The little things in life...

As part of our trip in Italy late last year we travelled from Lake Garda on the train to the cosmoplitan city of Verona. If you haven't caught my previous posts you can find them here and here.

We absolutly loved Italy and Verona was no exception.

We visited on a bit of a gloomy day but that didn't take anything away from the beauty of the city.



We were lucky that Daisy was happy to be in her carrier for most of the day and actually napped for a good part of it so we were able to explore freely and well in peace kind of! Without the carrier it wouldn't have been quite so easy as the main shopping streets are busy and you can do a fair bit of walking to see some of the outskirts of the city down by the river.

One place you have to visit is Casa di Giulietta, which you will no doubt know as the House Of Juliet. You will have read or at least watched Romeo and Juliet and well this is the balcony that features in the film. If I am completely honest it wasn't all that exciting but somewhere I would have been disappointed to not have seen if we had missed it!

The other top tourist spot was The Arena. We paid to enter and well again it wasn't all that exciting, I expect it to be far more enjoyable in an evening watching some spectacular show though! It was an amazing piece or architecture from the outside though, did you know it is older than the Coliseum?

Other than that we wandered along the River Adige and took in the beautiful sights and architecture. We also sat in one of the famous squares had a nice coffee, gelato and people watched.

Here are a few of our photos from our trip;






Hayley xx

I know you'll have read posts like this before and heard it all before from other people. But what's the harm in saying it or hearing it again if it's the truth?

Well Summer 2016 you have been one to remember. Not because we had a super fancy holiday to anywhere exotic or because we managed to baske in the hot summer sun for days on end (becuase there wasn't much of that anyway)!

But because firstly we welcomed our little Alex into the family and then pretty much just enjoyed the time we had off work together to have family time, camp and play when the weather was mild enough to be able to get out.

There is no real narrative for this post except to save some of my favourite photos of the summer in my "memory bank" , my blog. 

So about 18 months ago I published a post all about flying with a baby and some top tips. Recently my blog has gone through a bit of a make over and I have been focusing quite heavily on all things travel and photography, although I will always continue to discuss and vent about all things "mum" too.


In light of the recent re-jiggle I thought I would do another post about flying with toddlers and babies, an updated version if you like. Since the last post I wrote we have taken Daisy a few more times on flights and so I may be able to offer a few more tips too.

• Make sure you take a change of clothes for them (or as many as you can in your hand luggage)- One time when Daisy was around 6 months old we had only just left home and she vomited everywhere. I would have had to root around in our suitcases if I hadn't packed a spare sleepsuit with us for travel. Or I dread to think what I would have done had it have happened on the flight! Especially having to share a seat with her all the way, delightful.  

• Take plenty of snacks and food. You can take as many snacks and pouches etc with you as you see fit when travelling with a baby/ toddler. Be prepared to try some random bits at security if asked though, although I have never had to do this myself I have heard about people being made to. You are allowed to take baby milk, water and food on board if it is for your babies use for the duration of the flight, and it CAN be over 100ml. Baby food and milk is exempt from the 100 ml liquid rules. This includes; sterilised water, breast/powdered/ cartoned milk of all kinds, and baby food of all consistencies and packaging. 

• Take Calpol with you. Again you CAN travel with baby's medicine no problem. Luckily I didn't need this but always good to have with you. 

• Take lots of interesting things to play with and look at. I usually go to the pound shop before we are due to go and pick up some random little things as mini presents for the flight bag. I do this because if they are things she hasn't seen before they tend to keep her attention longer! Books are always a winner with us!

• When booking a flight try to look at times if possible. In the past we would have just hopped on the cheapest flight going but now we do try to make them as appropriate as possible.

• You will in most cases be able to take your pram/ stroller right up to the gate so you don't have to lug baby around the airport and your hand luggage etc. If your stroller is in the aircraft hold, then you will generally collect it at the baggage belt, where you collect your suitcases.

Daisy's imagination really has come out of nowhere. For a while now she has liked to look after her "babies" by rocking them to sleep, feeding them and giving them lots of cuddles.

Erddig is another National Trust property that is relatively local to us so the other week we made our first visit there and were joined by one of our friends for a picnic.

As a child my sister and I would often holiday in Cornwall with our parents and more often than not our cousins too. I remember those times being full of beach days, body boarding, sticky ice creams and scrounging seagulls. One actually stole my cousins ice cream out of her hand once when in St Ives!

It doesn't happen very often but I thought I would have a day to myself, well a day with my mum at least. Minus the children. And when I say a day I mean just a few hours as for some reason I just can't drag myself away from those cheeky cherubs even though some days I feel like running away from them!

My mum works in a school and so has the summer holidays off and so we thought why not make the most of it, we don't often get the chance to spend time together like this. Our visits now a days are spent chasing around children, stopping them raiding the biscuit tin and ransacking the house!



I had recently been sent a challenge and so thought I would tackle that while on our day out too. I was asked by Fenetic wellbeing to check out places in my local town to see how accessible they were for wheelchair users.I don't use a wheelchair but I am very rarely without a pushchair and so am more than aware that there are plenty of places that just don't accommodate them.

First we hit the town and headed to various different stores before hitting Superdrug. I was after a bit of a refresh of my makeup bag after having a throw out session a few days before. It was really interesting looking at our girly day with a new pair of eyes, those of a wheelchair user or as pushchair user at least. The store was all on one level and had automatic doors so relatively easy to navigate, although the cages on the shop floor that were being used to restock the shelves did cause a bit of a challenge.

We then went out for lunch and decided to go to the Nandos right by the cinema. Again it was all on one level and the spaces between the tables were plenty wide enough for a wheelchair user to get through. However I did find the lack of an automatic door to be an issue and also the height of the counter where you order your food. This really surprised me for such a large chain of restaurants and wasn't something I had thought of before.

To finish our day off we headed to Cineworld and went to watch a film, Me before you. What a tear jerker! I had already read the book so was well aware of how emotional it was! I don't go to the cinema very often as I am not all that into films and find that it can be so expensive too. To get into the cinema they have large doors which sadly once again were not automatic, if I had been with the pushchair I would have had to wrestle it to get in. They were really heavy too so I have no idea how a wheelchair user would have got in! Other than that though I would see no issues as it was all on one level, good counter height and the toilet facilities were good.

It was such a lovely day out and something we should definitely do more often,

Hayley xxx

*Collaboration but all opinions are my own

Venice is pretty spectacular. That's not the kind of word I tend to use very often but it just seems to fit in this instance. 




Venice with kids is perhaps not the same kind of romantic trip as it might be as a couple, but it can still be enjoyed with little ones and it's still just as amazing.  

If we are honest it is fairly unlikely Daisy will ever remember her trip to Venice, she was just under 2 years old after all. But she had a great time while we were there and we captured some memories for her to look back on. 






We found ourselves just walking about taking it all in but did end up on the main square a few times. We aren't made of money and so the idea of a coffee in Piazza San Marco wasn't too appealing, as much as I would have loved to have sat and watched everyone scurrying past while having an Aperol. It just wouldn't have been worth it with a toddler to have to chase about. But we did spend quite a lot of time say in the square and wandering about. Daisy had a little boogy to the orchestra outside one of the cafes, chased the pigeons around the square and sat on the step to enjoy a gelato in the square. She may not remember those moments but as parents we will. 





We didn't visit the museums and do much of the "adult" type visits because Daisy just wouldn't have been interested. But if I'm honest I was happy to just roam about and explore the city. We hopped on water taxis from one side to the other and just enjoyed the time rambling about stopping for a coffee, gelato or pizza en route! 

We had Daisy in her carrier most of the time as I really would not recommend a pushchair in Venice. The grounds uneven, it's busy and there are lots of obstacles to tackle and I can't imagine it would be pleasant trying to do that with a buggy! I did a review here all about how we used it on our travels. 

Venice is a bit of a maze, albeit a very pretty one that makes you feel like you're in a story rather than real life. It’s fairly small, and even if you do get lost, you will soon find signs on the walls pointing to the Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco, or Ferrovia (train station) which helps you to guide yourself.  
We did just two days in Venice before heading to the lakes and we stayed outside of the main city in a hotel, mainly because hotels within the canals are crazy money and secondly we wanted to be by the train station for our transport links.






One day I would love to return for the weekend and just take it much slower, eat more food, drink more coffee and Aperol (I was pregnant with Alex when we were there last!)  and ideally stay in the city to see how different it is when you experience it that way.

Hayley X