How to make a holiday with kids easier! Part Two

Welcome to part two of how to make a holiday with kids easier! You can read part one here! So here are the rest of the tips I gathered from my fellow bloggers!

Beth from https://twinderelmo.co.uk/ says A snoozeshade is a god send if you’ve got a little one in a pram/pushchair to protect them from the sun and helps them sleep when on the go.
A travel blackout blind is also really helpful as hotels rarely have good curtains to block out the light at nap times. – Now we have actually been using a Snoozeshade since Freddie was a few months old and we have just started using the Plus Deluxe version so this will definetly be packed into our changing bag for our holiday! Freddie doesn’t always nap but I have a feeling with the heat he might need a cat nap!

Jennifer from https://www.mymummyspennies.com/ says Our kindles were perfect for entertaining the children on the plane on our recent holiday to Croatia.  – I will be packing James Lenovo tablet in his hand luggage and I will be also packing our kindle fire into Freddie’s hand luggage. Both tablets take micro SD cards so we will be putting plenty of Cbeebies onto them for the boys to watch!

Hayley from http://www.missmanypennies.com  A couple of small games/packs of cards to keep them entertained in those boring waiting around times – I am looking to get a couple of small travel games to put into either James bag or into Andy’s bag to help entertain James with him being that little bit older than Freddie.

Adrienne from http://workingmumcambridge.com  I find its all in the planning! Lots of snacks and lots of party bag gifts – Lots of snacks will be packed! Especially as Freddie is dairy free. I will have to make sure we have plenty of stuff he can eat just in case he cannot eat his in flight meal.

Luschka from https://diaryofafirstchild.com/ says A good tip for travelling abroad with kids is to have a folder for all your travel documents and tickets and passports. Standing at immigration rummaging through suitcases looking for a letter of permission from the children's dad is really stressful! Have everything in one place and keep it there! – This is actually something we have already done! I have bought a document wallet for travelling! This already has our passports and our European health cards in!

Emma from http://readyfreddiego.com/ says If you have a child with allergies, Allergy UK does a card that is available in 27 languages stating what the allergy is and it’s severity – this is something we will probably have to get as Freddie is about to undergo testing for dairy and soya issues.

Beth from http://www.life-as-mum.co.uk/ says Easier said than done but TRY not to stress too much. Just take the day/night as it comes. The more you stress out it will feel more stress than it actually is. – I am an absolute stress head when it comes to trips away with the boys! I have already arranged for the boys to go and stay with Nana and Gaga the weekend before we go away so mummy and daddy can sort out the packing without little hands!

Nita from http://mummywishes.com/ says Fly legsup! Was the perfect companion on long haul flights so that my little one can snooze like he was in first class! – this is something i will have to look into as we are hoping the boys will sleep as it is a 6am flight!

Chantele from http://twoheartsoneroof.com/ says Ear defenders if your flying with a very little one. It was Elian's first flight at 9 months old and we flew to California. The ear defenders meant the roar during take off didn't scare him. – James will be 6 when we fly and Freddie will be almost 3, but I still might take the ear defenders we have for Freddie just in case.

How to make a holiday with kids easier! Part One

As you know we are going on our first family holiday abroad later this year and we are now under twenty weeks from our first flight with two children! I have been searching the internet to look for products that might make our trip a little easier and I turned to my fellow bloggers to get some tips! In fact I got so many tips I have having to split this post into two parts!

Victoria from https://www.lyliarose.com/ says: On our last trip abroad we got both kids a set of JVC Tiny Headphones and they were brilliant! They were able to listen to music, play games and read on their iPads without distracting each other or other passengers. They're in fun kids colours and come with stickers to personalise too so they loved making them their own – We actually bought James a set of these a few years ago and then got Freddie a set last year when we went to Alton Towers and we love them! These are already in the boxes for packing into the boys hand luggage!

Jemma from http://havekidswilltraveluk.com/ Hands down our baby carriers have been our best investments. They enable us to ditch the Pram which saves weight and explore tons of places that we wouldn’t have been able to take the Pram. We’ve loved the Tula range – We currently have a We Made Me Pao Papoose but Freddie is starting to outgrow it so sadly I don’t think a carrier will be packed this holiday.

Emma from https://meandbmaketea.com/ says Calpol in sachets - perfect for a sick child at the airport! – Sadly for us this is not an option as Freddie is allergic to the colouring in Calpol and they only make the sachets with the coloured one. We will however use one of our doddle bags with colour free paracetamol in just in case of illness during travel.

Pete from https://www.householdmoneysaving.com/ says High concentration squash from either Robinsons or Oasis. They come in tiny bottles and you just need to add a few drops to water. It means that we don't have to make up loads of drink before we travel – These are brilliant! We used them when went to Alton Towers on the coach and also when we took the boys to London on the coach. These will definitely be packed into our cases and also into hand luggage!

Polly from https://www.ourseasidebaby.com/ says Trunkis! Although it takes a bit of effort to pull a Trunki along with my son on it, he does love his Tiger Trunki suitcase. The packing, pulling his Trunki along and then sitting on it while someone pulls him along makes any trip more exciting – Now this is something I have actually been looking into for our trip. At the moment we are going to be using a Mr Tumble mini case for Freddie and we are looking into a small case on wheels for James, But I keep wondering if a Trunki would be better for them both.

Ruth from https://www.craftwithcartwright.co.uk/ Some good activity books with stickers. Get them away from screens and doing something creative. Great for hanging around airports – This is something we have already bought! The boys have a Paw Patrol sticker book each for the flight. Plus I have a couple more on my Amazon wish list!

Samantha from https://www.northeastfamilyfun.co.uk/ says We load a portable hard drive up with their favourite movies and take it with us along with a USB cable. This is SO useful when you need some downtime or in the mornings/evenings if you need to keep the kids entertained while you're getting ready. Especially in places where there isn't any free WiFi or it doesn't have very good signal and tablets don't work as well. – Now I’m actually thinking about taking my portable hard drive and downloading some stuff onto it for the boys and buying an adapter to attach it to my iPad!

Stay tuned for Part Two of these useful hints!

The Hoppings

So those of you from the north east will know what I'm talking about but for those of you from further away the hoppings is Europe's largest travelling fair which spends eight days every last week in June on the town moor in Newcastle.

Its been going for over 120 years and for me it has become a family tradition of going. I have missed a few years due to injury and of course when I was pregnant with James, but other than that I have bee  every year since I was just over a year old.

Now I was a bit worried about taking James after his bad experience at morpeth fair day so had already decided on two rides to go on.

The first was the big heltascelter which I loved whwn I was a kid and still love it now! My dad had the pleasure of sliding down with James with me following.

The second ride was the giant wheel which I have been going on with my parents so this was the first time Andy got to experience it along with James.

James absolutely loved the two rides he went on and actually did a lot of walking on the moor too. 

This year we have had brilliant weather for the rides compared to last time when we had nothing but rain and the whole 8 days was ruined.

Can't wait till they come back next year! 

Traveling with a toddler part one

So Friday we travelled up to Aberdeen to spend the weekend with our friends.

I was so scared about travelling up on the train with James as it was his first long train trip since August last year when he was literally just a year old.

We had a few cases of pass the toddler over the table before James finally passed out for about half an hour then he had some food. Changing a nappy on a moving train with a wriggling toddler was an experience to say the least. At least the toilet was small enough for me to stop James letting himself out while mummy was using the loo!

Andy spent the majority of the first leg trying to stop James annoying other passengers. Poor boy is so used to being on the go all the time and never sitting still that being so restricted on the train really seemed to upset him and of course tire out mummy and daddy.

That was only part one we still have to do the return leg in a few days at a different time of day.

Stay tuned for part two coming in a few days!!!