Vegetable patch update

You might remember that a few weeks ago I blogged about our vegetable patch. I was feeling very proud of myself, because I had spent a couple of hours working hard out there, pulling out loads of weeds and raking it all over nicely, ready for planting. I didn't really go out there much after that, until the week before Ram and I enjoyed a few days without the children in San Francisco and my parents were due to come down to look after the children. They'd promised to bring some plants with them, so I spent a bit of time out there pulling up all the new weeds that had grown in the meantime, and making it look nice and neat for them.

I came back to find that my parents had been very busy! They had planted out all my tomato plants in neat little rows, as well as adding some runner beans, onions and potatoes, and it's looking wonderful. Dad has even built a little teepee with canes for the runner beans. Also, fingers crossed, it looks as though the cats have found somewhere else to relieve themselves this year, so I can let the children help me dig around in it.

I've been back and weeded again since we got home, but I'm afraid that I can't take a great deal of credit for how it's looking at the moment. Having it looking so lovely is a great motivation for me to continue with it though, perhaps this will be the year that I finally keep my tomato plants under control and fight back the nettles that grow in from the open space behind us!

Mia's 4th birthdays

This year, Mia's birthday fell on the last day of our holiday. Not the best day to celebrate a birthday - a rushed morning departing from the cruise ship and then most of the day spent at Barcelona airport. So I'm afraid that we told her it was her 'pretend' birthday, so that we could celebrate her birthday properly a week later. We sang a quick Happy Birthday over a cake at breakfast (no candles are allowed on cruise ships) and even though we insisted that it wasn't her actual birthday that day I think she suspected - when we asked her the next day how old she was she answered four!

She has a couple of little girl friends that we meet up with regularly during the week, so this week I hosted and we had a vaguely Frozen themed party, then at the weekend we had another party with Ram's family that were visiting. My children always seem to end up celebrating their birthday on multiple occasions! We saved most of her presents and cards for her to open together and she had a Frozen cake. I'm afraid that I took the easy option and just bought some little Frozen toys that I placed on a blue iced cake, but I was pretty pleased with it!

During the week between her pretend birthday and her real birthday though I'm afraid both Ram and I over compensated for the fact that we'd not celebrated her birthday on the actual day. I bought rather too many Frozen themed party accessories and Ram bought a few too many presents, which we then had to distribute around other family members to give to her so that she didn't have too many from us. Although we were actually so pleased with some of the things that we found for her that I'm planning a separate post about them this week!

I can't quite believe that Mia is four already, and the clock is ticking until she starts school. We've received her class list now, and will be arranging the teacher home visit very shortly before she has a couple of settling in sessions. It feels like I've only just realised that I'm now spending my last few weeks with a pre-schooler!

Visiting Pompeii with small children

My husband and I visited Pompeii together almost ten years ago. We purchased the audio guide and our visit lasted longer than the batteries did - we were there for nearly 8 hours and it was exhausting. With our recent cruise stopping in Naples we really wanted our children (Mia aged almost 4 and Harry aged 6) to experience Pompeii, but we knew that a visit like ours was unrealistic. So here are my tips if you are planning a trip to Pompeii with small children.

Before you visit

We prepared the children, in particular Harry, for the things that he would see, to get him interested before the trip. There are lots of videos on YouTube with information about Vesuvius and Pompeii, but it's a good idea to watch along with your children so that you can censor the information if necessary - some of the videos can be a little scary for young children. I can recommend this video from the BBC - David Tennant visits Pompeii ;) We also looked up pictures on Google image search, both present day photographs and images of the excavations over the years, I found it all pretty fascinating too.

Plan your visit in advance as much as you can - Pompeii is big. Although the buildings open to the public are found in clusters, there is still a lot of ground to cover. If you only have one day to visit, even without small children in tow you need to be prepared for the fact that you won't be able to see it all. You can download a map of Pompeii and a guide to Pompeii, with free paper copies of these documents being available to pick up when you arrive. We planned a route through the city that visited some of the major sites, but we didn't stray too far from the entrance and we knew that it would probably be unrealistic to get as far as the amphitheatre located on the other side from our entrance.

Getting to Pompeii

Our cruise ship docked in Naples. We took a taxi to Porta Nolana station and travelled on the Circumvesuviana line to Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri which takes you to the Porta Marina entrance. The Circumvesuviana line is a separate train line to the main Italian train network and it runs from Naples to Sorrento. We found taxis in Naples to be quite a hassle - very pushy, wanting to drive us all the way to Pompeii and trying to put us off taking the train. Of course a direct taxi is easier, but it is a lot cheaper to take the train, and although it's a bit scruffy it felt perfectly safe with plenty of other tourists. For travel from different starting points, see the official Pompeii website (in English).

We felt that a guided tour would be too long and intensive for our children, but there are plenty of companies offering tours, both bookable online in advance, outside the gates as you approach, or through your tour operator. The audioguide is also another option which you can purchase along with your tickets at the entrance, it certainly served us very well ten years ago.

It's important to arrive as early as you can to avoid the queues - Pompeii opens at 8.30am. We arrived around 9.30am which was the earliest we could manage and the queue was still relatively short, but when we left around 2pm there was a very long line. The site can get very busy as the large tour groups arrive, so an earlier visit is definitely better if you are sticking to the popular buildings. When you purchase your tickets, look out for a sign on the window telling you which buildings are open that day, and don't forget to pick up your free map and guidebook. There are also toilets here tucked away in the corner.

Tips for a visit to Pompeii with small children

When you arrive, a good place to head for is the Forum which is a short walk from the Porta Marina entrance. It's a big open space so that you can orientate yourself, and along one side are sheds containing various artefacts including some of the plaster casts made from the bodies, which the children found fascinating although I'm not quite sure they understood what they were.

We got Harry his own free map and guidebook from the entrance. The guidebook is quite difficult for little ones to read, containing lots of Latin terms, but he loved identifying the buildings from the pictures as we saw them and he felt important as he told us bits about them.

If you can manage it, don't take a pushchair. Although Mia very rarely uses a stroller now we do take one for trips that involve a lot of walking. But Pompeii with a pushchair would be almost impossible. There are pavements, but you can't rely on them as they are often blocked by scaffolding, and they are pretty rough anyway. For a younger child you might not be able to do without one, but you'd have to bear in mind that the areas you would see might be quite limited.

Be led by your children, and spend more time on the things that interest them. Our children spent quite a lot of time splashing in puddles made by the water fountains and jumping across the stepping stones, but amongst their play they were still learning.

Although the facilities have improved since our previous visit nearly ten years ago, there are large areas of the site with no toilet or refreshment areas, and a visit to Pompeii can be very hot and tiring. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes with hats and sunglasses, wear lots of sun cream, take plenty of water and snacks, and make frequent stops in shady areas. There are many places where you can stop for a sit down on a step for a bit of a rest and a chat about what you can see around you.

We spent around three hours in Pompeii, which was plenty of time to see the main buildings and get a really good feel for the site. The children were very good, but when they started to ask when we were going back to the ship we didn't push it too much. We were lucky because we had both already visited the site and were happy to just see the highlights, and the children definitely took in a lot from their visit. Since we returned home they've been busy reconstructing Pompeii with Duplo, and even Mia keeps talking about it! I'm really glad that we made the effort to take them.

Father's Day crafts with Baker Ross

This year Father's Day is on the 21st June. I must admit that I've been all over the place lately and not had much time to stop and think, so it was quite a relief when I received a lovely box of Father's Day crafts from Baker Ross which I could do with the children to make some suitable gifts and keepsakes.

First up was these gorgeous Father's Day Handprint Poem Decoration Kits. They are quite similar to the handprint decorations that the children made for Mother's Day and I love that they are simple to make and even though it's a kit the children can really interpret it themselves using their creativity. Both children were very keen to make the decorations without any help, and as you can see even Mia at just 4 did a really good job with her red handprint! They are so bright and colourful, I'm hoping that Ram will take them into work to brighten up his office.

Next we made some super simple Father's Day Wooden Keyring Kits. They are very quick to make, although the children did need a little help threading the string through the beads. Ram needs a new keyring for his car keys, he might end up with both keyrings on it though as he won't want to have to choose a favourite!

I love these DAD Wooden Decorations which come with little pegs that you can slot into the back to stand them up. They were so simple to decorate and I think that the look great. I painted them with acrylic paints first, then gave the children a variety of stickers and crafty embellishments from our stash to decorate them with. I've always found the Baker Ross wooden shapes very easy to paint, they take the colour well and dry quickly so you can get on with your project.

Also in the Father's Day craft range are these T-Shirt Craft Boxes. We've not had chance to decorate these yet, but I'm thinking that they would look great decorated as football shirts. Ram was lucky enough to go to a Barcelona game while we were on holiday, so I might paint one up for him as a little Barcelona shirt!

Finally, you need a Father's Day card, and I think that the children did a fab job with some Father's Day Face Cards. Again, similar cards are available for Mother's Day, and I think that they are lovely. There are four different designs in the pack along with envelopes, it would be fun to get the children to do one each year and see how their pictures evolve over time!

As always, I think that the Baker Ross craft kits represent excellent value for money. Because the kits each contain several of the same craft, it would be a great idea to get together with friends and put in an order together, I usually have plenty of extras from my boxes to share out among my crafty friends!

I received these products as a member of the Baker Ross Bloggers Network.

Sponsored post - Passing down financial advice

I like to think that as a couple we are quite good with our finances. The only debt that we have ever had is our mortgage, apart from a few interest free loans when we first started out, buying a car and large pieces of furniture. I was lucky that my parents were very financially aware, and they passed down lots of helpful advice. I've always known the importance of not getting into debt if you can avoid it (apart from that inevitable mortgage!), and I've had the benefit of them helping me to look around for the best places to save and invest any spare money that I might have had, while stressing the importance of keeping accessible savings.

When I was a teenager my parents trusted me with a monthly allowance, beginning at £60 a month, which was to pay for everything that I needed apart from school things - clothes, toiletries, books, going out and so on. I supplemented it with the money that I earned from a small part time job at the library. I loved the responsibility, and it definitely made me much more aware of how much things cost as well as having the freedom to choose how I spent my money. I also felt guilty when my school books and art materials were so pricey and I had to put in an expenses claim for them!

Since meeting Ram, I've become much more aware of the importance of shopping around. He can become somewhat obsessed with finding the best possible price for something, whether it's a packet of dishwasher tablets or a foreign holiday. Sometimes I do complain about having to do the weekly shop across three different supermarkets, but I must admit that over the years we've saved a great deal of money. We have also become very good at shopping in the sales, and we always have a stack of toys that we've bought for the children at bargain prices ready so that when a birthday or Christmas comes up we can shop from our cupboard.

These are all things that I hope to pass down to my own children. I'm very keen to try and teach them the value of money, although I must admit we've been putting off starting a regular pocket money habit! They know that they can't have everything that they want, and we try not to spoil them too much. We go on quite a few day trips and outings as a family, but the most we will ever buy them from the gift shop is a postcard, and we always take our own sandwiches everywhere! I'm hoping that they will pick up on all of our little money saving habits.

I think that my children are too little for their own current account just yet, but we'll definitely be opening one for them once they start receiving regular pocket money as I think it will be a great way for them to keep track of their money, and with online banking they'll easily be able to watch their savings add up and plan how to spend them!

This is a sponsored post.

Checking back in...

It has been a mad few weeks!

A couple of months ago, my husband won an award at work, a very prestigious award and a credit to all his hard work. The prize was a five day, all expenses paid trip for the two of us - to San Francisco! I agonised for days about going, leaving the children for so long and being so far away from them, not to mention having to depend on family for childcare. We are very lucky indeed to have supportive family that readily offered to step in and so we came up with a plan, and Ram and I jetted off together to (almost) the other side of the world, just like in the old days!

We had a brilliant time and I'm so glad that we went, we were very well looked after throughout and it was a great opportunity to spend time together as a couple. We drank lots of wine, visited Alcatraz, toured vineyards and climbed up lots of hills! It all went smoothly, and the children were fine of course.

But then we arrived home on the Tuesday afternoon, and on Wednesday evening we set off again for our family half-term holiday - a few days in Barcelona followed by a Mediterranean cruise! It was a frantic few hours of washing and packing, before grabbing Harry from school on Wednesday afternoon and heading straight to the airport (he was lucky to have inset days on the Thursday and Friday meaning that we could extend our holiday), then returning late Sunday night ready for school this morning.

We had a lovely few days in Barcelona exploring the city, then we set sail for a week on the Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world. The entertainment on board the ship was fantastic and we had some wonderful stops, including full days out in Rome and Naples with a visit to Pompeii, and there will be plenty more on that to come on the blog!

So that explains why I've been a bit quiet over here lately, but I'm back now with lots to say!

Our love affair with Duplo

I feel like I'm constantly trying to keep on top of the children's toys. I keep a close eye on what they are playing with, rotate out things that have been pushed to the back of cupboards, and remove unloved toys to a holding area for a few months before passing them on to the charity shop. As part of this process I notice the toys that they play with over and over again, and the toy that has easily had the most play value in our house between both children has been the Duplo.

We have a large box of Duplo. There are bricks which were mine when I was little, a couple of new boxes we bought of plain bricks, and Mia has recently acquired a couple of the Disney Princess Duplo sets. They literally have this Duplo box out everyday.

When we go on holiday I pack a bag with just a small pile of bricks, a couple of cars and some people, and it can keep them both happily entertained in their spare time for ages. I sometimes wonder if I should just empty out the toy cupboard and just let them keep their Duplo. Even Harry at 6, much as he loves his Lego, will play with it for ages. I think it's more satisfying as he can build something larger more quickly, and he uses his imagination brilliantly to expand on the basic bricks.

What has really fascinated me over the last few years is seeing how differently Harry and Mia play with the Duplo. Harry has always been about the vehicles, he had a Duplo fire station and he drove the fire engines around and built cars. He's never shown much interest in the people that came with the sets. For Mia on the other hand it's all about the role play. She builds houses and a pre-school for her people, and she only uses the cars to transport them about. Especially now she has a couple of Disney princess people, she plays long involved games with them. I'm sure it's nothing to do with how I've raised them, it's just their natural instincts showing through!