Our family holiday in Ibiza

"Whoah! We're going to Ibiza!"

Lyrics familiar from the Vengaboys, describing an island associated with clubbing, general partying, and drunken excess, and perhaps not somewhere that you would want to take the family. But after a brief stop in Ibiza Town on a cruise a few years ago, where we were pleasantly surprised by the historic town centre and pretty beach, a short break to Ibiza sounded as though it would suit our family perfectly.

We spent a week at the Fiesta Hotel Cala Nova in Es Canar to the north east of the island. The hotel adjoined Cala Nova beach, with a very short walk through the small town to Es Canar beach.

Both children were beautifully behaved all week. It helped a lot that we didn't pay for wi-fi at the hotel, and with our phones firmly locked in the safe they had plenty of attention! Having said that, I did manage to read three books on my Kindle, so they did manage to occupy themselves for quite a time as well.

We spent a lot of time at the beach. Harry re-discovered the joys of large scale sand construction, culminating in a very impressive road and tunnel system on our final day. Both beaches near to us were lovely, but we also took a bus one morning to Santa Eulalia just down the coast which was well worth a visit, it's a much larger town with a very clean beach, a little market and plenty going on. If we went again I think we'd take much more advantage of the very reasonably priced bus system to explore some more of the island.

We also spent time at the hotel swimming pool. The children's area wasn't huge, but it had a few slides and it was wonderful to watch their confidence increase throughout the week, even if they both still refuse to get their faces wet!

I kept Mia's hair up in plaits most of the time as it became so unruly with all the salt air and the sand. It makes her look so much older, she's definitely a proper little girl now.

Late each afternoon we went for a walk into Es Canar and almost always managed to get Mia to go to sleep in her pushchair, meaning that Ram could enjoy a beer for as long as Harry was kept busy by an ice-cream.

There weren't a huge number of kid's activities at the hotel but there was Mini Disco every evening which they both loved, definitely worth keeping them up a bit later than usual (and they did reward us by sleeping very slightly later in the mornings than they usually do!) One night we also enjoyed a trained parrot show, a bit tacky perhaps for the adults but absolutely enchanting for the little ones!

We had a lovely holiday, and I'd definitely recommend Ibiza as a family destination.

Mia's Third Birthday

At the weekend, my little Mia turned three, and I guess I can no longer really refer to her as 'the baby'. She has always been a feisty little thing with a determined temperament, prone to explosive tantrums, and thereby usually managing to get her own way. She bosses Harry about and upsets his games, but she is also very motherly towards him, and she is always there with his treasured cuddly giraffe if he's looking sad.

I've tried to treat them both the same, but although Mia does play with cars and trains, still the only colour that she can reliably recognise is pink, she loves dressing up, and she adores taking care of her dolls. Her life has been well documented on this blog, from my first post about our girly weekend when she was just a few weeks old, to her birth story. Now her hair is longer it's slightly easier to style, but it still usually quickly ends up as an untamed mess!

We celebrated her birthday with a little family party. The weather was nice enough for a barbecue in the garden, and both children loved having their relatives there to play with them. I like to try something different when it comes to making birthday cakes and this time I tried out a new cake tin - a giant cupcake. It worked pretty well, although it did take ages to cook and I think would have been better with a bit more filling. But now I've got the tin I'm planning on trying out lots of different variations, there are some fantastic ones to inspire me on Pinterest. I also made my first ever cheesecake, with a chocolate brownie base which turned out very well (if I do say so myself), and may become a future blog post!

Mia received some lovely presents. Ever since Harry's birthday back in January she has been not-so-patiently awaiting her own present receiving occasion and it didn't disappoint.

I remember Harry turning three with fondness, because it marked the time that he finally started sleeping through the night. Mia has been a little better so far with the sleeping, but it feels as though we still have more disturbed than undisturbed nights.

I'm hoping that three might also mean an end to the tantrums, although experience from others polled on Facebook suggests that this is not going to be the case! I must admit to feeling quite relieved that the toddler days are coming to an end, as I've not found toddler Mia that easy, especially with an older child to look after. But there is a bit of sadness there too as I watch her grow up. I'm sure I'll long for these baby days in the future!

Our evolving Lego storage system

I've been battling with how to store our Lego for a long time. I've even blogged about it before, when I thought that I'd come up with our ultimate Lego storage solution! Since I wrote that post, quite a lot more Lego has come into the house. We have sets, mainly from the Lego City range, and a large box of bricks and other useful Lego pieces.

I came very close to buying one large box and throwing it all in together, after I saw this solution at a friend's house and noticed how creatively Harry played with all the pieces. So when we bought them a new large box of Lego I began mixing it all together, only to find that Harry was becoming frustrated because he wanted to follow the instructions to build things and couldn't find the pieces that he needed. I realised that the way he currently plays with Lego means that he needs to be able to locate the bits that he needs, as well as using the extra pieces to build his own designs from scratch.

So we've decided to keep all his actual sets separate. They are stored in individual boxes safely on his bookshelf along with the instructions, so that when he wants to build a particular model he knows that he has everything he needs. He can get out a large tray and lay out all the pieces, then easily build the set. I found a photograph on-line of each, and then made a laminated label for the front of each box.

Then we have a large box for plain flat and brick pieces, then a second large box for slanted pieces and 'interesting' pieces. I've also separated out a box of the things that are used to make vehicles, like wheels and windscreens, as we have a lot of those. I'm probably also going to attempt some further sorting of pieces, especially for the really tiny bits that are easy to lose.

How do you store your Lego? I'm always looking for new ideas!

I don't have a book in me

It's often said that everyone has a novel inside them.

At Blogfest back in November last year, I attended a fantastic session called "Cracking yarns and tall tales: how to tell a better story". Among others, on the panel was Lionel Schriver, one of my favourite authors. I looked at them all in awe and wondered what it's like to be able to call yourself a writer. The most important thing that I learned from the session was that in order to be a writer, you need to write, constantly. Most of what you write will never be read, but you need to keep writing in order to be able to produce the content that will be.

For the last few years, November has come along and I've followed the progress of people that I know taking part in Nanowrimo - National Novel Writing Month, where participants sign up with the aim of completing a novel in a month. I've seen people that I know publish books, for example my brother and his novel Enlightenment. I wonder if I could challenge myself to have a go one day.

I haven't tried it, because I tell myself that I don't have the time to spend hours writing every day. But the truth is that I spend plenty of time working on this blog, not to mention time spent faffing about on social media, and if I made the effort I probably could find the time to write the 50,000 words required.

But I just don't think that I do have a novel in me. I have no idea whatsoever what I would write about. I'm also very self-conscious about what I write. I can write detailed blog posts full of information on places that we've visited, or instructions on how to do a simple craft, but I'm stuck when it comes to fiction. I used to love creative writing at school, and I don't think I was too bad at it, but I'm not sure I could keep the momentum going for an entire novel.

Do you think you have a novel inside you?

Collage England flag craft

With the football World Cup approaching, here in England our flag is already very visible out and about. We're very lucky really to have such a simple flag for our country that is easy to recognise and to replicate! So we made a simple collage England flag collage to hang up in the house.

The flag of England is the St. George's cross - a red cross on a white background. The England flag forms a part of the Union Flag, or the Union Jack. You can read all about the history of the flag here - Flag of England.

Our collage England flag is a simple colour matching and sticking activity. First I went through my collection of craft and collage materials and picked out anything red that I could find. I gathered red pom poms, feathers, lollipop sticks, pipe cleaners, scraps of paper, ribbon, stickers, foam shapes, shredded paper, sequins and lots more, and put them all together in a bowl.

I prepared the base flag beforehand, using a large sheet of white paper and forming the cross by gluing down strips of red paper. I wanted to have the red cross marked out so that it would be obvious where to place the collage materials, and also to make a nice background. Originally I was going to paint the cross, but I could imagine the paint mixing with the glue and smearing all over the white, so I wanted to keep it a nice crisp edge. It was a very quick craft to set up.

Then I let the children loose with PVA glue and the red bits and pieces. This was a really great craft for all of us to do together. Harry put a bit more thought into the placement of his objects. Mia just stuck them down, but she's now old enough to understand that she was only sticking them on the red parts of the flag. The size of the flag was large enough for them to both work on it together without getting in each other's way. I took responsibility for a generous sprinkling of red glitter at the end!

Now it's all dry it's ready to be hung up somewhere on the wall, probably next to our World Cup poster!

We are planning lots of other crafting ready for the World Cup. You might also like my World Cup hama bead designs which you can find over at Red Ted Art.

Decorating my wooden Ikea magazine files

I recently posted a craft of which I was very proud - my Ikea wooden drawers - which I upcycled by painting and covering with patterned paper. It fitted in with decorating our downstairs study which is now pale pink and houses a computer and desk instead of Playmobil. At the same time as I bought the drawers, years ago when we bought our first flat, I also bought some wooden file boxes. They are quite similar to the Knuff magazine files which are now available, but mine have silver label holders instead of a hole in the back.

I originally purchased these magazine files with the intention of painting or decorating them in some way, but I never got around to it and they have sat their in the plain unfinished state for years. After the success of the wooden drawers I decided it was time to freshen them up a bit. I was a bit daunted by having the empty them out - they are mainly used to store things that I want to keep like old school reports, programmes from festivals that I attended, old leaflets and ephemera that I like to hold on to. But it was also a chance to have a trip down memory lane and a bit of a sort out while I was there!

I gave each file two coats of paint, using the same matt emulsion that we used on the study walls - Dulux Blossom White - which is more pink than white. Two coats were definitely needed, and I painted all down the sides even though only the back will actually be visible.

The old labels had become rather faded, so I replaced them with some new ones, handwritten onto white card. Then I finished each one off with a strip of washi tape along the bottom. I have some lovely washi tape with musical notes on which I used for the folders of sheet music and musical theatre related ephemera, then I used some co-ordinating tape for the other files.

The washi tape is so easy to reposition if you get it wrong, and if I want to update the magazine files in the future it will be easy to remove it and repaint. I love how they now all match, and they now fit in really well with our new, lighter study.

Sponsored post - Summer Events in Cardiff 2014

Home to literally hundreds of events throughout the year, and an impressive venue in the form of the massive Millennium Stadium, Cardiff is a great place to enjoy a break if you're looking to take in an event this summer. From sporting events to concerts, Cardiff really does have it all. But what can you see this summer? Here are a few suggestions:

FIM Speedway Grand Prix

This Grand Prix is the biggest motorsport event of the year to be seen in Cardiff and attracts over 40,000 fans to the Millennium Stadium each year. On the 12^th of July, the stadium will come alive with the sound of engines revving and the smell of motor oil as the best speedway riders in the world compete to win this championship event. Speedway is a real heart in the mouth kind of motorsport and well worth a watch if you aren't familiar with the sport. The competitors race on powerful bikes that have no gears or brakes, at over 120kph, so there are always plenty of moments that have you gasping out loud and ultimately admiring the skill of these talented bikers.

Cardiff International Food and Drink Festival

Taking place between the 11^th and 13^th of July, the Cardiff International Food and Drink Festival is a great place for foodies to visit. Featuring the finest food, drink and crafts from Wales and around the world, this yearly festival is always a great hit with locals and visitors alike. Why not take a wander between the stalls, buy something delicious to eat and enjoy it while listening to the entertainment. You'll find speciality cheeses, artisan breads, amazing liquors and wines, delicious patisserie and so much more to tempt your taste buds that you'll probably venture back every day just to try something different for lunch.

Cardiff Harbour Festival

Held on the August Bank Holiday, this Cardiff favourite returns again and this year it brings the UK leg of the Extreme Sailing Series with it. You'll get to watch 40 foot catamarans racing each other around the bay at tremendous speeds, enjoy the British Fishcraft Championships and visit the continental market. There's music at the bandstand and the beach will be transformed into a traditional seaside style beach, with donkey rides, candy floss and lots of stalls and entertainment to enjoy. It’s a great weekend away for all the family.

Music

Look no further than Cardiff for a huge list of performances from some of the world's best loves singers and bands. This year Cardiff plays host to Kylie, Little Mix, the Pet Shop Boys, Dolly Parton, Paul Weller, Chris Rea and The Vamps. With so many musical genres represented, you will find it easy to find the perfect concert to see while staying in this vibrant city.

Cardiff is historic, modern, beautiful, interesting and home to a wealth of entertainment events and facilities, so why not take a look at what it offers you and book that well deserved break to Cardiff today (you'll find some great deals on a Travelodge in Cardiff online).

This is a sponsored post.