Welcome to our next post on Swimfin!
We've just had our school half term holidays and mummy and nana thought what better time to get the boys swimming! As mentioned in our previous post as James is going into Year Three in September, he will be starting to go swimming weekly and up until now the only real experience with swimming that the boys had was on holiday last year when they would splash around in the pools at the hotel and at the water park!
The pool we were going to originally take the kids to was closed for refurbishment, so we had to have a search around the local council website to see what other pools would be suitable for the boys. We eventually decided to take the boys to the new leisure centre in Ashington. The leisure centre was opened in November 2015, in fact it opened just a few days before Freddie was actually born.
Sadly the leisure centre has a no photography in the pool area policy so we were unable to take photos of the boys in the pool using the fins.
Freddie was very unsure of his and kept asking to take it off, but we left it on til he had left the pool. In fact Freddie spent most of the 45 minutes we were there sat on the side playing with pool toys and throwing them for mummy and nana to go fetch!
James on the other hand was fantastic! We found some arm floats on the side of the pool and he had one under each arm and by the time we left the pool he was actually swimming full widths of the small pool! The Swimfin was keeping his body in the right position!
The Swimfin is suitable for children from 18 months old and it is so easy to put on with two elasticated velcro straps that fit around the body. Larger straps can be bought to use the fin with older children, The standard straps that come with the fin are a perfect size for both James who is almost 7 and Freddie who will be 4 in November.
Swimfin say on their website "The most important thing about SwimFin is this: the more submerged it is, the more support it is giving. This means when the child is vertical, doggy paddling through the water, SwimFin will be almost completely submerged, giving maximum support. As the child’s body position becomes more horizontal, SwimFin comes out of the water giving less support. This means the child is swimming more for themselves with less and less assistance."
The boys had a brilliant time at the pool and actually asked if we could go back a few days later, which we did! We are now aiming to take them at least every other weekend if not every weekend!
We were also sent some of the Swimfin Funky Floaties pool toys, but on this occasion we forgot to take them with us, but next time they will be first thing in our swimming bag, although I think James has them earmarked for bath time!
I will keep everyone updated on James progress using his Swimfin in the run in to starting swimming lessons with the school in September!
**We were sent two blue Swimfin's and a set of Funky Floaties free of charge in exchange for this review! All views are our own!**
On Saturday just gone (6/4) we attended a very special event! We got to go to Baltic on Gateshead Quayside to experience their new family play exhibition "The City Is Where We're Going Next" By Simon and Tom Bloor before it was officially opened to the public on 8th April (Yesterday!)
Baltic is open seven days a week from 10am till 6pm and the best thing is its Free! When you have kids free things to do on a weekend or a school holiday are a must! Its even open on the Bank Holidays!
The information leaflet about the show informed us that the exhibition takes its title from an American landscape architect and urban playground designer M. Paul Friedberg's idea of enjoying the city. Through their art work the Bloor's encourage us to reconsider how we engage with the civic space and invite us to re imagine urban hostile places as sites of inspiration and possibility.
Both James and Freddie had an absolute ball! Freddie in particular was very taken with the giant balls and the traffic lights. He was also climbing on the brightly painted pallets and sliding down the other side! James loved climbing all over the pallets and both boys were totally thrilled with the two big dumper bags of rubber bricks! They sat for ages building towers and walls out of them!
Another big hit with James was the funny mirrors that were like the ones you get at fun fairs where you look really silly when you stand in them! The reclaimed road signs which were painted bright colours and had bits of coloured magnets on were another big hit especially with James!
We had an absolutely fantastic time visiting and we are already planning a return before the end of the school holidays!
"The City Is Where We're Going Next" is open seven days a week till 2nd June, Located on Level 4 of Baltic.
You can find Baltic on Social Media at @balticmill on Facebook, @balticgateshead on Instagram and @balticmill on Twitter!
Winter is a horrible time not only weather wise, but skin wise! As a school run mum I'm out the house no matter what the weather is like early in the morning to drop off James and then back out again later to pick him up This is five days a week twice a day no matter what the weather is like!
I was asked to try out Aquaphor to see if it helped my skin in the cold north east weather! And boy do I love it! This tube sits on my bedside table so I always know where it is.
This little tube of skin balm has changed my life so far this winter! It does the job of lots of different products! I tend to use it on my cheeks, my lips and my hands. They are the parts of my body that tend to get dry after being out in the wet and cold.
I do try to wear gloves on the school run, but more often than not I end up having to take them off to open James school bag to check he has everything or to add things into it, especially when I pick him up as more often than not I end up having to send him back into his classroom to get things he has forgotten for example his glasses or water bottle!
I have also tried it on the dry skin that Freddie gets from his dairy intolerance and it has calmed it down so much and stopped him clawing at his neck!
This product has definitely improved my dry skin. Will I keep using it? YES!!
**This post is an entry for the BritMums #MyAquaphor Challenge, sponsored by Eucerin. Discover the benefits of Eucerin**
