If you’re looking at a family trip to London, read on to find out all about how we spent a weekend on the South Bank. 
London is vast and it can be hard to pin down an area to visit if you have a day or two. After our weekend, I’d definitely recommend the South Bank as an area with lots to see, family friendly activities, and great places to eat.
 
 
We started with a trip on the London Eye. Get there early and book ahead and you’ll have the most family …

It can be hard to find things to do in bad weather, but the Blue Reef aquarium at Hastings is a good place to go whether it is raining or snowing! I took K there last week so we could review it.
The best, best bit is the tunnel, pictured right. Everyone loves stepping down and going ‘under the sea’. The Blue Reef isn’t too large, so you can go round this bit several times and see something different on each circuit. If you are three, the chance to run …

We’ve just had a fun morning at Sharnfold Farm near Eastbourne. I’d recommend it for anyone with kids looking for a bot of fresh air, and this week you can also do pumpkin carving and take part in a special witchy farm trail.
We arrived around 10am, which was a good time to pick out  our pumpkins and start carving! The farm staff were on hand to help with tricky bits, and supply child friendly cutters and scoops. D and K were pleased with the pumpkins they chose to decorate …

Daughters of celebrity mum Angela Griffin, Tallulah and Melissa,
give Butlins new hotel innovation the tween seal of approval
Build a state-of-the-art hotel as big as a cruise ship; fill it with Kindles, Wii consoles, iMacs, PS3s, iPod docks, inter-connecting rooms and cabin-style beds with built-in TVs and you’re guaranteed happy children – and even happier parents.
And now, Butlins is bringing the tween dream to life with the £25 million Wave Hotel & Apartments, designed specially for families with children between pre-school and teenage years.  This is the company’s most significant investment …

A long car journey with small children can be a nightmare, but it is important to keep things in proportion. For example, when the whaling ship Essex sank in 1820 she was far out in the South Pacific, over a thousand miles from the nearest land.
Modern travelling families can learn from the Essex’s tragedy – just following some simple advice could help your journey become a far more successful one!
Dissent in the ranks
Travelling with children will only be more difficult if you lose your way, or argue with a fellow …

This week, the kids have been having fun with the new Club Penguin magazine (£2.99).  We were sent our copies to review through the post, and within minutes of opening the magazine D had grabbed the free 7 day membership card and reactivated her penguin! I like kids magazines because they are fun and interactive and an alternative to being online all the time, so this wasn’t what I’d hoped for!
Having said that, once everyone looked at the magazine, it was great. It’s hard to find a magazine for D …

This week seems to have been all about holidays. We made a slightly scary and impulsive decision to go to Morocco last weekend: we’ve held off being adventurous while the kids were babies, but now K is nearly 3 there is no reason to hold back! We’re booked with the Adventure Company, which grades the child-friendliness of its holidays. Dh uses a wheelchair so we always need to make sure a holiday is accessible too. We’ll report back on how we get on, on the blog.
It’s mums 70th this summer …

Looking for somewhere to take the kids this half term? Try Drayton Manor Theme Park. It is a fun family friendly day out, and has enough to keep you busy over two days if you want.
Drayton Manor has a big pull for little ones as it is the home of Thomas Land. My boys, aged 5 and 2, were over the moon to have so many chances to ride on Thomas and Friends. We started the day with a train trip, and went all the way up to the end …

Many parents find it hard to juggle the inevitable household chores with having fun time with the kids during the school holidays.  In particular, the thought of taking young children on a big supermarket shop fills lots of us with dread!  One solution is online food shopping, but what tips are there for saving time and money?  Menus4Mums, the online family meal planners, asked its busy mum customers and fans just that question.

Over 4 days, we’ve just taken part in a Falconry display, played beach cricket, learnt to fence, had football coaching, met farm animals, learnt to street dance, gone swimming, dug sandcastles on the beach, played mini golf and beach volleyball. Exhausted? Yes! But everyone is full of smiles and new experiences as we’ve just got back from Butlin’s in Bognor.