Traveling with a Toddler - Our Journey Up North!

As your reading this I am already up north and spending some quality time with my family. That means I have done my journey and it all went to plan. 

I travel up north about 5 times a year and as Lily gets older and older, traveling on some levels gets easier but on some levels gets harder. One thing that makes it easier is that we don't need to take as much. I remember our first journey we took the car seat and the pram with cot bed on it, as well as a million muslin cloths and lots of bottles, travel steriliser... the list goes on. Now we don't need any of this as my parents have a car seat for her and she doesn't need as much of the essentials she did as a small baby.

But the thing that makes it more difficult is that Lily won't keep still on a journey. When she was little she would happily sleep for most of it or sit on my knee but now she really wants to get up and walk around or one minute she will want to sit on my knee, then wants to sit on the chair, then wants to stand and look out of the window. In the meantime she is climbing on me and using me as a trampoline.

I hate making her sit still for two hours so we do tend to stretch our legs and I let her walk up and down the carriage with me. People must think I'm mad walking back and forth and Lily will happily say hi to them all. But then she can't do that the entire journey so I do need to think of ways to entertain her for 2 hours. 

So here is what I have planned for my journey. 

1. Plenty of Snacks and Lunch 
I always plan to travel at lunchtime. This takes out a big chunk of the travel time as Lily will sit and happily eat her lunch. Then I will bring her favourite snacks. Something about snacks that can always keep children still. So for tomorrow we have Organix crisps and Gingerbread men which she loves. Then some Bear Paws, these always go down well and also mummy doesn't mind sneaking a few to eat.. Yum.

2. Stickers
Stickers are Lily's favourite and she will happily stick them to paper for ages. Although last time we travelled she preferred to stick them to my face. I didn't mind. It kept her happy. They are great because they don't cause mess and you can't really loose them. 

3. A Magazine
I always give Lily a magazine for the journey and make sure I take a few crayons. They usually have some activities in, and stories and stickers so it can keep her entertained for a while. For our journey I have got her an In the Night Garden magazine. She has already had the toys from the front of it as Ive found toys on the train are a nightmare. Mostly because they get thrown on the floor over and over again. 

4. Books 
I always take a few hard board books with me for the journey. You can get quite a few small ones into a bag and looking through a book or hearing me read her a story always keeps her quiet. Though they do sometimes keep getting chucked on the floor which on the train is quite annoying. For the journey I have some of her favourites which include Peppa and Bing. 

5. Ipad (naughty mummy) 
I have to admit I'm not a big fan of giving Lily the Ipad to play with, and she never gets to play with it without me and doesn't get it often. But Ive downloaded a colouring app on there and she loves it. She is getting really clever with it and even knows how to refresh the painting so she can start a new one. Which amazes me, but also scares me at the same time that she can figure that out so quick. But anyhow that will be my last resort on the train and if I can't keep her still with the other things I know the Ipad will work. 

So Im all ready for my journey. Hopefully it went well.

What do you do to keep your children entertained on long journeys?

Father Day Competition - Win a Copy of Dustbin Dad

This Brilliant Funny Dad Book is up for grabs! If you would like the chance to win all you need to do is head over to the Twitter Page @LilysLearners And Follow and RT and reply to the Pinned Tweet.

Terms and Conditions 
1 Winner Selected at random from all who RT, Follow and Reply.
Uk Only
Competition will end at 9am on Wednesday the 15th of June
Prize shipped out by me and will aim to be there by fathers day.

Good Luck!

Review of the My First Baby Annabel Lets Play Doll and Competition

Lily loves her dolls so when I got the chance to review one from Zapf Creation I couldn't resist. I got to choose from the My First Baby Annabel range and I chose the Lets Play doll. I loved the look of this one and love the fact that it does so much, her little outfit is so cute also. 

When it arrived Lily got quite excited and started saying baby. In fact I had to get it out of the box quite quickly as she was really wanting to play with her. Luckily is was quite easy to get out of the box.

I really loved how soft the clothing was and how soft the doll was. The doll is really light which is great. Perfect for Lily to be able to carry around with her. One of my favourite features is that she closes her eyes when you lay her back and opens them again when you sit her up. This is great as I want Lily to start putting the baby to bed when she goes to encourage bedtime and sleep time.

This doll comes with a little toy lamb and a bottle. Lily's favourite feature was the bottle. She just loves giving the baby a bottle. The bottle fits nicely into the mouth of the baby. The baby suckles from the bottle and Lily enjoyed feeding her baby. The Bottle is really easy for Lily to grip to. Lily didn't really know what to do with the little lamb but I expect imaginary play with the lamb will come when she is a little older. 

This doll is so cute and has so many real life baby features. You can tickle her under the arms and she will giggle (just like Lily does). Then you can lift her high up above your head and she will laugh even louder. This is such a nice feature because who doesn't want to hear the lovely sounds of a giggly baby.

You can also make her burp and Lily finds this amazing, and has a face of amusement and shock after she has made the sound. 

I really love this doll as the features really do give Lily the chance to care for the baby and treat her like a real baby. Though she still doesn't understand you don't carry babies around by the feet hahaha. Its a really nice first doll to buy for your child as I think it ticks all the boxes for what a smaller child would need. I think any parent would love it to and I must admit I was really enjoying showing Lily how to look after this baby doll. 

You can buy this doll for £29.99 which I think is a great price to say she does so much. Or you can head to the Zapf Creation website here to see what else they have on offer. 

How would you like the chance to win one?

Zapf have kindly given me the chance to give one away! Enter on the Gleam app below! Good Luck. 



Win a My First Baby Annabel - Lets Play Doll

Our Day at London Zoo

Here is all about our day at London Zoo, Warning there may be quite a few photographs!

Yesterday we had a wonderful family day out at London Zoo. My Partner Chris had taken a day off work and we were all set. We packed lunch and headed onto the train. One good thing about living slightly out of london is that as we travel by train we get to use the Buy one Get one free with a rail ticket. That made the day out a lot cheaper and if you didn't know about this offer, then you can always pick up a leaflet in any train station that has all the coupons to fill in for days out. 

The train journey took about a hour with one change so wasn't to bad. Lily behaved quite well on the train and happily played with Chris's hat. 

We arrived and expected a huge Que. But we got to the ticket desk straight away. I think this definetly helped that we went on a weekday. It was great also because it wasn't packed with people and so we could actually see the animals without having to wait until people moved. 

We first got to see Lily's favourite animal in action. Owls! There was a show on and they were flying about. Unfortunately Lily was asleep through this, but we woke her at the end of the show as she had had long enough sleep and the zoo keepers were letting people see the owl close up. I think she was terribly confused when she woke up to see a owl but never the less was happy to see it. 

Lily has a real love for all birds actually and out of all the animals there took interest in these the most. She calls them Birrrr as she can't say it with a D yet. 

There are some amazing animals at London zoo. Me and Chris particularly liked the Gorilla and Tiger but Lily wasn't to interested in those. Its funny which animals she really took a liking to and which she didn't want to look at. 

I must say though that the zoo is very hard to look around with a 18 month year old toddler who has just found her feet. She didn't want to keep still and not often would she stop and look at the animals for long. 

We did find a petting zoo though and this is something that Lily really enjoyed. The goats were roaming free and eating hay from a troff. Lily really kept trying to feed them and was holding out hay but they wouldn't take it from her. It was really nice seeing her get really stuck in and enjoy it though. 

When we got to the Lions Lily really wasn't to interested in them but then they were really far back in the enclosure in the shade. I wasn't to sure if she could actually see them. Chris picked her up onto his shoulders so she could see better though. 

She was actually more interested in the big box she found which was a lion transit box. It was quite funny. I asked her to get in, and she thought about it... and then she did. 

We really enjoyed the little monkey enclosure that you could walk around where the monkeys were roaming free. They were cute cheeky little things and I had to stop Lily from trying to touch them. Apparently we had to keep our eye on our baby bag we were carrying around as they loved to route around in them. 

Another one of our favourites for the day was the penguins. Lily really enjoyed these and they really liked her to. They kept swimming up to her and past her really fast. One kept popping out of the water to see chris to. I think Lily liked them because she could see them so close up and they moved around fast. 

For me one of my highlights was getting to see the giraffes. They are my favourite animal and I've always gotten so excited to see them. I think they are amazing, beautiful majestic creatures. Lily was actually more interested in seeing the statue ones than the real ones though. I think by this point she had seen one animal and so to her she had seen them all. 

Overall it was such a great day out! We didn't actually get to see everything because there was so much to see! Next time we definetly need a full day for it. I also think Lily will enjoy it a little more when she is older. She will hopefully be able to see the animals more and know a little more about what they are. We ended the day at the gift shop and got Lily a owl teddy which she now loves. 

We can't wait for out next family outing like this. 

Lily's Biggest Milestone - Becoming part of the Family

When it comes to milestones, I could talk about rolling over or crawling or her first smile. Some of these came into my head when I thought about what was Lily's biggest milestone. But then I thought about the biggest one yet. Lily becoming part of the family. 

The first thing you need to know about my family is that we are very close but yet so far. My parents, grandparents, brother, cousins, aunts and uncles and close friends all live hours away up the north of England while I'm in the south in Surrey.

The distance was never a big issue and when I moved here 6 years ago the fact that one day I would be giving my parents a grand daughter wasn't what I was thinking about and I was moving down south for my career. Over the years I would always miss my family and visit about 4 times a year. I'm really close with them all and always make the effort to see them but 4 times a year felt enough. 

As for the other side of the family, they are wonderful and I get along with them all so well. But even they live a good hour away from us. 

In 2014 I fell pregnant with who is now my 18 month old little girl. Lily. I waited a whole 3 weeks before telling my family as I wanted to tell them all to their faces. That was important to me. It was definetly not a over the phone thing. My family was delighted about the news and later in the year we all celebrated by having a big family baby shower. 

When it came to having Lily, my mum wanted to be there and I wanted her there for the Birth. With my parents being a 5 hour drive away it was always a big wonder to if they would make it or not. Something that worried me through out the last weeks of my pregnancy. We made plans of what would happen if the baby came early and mum and dad both took 2 weeks of work around the time I was due. Lily decided she wasn't making a appearance and I was booked in for induction so that meant my parents could drive down the day before and my mum would definetly be there for the birth. I was relieved. 

Luckily I didn't need to be induced and Lily made her way into the world by herself on the 18th of November at 10.40pm. It was lovely for my mum to be there for Lily's first moments, and after I had met her and my partner had had his cuddle, she was passed to my mum to meet the first member of my side of the family. This was a special moment for both me and my mum and I still remember her face looking down at her new little grand daughter. She had eyes of Love.
I think it was this very moment that has built such a bond between Lily and my mum.

While I was in labour what I didn't know was my entire family was on the edge of their seats. My dad was back at my flat pacing the floor waiting to hear what was happening and everybody up north waiting by the phone to hear the news. I always look back and giggle at this but everyone was so eager to congratulate me I kept getting handed the phone for a quiet chat. At the time I didn't think much of it but I was actually getting stitched up and so the thought of me holding conversation with my family while I laid there legs spread with a midwife between them I always find quite funny. But it is always a nice thought that they were all thinking of me at that time. 

Later that night the hospital was nice enough to let my dad come and visit for half a hour. One thing I always remember is that I felt like he was proud of me, and having my dad sat next to me while I held my daughter in my arms was such a special moment for me. He didn't hold her that night as she was sleeping in my arms at the time, but the next day as he came to take us home he got to hold her and he had such a big smile and I will always remember that moment. 

Over the next few days we had visits from my partners side of the family. I remember being so worn out but was really nice to see them. One by one they all had a cuddle with Lily. There was one moment that stuck out more than others though and that was when Lily met her cousins. As their mum was taking photographs of them all together I actually got a tear in my eye as it was this moment that I thought.. thats the new part of my family right there. (You can actually see me in the background trying to hold back the tears) 

After spending a week with Lily my parents went back up north and that was it for meeting new family until after christmas when Lily would have the next big family meeting. This next meeting would be a big milestone for Lily as not only was she meeting a huge amount of my family and friends but she also had to travel 3-4 hours to see them.
Lily was now 6 weeks old and me and my partner and Lily traveled on train to spend a long weekend with my parents. Luckily it was a easy journey and Lily slept the entire way there.

Firstly Lily met my brother. Her Uncle Dan. Lily had started to do a few smiles here and there and one thing I will remember is how she had the biggest smile when she was first held by him. My brother was beaming himself and I think it was seeing my brother so happy that made her smile.

The next day we headed out for dinner and met up with my Grandad and his partner. I Love my Grandad to bits and he has always been there for me and we have always had a close relationship. Introducing him to my daughter was such a lovely moment and she looked so tiny in his arms.

I had so much family to introduce Lily to that we thought it would be a lovely idea to hold a party, and so we had planned for the rest of the family to come around the next day. I put Lily in a little party dress that I had bought a few days before she was born. It was a dress I was umm-ing and Ahhh-ing over for a few weeks and I always think thats what Lily was waiting for me to buy before she would make a appearance. She looked so pretty and I couldn't wait for everyone to meet her. Lily handled the day so well. She smiled, she was happy to be passed around, she slept in peoples arms, and she even pooped on someone. Lily was definetly happily introducing herself to the family. That was such a lovely day and such a big one for Lily. She fell straight asleep after the party.  I will always remember feeling so proud of my pretty little princess.

Family is so important to me, and I think its nice to keep such a close relationship with all members of it. I always want Lily to know that she has family and that they love her and are always there for her. This lead to Lily next big family milestone. Her naming ceremony, also known as a family welcoming ceremony.

We had this for Lily when she was 5 months old and the day was lovely. It felt so nice that my family had all come to be there for Lily on this day. We decided to have the ceremony in the north as my partners family were happy to travel to attend the day. I wanted to do something for Lily so she would have something to keep from the day and this is where I made her a beautiful charm bracelet. Not only did I want to be able to give her something when she was older, I also wanted her to be reminded of how much love her family has for her and so I got words inscribed onto the charms. They were words like Love, Care, Support, Teach and said all the things that family provides for her and always will. I got members of my family to stand up and place a charm onto the bracelet. It was a really nice part of the ceremony.

Lily becoming part of the family will always be a special milestone in my heart and in my family's and its a milestone that definetly cannot be forgotten about.
I always make sure that Lily gets to see her family often and she gets to see her grandparents on an almost monthly basis. 

My family. The most special thing in the world and Im so glad that Lily is now part of it. 

This is written as entry to theTots100/WaterWipes Baby Milestones challenge. Its written by me about my personal experiences. 

My Sunday Photo - 05/06/16

Estimation Nation Baking Event with Smart Meters

I was really excited (but a little nervous) when I got the invite to be involved in a bake off challenge event put on by Smart Energy GB. I love baking so the idea of getting to be involved in a challenge was really excited. Not only that but it was hosted by Ian Cummings who was runner up of the Great British Bake off show last year and so as a big bake off fan I looked forward to meeting him and hopefully showing him some of my baking skills.

One thing that was going to be a little tricky in this challenge was that we got all the ingredients given to us, but we had to estimate how much to use in the bake. One of the reasons that Smart Meters wanted us to tackle this challenge was to show how tricky it is to estimate. So why estimate?

So what are smart meters and what have they got to do with estimations?

Absolutely nothing! Smart Meters are new gas and electricity meters that are available to be placed into homes to get rid of silly estimations and give you accurate readings of what gas and electricity you would actually be using. They are able to send exact readings of what you are using to your supplier and so no longer would you be receiving that horrible estimated bill.

They show you the readings on portable hand held devices and this means you are now able to watch how much you are using and what you are using it on. 

The great thing about the Smart Meter is that there are so surprises. You know yourself what your bill is going to be. The smart meters are really easy to use and are able to be read at a glance. It means that you can keep control of how much you are spending and if you wish to, you can make cuts to the things that are going to be costing a lot. 

Here is a diagram of how a smart meter process works. 

Everybody in England, Wales and Scotland will be offered the opportunity to upgrade to a Smart Meter by 2020, fitted by your supplier and at no additional cost to you. You will also be given a hand held device when it is all fitted. 

So now to the baking challenge. How did it all go when it came to estimating? 

We were briefed by Ian and put into teams of two. Our first challenge was to make chocolate and raspberry cupcakes. We were told that we had to estimate the amount of ingredients to use and also the amount of time we would need to bake them at. 

It was great fun trying to guess how much to use but also quite tricky and without the exact ingredients written down, we found we were just guessing and then adding more if we needed to. We had no idea how our cupcakes would turn out.
Half way through our raspberry bake we had a slight disaster where the lid came off the vegetable oil and it nearly all went in. I guess thats one way to estimate...chuck it in and hope for the best. 

We must have estimated quite well as they didn't come out to bad actually. I really enjoyed the taste. They were definetly edible and that was definetly a good result that I was more than happy with. 

Our next challenge was to make cheese scones. This we found a lot tricker than the cupcakes and estimating was a lot harder as we didn't have a clue. We ended up starting completely wrong and didn't have enough flour in our mixture and it was all wet. Estimating was not working with these.
We got them in the oven with time running out and unfortunately they came out a little flat. What went wrong I'm not sure but we definetly had not put the right amount of something in there. 
Luckily they actually tasted okay and I did eat them pretty much all later that night. 

Overall the event gave me a very clear indication that estimating is not always the best way forward. 

After the baking was over we went out of the kitchen and enjoyed some nice canapés (that I can only imagine they didn't estimate with) and discussed how we felt we did while the judges tucked into our bakes and decided a winner. 

Unfortunately we didn't win but we also didn't come last place and so that was definetly something to be pleased with. 

The event was great and I can't wait to try and bake the food again but this time with the amounts of what we need to us. I definetly won't be estimating again. 

You can watch this great video to see us all in action. 

(Me and Ian Cummings)

I was invited by Smart Energy GB to participate in this challenge. All views and opinions are of my own  experience. Some of the photographs was used with permission from O'connor Photography.