This Surrey Mummy

Thursday, 29 October 2015

The Christmas Bucket List 2015 - Lapland UK

I don't know about you but with November only a couple of days away I am definitely starting to feel festive and it's at about this time during the year that I start to plan our "Christmas Bucket List".

The Christmas Bucket List is simply put, a list of things that we as a family would like to do in the run up to the Christmas period. This year is the first year that Charlie really gets it, heck, I'm already using the "Father Christmas can see you!" threat to avert any bad behaviour. Team this with the alarm sensors in our house and out and about acting as "Santa Cam" we are definitely having more days on the nice list than the naughty list.

Being the first year where I feel Charlie will be really interactive I'm happy to try a few more adventurous things in the hope of making the holiday a little more magical.

When my brother and I were younger we were very lucky to visit Father Christmas in the North Pole. Looking back fondly it really was magical and have cherished the memories ever since. Whilst I would LOVE to do this with Charlie, the cost teamed with the fact that Hector really is too little I think we will probably wait until he is Charlie's age and then bite the bullet, save up and take the boys, however, until that time I am looking to achieve that magic a little closer to home without it breaking the bank.

This year we are very excited to have been invited to Lapland UK. Returning this year to the Whitmoor Forest on the Windsor Park Estate for another year.

All photos courtesy of Lapland UK

The Windsor council website claims "Lapland UK promises an unforgettable and immersive Christmas experience for young children. After receiving a personalised invitation from Father Christmas requesting their help in his toy factory this year, children are transported into a fairy tale world of wonder. Having travelled along the Elves’ magical forest pathways with their Lapland UK passports freshly stamped, visitors arrive in the snowy wonderland where first they visit the Toy Factory to help the Elves, before moving on to Mother Christmas’ Kitchen to decorate gingerbread and gather for storytelling. It’s then skates on for Lapland UK’s ‘Ice’ Rink before meeting Lapland UK’s resident huskies and reindeer. A very special personalised meeting with Father Christmas in his snowy woodland home is the highlight of this magical daytrip that families are sure to treasure forever."

To say I am excited is an understatement so I am really hoping that it's as magical as it claims especially as Charlie is so looking forward to Christmas!

Big love,

This Surrey Mummy x

Where Cobham meets Cornwall....

So, it's October half term and whilst most of Surrey heads the Middle East family Webb are heading down the A303 to the good old West Country.

St. Ives here we come! Tom and his family have been coming here for many many years and now I have been lucky enough to have been introduced to this special place and having visited a number of times it's a place that's very special to us.

It's a place where we celebrated our engagement, a place where we had our first holiday together and we love it here.

Having been very lucky to enjoy a number of holidays abroad growing up I was keen on ensuring that my children enjoyed the luxuries of holidays abroad but mixed with the fun of a good old fashioned British seaside holiday and all the "luxuries" that accompany it.

We normally come in October half term as we tend to holiday abroad during the summer months and we find that during October it's still got a buzz about the place but not so busy that you can't get an all important table at the pub! It's a real bonus if the weather is nice but it's even nicer if you get days mixed with rain, fog and a bit of wind as when the sun finally peeps through you are grateful and cherish it more.

St. Ives is a pretty special place. The cobbled streets wind through the town with a delightful mix of high street shops intertwined with a lovely selection of local independent shops selling everything from drift wood to homemade chutneys. You can literally spend the whole week meandering through all the shops but there will still be some you don't go into.

There is a fabulous smell in the air of fish and chips, Cornish pasties and freshly baked scones, and it's pretty much the law that when you visit this county that you have to eat all of the above at least once!

This is a place where diets come to die. Where eating sensibly just does not exist and after all one is on their holiday and who wants to eat a salad when let's face it there is far more exciting food to eat and drink!

One of our favourite places to hang out is Porthmeor Beach. A vast stretch of yellow sand that meets shallow waters and where on a good surf day the waters are dotted with vast schools of keen surfers chasing the waves, it's a place where Tom learnt to surf and spent many a happy summer digging holes and eating ice cream. If you ever get to visit there you must visit the Porthmeor Beach Café spectacular views, amazing pancakes and super cool outdoor booths with heating so you can enjoy the seaside air without freezing your backsides off! There is also their sister café below so you can supervise sandcastle digging whilst enjoying a cider or a hot chocolate, or both! They also sell buckets and spades so you needn't worry if you forget them!

Now, naturally being October we aren't donning our cossies and heading for the sea but it's fairly mild here at the moment so sand castle building is a must. Especially if your three and a half years old.

Obviously, playing in the sand isn't as much fun when there is more fun to be had when splashing around in the shallow waters running from the waves. It's the type of activity that as a parent you know will either end in tears, a bad cold and most definitely very wet but somehow you just kind of go with the flow and let your inhibitions and inner child run wild.

Jack and Charlie enjoy mucking about in the shallow waters and no tears when they got wet only howls of laughter!!

Obviously keeping the safety standards high, Mummy too gets soaked!

It's so so easy in life nowadays to be suckered into the materialistic element of day to day life but for just once in a while it's fun to have some old fashioned fun. Let the kids get wet. Let them howl with uncontrollable laughter and let them run free and after you've attempted and failed to rub off all the wet sand and you've rung out the wet clothes, sit back and enjoy one of the British seaside's finest elements and one that is rarely beaten, an ice cream in a cone with the compulsory chocolate flake!

With love from Cornwall,

This Surrey Mummy X

My 1st Years - Christmas 2015 Preview Event

This week I was very kindly invited by those lovely people at My 1st Years the online shop for personalised children's clothing, toys and accessories to preview their range featuring this years Christmas 2015 range.

I was lucky enough to meet and chat with the company's founders Jonny and Dan (both super lovely by the way) and found out how My 1st Years is fast becoming one of the world's number one personalised baby brand. It was set up following the age old dilemma of what to get someone who's just had a baby that would be unique, personalised and something that they would treasure for years to come. They could not find the ideal present so they went about making it themselves, and the rest they say is history!

I was invited to this uber cool private members club for mums and dads called Maggie and Rose nestled down a street near Earls Court.

Hector and I packed up the baby bag and headed on our first train journey together London bound!

The Bugaboo Cameleon is the perfect travel system.

We arrived at Earls Court and had a leisurely stroll to see what would await us! Stepping through the doors at Maggie and Rose and Christmas was most definitely in the air! Mariah was wailing as she does at every good Christmas party in the background and the smell of freshly ground coffee set the mood perfectly.

I loved their range before I was invited so it was really nice to see all their product range in the flesh rather than just online. There is no denying it, it's all lovely, all super cute, great quality and it's genuinely really affordable something that is really important to me. The way that they present the product also makes it look far more expensive than it really is.

Hector modelling the Elephant Play Mat £50.00 plus delivery

Hector instantly (and so did I!) fell in love with the gorgeous Elephant play mat. It's honestly one of the softest things he's ever laid on and I will be asking Mum and Dad for this for Hector's first Christmas!

Their range is diverse to say the least. From rompers to cars, from dressing gowns to painting overalls I challenge you not to find something suitable for your loved ones.

Just too cute - £12.00

Love these gift tags - £8.00

Personalised Santa advent calendar - £20.00

Just ridiculously cute and I am definitely getting this for when our Elf on a shelf visits us again at the end of next month!

I'm a total sucker for a personalised cookie - who isn't!

Christmas came early all thanks to My 1st Years!

Well, this year if you're looking for unusual Christmas, Christening, birthdays or a just because pressie look no further than My 1st Years!

Big love,

This Surrey Mummy x

The Christmas Lust List - Personalised Christmas Sacks

So, last Christmas as I scrolled through Facebook and Instagram I admired all the beautiful pictures of my friends children opening their presents and stockings from Father Christmas when I spied something that caught my eye.

Personalised Christmas Sack from Not On The High Street

How cute were these personalised potato sack style stockings? I made a mental note to get one for the boys for this coming Christmas. A couple of weeks ago I started to search on line as to where I could source these sacks and naturally headed to notonthehighstreet.com my favourite online retailer for unusual pressies and sure enough here they were. The above is priced at £22 plus delivery which I know seems a lot but I figured if I got five years use out of them it would be worth it.

I'm not sure you've heard of, but you may well have heard of the online children's voucher company Little Bird which is basically like the Groupon but for families. Well, could you imagine my delight when their daily offers email popped into my inbox featuring sacks very similar to these for only £7.99 (plus £1.99 delivery) a mere fraction of the price that I was prepared to pay!

£7.99 plus delivery when you order through Little Bird here

Now here's the catch - the deal won't last forever so if you want one you'll need to register with the site and grab your voucher before the deal runs out!

With Christmas just around the corner I literally can't wait to fill these with goodies for the boys, and the fact that they are super cute too is always a bonus!

Big love,

This Surrey Mummy x

It's nearly time to prepare for the Webb official Christmas card 2015!

A few years ago I suggested to my brother in law that we do a really tongue in cheek Christmas card for our first official Christmas card a bit like the Kardashian's.... but better!

James is a super talented professional photographer (James Heming Photography) and he immediately jumped on the idea and knew exactly where I was going with this one as he had photographed our rather amusing engagement shoot which involved a theme based heavily around one of my favourite 70's show, "The Good Life" and it was brilliant!

So, one year after the wedding we had a new addition to our brood, Charlie and wanted to mark our first Christmas with an amusing Christmas card. I wanted it to be totally OTT, I wanted it to look overly staged, I wanted log fires, Christmas jumpers and presents galore. James and his clan live down in Kent and along with my sister in law Claire, they had managed to pull off one of the best back drops for a Christmas card I had ever seen.....

Check out that roaring fire!!

This year we have another addition to our growing family with Hector and we will be looking to do something similar but this time I'm hoping and praying for some snow so we can re-enact the Mariah Carey "All I Want For Christmas" video - you know the one I mean!!

Failing the snow which inevitably won't ever make an appearance despite The Express forecasting the coldest and snowiest winter for thousands of years, no Christmas would be complete without the now traditional Christmas jumper and this year will be no exception.

With the shops starting to fill with Christmas goodies and as I make preparations for the turning on of my own village's lights it really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here at This Surrey Mummy HQ. So you could imagine my sheer delight when Mr Postman knocked on my door with a lovely package addressed to the boys. They had received an early festive present from those lovely people at Next.co.uk. How jolly!