When in Hamburg we were invited to attend the Dialogue in Silence exhibition in the Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) of the city. I was a little dubious about this at first because exhibitions aren’t really my thing – unless they are talking about something old like the Empire State Building (ever the geeky Geographer!). However we were so impressed with this one, I wanted to write a separate blog post about it to give it the coverage it deserves. As you might expect from the title, the aim of the exhibition is to get the audience thinking about how we communicate with one another, particularly through the use of non-verbal communication. It sounds quite straight forward but was actually harder than it looks and I left the whole experience with a much greater level of understanding of what life must be like for those deaf and hard of hearing. I think that’s why I enjoyed the experience so much, because it provided an insight into a world that I shamefully hadn’t given much thought about before and I found it really thought provoking. Dialogue in Silence The hour long tour began in a large room, with activities dotted around on tables which participants were asked to complete without talking. No insight into the world of non-verbal communication had been provided at this point and so the whole thing wasn’t taken very seriously, but I found it ever so insightful to compare my feelings and understanding from this stage of the tour with how I felt at the end. All of the facilitators leading the Dialogue in Silence experience are deaf or hearing impaired and after a short while in the ‘school room’ we were greeted by our facilitator and taken into a sound proofed room to collect noise-cancelling headphones that…
Afternoon all, just a quick one today. We’re in the process of planning our summer holidays and with a new-born in tow, realise it wont be anywhere exotic so camping is top of the list. Last year we took a trip to Eweleaze Farm in Dorset when Ettie was 12 months old and we absolutely loved it! We went with friends who had a little boy the same age, and it was so lovely watching them discover all of the new things camping had to offer and also giving them so much fresh air!! I can’t lie and say I wasn’t a little nervous about taking a baby on a camping trip! They require a car full of equipment at the best of times, never mind when sleeping under the stars! But the trip was absolutely fine and we were better equipt than we thought we would be!!! Knowing that camping was something we’d be trying again in the future and being organised for once in my entire life!! I made a list of everything we found useful while we were away and added things to it that I thought we should remember for next time! So in the interest of saving other families hours of research trying to establish what to pack when taking a baby/toddler camping, here is my Essential Guide to Camping with a Baby* Is a one year old a baby or a toddler? I wasn’t sure?? The Essential Guide to Camping with a Baby A Blow-up Travel bath – Needless to say babies will get grubby when crawling around outside so will need a bath at the end of the day. We had the duck bath available from Boots and it worked amazingly well. A Travel cot – This isn’t an essential and it takes up quite…
G rowing up, Germany always had a special place in my heart. My Aunt, Uncle and cousin lived just outside Frankfurt and my best friend lived in Berlin for almost a year so I’ve been lucky enough to visit on a couple of occasions and always found it a really vibrant and friendly country. Over the course of the next two blog posts I’m going to tell you all about our recent trip to Hamburg which came about following an invitation to take part in the #CometoHamburg project! It’s always such an honour to be invited places on account of my blog, but to be asked to sample a whole city was truly amazing and I couldn’t reply fast enough stating that we’d love to take part. You can find the second part of our Hamburg trip here: Hamburg with a Toddler {Part 2}. With it being the height of wedding season, we opted for a mid-week break (as opposed to a weekend) so that Stu didn’t have to miss an extra game of cricket (the struggle is real people!!). It worked out really well, the flights were cheaper, (around £60 each way from Gatwick) and all of the attractions were open when we got there – something we forgot to research to our cost in Stockholm. The city centre was also relatively quiet which was amazing with an over excited toddler in tow as I imagine it could have been a completely different story on a Saturday. Prior to our visit, I think my impression of Hamburg was one of industry, grey buildings and beer swilling men stumbling out of bars dressed in Lederhosen. I know a few friends who chose Hamburg for their stag weekend and because of that its never really featured high on my list of…
There really only was one place we could take Ettie to celebrate her second birthday and that was to meet her hero Peppa Pig at Paultons Park outside Southampton. Like any girl Ettie’s age, to Ettie Peppa is GOD. She could happily sit four hours watching Peppa on repeat if let her and I’m sure I’m not the only parent who’s found herself humming that silly theme tune when no one else is around.. Dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum!! [if you know you know!] So when I heard there was a whole park dedicated to our funny pink friend and her family I just knew we had to go! Ettie’s birthday coincided with my last day at work before going off on maternity leave (well strictly speaking I still have a month to go, but I’ve finished early to spend an extra month with Ettie before baby arrives!) so as a double celebration we loaded up Stu’s van one sunny Saturday morning and took ourselves on a birthday adventure to Peppa Pig World in Hampshire. Peppa Pig world is based in a small area of the wider Paultons Park just outside Southampton. Entry to the park is around £35 each which is pretty expensive for a two-year old (discounts are available for families and children under 1m go free!) For that, you do get entry into the whole park which I suppose justifies the price if you have older children that will make use of everything, but for a 2-year-old I thought it was pretty steep. There are often discount schemes available buy saving up tokens from newspapers and cereal packets so it’s always worth looking out for those. Walking into the park I literally had goosebumps thinking about Ettie’s little face lighting up once…
T o my beautiful, sensitive, funny, caring, cuddly, cheeky, perfect little sausage! Today was your second birthday so I wanted to write you a letter telling you how unbelievably proud we are of you and how brain poppingly happy you make us each and every day. You are without a shadow of a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to us and we feel so lucky and happy to be able to call ourselves your parents. Yesterday we took you to Peppa Pig World with Gran Gran and Colin (you still don’t call him Granda :D) and it was lots of fun. You love Peppa so much. I was so excited to see your little face when we got there and you realised where we were headed. It was a lovely sunny day so we were able to spend lots of time outside and go on all of the rides. You were a little tired at first, but once you’d had some lunch you got your energy back and there was no stopping you! Daddy won you a toy Peppa by throwing a ball into a bucket. You picked out Peppa in a red dress at first but then changed your mind and went back to the kiosk to asked the man to change it for a George. It made me laugh because thats exactly the kind of things I would do. Today we woke up early and opened your presents. I knew you would be excited when you found out the birthday fairy had been. We closed the living room door last night and all gathered around you as you walked inside and you walked in then jumped up and down on the spot smiling when you seen all your presents. It made me feel so happy! You were…
I’m now in the penultimate week of work before starting my maternity leave for baby number 2 and whilst I cant wait to have some extra time on my hands, I’m also feeling a little weird about adjusting to becoming a full-time mum. I shared a little post about my Third Trimester Nerves last week and the fact that I’m not sure whether I have the energy to round-up two children, but after having spoken to friends I think that’s probably down to the fact that I’m finding this pregnancy so bloody tiring and hopefully my energy will return once the baby is born! Aside from the energy issue. I’m also really nervous about leaving the workplace. I’ve been employed in at least one job ever since I was 14 years old… in fact there was one time at University where I rotating myself around five!!! To this day I’ve still no idea how I achieved it, but I’ve always been a bit of a ‘grafter’ because I hate sitting around being idle, my main motivation being that I might as well earn some money from my down time! Because of that I’m starting to feel weird about leaving work. I’ve been there for almost 10 years, building a career that for the most part I enjoy and getting fulfilment from stretching my brain! I know I’ve left for maternity leave once before, but somehow this feels different. This time I’ll be returning after having had two children and with childcare costs as ridiculous as they are, I’m not even sure if that’s financially possible! So after counting down the days till this moment every week since I returned to work… I’m actually starting to freak out (such a contrary Mary!!) … so in the interests of reminding myself that…
Earlier this week I was invited to a Blogger Event hosted by a company called Fizzbox and it was so.much.fun!! I’m relatively new to the blogger scene in Brighton so don’t really get invited to many events, but this was a double whammy of Afternoon Tea followed by Cocktail Making so if I was to make my blogging event debut in any way, then this was a good way to begin. We started the evening at Browns Brasserie in the North Laines for a lovely afternoon tea (albeit it was 6pm!) The drinkers amongst the group had a never-ending supply of sparking champagne whilst I enjoyed a selection of fruit teas and cucumber water. If you are looking to host a special occasion, then the setting was perfect. Not too crowded so everyone got a chance to talk to one another and the food was delicious!! I’m still annoyed that I missed out on sampling the caramel cheesecake!! Once we’d all filled our boots with cake and finger sandwiches, we hot stepped round the corner to our second location, Vodka Revolution on West Street. The walk wasn’t far at all, and provided a welcome relief to burn off some of the cake between the two activities. Now I’m not sure if you know Vodka Revs, but traditionally it’s been your 241 go stop for Friday/ Saturday night revelers, with cheap shots, cocktail jugs and weekend specials, I’d never have put it down on my list of ‘classy venues’…. however, the Brighton ‘Revs’ – (as we call it locally), has undergone a bit of a face-lift recently and it’s actually really pretty. Our cocktail making class was in its own private room upstairs, complete with white washed brick walls, trailing ivy and full size carousel horses! It was an Instagrammers dream…
Its little more than 7 weeks until baby number 2 gets here and I’m starting to have a mild panic!!! I only really noticed it yesterday when I was showing Ettie the baby book I’d completed for her while she was in my tummy (and again once she was born). All the pages were full with little photos of my bump and a message about what we’d been up to each week. It’s such a lovely keep-sake, but looking at I was smacked with Mum guilt because this little one doesn’t even have a new babygrow to call his or her own yet! At this stage in my pregnancy with Ettie, I felt really connected to my bump! We’d built the crib, had drawers full of nappies and I was checking the Baby Centre app almost daily to look up her development. But for the little pea in my tummy, I’ve made one solitary purchase! Granted it is another baby book which I do intend to fill in once he/she is here- but I think I’m in a bit of denial that they’re actually on their way! Until the weekend, I’d put this severe lack of organisation down to the fact that I’m still working (almost) full-time, telling myself that there’ll be time to sort everything out once I finish work, and I suppose that is still partly the case. But thinking about it, there’s probably another dimension to this lack of preparation and that’s fear!! … Fear of the unknown, fear of change and most of all fear that I wont have the energy to parent two small children? I think I’m burying my head in the sand osterich style because I’m worried I’m not going be able to cope? Before going back to work, I feel like I…
I spoke recently about our Babymoon to Santorini which we took when I was 28 weeks pregnant with Ettie and it was one of the best holidays we’ve ever had! Unfortunately we haven’t managed to plan anything quite as glamorous this time round, but we have book a cheeky trip to Hamburg next week which we are ever so exited about. Thinking about travelling when pregnant, it dawned on me that many women may be put off by the thought of sitting cooked up on a plane for a number of hours with an ever-expanding waistline. Flying can be uncomfortable at the best of times, never mind when you’re pregnant and have a little one to think about! What I would say in response to that, is that for me, the benefits of a babymoon outweigh all such reservations as it’s a chance to spend some time quality time away relaxing before your bundle of joy arrives. If you still have reservations, the good news is there are some simple steps you can take to make sure your trip is as pleasant as possible. Here are eight ways you can make flying when pregnant more comfortable. 1Talk to your doctor before you travel Not only will they be able to identify any pregnancy-induced conditions which could affect your travel experience, but they can also give you advice (and medication, if needed) to make your flight as worry-free as possible. The best time to book an appointment is when you’ve decided on a destination and the timing of your trip, but before you’ve booked it, just in case. 2 Travel in your second trimester Some advice I’m not following for our forthcoming trip to Hamburg, but would recommend is that if you do have any control over when you fly, take your trip during your second trimester.…
A few weeks ago, I shared the first part of our Babymoon Guide to Santorini where I talked in detail about our beautiful hotel and some of the best places we found to eat on the island. Because the post was a long one, I promised to follow it up quickly with Part Two, delving a little deeper into the holiday with an overview of our top ten sights and things to do (all suitable for pregnant people!) Our Babymoon was actually one of the best holidays we’ve ever had, but prior to travelling to Santorini, we didn’t really know much about the island – other than the fact it was magnificently beautiful and the views were worth a bob or two too. With that in mind, I thought it would be useful to share some insights from our travels and a little run down of what there is to see, in case like us, you have a niggle to visit Santorini but aren’t quite sure what to expect when you get there…. 1. Imerovigali I’ll start with Imerovigli as that’s where our hotel, La Maltese, was and so it’s the area we know the best. Located on the highest point of the Caldera Imerovigli literally means ‘viewing point’ in Greek. True to its name, the village offers spectacular views out over the ancient volcano and along the western coast line. At sunset the sun burns bright orange before sinking into the sea behind the volcanic islands of Palia and Nea Kameni. It really is a magical experience and ever so romantic. Imerovigli is also extremely central to all of the goings on in Santorini. From our hotel you could take a beautiful walk around the narrow winding streets of the Caldera into Fira (the island’s capital) or a short bus…
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