Silent Sunday

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Salcey Forest - A place of Fun and Exercise!

Not too far from where we are in Milton Keynes is a Forest called Salcey Forest and it is in Northamptonshire. We have been several times as a family, to walk around the routes as not only is it a great place to visit to see some magnificent trees and wildlife but it is also a great place to get a bit of exercise, especially on a Sunday afternoon to work off my infamous Roast Dinners!

Last Sunday it was nice and bright and warm so we decided to head over to Salcey Forest to try to wear out Top Ender and Big Boy and we wanted to get a dose of Vitamin D too! We parked by the cafe and toilet block (the toilets are clean and big and the cafe is always busy when we go during it's opening hours) and paid for our parking on the very handy pay by phone option. There are three routes around the forest, The Woodpecker Trail, The Church Path Walk and The Elephant Walk. We have been so often and know the routes so well, we sort of just made our own walk up following a bit of The Church Path Walk and The Elephant Walk!

A Summer Holiday Late Night Treat

With it being the Summer Holidays we are having a few late night treats here at A Mothers Ramblings. Nothing too late, or too extravagant but late enough that for the first time in ages Big Boy is sleeping late in the morning allowing Daddy and I some extra time in bed to balance out the late nights!

Earlier this week Daddy, Top Ender and Big Boy went to Asda for a few supplies for our trip to Camp Bestival and decided to buy some ice-creams for themselves as a treat to eat on the way home. When they got home Big Boy came and sat on the sofa in the living room and we filmed this...

(Video can be seen at http://youtu.be/xwQAa94EQvo)

As you can see even Willow (the cat) was pleased when Big Boy finally gave up and I got to eat the end of the ice-cream!

Yay for late summer nights!

Making Chores Fun - Mow The Lawn

There are some chores that I'm not the one responsible for completion of, I don't mean chores that I get the children to help out with like Cleaning the Windows, but I mean I really just don't do them! I don't put the bins out (although I do), I don't put petrol in the car (although I will) and I don't mow the lawn (unless I am trying to induce labour). They are Daddy's jobs (he has a few others and always helps out if I ask him to) and he too understands that making chores fun means it isn't just the children who enjoy the benefits of making a chore a game. In the words of Mary Poppins;

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. 

You find the fun, and - SNAP - the job's a game!"

I would also add SNAP the job's done, but instead I will just let you sit there for a minute with that goofy grin on your face thinking about Michael trapped in the toy cupboard yelling "Let me out!".

Now let me just be serious for a moment there is no way that mowing the lawn should be carried out by anyone who isn't a responsible adult and it should never be explained to children as being a game because lawn mowers have blades and blades cut more than just grass! Always make sure that you are wearing suitable footwear and have a power breaker installed as well as never ever ever working on a lawnmower whilst it is plugged in if it is an electric one! So how do you make this chore fun, whilst maintaining safety?

Whilst Daddy starts getting the lawn mower ready, and checking it over, he has Top Ender and Big Boy race to clear all the garden toys away and to check for any stones, pegs sticks or anything else that could cause injury if it was thrown up by the lawn mower. Racing against each other gives a nice competitive element to get everything cleared from the lawn and means that they don't disturb Daddy whilst he is checking the lawn mower over. All is needed is a quick inspection by Daddy to make sure that nothing obvious has been left on the grass and to move the moveable play equipment that is too heavy for Top Ender and Big Boy.

As our garden is already roughly cut into two by a path up the middle of the lawn Daddy is able to keep the children to an area where they are in no danger. As we have an electric lawnmower without a roller, we don't worry about having green stripes on our lawn (although we do have a "proper" lawn mower if we want the stripes) and Daddy will cut the lawn with the children shouting encouragement! With one side of the lawn cut Daddy then moves on to the other side, with the children helping by moving all the equipment to the other side of the lawn.

It's fun because everyone works together and I think that everyone will agree that a mowed lawn makes a garden look fantastic!

The Glamour Mansion from Argos

We were given the Glamour Mansion from Argos to review.

When I was younger I had the biggest Dolls house ever. It was as tall as me and meant that my Sindy's (I wasn't a Barbie girl) had plenty of space to store their clothes, working shower, working lights, red leather sofa and countless other accessories I had collected or inherited (Thanks Aunties T and C!). Top Ender did play with it a couple of times, but to be honest it just wasn't sturdy enough as it was made of plastic which is going brittle with age and cardboard. Argos let me know about the new dolls house, or rather Glamour Mansion, that they were going to be bringing out and asked if Top Ender would like to have one to review. Knowing that with the 60+ dolls and accessories that she has that this would make perfect sense we eagerly agreed.

I don't know what I was expecting to arrive, but the Glamour Mansion was a very pleasant surprise. The dolls house is self assembly, but the wooden pieces are really solid and I put it together surprisingly quickly considering that Big Boy tried to help me and Daddy says I have terrible DIY Skills. The house is really solid and has taken a fair battering from Top Ender and Big Boy and even Daddy said that nothing needed tightening!

Just like my dolls house when I was younger this Glamour Mansion is perfect for Barbie and Sindy sized dolls (I think they are called Fashion Dolls these days!) and the different areas of the house are well designed meaning that even Top Ender hasn't yet come up with a situation that she hasn't been able to set somewhere in the house! Even the balcony has had it's fair share of conversations, arguments and dance parties!

It isn't just Top Ender who has been playing with the house though. Big Boy loves the dolls house and will often be found moving the dolls around the glamour mansion whilst they take part in some game of his. It's been brilliant watching him and Top Ender play together with the dolls house whenever they can.

I must admit that I have been playing with the house a fair bit too, it is just so inviting sitting there with its accessories (A bed, hanging rail for the bedroom, kitchen unit, sofa, bath and a few other pieces) and the dolls that Big Boy and Top Ender have to make sure are tucked in at night before they go to bed too! Who knows maybe I will even video a little story for us all based on a day at Glamour Mansion!

The Glamour Mansion is £129.99 in Argos and will be in the catalogue out on the 30th July.

Best Friends - Wordless Wednesday

After our Picnic lunch on the first day of our Summer Holidays, Top Ender and Big Boy started walking home holding hands. It was so sweet I had to grab a quick snap of it. I love this shot so much I am going to get it printed to put up in our home.

Day One of the Summer Holidays

The first day of the Summer Holidays was a fantastic start to our holidays. We decided to go to the park in the morning before coming back home to do some chores and play in the garden. It was a great start to the day with all of us using the short walk as a wake up to the beautiful summers day.

Because it was such a nice day we knew that we had to make the most of it and so we packed up a picnic and headed to the Blue Lagoon, a local man made lake. Although Top Ender and Big Boy have both been for walks around the lake in the past, they have never really seen the lake and they don't know the stories about it so we sat at the end watching Dragonflies dart about whilst I told them about the treasures of sunken cars, planes and a bus that await divers wanting to increase their skills. 

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours, relaxing and chatting, eating food and trying to spot in the crystal clear water the submerged vehicles and we all caught the sun as well as had a giggle together. It really was peaceful, and just looking out over the lake trying to spot fish amongst the reeds made me remember the lazy layabout days that I had experienced as a child.

Garden Journal: A gift for you from me for me from you!

Findmeagift.co.uk sent me a Garden Journal to review.

I love looking at Find Me a Gift, not just for gift ideas for me but... okay just for gift ideas for me. I swear I could buy half the website and live quite happily just looking at my own stuff. Anyhow occasionally I do think of other people and will browse through for gifts for friends and family and have already sent a few links to my sister with gift suggestions for my Mum for Christmas (Yes, I plan early but then you all already knew that) but when I was asked if I would like to review the Digging up Memories From you to me garden journal I immediately thought of my Step-Mother in Law who has a very green thumb.

The book is really lovely, it has Questions at the top of the pages which the recipient of the gift (in the case my SMIL) can fill in with memories, tips and suggestions about Gardening and then the book once all filled in can be given back with all that wonderful gardening knowledge being passed on! I thought you might like to see the book, so take a look at this little video!

(Video can be found at http://youtu.be/FpN0Ph8_Y4A)

The Garden Journal is £8.99 on the website and I think it is a great buy for the gardeners in your life... especially as you get it back again!

Silent Sunday

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Rain, Mud and Some Honey!

Just in case you forgot Rowse Honey paid for Top Ender and I to go to Latitude 2011.

Last weekend Top Ender and I went to Latitude. Top Ender has already sort of given her impression of the day in  her guide to Festivals for Children, but now it's my turn! What can you say about a day spent in a muddy field listening to music whilst being rained on? Well, if you spent the Saturday at Latitude you would probably say something about it being amazing and an experience that I would want to repeat, and if possible to repeat soon!

I was really disappointed that the two groups that we I wanted to see most out of everyone that was on we missed. I could have kicked myself but the problem was that I wasn't going to pay for a copy of the programme for the festival as I thought that it was too expensive, especially when there were a couple of boards up with the times of who I wanted to see! I also found the app that I downloaded from the apple store to be particularly useless, I mean I know it was free but the info on the app was all the information I could find on the website if I wanted.

Spending one on one time with Top Ender was fantastic and even though she was complaining about being cold and wet and that she didn't like the performers that we were watching she did manage to survive the day and I think that she did actually enjoy herself, especially when the sun came out in the afternoon and dried us both out a bit. And to make it even better she got her face painted in the Rowse Honey tent and got to play a few games and to find out from a real Bee expert about the lives of Bees!

I think that for me the festival was good as I hadn't heard good music live for quite a while and hearing some performers (like Ed Sheeran) who I had heard but never really listened too gave me a deeper appreciation for them... and has meant that I have been buying tracks like nobody's business!

Would we go again? Absolutely! Maybe I'll even become a Festival Going Regular!

A Mothers Ramblings Summer Holiday World Tour

This Summer Top Ender, Big Boy and I are off on a world tour. For the next six weeks we are going to eat exotic dishes, learn about different cultures and customs take in a few sights and if we are lucky pick up some foreign languages. It is going to be exhausting cramming it all into the summer holidays, but we know that we are going to have fun together and hopefully learn something new everyday.

Well, this isn't strictly true. You see we are going on a world tour, this Summer holidays but from our own living room, which means that we can do our 100 Free Things To Do In The Summer Holidays too!

The theme for our Summer Holiday this year is travel and so we are going to base all our activities around this, and just in case you want to join in I thought I would list out at the start of the week where we are going and what we are doing so you could join in!

Each week we will visit the landmarks the country is most known for (either by creating them ourselves, finding something similar locally or the good old Internet), create something crafty from the country and of course plan our meals to reflect the cuisine of the area we are visiting. We want our passports to get stamped in every country we visit too so we shall be making our own passports and making our own stickers to stick on our pin board suitcase too.

Family Fun with Toilet Rolls

We like making things in our house, it doesn't matter if it is a mess or a tower or dinner or things out of toilet rolls we just like spending time together making things! A few days ago Big Boy and I were a little bored and so we decided to make something out of toilet rolls (we have plenty of them around) and as we grabbed four of them we decided that we wanted to play bartender and we made glasses of juice.

I'm not claiming to be the worlds best artist (It's okay I know I'm not) but I was pleased with the way that they came out as we knew what they were supposed to be. Just in case you don't know from left to right we have a glass of Lemon and Lime (see the lemon and lime wedges there are ice cubes too but I don't think you can see them), Raspberry and Blackcurrant (with Ice), Water (again with the ice) and Orange (See the orange and the ice?!).

Top Enders Guide to Festivals for Children

When we went to Latitude last weekend it was Top Ender's first real festival and as such I had tried to warn her about what I knew about Festivals. As it was really my first real festival too this mainly consisted of information I had gleaned from friends who had been to festivals in the past and also what I had learnt from reading books where the main character goes to a Festival. As you can tell my information with a bit patchy and mainly aimed at adults so Top Ender has come up with a guide to Festivals for Children.

1) If it has been raining wear wellies. You will need to wear them because there is a lot of mud at Festivals and also the floors in the toilets are sometimes a bit disgusting and this stops you from treading your trainers in poo.

2) Wear Clothes you are comfortable in. If you are going to be dragged from stage to stage and from activity to activity you need to be comfortable. I think that wearing layers is a good idea as that way you can take a layer off if you are hot. Don't forget wear shorts if it is sunny and trousers if it is raining!

3) Take your Raincoat. Even if you don't like it because it covers your mouth take it and wear it. You will stay dry in the rain and if it doesn't rain you can use it as a floor cover to sit on. Also if it is raining take spare clothes, you will need them.

4) Take a bottle of water. Most festivals will let you take in an opened bottle of water. I opened mine up and took a swallow of water whilst we were parking our car so that the security guards could see it was an open bottle more easily.

Wild Flowers - Wordless Wednesday

An Adventure for Big Boy and Mummy

Last Friday Big Boy and I went on an adventure. I knew that I was going to be away from Big Boy for the whole weekend and so I thought that some quality one on one time might make it easier on Big Boy me us. We started the day by Daddy giving us a lift to the far end of the high street. We walked through a church yard looking at decorative grave stones with carved marble hands clasped in prayer, Angels and prayer books and details of the loved ones who had been left behind.

We carried on our adventure by going to the park and played on the swings and slide and climbing apparatus and made a friend who Big Boy played in the wild flowers with (and I think I made a new Mum friend too) before we both set off on the rest of our day.

Big Boy and I walked up the high street, pretending to be a band performing on the band stand, looking in the shop windows at the wares for sale, laughing at the greengrocer who was juggling tomatoes and the butcher who was pretending to juggle his knives. We jumped over the cracks in the path and made our way to the local supermarket to pick up some food for an impromptu picnic lunch.

We walked to another local park and found a place to have our picnic in the middle of the field before finding a recycling bin to recycle our rubbish in. We cuddled and munched and slurped our drinks and enjoyed the sunshine of the afternoon.

Big Boy chased after bubbles and zoomed around excited to have so much space just for him. He made friends with a couple of ladies on their lunch hour who had come to the park for a gossip and catch up and who enjoyed just watching him enjoy himself.

We went into the play area and Big Boy swung on the swings higher than ever before and screamed with laughter at the ground rushing up towards him as he swung.

We walked home and held hands and giggled as we walked along in the shade. We saw the Queen and Prince Phillip (no really we did!) and gave them a little wave and wondered what would happen if they were to pop into our house for a cup of tea (we offered on Twitter), a biscuit and a natter. We were quite pleased that they didn't as our living room was a little bit messy and we only had a little bit of milk in.

It was such a special day, we had so much fun and got so much pleasure from the simple things, the free things and just being together. It was the best Big Boy and Mummy adventure that we have ever had. Until the next one that is.

I must go down to the sea again

This weekend, (apart from having gone to Latitude with Rowse Honey) we stayed at my Nan's on the Norfolk coast. Spending some time on Sunday morning on the beach and watching Top Ender paddling in the sea reminded me just why I love the seaside so much. 

Top Ender is seven and a little world weary, she understands far too much about the world she lives in and the pressures that effect everyday life. I swear I was a lot older than seven when I realised that the world can be a harsh place to live in. Seeing her on the beach though, running in and out of the waves, giggling at the coldness of the water, she was my little girl again, the one who loves cuddles and stories about fairies.

There is such an innocence in digging your toes into the sand and splashing in the waves that I think everyone should do it when life is starting to get too much. Who knows maybe if we can keep that childlike innocence in our everyday lives, the world might just be a little bit better.

Silent Sunday

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Five songs to live your life by

When from Curly and Candid tagged me in this meme I was actually quite pleased. Give five songs that you live your life by, your philosophies, your reasons for the way you react the way you do that is so easy for me so here are five songs that sum up how I live my life and how I would like to see my children live their life.

Everybody's free to wear sunscreen - Baz Luhrmann

Daddy creaming up Top Ender on a trip to London

Right so technically this one is cheating, because this one has a tonne of advice in it all of which is something that I hope that my children will understand as they get older and apply to their lives. If there was ever a song to live your life by this has to be it.

Making Chores Fun - Cleaning the Windows

Just like going on the School Run, there are chores that Top Ender, Big Boy and I like to do together. One of our favourites is cleaning the windows because we have so many ways to make this fun depending upon which window we are cleaning!

Our main living room window is fun to clean because we are allowed to stand on the windowsill to clean it and because Top Ender and Big Boy know that when it is clean we will normally be sticking something in it (like Breast pad Snowmen or Hama Bead Easter Bunnies) for a seasonal display!

Top Ender and I love to clean this window together by standing on opposite sides of the window and playing noughts and crosses using window pens before wiping it all off and cleaning the window, but as Top Ender is getting much better at noughts and crosses than she used to be I'm not sure we will be playing that one for much longer...

So that is how we make cleaning the windows fun, how about you?

The Most Boring Videos Ever - Morphy Richards Accents Kettle and Toaster

We received a Morphy Richards Kettle and Toaster from the Accent range to review as part of the Morphy Richards House Proud Innovators scheme.

There is one gadget in my kitchen that doesn't get used more than once a week, and even then not for the reason that most people use it for. What is the gadget? Well, it's my kettle. Being LDS I don't drink tea or coffee (don't worry, I keep them in stock so if you pop round I can offer you a cup) but I do make gravy every week for the roast dinner or if we have bangers and mash or sausage pie or...

Anyway kettles. Yes. So my old kettle has seen me through University (Pot Noodles, Cup A Soups and Instant Mash Potato were my friends) and the first ten years (well nearly) of my marriage but it was starting to get a little tired and so I was so pleased when Morphy Richards said that the House Proud Innovators scheme wanted to send me a new one from the Accents range. They even asked what colour I would like! The colours that the range offers are cream, lime green, red and jet black . I decided to go with cream as I figured that it would go with anything should some magic fairies come to redecorate my kitchen (Please Magic Fairies come and redecorate my kitchen) and waited for it to arrive.

The day it arrived I had been out having some fun with the family and so my neighbour kindly took in the package. He brought it round that night and I was a little confused as the box was HUGE. This was either the worlds biggest kettle or Morphy Richards had made a mistake and had sent me a very short person to make us tea gravy.

It turned out that Morphy Richards had decided that we should also have a four slice toaster too.

Top Ender Giggles - Name Confusion

Whilst watching the Sky One TV Coverage of the premier of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part Two we were commenting on how different the actor's and actresses who play characters in the film look in real life. I told Top Ender to look out for Emma Watson, who plays Hermione because she has had her hair cut really short. When Emma Watson came on screen I said;

"Look, that's Emma Watson, see I told you she had her hair cut!"
"Hermione you mean?" asked Top Ender
"No, Emma Watson, that is her real name" I answered
"I thought you said Emma whatshername!" answered Top Ender

I'm not entirely sure why I am posting this other than Daddy told me too, because he likes the idea of Emma Whatsername...

Clean hands and Carex hand wash

We received some carex soap, which was green and smelly in a good way.

I try to make sure that both Top Ender and Big Boy wash their hands properly because being their usual selves they are normally in a rush to get back to some activity they have going on and I swear that unless I am watching they just wave their hands at the soap and bathroom taps in a form of a friendly recognition! We try to wash our hands several times a day, not just before we have dinner or before and after we prepare food but also if we have been playing some messy activity or if they are just looking dirty! I also try to encourage my two to wash their hands for as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday to you" twice as this way I know they will spend enough time to cover all areas of their hands and fingers!

As part of this we go through a lot of soap in our house, both Daddy and I prefer to use liquid soap for ease of use and portion control ans to my mind there is nothing less attractive than a piece of soap which has cracks all over it on the bathroom sink. Carex sent us some Carex Aloe Vera Hand Wash from their new range and it got put in the bathroom straight away.

Both Top Ender and Big Boy loved the soap because it smelt nice and made their hands smelly (their words not mine!) and also because it made some nice bubbles too! I liked them using this soap because the soap is faster at killing germs which means that even if they don't follow my sing happy birthday twice rule they are still more likely to come away from the sink with cleaner hands than they started with!

The carex soap is available from most big shops and has an RRP of £1.55 for 250ml

Who are you? (Who who?)

I was reading an old post from Diary of A desperate Exmoor Woman where Jane googled herself and found out who she was (well who shared her name anyway) so I thought I would nick it and turn it into a meme.

Will the real Pippa please stand up?

Okay so using my real name I am;

* An author and according to The Bookseller

"We’re all thrilled that Pippa is coming to Pan Macmillan. Katy Henderson Loses Control is the funniest, cleverest and most original debut novel I’ve read in this genre for a long time."

So there, my debut novel was the funniest, cleverest and most original... might read it, it sounds good.

* I write A Mothers Ramblings. Which is boring because I do. I also write at Pippa World though!

* I'm a Psychologist, coach and mother and I have lots of letters after my name.

* I'm a front of house manager in Australia. I think that means I make houses look pretty.

* I'm a headmistress in New Zealand and

* I'm a florist. I always wanted to be a florist.

I also happen to know from a previous google of myself that I am a character in a book who killed her bosses wife...

So I am tagging;

Emma
Vic
Sally
Jen and
Laura

And all you have to do is google your name but incognito eg not signed into Google and discover who you are!

Un-natural Smiles - Wordless Wednesday

I know I know wordless, but hang on a minute so I can explain this one. Daddy asked Top Ender and Big Boy to give a nice natural looking smile so he could take a new picture for his phone background and this is what happened.

Top Ender Giggles - The knee bone is connected to the...

On Saturday night, the Foo Fighters concert taking place at Milton Keynes Bowl could be heard at our house, which is around three miles away. As is normal for us we lay on our bed in the dark with the windows open for a few minutes each time there is a concert to see if we can "hear" what the performers are saying or singing. Top Ender had joined us (as she was awake) and had come back from the bathroom and laid down between us when Daddy said;

"If you had been here a minute ago you would have had a dead spider thrown on you!"

Top Ender looked horrified, so we explained that a few moments after she had left to go to the bathroom Daddy had suddenly started batting at his bare chest and sat upright in the bed and began using his phone (that he had been tweeting on) as a torch over the duvet. There on the bed was a now dead spider that had dropped on to his chest in the dark.

Daddy disposed of the spider just moments before Top Ender's return. Top Ender sat up and turned to look at where the spider had died and found a rather large Spider leg still on the duvet. We all laughed at this gruesome sight and Daddy disposed of the leg commenting;

"I wonder what else the spider has left behind"
"Smithereens?" offered Top Ender
"Smithereens isn't a part, it's a description of how many pieces the spider was in!" laughed Daddy
"Oh!" said a giggling Top Ender

BubbleBum Inflatable Car Booster Seat

We were sent a BubbleBum Inflatable Car Booster seat to review by Cheeky Rascals.

Big Boy and I often go into London together for various blogger events, I hate taking Big Boy on the underground when we are in a rush or it is the rush hour and so we will sometimes travel in Taxis to events. The problem is that not many Taxis have car seats and even though it isn't the law that there has to be one it makes me feel safer to know that Big Boy is the right height for the seat belt! So when we were sent a BubbleBum inflatable car booster seat I was really pleased as this was the product I didn't know I needed!

The Bubblebum was the idea of Grainne Kelly who as a Mum herself knew that carrying a "normal" booster seat around was an inconvenience, especially when you were also trying to cope with a toddler, carry a bag and whatever else you might need for a day trip or holiday.

So what did we think of the Bubblebum? It takes no time at all to inflate and putting it into the backseat of a taxi was surprisingly easy considering I hadn't practised and had no idea what I was doing. Big Boy felt very happy sitting in the seat and I was much happier knowing that the seat belt was across Big Boy in the right place.

The BubbleBum seat because it is inflatable is soft and not rigid like a traditional booster seat. This gave a comfy ride to Big Boy (and Top Ender who had a go in our car) which as anyone who has ever been in a London Cab knows is a good thing. As is the fact that it can be wiped clean...

The BubbleBum seat is simple to put away (just roll it back up into the handy bag) and then it sat nicely in my handbag (I have a big handbag) until we needed it on the way back home. As the bag is so compact it has taken to living hanging from the coat hooks in our hall, which is great as we can grab it as we leave the house and we don't have to worry about losing it in the loft.

Cheeky Rascals sell the Bubble Bum for £29.99, which as it can be used for a child between the weights of 15kg and 36kg (roughly 4 years old to 12 years old) is a great price.

Baby Boy Giggles - Breaking the Fourth Wall

When we went to see Shaun's Big Show, Big Boy was quite excited as he really loves the animated series of both Shaun and Timmy.

We were all sat in the auditorium and as the show started Big Boy was immediately transfixed by the dancing sheep and Bitzer (the dog). A few moments passed before Big Boy realised that there was a huge secret that only he knew and he had to share with his family so he stage whispered to us;

"There are people in those costumes!"

Those in the seats around us started to giggle whilst we reassured Big Boy that we had known there were people in the costumes and that we had known they weren't real animals.

The costumes were really great though.

Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Breast Pump

My sister received the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Breast Pump so it could be reviewed here.

When I was pregnant with Top Ender, my Mum brought me a breast pump as it was reduced in her local Boots store. I knew I was going to breast feed (well attempt to) but hadn't looked at breast pumps and had no clue what I was looking for in a pump. My sister was just as laid back and with her first pregnancy, she knew too that she was intending to breast feed but from conversations I remember from the time she wasn't all that fussed about what breast pump she had. I was lucky the pump that I had suited me and for both Top Ender and Big Boy it served me well helping me provide milk to stock up the freezer with and for times when I wasn't available for my babies to get milk direct from the source! By the time my sisters third baby was born she still hadn't found the right electrical breast pump that she felt best for her (She had discovered that the Tommee Tippee manual pump was good for her though) and this is where Tommee Tippee stepped in, offering her the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Electric Breast Pump to review.

My sister was quite excited about the pump and after sterilising it (in the sterilising pot that it comes with) used it for the first time. She was impressed, the suction did feel natural (or rather like a baby sucking) and she expressed a few ounces in a relatively short amount of time too. Chatting we worked out that it wasn't that noisy compared to other electric breast pumps, but if you are used to manual pumps it's very noisy!

The pump comes with a few accessories such as breast milk storage pot, a bottle and some disposable breast pads (always good for making Breast Pad Snowmen with) and of course the sterilising pot that I mentioned. If you want to pump and you aren't near mains, it does take batteries, but my sister and I are guessing, that like my pump, the less juice in the batteries the less powerful the pump... just a point to watch out for! I didn't read the instructions booklet, as I wasn't going to use the pump and unusually for my sister she did read the book, so she could tell me all about putting the thing together when your over enthusiastic partner has taken it all apart in an attempt to be helpful... luckily if you read the manual it is fairly straight forward but there are a few fiddly bits that if you have sterilised you might be hesitant about touching with your fingers and making unclean. As I have always said though trust me it isn't going to matter so don't sweat the small stuff.

So my third niece had milk expressed using this pump, but would my sister use it again? Well, yes she would and she is going to at the start of next year (2012) when she has her fourth baby! That's right I'm going to be an aunty again!

The RRP for the pump is £84.99, but there are discounts to be had on the Tommee Tippee website and a quick google search found it on both the John Lewis website and Amazon for roughly half the price.