One of Me, Three of You

Don't get me wrong, we had a really lovely time last week on our half term holiday in North Norfolk, but holidaying with three small children is never quite as relaxing as I hope it will be. I realised it's the first time we've been away for a week since having A - we had a few camping trips over the summer and various trips to Devon to see my family but no proper holidays. It's also the first time in a while that we haven't stayed in a Baby Friendly Bolthole, complete with all sorts of child-related equipment. I was a little worried about the packing, particularly having to do it with two small boys round my feet, but it was fine, not too much to fit in, and I even managed to pack the roof box myself (although I wasn't tall enough to do the straps!). I guess A, at 15 months, is old enough now to not need much in the way of equipment. And there's no need to take too many toys because all the older two want to do is draw pictures and cut up pieces of paper...

We spent the half term week in North Norfolk, which it turns out is a long way from Hampshire when navigating the M25 on a Friday! We stayed further east a couple of years ago and found there were lots of things to do with children so decided to have a return trip. I will write more about the trials and tribulations of holidays with three small boys but, for now, here is a list of the places we would recommend if you ever find yourself over that way. 1. Seal Watching from Morston Quay This activity was surprisingly successful - it was my husband's idea and I have to admit I wasn't convinced but it turned out to be everyone's favourite activity of the holiday. It didn't start off particularly well - when we arrived to get our tickets the crew were warning everyone that seal sightings had been slim the previous day. And the boat was looking pretty full as we stood waiting at the back of the queue. But there was plenty of space for us in the end and, it turned out,...

I thought I would share our experience of the August bank holiday in a field in Oxfordshire! We have been going to Towersey Festival since I was a child - I've been with my parents, I volunteered as a steward with my best mate during our uni years and now I'm taking my own children (with extended family and best mate!). At the moment it is up there as one of the boys' favourite weekends of the year, rivalled only by Christmas and any trips to Center Parcs. We have managed to go every year since W was one, including last year when A was only six weeks old. As usual, we had a great weekend. The weather wasn't quite as good as time round - last year I sent Mark home on Saturday morning to pick up more summer clothes for everyone as we were roasting, this year we were very glad we had invested in a posh gazebo that everyone could huddle under, particularly in the pouring rain on Sunday. There are always a few niggly things that go on our feedback form each year but eve...

One of the many things I would have done differently if I had known what life is like once you have children would have been to go on more holidays and chill out more when I was on them. There is nothing restful about a holiday with three small boys! Our camping trip to Dorset a couple of weeks ago was our first holiday on our own with the three of them - apart from a couple of shorter trips with family we haven’t been away since A was born.  If I’m honest, quite a lot of things are a lot more effort when we’re away, we are definitely creatures of habit and routine at home. We struggled without the reusable nappies and wipes this time - A decided to poo five or six times a day and the disposable wipes and nappies were not up to the job! There’s no regular online food delivery and, as we were camping, no fridge to keep everything cool and provide a ready supply of houmous. And whatever toys I pack I’ve always brought the wrong ones.  I spent a lot of the first couple o...

We spent last week camping half way between Corfe Castle and Swanage and this post goes through the places we tried. There is loads to do in the area - we easily filled our five days and made particularly good use of our National Trust membership! 1. Shell Bay - first beach day Glad we got there fairly early (armed with our National Trust cards for free parking) as the car park isn't big and the alternative seemed to be parking up and trudging along the road. The beach was lovely, good shallow waters for the boys and I enjoyed watching the ferry and the traffic in and out of Poole harbour. It was a bit of a challenge to find sand that was wet enough for shapes and sandcastles - most of the beach was too fine and dry above the tide line which suited me just fine but not so good for the boys. 2. Knoll Beach - beach day number two This was the complete opposite of Shell Bay, crazy busy and not the most successful beach trip we've ever had. We went back again later in the ...

We had a practice camping trip last weekend, mainly to check that everything will fit in the car and that camping with three small boys isn't too horrendous ahead of a week long trip in the summer holidays! We went last summer when A was 6 weeks old but that was with one side of my family so there was a lot of help at hand. Things that I learnt:

I'm new to blogging. So far my mum and my husband have read my blog so I thought I would have a go at increasing my readership by taking part in this month's Living Linky on Getting Active Outdoors with tots100. As usual I have left it right until the end of the month to write this, partly because life with three boys is pretty busy but mainly because I am a little nervous about putting myself out there.  Our new favourite hangout we have discovered this month is Blackbushe Airport. The first time