ZSL Whipsnade Zoo family day out

We are so lucky that we live just around the corner from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo , the Zoo is located in bedfordshire and is very easy to find.

 Family passes are worth there weight in gold in the Hughes household. Our pass costs £286 for the year this is a family pass and can be for up to five children ( you need to prove that the children live with you when buying the pass ) now £286 sounds like a lot of money... and yes it is.. but let me brake it down. A
one off trip to the Zoo for two adults and one child £62.10 ( adults £22.80 / child £16.50 ) so rough maths, we got five times in the space of the year and thats the covered the cost of the pass, now imagine if you did have five children ( shudder ) it would cost you £128 to visit for one day so a pass really isn't such a bad idea, not only will this pass get you into Whipsnade zoo but also London Zoo and you also get 10% off in the gift shop , train and the cafes & restaurants.

The zoo is a fun family day our for the whole family, Whipsnade also has a huge outside playspace and a soft play ( price covered but ticket cost ) They have talks about the animals from the keepers and the sealion show & bird show are a must, Its easy to spend the day enjoying the wide open spaces and watching the animals.

i would advice taking own food and drinks into the zoo are the price of these is a little eye watering, i am looking forward to many more Zoo trips this year ( and many more years to come after )

Whipsnade also holds special meaning to us as a family, Chris and i had our first real date at the zoo and we also got married at whipsnade in 2008 , we went in with the lemurs and got to feed the giraffes is a day i will never forget for so many reasons.




you can check out more details from the zoo website this also is the London zoo site so make sure your looking on the right one

whipsnade & london zoo website

Kettle Bites Review

After getting in contact with Kettle we had a box full of the new Kettle bites sent out to us by post. Both Bodhi and i were really keen to try them but we waited for the rest of the family so we could get a good mix of tasters to test them out.

we was sent a range of the all of the flavour range to try, and on opening the packets you got a real kick of the flavour before you'd even tasted the kettle bites.

The kettle Bites range includes both wholegrain and lentil snacks, with all the Kettle taste and the quality promise. The lentil curls come in Sweet chilli & mozzarella with pesto and the wholegrain waves in maple barbecue & coconut, lime & chilli.


as with all the Kettle products, the seasonings in the bites range are made with real food ingredients. Kettle never add any artificial flavours, colours or MSG to their products, some other crisp manufacturers use to make the flavourings.

 kettle bits come in multi-packs ( x5 22g) and 22g hang packs, these are available now from supermarkets and independent stores nationwide.

i filmed the tasting of the product with my family, this hasn't been edited or cut, this is what they thought first hand to the new range, and i think if id let him Bodhi would have eaten all four bowls ! my mum did suggest an idea of a mixed multi pack and i also think this is a great idea

the over all favourite of ours was the maple barbecue whole grain bites, i will be picking up some more when i go food shopping next. the multi packs are RRP £1.89 but you can sometimes get on offers such as 2 packs for £3

This review is from my own views ( and of my family ) the products used were sent to be reviewed for publication

Thank you Kettle Foods Ltd ( putting the food into snack food ) 

From Mother to Child (living arrows)

This week for my living arrows post i am looking back onto my own childhood and how much of myself i see in my son, His moods (highs and lows) his love of small lumps of plastic and his need for his things and routine to stay the same.

while doing my normal Monday morning job of stripping the beds and putting on clean sheets. i took the frog sheets out of the box, now these frog sheets are MINE i have had them as long as i can remember and I'm nearly 30. i can almost feel myself being my mum putting these funny little frog sheets onto my sons bed.

i love frogs ( still do ) and a lot of my things had frogs on or frog themed one of my childhood favourite toys was my soft toy called Freddie who had his own little bike and you could push down on the bike and it would wiz across the floor. Freddie also now lives in Bodhi's room and yes he is very well loved and looking a little worse for wear, but he still enjoys playing with him like i did all those years ago, and just like when i played with Freddie his eyes often need drawing back on. I have clear memories of asking my dad to " draw Freddie's eyes please daddy "

i kept these items at the time more for myself then for a child i might one day have, as for a very long time i didn't want children. i am so glad i kept them tho and i know Bodhi likes having things passed down from mummy for him now to use.

Did you keep anything from your childhood that your child now has?

easter budget gift ideas ( non chocolate )

with Easter only a few short weeks away i am starting to think about if i should be buying four year old Bodhi an egg this year, he gets so many from friends and family ( i think this is due to eggs now being that much more affordable ) i do worry that he will just get over loaded with chocolate after reading blog post by friend blogger becky ( link ) i started to think about small budget easter theme non chocolate gift ides and this is what i have come up with i have based this on items id be happy to give or receive this Easter photo below is from Easter 2013 when Bodhi would have been 14 months old! look at all those eggs!!!

1 at only £1 a kit these are great value for money and really good quality you get everything you need for the project and they had a range of other kits from £1-£2

2 Hop is a family DVD based around the story of the easter bunny ( i picked this up last year for body as part of his easter basket ) its for sale at only £3 in sainsburys perfect way to spend an afternoon of the easter school holidays

3 easter colouring books £2 each from the works they have a wide range of easter theme sticker/craft and colouring books some are also in the offer for 8 for £10 again a great way to spend some time together with your child without that sugar high

4 now this one (might) be a mum want item but at only £3.50 from john lewis i had to add it to the list, who would love some cute and colourful easter bunny bunting to be hanging up over the easter holidays?

5 we love playmobil in our house and theses plastic eggs come in a range of colours with different themed playlets in side these might seem a little over priced at £6.99 but if you are a playbill fan you will know that this a pretty fair price i found at this price also at john lewis but might have offers and lowers prices if you shop around

6 this beautiful jellycat bashful blossom honey bunny is only £11 from the jellycat.com website i think this could well give the easter bunny a run for his money

7 and lastly lego! now this ( i think ) at £4 is overpriced its just a little lego man figure dressed as a chicken comes in a small box shaped like a hen house but if your child is really into lego ( lets face it they have a 'few' fans ) then this could be a great option rather then a chocolate egg

these could also work for children who have allergies or don't do well with large amounts of sugar and E numbers , when i was a child i was allergic to coco powered used to make chocolate so i would miss out on the big hype of eggs ( plus back then they were really over priced and my parents didn't agree with the mass market push of boxed eggs )

i do hope this has been a little helpful to you guys? i am planing a small easter egg hunt for bodhi so he will get getting some sweet treats from us, but i have also got lots of arts and crafts planed to keep us busy and a easter event at a local farm to us

simple fake flowers craft project

so mothers day has been and gone and i knew i was working 8-5 on the sunday i wanted to spend some one on one time with Bodhi on the saturday , we had a little think on what we could make and i suggested that we make some fake flowers for mummy to have for mothers day, body seemed keen so i grabbed the bits i needed and off we went !


you will need :

cotton buds
straws
cotton pads
water & paint brushes
water colour paints or felt tip pens
hot glue gun or pva glue
jug / vase
playdoh or clay or something to stick the flowers into !

i also filmed how we made our simple fake flowers so if you'd rather just watch then read please click on the link below

https://youtu.be/GlOA5GBR6SU

so step one! push the cotton buds into the straws around half way down ( but so the straws can still bend )

step two fold the cotton pad in half to make a triangle and wrap around your straw and cotton bud.

you will then need to use your glue to stick the pad and straw together, i did this with a hot glue gun so please do not let you child use a hot glue gun if this is what you are using hot glue guns get VERY hot and the glue will burn you. glue the pad down in the shape shown in the below photo

once you have done these steps ( if you have younger children i would advice that you have already done these steps with out the child ) you can get painting your flowers, i used a water colour paint set that i have had for year, if you don't have water colours use felt tip pens. paint the flowers with clean water first this will then let the paints or felts bleed into the cotton pads

have fun making your flowers all bright and colourful, i think used playdoh to stick the straws into my jug so they didn't move around. i am really pleased with the finished out come and so was bodhi and these flowers will last much much longer then any you'd pick up from the shop. we had all of our supplies already at hand so these didn't cost us anything extra to make and bodhi and i had a lovely time making and painting together.

i hope you have enjoyed this and will give our simple fake flowers craft project a go.

happy crafting.

Growing up fast

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When I look at bodhi I find it easy to forget when he was so tiny 4 short years ago , it feels like a life time ago, can I remember a time when I didn't have him in my life ? Honestly.... No , I remember the lazy weekends the fuller bank balance but I don't really remember feeling whole. I love my son more then anything or anyone in my life. But time is flying by and I can't believe he will be starting school in September. He really is a little boy now, no longer a baby definitely not a toddler. He is a full on 4 year old and yes he pushes my buttons but he is my world and he is a kind and loving little boy.

Last week another very special family member had a birthday, my nan and bodhis granny ( great granny ) turned 90 , now to me this is a crazy age to reach. She has had a tough few years , she is being looked after in a small care home as she has needs that are greater then she or us as family can meet, her sight has been much all but gone. But on good days she is still my nanny seaside and I can clearly remember summers spent with her and my late grandad. I love my nan and I'm so pleased that bodhi also gets to love her, he is very kind and sweet to her ( and to the other lady's that also live in the care home ) 

We spent Friday afternoon with granny to celebrate her birthday, bodhi lead the signing and helped her to blow out her candles was heart warming to see the two of them together sharing such a moment,most of my friends arnt lucky like me I still have both of my nans in my life. And I really don't know how I will cope without either of them, I don't see or speak to them everyday but just knowing they are at the end of the phone or near by is a real comfort. 

So yes time is flying and everyone is growing up fast, the world needs to slow down just a little for me to enjoy more of this time with them all. I hope that bodhi will be creating memories of both his great nans.

I have shared this post over on what the redhead said for living arrows , she is a lovely person and write a fabulous blog go check her out at whattheredheadsiad.com 

february family favourites

i was going to write this as a blog post , really glad i didn't as the blog turned out being nearly 1/2 an hour long!! click on the triangle and you'll be taken to my channel to watch my February favourites for last month, i cover health and beauty / food / music / tv & film and home



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thanks and enjoy