Simple Easter crafts for toddlers

With Easter and the Easter holidays fast approaching, today I'm sharing some of my favourite Easter crafts for toddlers and young children. Some of the very earliest crafts that I shared on this blog were Easter crafts, and so it's quite nostalgic for me looking back at them! Even though my children are a little bit older now I think that they would still enjoy some of these crafts and activities, especially the papier mache bowls and the Mini Egg cookies!

Click on the links to find a full tutorial.

Papier mache gift bowls

For these papier mache bowls I used some small plastic bowls from Ikea as a template. This is a fun craft that can provide some craft time each day over several days, as there are several different steps to the process. When finished they make a lovely Easter gift filled with Easter chocolates, or they can be used to store small items in the bathroom or bedroom.

Simple paper plate baskets

All you need to make these little baskets is a paper plate, a stapler and a strip of cardboard for the handle. We painted ours and decorated them with fake flower petals, then the children had fun collecting flowers and grass in the garden. You could also use them as personalised gift baskets for Easter.

Easter bunny egg holders and Easter chick egg holders

These simple bunnies and chicks are made from old cardboard tubes and they are the perfect size to hold a small egg like a Cadbury Creme Egg or similar. I remember making these for family members as Easter gifts when I was little!

Easter sensory tub

I loved putting together sensory tubs for my children when they were toddlers, I made them on all sorts of different themes. This Easter sensory tub has plenty of rice dyed in bright colours then coloured pom poms, shredded paper, tiny Easter chick toys and some spoons. In a plastic tub along with an old egg box and some plastic eggs there is plenty to keep young children busy!

Hama bead Easter egg suncatchers

If you read this blog regularly you'll know how much I love crafting with Hama beads! These Easter egg suncatchers use the large Hama bead Easter Egg pegboard to make frames which are then filled with coloured scraps of tissue paper. You could also use the frame for an Easter drawing or photograph.

If you like crafting with Hama beads then you might also enjoy this post - Easter crafts using Hama beads.

Mini Egg cookies

Finally a delicious Easter recipe! These Easter Mini Egg cookies are very easy to make and don't need an egg. I make them all the time with different chocolate but the Mini Eggs are definitely my favourite.

Happy Easter crafting!

Simple Mother's Day crafts for toddlers and young children

In the past I've shared lots of ideas for simple Mother's Day crafts that you can make with young children, and so I thought I'd re-share some of my favourites. These crafts are all really easy to do, and with a bit of help your toddler can make some lovely gifts for Mother's Day that are either useful or can be proudly displayed. Just click on the links to find the full tutorials.

I really enjoyed making these Pom Pom frames with a quote about Mothers. They are so easy to make, just a cardboard frame covered with plenty of glue and a pile of brightly coloured craft pom poms that toddlers can push into place. Finish off the frames with a printed quote or a photograph of the child.

These Hama bead covered jam jars make a lovely, practical gift, and are really easy to make. Just help the child make a strip of patterned Hama beads, perhaps in simple stripes or just random colours, then when you iron them, before they cool completely you can wrap them around the jar so that they cool to a curved shape which can be glued on to the jar.

Papier mache gift bowls are a great way to give a gift of sweets or chocolate, and can be re-used around the home once the treats have been eaten. They are fun to make with glue and paper, and can then be painted by the child to make a really personalised gift.

A Hama bead flower wreath looks complicated, but all you need is a small Hama bead flower pegboard and you can let the child loose creating different designs which can be assembled into a lovely decoration for the home. The individual flower designs can also be used to make magnets or key rings.

The classic cardboard tube pen and pencil pot desk organiser is something that I remember making for my own parents when I was little! Just paint some cardboard tubes, stick them together, and decorate with stickers and sequins.

Finally why not use some Hama bead photo frames to gift a photo or drawing. The frames are really simple to make and could be made in colours that match the photo or the recipient's decor.

Happy Mother's Day!

Valentine's Day crafts for toddlers

Over the years I've shared many Valentine's Day craft posts on the blog, and although my children are now getting a bit too old to indulge me with some seasonal crafting, I'm still proud of the crafts that we've worked on over the years. So with Valentine's Day approaching once again I thought I'd share some of the toddler and pre-schooler Valentine's Day crafts that we enjoyed doing together.

Stock up on red paint and cardboard, then click on the links below to find the details of each craft!

Valentine's Day toilet roll tube gift boxes

These simple gift boxes are so easy to make. All you need is a selection of cardboard tubes which you need to paint bright red or pink, then cut heart shaped pieces of red card to form the base. Glue on googly eyes and scraps of pink and red tissue paper and card. I also used a heart punch to make simple heart shapes. Stuff with shredded paper and fill with small sweets and chocolates.

Tissue paper Valentine's Day photo frames

These photo frames are fun for even the youngest children to make. Cut out the shape from thick cardboard, then coat in glue and stick down bits of torn coloured tissue paper. You can then embellish with buttons, beads or paper cut outs.

Valentine's Day keepsake bookmarks

To make these sturdy bookmarks all you need is a strip of coloured cardboard and some heart cutouts from paper, I used a heart punch. They are laminated and then a matching ribbon is threaded through the hole at the bottom. We wrote personalised messages on the back and gave them as gifts, and although we made them a couple of years ago they are still going strong!

Heart sun catchers

These sun catchers can even be made by very young children. They are made using clear sticky backed plastic, which is really easy for young toddlers to use in crafts as there is no mess with glue. They just need to fill the outline with pieces of torn coloured tissue paper, then you can apply another piece of the clear plastic to make a neat finish.

Valentine's themed jewellery box

Young children love having little boxes that they can use to store their precious bits and pieces! My daughter and I decorated this box with a Valentine's Day theme by painting it red and then adding heart themed stickers and embellishments. It's still in use in her room today!

Hama bead heart bunting

These Hama bead hearts are really simple to make using the small Hama bead heart pegboard, and they make a lovely set of bunting when strung together on some narrow ribbon.

I hope that you found something to keep you and your toddler busy!

If you have slightly older children that enjoy using Hama beads, you might also like my round up of Valentine's Day themed Hama bead crafts. 

Chinese New Year crafts for toddlers

In 2020, Chinese New Year will be celebrated on Saturday 25th January. I've rounded up some of the Chinese New Year crafts that we've enjoyed over the last few years, in case you are looking for some crafting inspiration for your toddler or pre-schooler. These crafts are great for very young children because they are easy and fun to do, and they use craft materials that can easily be found around the home. Click the links to be taken to the original post will full instructions and photos for the different Chinese New year crafts.

Simple cardboard lanterns

These simple lanterns can be made with thin cardboard or thick paper, then decorated using stickers or sequins. With coloured pipecleaner handles they look great strung up to decorate the room!

Paper cup lanterns

These paper cup lanterns are really simple to make and are a great way of recycling old paper or plastic cups that you may otherwise be throwing out. You just need stickers or sequins to decorate, and you can add some tissue paper streams to the bottom for some extra decoration. They are really fun for children to play with too, and make great decorations.

Paper plate dragon mask

Children love dressing up, and a paper plate makes a really good base for a dragon themed mask, complete with streamers and glitter.

Cardboard tube dragon puppets

These dragon puppets are made from old cardboard tubes and are great fun for children to make and decorate before putting on a Chinese themed show.

I hope that I've inspired you for some fun Chinese New Year crafting!

Annoying at the time, but I miss it now

Last night was another long evening of putting Harry to bed and suffering through his convoluted bedtime routine (a series of actions and phrases that must be repeated in a particular order and that if deviated from necessitates starting again. Very frustrating!) Once again, I got myself through it by promising myself that it won't be long before he won't want me putting him to bed, and I'll miss it when that happens.

It reminded me of some of the other annoying things that I had to do when they were small children, and that how when you are in the middle of something you don't appreciate that it's just a phase and will one day come to an end.

For example, toddler Harry went through a Button Moon stage. He played it with play dough, with cardboard props, watched episodes over and over, and for his third birthday he had a Button Moon cake. Throughout this phase, for lunch every day he would have a 'Button Moon sandwich', which was a circular Marmite sandwich with four holes in the centre. Then he demanded 'cheese around the edges' - so I had to cut up little cubes of cheese and arrange them artfully around the edge of the plate in just the right way to satisfy him. It was really annoying and made preparing his lunch quite a chore. But now I miss making him a shaped sandwich, he really did love it!

Also at mealtimes we always had to prepare a small bowl of food for his cuddly Giraffe. This was a little bowl of food from the toy kitchen filled with some scraps of green felt to make pretend food. It was really sweet - I'm sure that he doesn't remember but he's still so attached to Giraffe, I bet he'd love it if I made Giraffe a bowl of food tomorrow!

Bedtimes have always been a bit of a struggle in this house, and for a long time as part of the bedtime routine with both children we used an app on the tablet called Nighty Night. It's a picture of a farmhouse, and you click on the windows to put each animal to bed. There's a short and a long version, and I used to find it so boring sat there, desperate for some quiet time after a day spent with a toddler, waiting for them to painstakingly slowly put all the animals to bed. Then suddenly one night we didn't do it anymore and it was all forgotten, and now I quite miss it!

I used to dread the walk home from nursery after lunch with toddler Mia. It wasn't far away so I would take her scooter, which used to fill me with fear for the first part of the journey as she had to scoot alongside a busy road. Then soon after that she'd just give up and I'd have to push her home, balancing both rucksack and my handbag as I leaned over at an awkward angle. She was so slow, always wanting to stop to look for pine cones, even when I could see that there weren't any there, and she wanted to be lifted up to stand on every post that we passed. But now I miss our little chats and that time that we had together.

However one thing that I definitely don't miss about small children is the night times! They really were both such awful sleepers - Harry in particular with a couple of hours of screaming in the early hours every single night. I also don't miss those 4.45 am starts - even though he's still an early riser at least he can entertain himself in his room until we need to start getting ready for school!

What do you miss about the toddler years? And what will you definitely not miss?!

Baby and toddler things that I wish we'd bought

I often see lists that people have made of all the unnecessary things that they purchased for their babies and toddlers. It made me think of the things we didn't buy that, with the benefit of hindsight, we really should have done! We either didn't think were necessary at the time, or else I didn't consider them until it was too late to justify the purchase.

So here is my list of things that I really wish we'd had!

Top of the list is a video monitor. We ended up buying quite a pricy monitor anyway, so it wasn't the cost that put me off, I was just worried that I'd end up obsessed with watching the baby. But I think that we would have found one really useful, and would probably still be using it now. All those times in the middle of the night when I was woken up by a whimper and didn't know if the baby had gone back to sleep or whether it was the prelude to a two hour screaming marathon. Those occasions when I'd put a small toddler down for a nap, and I wanted to check if they were still asleep or up to mischief. Those very infrequent mornings when a small child actually slept past 6am, and I started to worry, but didn't dare go in to check in case they woke up.

On a similar note, I think that a two way baby monitor would also have been a good investment. We still use monitors for the children (I know, they are too old really, but we have a large house and we like to watch the television loudly downstairs in the evening while they are sleeping) and it would be nice in the mornings when they wake up and shout for us to call back and tell them to go back to sleep (ha!).

We definitely should have bought a decent buggy board. Harry was never a particularly good walker, and I used to push Mia around in her car seat on wheels because that configuration on our travel system created a sort of step that Harry could stand on. A proper buggy board would have had lots of use and been far more comfortable for all of us to use.

Also when it comes to being out and about, I'm sure that Harry would be much better on his bike now if we'd bought them a balance bike. I've seen tiny toddlers whizzing about on them, and they progress brilliantly to proper bikes. Harry is still riding about on a toddler bike with stabilisers which I'm a bit embarrassed about, and Mia has never even ridden a bike on my watch. We didn't get them one because they already had a Scuttlebug and scooters which they've had loads of use out of, and it just seemed a bit excessive to get them that as well.

Finally I also really wish that I'd invested in a nice change bag right from the start, instead of using the one that I got free when I joined the Boots Baby Club. To be fair it did the job, fitted well in the pushchair, has lasted incredibly well and is still in use packed up with spare clothes in the boot of the car. But I spent so much time carting it about, it would have been lovely to have a pretty one, not to mention a baby purchase that was something for me out of all the money we spent on things for the children.

I suppose in the end that's not a huge list (and probably not nearly as long as the list of things that we bought and didn't actually need, which I don't dare to make).

What would you add? I'd love to know!

Shopping toys for young children

Last week it was Mia's birthday, and we were quite pleased with a few of the presents that we found for her so I thought that I'd share them. She has been interested in playing shops for quite some time, and I'm finding that it's a great way to start teaching her a bit of number recognition as well as indulging her love for role play.

Mia had been talking about having a shopping trolley for some time, but all the ones that we'd seen were aimed at younger toddlers, quite large and clunky in bright plastic colours. She was also adamant that it had to have a seat for her dolly. So Ram found her this fab realistic little toy Waitrose shopping trolley in John Lewis. Her dollies fit in comfortably, it has a nice padded handle, and there is plenty of space in the trolley as well as space underneath for a shopping basket.

It's great because it's not too large, it looks good, and because it's quite subdued in colour it doesn't stick out too much when it's stored in the corner of the room. It cost £18 which I thought was quite reasonable for a sturdy, well made toy.

John Lewis sell nice baskets of groceries too, but we preferred a much cheaper one that we found on Amazon, at only £5 I think it was a bargain - Child's Shopping Basket. It came packed with plenty of play food inside and it's quite small, which means that it fits on the shelf underneath the trolley and Mia can carry it around easily. Some of the packets have barcodes on them which Mia enjoys placing against her till to 'scan' them like she does when I use the self-service till at the supermarket. The boxes are perhaps a little flimsy for very little ones to play with, but I think that ours are at the age now where they will look after them better.

We've never had any kind of toy till for the children, but I've always known it was something that they'd both love, so we spent a bit of time looking for a nice one. We wanted one that was durable and long lasting, and preferably a bit more grown up than the basic bright plastic toys aimed at younger toddlers. It's quite difficult to find one that resembles the type of tills that are actually used in supermarkets, but in the end we opted for the Calculator Cash Register by Learning Resources.

A big bonus is that it is solar powered so it doesn't need any batteries, and it has a lovely drawer for the money underneath which is easy to open and close with the press of a button and makes a satisfying 'ding'. The till beeps when you press a button and when you insert the credit card, and it's also a fully functioning calculator. The till comes with a full set of play money, both coins and notes (UK denominations) as well as a play credit card. At just over £25 it's a little pricier than some of the other toy tills on the market, but I'm hoping that we'll get our money's worth from it. I've noticed that even though Mia has not had it long she's already starting to recognise her numbers, something that I've been trying to teach her for a while and not found a way to keep her interested. The large flat area on the left is great to press the food boxes up against and use as a scanner.

Finally when you are shopping you need somewhere to put your money, and I love these little purses that my Mum bought for the children a little while ago. I've no idea where they are from I'm afraid, but they are so sweet!

With perfect timing, last week I received a copy of Let's Go Shopping Peppa to review. The book is all about Peppa's trip to the supermarket when Peppa and her family need something tasty for lunch. At the supermarket, Peppa finds everything on Mummy Pig's shopping list, but when they get to the checkout something extra has appeared in their trolley..! I really like this particular story because the scenario of going shopping is something that is familiar to all little ones, even if perhaps in reality they don't all love it as much as Peppa and George do! Mia watches a lot of Peppa Pig, so this book was a big hit, we loved reading it together and because she has seen the corresponding television episode several times she knew what was going to happen and enjoyed telling me all about it. A lovely companion gift!

We've set up a little shop in the corner of the living room and I can see many days ahead of playing toy shops. Mia loved helping me to make the shop (she built the little walls herself out of her coloured blocks) and she's already learned a few tricks of the trade, like placing a few little toys by the till to tempt the buyer, and then trying to sell me something extra while I'm paying for my shopping!

I think that our shopping role play set up is pretty well sorted now!

We received the Let's Go Shopping Peppa book to review, all the other bits we bought ourselves. Amazon links are affiliate.

Dealing with our threenager

Harry was a difficult baby, but we were very lucky with him as a toddler. I used to scoff at articles about threenagers, because life with Harry improved immensely when he turned three. He finally began sleeping through the night (at least most of the time), he was dry night and day, and was interested in everything. You could always keep him busy by talking to him about what was going on around him and sharing interesting facts. Of course he had his moments, but I don't remember him ever lying on the floor kicking and screaming.

Mia however became a bit of a tempestuous toddler, and I find myself having to deal with her in a completely different way. They are both so different personality wise. Harry is sensitive, needs time to himself, and takes things very much to heart. Mia is more unpredictable, if she is upset she explodes with anger, hitting and screaming, but then a few minutes later it is all completely forgotten, as though you've flipped a switch. Harry has never really done anything naughty, Mia is a little more contrary - for example if you tell her not to touch something she will immediately try to touch it, and then look at you to see your reaction. She is never sitting still, even if I try to sit them on the sofa in front of the television she is jumping and climbing about.

It has taken me a while to realise that I need to deal with them differently and to cater to their different personalities. When Harry is feeling tired and emotional especially he needs time to himself, perhaps to be set up and left alone with a Lego set to build. Mia needs someone to play with her, either to play a board game or to engage in some role play with her dolls. This leads to frustration from them both if Harry wants some space and Mia wants him to play.

It's hard work and when it's just me and Mia I do feel like I'm constantly on the go, with no time to get on with anything by myself. But when I do play with her it's a lot of fun. I enjoy playing board games and I love seeing her little imagination come alive, even if she does get cross with me when I don't play out her role play the way that she wants me to, and at least I do have three mornings to myself when she's at nursery so that I can recover a bit!

I'm just hoping that she calms down a little bit before she starts school in September, although at least then it will be down to the teachers to deal with her tantrums and not me!

Mixing up the play dough

We bought the children some new play dough at the weekend and I made a mistake. Instead of stashing it away, I left it out on display and Harry saw it. I'm very strict with our play dough, and I only open one pot at a time. If both children want to play with it and they have a different colour each, they sit at opposite ends of the table and there is no mixing. They are only allowed a second colour if all traces of the first are put away.

Then this week I had a sudden realisation. Play dough is not that expensive. You can make your own very cheaply. The colours are designed to be mixed. Harry spends ages watching YouTube videos where people play with play dough sets and make all sorts of colourful creations. By only allowing one colour at a time I am stifling little imaginations. Furthermore, play dough will not be a part of this household forever. In a few short years there will no longer be any play dough in the house and I'll probably even miss it.

So I let Harry open up four whole pots of play dough and mix up the colours. I made sure that he understood that once the colours were mixed they wouldn't go back to how they were, and he didn't mind at all. So I watched through my fingers as he smooshed the colours together, copying models from suggestions on the packaging and coming up with his own designs.

Harry had a wonderful time. The world didn't end. He happily packed it all away himself ready for next time, and he was so proud of the things that he had made. And I was quite proud of myself too. So no more to play dough OCD!

Our summer holiday so far

The summer holidays are flying by, and I'm starting to feel a bit anxious about running out of time! At the beginning of July I posted our Summer Holiday List, a (rather ambitious) list of all the things that I wanted to do over the holidays.

We have been making fairly good progress so far, and I've been making a real effort to schedule things in. We've been doing a great deal of crafting, making good use of a wonderful bundle of crafty goodies that we received from the fantastic Craft Merrily. We've been Hama beading, loom band making and discovering Fimo.

We've joined the Summer Reading Challenge at the library and visited a couple of times so far. We've had a Roman themed day and taken a photograph for each letter of the alphabet. We've also played games in the garden, had plenty of barbecues and we're working on a magic show.

But I'm looking at the time that we have left, and it's disappearing fast. We are away for a bit towards the end of the holiday, and along with meeting up with friends and family and other local events that are on, it all seems very busy. I'm ridiculously worried that I'm going to feel like I've failed if we don't complete the list, even if we have had a great summer!

Our first school summer holiday

It isn't long now until the end of term. I can't believe that Harry has almost finished his first year of school! So this means that we are approaching our first long summer holiday. We have a week away booked, but apart from that Ram has no holiday to use, and so I'll be enjoying a lot of time with the children. Mia will continue to go to her nursery for two mornings a week - normally my quiet time and a chance to do some blogging - so I'll have plenty of Harry time.

I remember last summer very clearly. The weather was beautiful, and we were fortunate enough to enjoy lots of outings and other fun activities. I was conscious at the time that it was my last couple of months with both small children at home. This year, I really want to make the most of the summer, and make some fun memories together.

So, like many people I've been putting together a list of things that I want to do. We've been saving our Tesco vouchers so we will be having a few family days out at the weekends, so this list is really about things for the three of us to do at home. Some are for sunny days, some for rainy days, some for when it's just me and Harry, some for us all. Many are taken from my Day Zero Project list and some are inspired by other lists which I've seen online. We probably won't complete them all, but at least we'll have plenty of inspiration! So here goes:

• Plan some themed days. I'm still thinking, but perhaps a Pirate Day, and something 'sciency' maybe volcanoes and earthquakes.
• Spend a night in a tent in the garden with both children (fully accepting that we will get no sleep). Spend a couple of nights out there with just Harry too. Have hot chocolate, sing camp fire songs, and read by torchlight.
• Take a photograph for each letter of the alphabet. I've not decided yet whether to do things or actual letters!
• Make some Artist Trading Cards with the children, I used to love making these and I was recently sent some blank ones to try out.

• Have a picnic on Highdown Hill.
• Set up the water slide in the back garden (and hopefully invite some friends round to try it out too)
• Have plenty of barbecues, and definitely make lots of pizza. 
• If it's a clear night, lie on a blanket in the garden to watch the Perseid meteor shower (August 10-13th) and maybe persuade Harry to join me.

• Make sure Harry doesn't forget everything that he's learned at school, in particular working on his writing. 
• Set up a shop for Harry to practise counting.
• Set up a temporary museum for Harry to display his treasures and write about them.
• Plenty of reading.
• Pick flowers and press them to make pictures.
• Take the children for cake in a cafe. 
• Make a big bed in the living room and spend all day in our pajamas (even me!). Read books, draw and tell stories.
• Have a baking day and bake (and eat!) some new things together.
• Learn some magic tricks and do a magic show.
• Make loom band bracelets and Hama bead creations.
• Go to the beach and collect pebbles, paint and decorate them, and then return them to the beach for people to find.
• Spend a day playing garden games - skittles, bowls, chalk, obstacle courses, circuit races.
• Learn to identify ten constellations.
• When it rains, go out and jump in the muddy puddles in the lane down the road.
• Join the summer reading scheme at the library and take home bags of books.
• Learn to identify ten different birds and write their names.
• Start a nature journal for Harry.
• Start playing simple board games with Mia now that she can understand them a little better. 

It sounds idyllic doesn't it! Of course I'm being realistic, it's not always going to be easy having them both at home, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of fighting and screaming. But if I plan it all out and prepare in advance I'm hoping that we can have a lot of fun.

I hope that you have a fantastic summer! What do you have planned?

A day out in London

On Sunday we had a last minute family day out in London. We've taken both children to London before for a couple of days, but this was the first time we attempted it all in one day. We tried something new - instead of taking the train which is quite a trek for us, we drove and parked in Westfield Shopping Centre (Shepherds Bush). They are currently running a promotion with PayPal where you can park all day at the weekend for just £3, a definite bargain and it worked really well. The tube station is right outside and you can easily get right where you want to be.

We started in The British Museum, which we've not visited before with children.

Although Harry was interested in the exhibits that we showed him, there wasn't really a lot there for Mia. It was very busy so we couldn't really let her run about, and there wasn't anything there for them to touch or interact with. Although there is plenty there to interest young children, I think that it helps if they are at an age where they can understand a little more about what they are seeing. Harry was fascinated by the mummies, Mia was disappointed because I think she was imagining something like a baby group filled with Mummies.

So then we went on to our old favourites, The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. We have our route around them now. In The Natural History Museum we visit the dinosaurs, the mammal hall with the blue whale, and the escalator up through the giant Earth. The Volcanoes and Earthquakes gallery has been refurbished since our last visits and had some very interesting displays. Both children enjoyed the earthquake simulator which has now reopened. Harry is still fascinated with the David Attenborough programme that was on over Christmas, and he likes finding the exhibits which featured.

In the Science Museum we started off in the Garden area in the basement where there is lots to do for little ones, then moved upstairs to Launchpad. Previously we've visited during the week, and we were surprised by how much quieter it was on a Sunday. Admittedly it was a sunny day outside, which affected the visitor numbers, but we really thought that it would be much busier.

They both enjoyed spending time here. Harry wants to be a 'scientist' when he grows up, so he kept asking to see more scientist things. We stayed here until mid-afternoon and could have stayed longer, but we were conscious that we didn't want to be too late home. Harry did brilliantly with all the walking, he's a reluctant walker but he hardly complained at all.

We stopped for dinner at Pizza Hut on the way home and then they were both straight to bed despite sleeping all the way home in the car, so they were obviously exhausted! We had a great day and managed to fit so much in, definitely a day trip that we'll be thinking about repeating soon!