Truckfest 2019 is Coming!

Ad {gifted} * Truckfest is coming to Peterborough!!

*I have a special discount code so now is a really great time to get your tickets. To take advantage of this 10% discount on single day visitor tickets use the code ATBT when booking!! Tickets can be purchased from here. Anyone who lives in Peterborough or the surrounding areas will without a doubt have heard and know of Truckfest. Europe's biggest trucking festival since 1983, this truckers paradise is one of Peterborough's largest events which runs over the May bank holiday weekend. I have been many times, especially in my teen years but most recently when we moved back to Peterborough. I have fond teen memories of spending time at Truckfest and vividly remember going to stalk boy bands with my best mate and winning a hugeee elephant soft toy one year!! A fun packed, family day out it's an event not to miss.

Prior to moving back to the area I had not been for many, many years but we moved pretty much next to Peterborough Arena and having a small boy at the time that was hugely obsessed with trucks it was, in his eyes the best thing ever. All the huge, highly polished and shiny trucks driving by and appearing almost opposite our house was a dream come true to Alfie, we've been into the arena for the last couple of years since we moved here. 

I have to admit for myself and my husband to begin with it was a bit of a shock to our system the 1st year we lived here and experienced Truckfest in it's full glory (think honking horns till midnight, drum and bass all day and dreadful traffic and yup, that's Truckfest). I remember having to lie next to Alfie with all the commotion willing it to stop so he could go to sleep but now we have learnt to accept it and do you know what the guys that drive the trucks are so friendly and polite and it only lasts a couple of days. Seeing Alfie's face light up is well worth the honking and tooting! Also the traffic flow over the last couple of years has been much improved and the honking and tooting has definitely increased during the night, also the truckers are hugely friendly which is lovely.

There is a huge amount to see, it's not all about the trucks.....of course these are the main attraction but it really is a fun, family day out. There is almost too much to mention but here are a few of the highlights that will be happening over the course of the weekend. Shayne Ward (singer and actor) will be performing on the Sunday, Harry Redknapp will be one of the celebrity guests that will be appearing on Monday, stunt displays, monster trucks in the shape of swamp thing and slingshot - these things are awesome and huge, really cool to watch! There is also kids favourite characters that wander around the show (think Paw Patrol, Elsa etc), there are vintage trucks and cars, inflatable kids zones, family fun fair and the famous decorated trucks (I love seeing these, the art work on some of the trucks is fantastic) and there are stalls and stalls of merchandise, food, sweets etc, etc. 

Ticket prices are £18.50 for adults on the Sunday and £17.50 for adults on the Monday, children (aged 5-15) are £7.50 and a family ticket is £45.00 (2 adults, 2 children). There is camping available and priority parking (although general venue parking is free of charge), further information regarding tickets and prices can be found here. Opening times for both days are 09:30 - 17:30.

So if you're after a fun packed and truck fuelled day out then Truckfest is a must, we love it and can't wait to visit this year!

* Please note we are working with Truckfest and are being provided free entry in exchange for the post, Truckfest really is a great day out and all opinions are my own.

My Sunday Photo - 06/05/18

What a beaut of a day yesterday. The sun was shining and it was a day for spending with family. 1st proper BBQ of the year with our rather fancy new gas BBQ......epic! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the day also. 

Alfie & Elarna's Easter Box 2018!

I do love a themed boxes for occasions like Easter and Christmas. They don't take long to put together, don't have to be overly expensive and can be a nice little treat for the children on Good Friday. This year I have to admit I've put this box together quite late and I've winged it a bit but I think that I've managed to fill it with lots of nice bits and pieces that I know my 2 will love. So, I thought i'd write a quick post with what I've included, everything in the box is either from supermarkets such as Tesco and Waitrose and then Party Pieces online, these are all items I've purchased myself.

I used this lovely, lightweight rustic box this year instead of a basket (purely because they all have toys in them!) and I packed it with bubblewrap and put some yellow tissue paper on the top bulk it out a bit. In any of the themed boxes I create I tend to make sure there are plenty of things to 'do' included rather than a ton of sweets and things like that. I know exactly what my kids will like so I included a mix of crafty and fun bits this year.  I have listed below what I've included. 

• First up a couple of lovely easter mugs that they colour the insert themselves, they will both love colouring them in and using them. 

• An egg and spoon race, this was cheap as chips from Party Pieces figured it was fitting for Easter, they will love it - although judging by the weather forecast may need to be an indoor race, fun!

• Pin the tail on the bunny game, always a winner and again was a bargain price, I couldn't resist.

• A couple of Easter puzzle backs, these are always well received and will hopefully offer a little bit of entertainment......for maybe 10 minutes haha.

• Easter crackers! I find that crackers of any sort bring smiles and I spotted these in Tesco the other day for just £3.00 and thought they would make a nice addition to the box.

• Giant bubbles! Kind of regretting these a bit now as the weather isn't supposed to be great over the Easter weekend and I don't fancy the idea of using them in the house but if we don't get a chance to this weekend I'll just keep them to the side for when the weather is better. 

• A couple of eggs with grow your own chicks inside, I assume that you put them in water and they grow. Alfie seems to love these (no idea why) so I'm sure these will be well received. 

• Some really cute little felt baskets to collect their eggs in. I was looking for some nice baskets but couldn't seem to find any so thought these from Waitrose would be perfect, they are really cute and were £3.00 each.

• Finally, of course I have included some chocolate, I couldn't not put any sweet stuff in at all. I added some gorgeous chocolate egg chicks and a little Easter friend woven bag with choccie eggs in them (from M&S) and some very cute little foil wrapped shapes from the Co-op.

So this is my 2018 Easter box, I would love to know your thoughts! Happy Easter all, have a wonderful long weekend.

A Day Out with Thomas & Friends!

My son is a huge Thomas and Friends fan (Thomas the Tank Engine for all us 80's/90's kids). I swore that I didn't want him to get into anything like this when he was younger but I actually don't mind now. I quite like it, I find myself humming the songs and watching them with him and I bet you anything that I can name a fair few of the trains! Alfie however takes the obsession to a new level and can identify characters out of it just by seeing a random a train part! He also has a huge collection of Take n Play which continues to grow, but seeing how much pleasure he gets out of these classic toys makes me very happy.

Last year for his birthday he received tickets to a Day Out with Thomas and he had such a fantastic time that for his birthday this year my parents bought him a ticket (and us obvs!). The concept is simple, you head to a local heritage railway, in our case, Wakes Colne in Colchester and ride on Thomas and his friends, see the Fat Controller and generally have a fun filled day out! It's completely geared up for Thomas fans and very much family orientated. The price of the ticket gains you entry and you can ride on the trains that are running as many times as you like. 

We were booked to go on Bank Holiday Monday which turned out to be one of the wettest and soggiest bank holidays in a while and typically this is pretty much all outdoors so I was unsure how enjoyable the day would actually be. I was quite gutted to be honest, I'd been looking forward to taking Alfie to it for ages as I knew how much he enjoyed last year but not wanting the day to be ruined we gathered up all our rain coats, brollies and other wet weather paraphernalia and headed over to Colchester. When we arrived Alfie clearly was over the moon, the wet weather wasn't going to spoil his day and he wanted to go straight on Thomas.

One downside of heading to an old heritage railway is there is no way to get to the other side without walking over the bridge so we had to lift the pram up numerous steps, not ideal when you're trying to control an excitable child! Never mind, we were soon over and it was clear to see that the weather had definitely had an impact on the visitors, it was noticeably quieter which was great as it meant not alot of queueing to get on the trains and less hanging about in the pouring rain.

The trains available to ride on were Thomas (of course), Percy and the Troublesome Trucks and Toad, Daisy Diesel, Toby (well a replacement Toby as the real one was broken) and the miniature railway (which was closed when it was raining too much).  As well as the trains, there are the open air parts of the museum to look around and a play area which was new for this year. This was a fab idea as it was out of the rain and lots of Thomas toys had been provided to be played with which was a god send for all the wet and soggy toddlers. 

While Alfie was busy playing with the toys I snapped this train that was being restored, apparently the oldest locomotive in the museum and dates back to 1905, I think you'll agree it's looking very smart!

Trying to get a picture of Alfie standing by Thomas of course turned into some what of a mission and this is the best that I managed to get! Cheeky thing!

Not only is Wakes Colne a historic living heritage site it is connected to the main rail line so there are a few other trains coming through which is great for train spotters! There are also lots of other little interesting things to see, I quite liked these little buckets on the wall, slightly random I know! It's a great place to walk about and learn about how the station used to operate years ago.

 You can see from the picture below taken from the bridge the scale of the station. Despite the awful weather we had a great day out. It was truly such a shame that it was pouring for the majority of the day but in all honesty it didn't dampen (pardon the pun) the atmosphere and it certainly didn't seem to bother Alfie.

Elarna wasn't overly bothered about the trains as you can imagine but she was a good girl all day and Alfie had fun pointing out the different trains to her. If you do visit one of these days out be aware that there is Thomas merchandise aplenty to purchase and the chances of coming away without something would be slim I'd say! We purchased a talking Ferdinand train for Alfie to go with the rest of his take n play and all we heard in the car on the way home was the bloody train talking..........until Alfie fell asleep, completely 'Thomased' out, train still in hands. Bless. 

So if you have a Thomas fan then you must book up for one of these days, the tickets are reasonably priced and you can stay as long as you want. I just think it's a shame that they don't put these on in more places around the UK!

Have you ever been on a Thomas day out? Would you like to?

* Please note these are my own honest opinions, I received no payment for this post I just wanted to share what a great day out it is. :-) 

The Threenager - Chapter 2

We've had a great bank holiday weekend so far but it's been a weekend of me questioning the attitude of my son! I have previously talked about our little threenager and the transition from the terrible two's into the world of a stroppy teenager in small child's body. Sometimes I am left shaking my head in disbelief and stifling giggles behind my hands at his behaviour! I'm feeling slightly random as I write this so am starting with today and working backwards, keep up!

So take today for example. We pop to the pub for a couple of drinks, there is a beer festival on. The pub backs on to a football field, we go there regularly so it's ok, we know its safe. There is a beer festival on.....first thing Alfie asks for? A pint of beer......WTF?! Like father like son, but hold on he's 3 not 23! How does he even know to ask for a pint of beer? There is a football match happening so what does Alfie decide is the right course of action...............yup, you guessed leg it as fast as he can straight into the pitch in the middle of the match, cue Daddy shoving his pint in my hand legging it after him for Alfie to run even faster (and believe me he is super quick) and then Adi having to rugby tackle him off the pitch. This happened not once, not twice, not three times but four times. The shame!! Worst thing is Alfie saw the whole thing is one hilarious game!

Fast forward to just before we leave and Alfie decides he wants to play with a sandpit which happens to be full of rain water. That's ok I thought it's keeping him quiet. I then turn round to see him dunking...............yes that's right DUNKING his head in the water and blowing bubbles. Jesus, why is it always MY child that is the one doing the inappropriate behaviour. Have to admit made me giggle, especially when he looked like this when he came up for air! 

Saturday we had a great day, we popped over to Southwold to meet our bestests and while the husbands were tasting beer over at Adnams, myself and my bff wandered along the seafront. Needless to say Alfie was an absolute star for Aunty Kat (pretty much!). I think she was a tad alarmed when he whipped off his shorts to go paddling but he's got this weird obsession with getting his clothes wet and actually I'm quite surprised he kept his pants on so overall pretty good going that he was half dressed! It took us an absolute age to walk along the pier as Alfie insisted on walking along the beach stopping to paddle, pick up stones and generally just look at everything, he then demanded ice cream so I obliged to keep him sweet. I ended up spoon feeding him the ice cream because it was windy and then bribing him to walk back along the pier with the promise of meeting Daddy. We popped into the  Adnams cafe for a drink to wait for the boys and Alfie demanded a coffee. No word of a lie, he asked plain as day for a coffee, no idea at all where he acquired that sentence from because even though I love coffee I haven't been to any coffee shops recently with him. Bizarre. Needless to say he didn't get him a coffee and he was satisfied with a lemonade. 

Towards the end of Saturday Alfie decided that enough was enough. He'd been really quite good all day, firing on all cylinders as always but well behaved bar a few standard toddler melt downs. We popped into a few shops and at the last one Alfie decided that the most appropriate behaviour was to protest by lying in the middle of the pavement. I picked him up and tried to sit him against the wall for some time out but he just decided to starfish in the middle of the pavement again, oh the joys of being a Mummy at this point. Cue lots of stares from judgy, judgemental parents and looks of disapproval and people actually stepping over him to get by (lol!)! Honestly though, didn't give 2 hoots, normally I would but that day I didn't as he wasn't having a tantrum just a silent protest on the floor! My best friend had hold of his lead reins at this point so at one point I stepped away and pretended that actually he wasn't my child (mwahaha), jokes on me though when he called me Mummy! There is a much better picture but I'm saving that for Wicked Wednesday, hehe! So with Alfie deciding to protest it was definitely time to call it a day and head on home.

You may notice that we still use reins. We have to, he will hold hands but has the knack of squirming and wriggling free from us and legging it, he is aware of roads and cars but I do not trust him yet to be off his reins and walk near us so the lead reins are still very much in use for peace of mind! 

Earlier in the week Alfie went through a phase of 'I just want to run around all day in nothing but my boxer shorts. I'd dress him, he'd take his clothes off. I'd redress him and he'd strip again, in the end I gave up and let him run around as nature intended but with his boxers on'. It's been one of those weeks where I've been picking my battles for an easy life! Less stress equals a happier Mummy and a more cheerful threenager. The only major issue I had was on answering the door to the post man Alfie decided he wanted to try and leg it out the front, thankfully I managed to scoop him out to prevent an almost naked child gallivanting down the street with a fraught Mummy chasing after him!

So this is an update on my life with my very own little threenager. He's mad, he's always on the go, he's opinionated and at times a sod but he is amazing me every day with his speech, his memory and development. Would I change him from the crazy child he is? Never! He is his own little person and I love him for that (even if one doth protest lying in the middle of a path!)

How has your last week been?

Sunday Style #5

This weeks Sunday Style is featuring Elarna again. Alfie has mostly been running around in just boxers this week. Don't ask. It's been one of those weeks. 

Slowly we are now heading into 3-6 month age clothing. She is still fitting just about into 0-3 but gradually I'm dressing her in a few of her new clothes as we have loads of 3-6 month in her wardrobe! 

I am absolutely loving this pinafore dress and tights set, it looks lovely on and is a nice change from the frilly dresses! I teamed it with one of my favourite head bands which is a pink satin spotty flower with a pearl in the centre, gorgeous.

Blue Pinafore Dress, Vest and Tights Set - M&S (unsure of cost as was gift)

Headband - Cute Baby Hair Boutique (approx £1.50)

I had to take a picture of the back of the dress as I didn't realise that it features a beautiful heart! I love little details like that, really adds to the look of the outfit. I also want to mention just how well the item is made featuring a fair amount of poppers to make the dress easy to get on and off but also adjustable for her size. The quality of both the dress and the tights are fab too, then I've always thought that about M&S baby clothes.

The second outfit this week I am calling pink fusion! We popped over to Southwold for the day yesterday and met our bestests, the weather wasn't supposed to be overly warm so I opted for a leggings and t-shirt combo to be on the safe side. When I planned the outfit I honestly didn't think it was so 'in your face' pink, clearly I was wrong as these pictures tell me otherwise! That's ok though, I love pink so for me I think it's an awesome outfit hehe.

Everything, bar the shoes and headband are from TU at Sainsbury's, I really do rate supermarket clothes and Sainsbury's is no exception, they have a great range. I am unsure of any of the prices as they were all gifts but I imagine they were all excellent value as they usually are! The pink watermelon cardi is absolutely gorgeous with watermelon slices on the pockets and little bows down the front (you can see in the picture below). The leggings are so bright, they are gorgeous and I love the little bow detail on the ankle. The t-shirt underneath which can't be seen has the slogan 'mummy's little princess' printed on the front, I confess I forgot to take a picture of it.

My love for headbands continues, in fact originally during today she was wearing a small white flowery one but when I arrived home the new ones I had ordered from Ebay (£1.39) had arrived and I just had to try it with this outfit, I think it looks amazing!

Finally I have to share these little shoes that I bought last week, how gorgeous are these which are from Next (£8.00), they are beyond cute and look lush on. 

What do you think of the featured outfits this week?

My Sunday Photo - 30/08/15