s not your problem anymore. Seriously, I don’t think I can take much more.

I’m talking of course about pee.

Specifically: my son’s pee.

Even more specifically: my son’s pee that I keep having to clean up off the damn toilet. And not just the damn toilet, but the damn wall, the damn floor, the damn bloody spare damn toilet roll kept next to the damn toilet.

How does he manage this? Does he pee with his eyes shut? Is he trying to write his name in urine on every available surface in bathroom? Is it some secret conspiracy to drive mothers everywhere to the edge of sanity?

And just to top things off. Just when you think you can’t possibly have any more urine to clean up now the kids are in bed, I’ve just watched the damn dog pee all over the damn puppy.

Someone pass the wine.

It’s a primary school resource website, for those not familiar with it, and has both free and premium accounts. It’s used by parents and schools alike and has some really great resources.

I was a member before they asked me to review it, but only with a free account. The premium account costs £29.99 for a years membership. I say I was a member – I joined, but not being a flashcards kind of mum, I never really got around to doing much bar a quick look around the site.

But with a free premium membership to review I thought I’d better have a proper look around. After a good nosey I downloaded a couple of activities to see how amenable to school work outside of school the kids would be.

They loved it.

It was a dreary afternoon with nothing much going on and a project from mummy’s computer was just the thing to cease the endless cries of “I’m bored! I’ve got nothing to do!”

The youngest found a Very Hungry Caterpillar project to do which is his absolute second most favourite book in the whole world.

Son: “I love Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
Me: “Is that your favourite book?”
Son: “No. It’s my second favourite book.”
Me: “What’s you favourite?”
Son: Puts finger on lip and thinks. “I don’t know.”
*rolls eyes*

Anyway… he  loved cutting and sticking and sorting the pictures out into the correct order, referring to his own copy of the book to make sure he had it right. He was so proud of it that he stuck it into his home journal to show his teachers on Monday.

The Girl chose a Gruffalo project which meant she had to read the Gruffalo and then answer questions and write a summary of the book. This was great for her as she is a bit of a rush reader and often misses what the book is about because of it. It made her really read it properly and go back to look up things later.

I wasn’t expecting it to be such a success. I’m not sure how I felt beforehand about extra school work outside of school, but the kids loved it and keep asking when they can do a new project from mummy’s computer. I’ll definitely be going back for some more wet weekend activities.

Cheers Twinkl(e). Man, that missing E is annoying.

Our family has grown rather a lot recently. Twelve months ago the kids and I moved in to a nice-size-for-three house. Then along came Dan, the other half and although it was a bit more of a squeeze, it was still fine.

Then we got some guinea pigs and they fit in rather nicely.

Then the bedroom got converted into half bedroom half office so I could work from home and start my own business – Bury Family Life – a family magazine for parents in Bury. And the house started to feel less spacious.

And then along came Alfie the kitten.

Next came Robert our Spanish rescue, and things started to feel a little cramped.

Then we lost one guinea pig (as in he died, I didn’t actually lose him – just to clarify) and got two more.

And as if that wasn’t enough, because I’m a complete sucker for a rescue animal, Obi the whippet x bedlington x collie x greyhound puppy came to join us yesterday as well.

I’m starting to feel more and more like the little old lady that lived in a shoe. There really is no more room. I think perhaps we need to start looking for somewhere a little bigger.

It means we will have to start thinking about mortgages and budgets and sensible grown-up things which is somewhat terrifying and yet terribly exciting at the same time. Plus it also means I’ll get to spend hours browsing pretty houses and dreaming about my perfect palatial palace.

Do you fit in your house or are you all cramped in like the woman in A Squash And A Squeeze?

Trying to dress and undress a wiggly baby is not an easy feat. Sure, it’s not that much of a challenge pulling shirts over heads and putting little arms through sleeves, however, dealing with pesky snaps and buttons while your wee one squirms about can be a trying task. Not only is time wasted snapping, re-snapping, and realigning snaps, but unpredictable, precocious little ones make this task nearly impossible. Fortunately, makers of baby clothing have taken these difficulties into consideration by creating clothing that can be put on without much of a hassle.

Some baby clothing designers have avoided closures all together with one-piece outfits made to look like two pieces. Others use magnets to snap together clothing items without a hitch. With pieces like these, it’s simply a matter of putting the clothing on over the infant’s head and limbs in front, then rocking baby from left to right to tuck in flaps on the back or snap two magnets together. These clothing items are also available in a range of colours and patterns and are super comfy, making these baby clothes booth cute and practical.

Magnetic Baby Gear

Battling a kicking, fussy baby while trying to snap up the infant’s clothing is a daunting chore, which is why parents everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to changing time as infant clothing designers have created baby clothes with magnetic closures. What makes these pieces so magnetizing is that they simply connect like magnets and stay together like magic, eliminating mismatching snaps and the aggravation of tugging and pulling snug clothing with snaps together. These magnet fasteners also make changing your baby&emdash;which is a frequent activity&emdash;a breeze. Although you may need to purchase pieces in a size larger as some of their products run smaller, they are still very practical. You may be questioning the safety of baby clothing that uses magnets, however, these magnets are no more dangerous or likely to come loose than regular snap enclosures. Parents also do not h
ave to worry about the magnets being destroyed or demagnetized in the washer and dryer. In addition to being uncomplicated and functional, these baby clothes are stylish and versatile and can easily be paired with other baby items like jumpers and coats from major retailers like M&S.

Babywear That Rocks

In 2009, two old uni friends and mums collaborated to create unique baby attire that doesn’t use snaps, Velcro, or buttons. At a glance, the baby items offered by Rock Me! may seem even more of a challenge than snapping together the typical enclosures. However, these one-piece separates lack snaps, buttons, and other cumbersome closures that make dressing and changing your baby a painful process. Rock Me! garments open up from behind like a pillow sham, allowing you to simply slip the item over baby’s head and arms, and then pull the infant’s legs through the pants part of the piece of clothing, and, viola, you’re finished bundling your bundle of joy. Rock Me! baby items are also quite fashionable and work well with other, more traditional infant clothing.

About the author: Gwen Harris is a full time mum of two lovely girls who loves spending her free time contributing to the blogosphere! When she’s not wrangling her kids, she can be found experimenting in the kitchen, crafting on her latest DIY project, or with her nose in a good book.