Who needs Pokemon Go when you have the option of a free scarecrow trail in a local village and Olympic Scarecrows at that?

The nation has gone Olympic's crazy in support of our competitors in Rio. I don't know about you but I've managed to catch a few of the sports on the television and news coverage and whilst I'm not particularly sportive and neither is CK we wanted to get in on the Olympics action.

For us that meant going to see the Scarecrow's of Brailes. The Scarecrow trail is part of the village's 'Brailes Show' which is taking place this Saturday 13th August and in addition to the typical summer fete activities and competitions (best flowers, cake etc), there is also a best scarecrow competition. In support of this the local community has really 'gone to town' with 37 entrants in all and what is even better is that the theme for this years Scarecrow trail is 'The Olympics'.

So today CK headed off to the village on our hunt for Olympic Scarecrows. There is a full map of the trail showing all the locations throughout the village and you can download this here but CK and I decided that the ones on the main road through Brailes were enough for us today (although we will probably go back with CD and find some more another time). The voting for the best scarecrow takes place at the show on Saturday and I shall be very interested to find out which one will win (although I think they are all fantastic).

I was also thinking this would be a great activity for kids to make (as a smaller version) - a couple of bunches of straw would be all you'd need to make a doll sized scarecrow. I might have a go at this with CK when he's a bit older.

Here are some pictures of our favourites - which one do you like best? Let me know in the comments below.

1. Archer

2. Gymnast (rings)

3. Fencing

4. Pole Vaulting

5. Equestrian

6. Diver (Tom Daley) - located above a brook in the village

7. Gymnast

8. Trap Shooting (clay out of sight in image)

8. Cyclist

10. Gymnast

11. Olympic hurdler

12. "Walter Vaulter"

13. Archer

So you've seen our favourites - which is yours? let me know below in the comments.

CK and I went to Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock yesterday. I'd been seeing the signs for weeks as our town and the area around it is on one of the main routes to the festival but I was initially put off as it was a bit pricey for a ticket. At the last minute on Wednesday I decided to go as there were quite a few activities for kids and I thought CK would enjoy it.

JOURNEY

It's normally 35 minutes to Blenheim from my house and I wanted to get there for 11am so we'd have a good couple of hours to look around everything before heading back for naptime at 2-3ish. That plan went completely out the window as I spent over an hour queuing on the A44 to get into the Blenheim Estate and then queued for another hour slow crawling all the way into. It was 1pm before we got in - not a good start.

TRACTORS

The first thing we went to see was the 'Farming in Action' display - It featured lots of vintage tractors and hay baling (I think that's what they call it) demonstrations which included various agricultural machines of all ages, each of which had its own task. I found it really interesting - I pass hundreds of fields a week and in the summer regularly getting stuck behind various tractors on the country roads in the Cotswolds and lorries full of hay but never fully understanding the process behind it. Watching the process in action gives me a new found appreciation of how it all works - take a look at some of my pictures.

You are probably wondering what CK's reaction to all this was. Was he interested? Bored? Did he care? See for yourself.

He absolutely loved it - we must have stood watching for 20 minutes and from at least 2 different positions. He really enjoyed it and his eyes lit up watching it.

More Tractor Fun

The fun didn't end there for CK as in the 'Farming in Action' display also included a huge number of the latest (I think) in tractor technologies and even better still. Children were encouraged to climb all over the tractors and they were. CK also had a go and loved it. Here he is on one of the tractors (I love this photo).

Animals

This being a 'Country' themed event there were a lot of animals around and even Adam Henson (Cotswold Farm Park) was there with his farm (although we did not see the man himself) - his petting farm was fairly busy and CK didn't seem to interested in joining in. It didn't help that the moment we entered the tent the heavens opened for one of the brief showers of the day and everyone flooded in to the nearest dry spot (our tent) filling out the petting area we were in. But he did enjoy watching the baby rabbits racing around. I'm actually thinking of going to Cotswold Farm Park in a few weeks so he will get another chance.

He did get to see some of the animals very close up.

The goats...

The Ducks

The Sheep

And even a donkey

I think he enjoyed it. 

Children's entertainment

In fact there was a lot of entertainment there for children and quite a bit of it was free. We didn't get to see a lot of things due to the time we had, so we missed the opportunity to take part in maypole dancing and the Punch and Judy Showing ended just before we got to it. But there was free face painting, the village green had free vintage village green style games (shove h'penny) (and a few others I didn't recognise) there was a small children's playground, mini diggers and a digger den full of plastic soft play balls.

There were also a few options if you were happy to pay - a vintage fun fair which you might have seen in the background of my farm display pictures. Here is CK on the kiddie carousel (£2.50).

My very own 'Sterling Moss'

There was also tractor ted ( a bouncy castle with slide) which was a £1 a ride but CK hasn't been too interested in bouncy castles so we gave it a miss.

For the Adults

They also had some craft stalls and food stalls in marquees scattered across the site and we came across some great artisan products which would have made great Christmas presents (with a bit more forethought and planning). There were also plenty of stalls scattered around outside which were interesting. Here was one of my favourites:

Also for those of you who loved my fairy garden feature last week and who are looking to buy the perfect fairy house centrepiece for their garden - you have to take a look at this website - Dingley Dwellings. They do the most gorgeous items for your garden - my eyes lit up at the sight at them although I didn't have the budget to make a purchase on the day.

Food and Drink

I had a great carvery pork bap and pork scratchings (shared with the little man) for £10 total which is about normal for these kinds of events and it was really lovely - I think the bread was proper bakery bread which made it taste even better. CK and I were still nibbling the scratchings in the queue out (a good half hour to the gate). 

There were plenty of ice cream stalls and also plenty of bar type stalls but after CK finished his drink of squash I really struggled to find child friendly drinks on the site. I could get soft drinks, champagne, prosecco, coffee but a fruit shoot? No luck. In the end I spied a Cotteswold Dairies stall (we regularly have their milk) and saw they were selling milkshakes - that'll have to do I thought.

I think CK enjoyed it.

After a few initial hesitant sips - he guzzled his banana milkshake down fairly quickly only struggling when he was down to about 1/4 (he wasn't very good at tipping the cup up without spilling it all over himself) - he absolutely loved it and for £1.50 I would have happily bought another if needed.

The ladies on the stall were also kind enough to refill his squash cup with water (no charge) which was really good of them and was very much appreciated.

Day Over

That was pretty much everything (I think) that we saw and did. After 3 hours CK was not doing to good, he was tired and getting very grouchy and to be fair I was shattered as well with a headache (not helped by sitting in a car for 2 hours with a bored toddler). We missed quite a few activities and all the shows - I had wanted to see the Essex dog display team but it wasn't to be this time so we headed back to the gate and after a 20 minute search found the car (I knew it was by a tree somewhere - and it was) before queuing out through the estate for another 20 minutes until we got to the main road.

Verdict 

I have two questions I've been asking myself, 1. Was it worth the £30 it basically cost me to get in (including fees & car parking charge) & 2. Was it worth the 2 hour wait to get in.

In answer to these 2 questions, I think it was worth the £30 - we had a really lovely time, saw some really nice things, got to see and do a lot for the money and had a generally nice afternoon but it was not worth the 2 hour queue to get in.

If I went again or if anyone else is thinking of going this time, I would suggest going for 9.30 when it opens (or earlier if you want to), take plenty of drinks with you and be aware the loos here are portaloos with very limited baby changing facilities. I took our travel system and I'm glad we did as I think the buggy would have been harder to navigate on the long grass surface. Cover is limited so bring a mac and sun cream, also be prepared that all of the vintage rides are £2 - £2.50 each if you have little ones that will want to go on. I'd also try to pre-plan a route around the place - I found it very confusing and I don't think we saw a lot of things and missed the shows - I had looked before we left but I was looking at timings from 11-1 and hadn't factored in the late entry.

One very happy baby (waving his free colouring in flag with free crayons)

If you are going I hope you have a good time and have more luck with the traffic then we did. If you have any questions please post below and feel free to comment.

A few weeks ago I was looking for ideas for my fairly small garden on Pinterest when I accidentally stumbled onto the concept of a fairy garden. It was what I didn't know I was looking for and I decided there and then that once I'd tidied up the garden a bit I would have a go and finally this weekend I created our first fairy garden.

I thought it turned out rather well and it's not finished yet. I intend to add bits to it here and there over the next few weeks - mostly furniture but I'm also on the look out for the perfect plants as well.

I've been gathering things together for it for a few weeks now. The windmill I bought from a stall at a home and garden show in Stratford Upon Avon a few weeks ago - and CK absolutely loves it (he's stolen it a few times from the garden already and has damaged the bottom by breaking it.

I originally started this as something we could do together but unfortunately at 20 months he is too young at the moment so I've just been doing this for my own enjoyment and I hope he can join in when he is older. (He has a thing for dinosaurs so maybe we can make a dinosaur garden in the future).

Most of my ideas and inspiration for this project have come from Pinterest and if you'd like to take a look at my full pinterest board you can view it below.

I'll also just add that I am NOT greenfingered at all. That gene has well and truly skipped me and I can't guarantee how long the flowers will last, but this was very easy to put together and anyone can do it.

Items I used for my fairy garden:

1. Garden Plant saucer
2. Compost
3. 'Fairy House'
4. Plants
5. Gravel
6. A Fairy

My full tutorial:

1. Take a Garden Saucer and fill it with compost

2. Add your main feature - in my case it is my windmill but this could also be a fairy house

3. Add your plants - make sure the plants you choose don't have too deep a base. I chose bedding plants 'celosia' which fit my whimsical theme.

4. Add a footpath - I used gravel from my garden but any kind of small stones or tiles would look good. My stones were laid 3 or 4 in a row from front to back.

5. Almost finished - this is what I have so far

6. Add your fairy folk and any other smaller items - my fairy is an old ornament.

7. All finished! - For now. I'm hoping to add more things to this - a toadstool, picket fence, furniture, a river, more fairies.... The options are unlimited.

As you'll see from the Pinterest board, a lot of the items are made out of polymer clay so I've bought some along with paints to see what else I can make.

Do you have a fairy garden or is this going to be your next project? Let me know in the comments below.

Cotswold Dad and I have been talking and we have decided that Cotswold Kid should go to a day nursery. We never actually planned for him to go to nursery as we are fortunate that we have sufficient child care for the days we were working through family members but 20 months on I really feel like he is starting to suffer as he is not getting many opportunities to interact with other children his age and make friends.

His current social circle

He does see other children, I have plenty of cousins with children of their own and I have friends who also have children - some of whom are around his age - but we don't see them as much as we'd like and he misses out on the interaction. It's got to the point where he's pretty much with adults all the time and he has no friends of his own, I've been worried his social skills are suffering and whilst he is active he doesn't have many recognisable words.

Making the decision

At the same time Cotswold Dad was talking to his business partner who's son is slightly older than CK. The child has recently started nursery and in the short time that he's been there had made some significant progress and so CD was keen to think about putting CK in nursery as well.

I didn't need much convincing and started to look online at different nurseries in the area. I also read a few articles to get some tips on what I should look for including this great blog post by the Frenchie Mummy.

Local nursery options

Where we live there are very few nursery options with only 3 nurseries in the town itself, there are other nurseries in the outlying areas but they are a good 15-20 minute drive and not on the best roads either.

The nursery I was primarily interested in is currently attended by the daughter of one of the mum's from my antenatal class so I have already heard some good things but I wanted to see it for myself so I found it incredibly helpful when the local nursery advertised an open morning for Saturday morning last week (the promise of cake was a further motivation as well!).

Our Visit

Saturday morning we went over to the nursery (a 5 minute walk from our house) and were immediately met by the room leader for the 2 year olds, she gave us a tour of the '2' rooms and I was immediately struck by how lovely it was, everything was clean, the displays were bright, and there was a huge selection of toys and activities, sensory rooms, dens - it was fantastic. There was also a lovely outdoor play area including a treehouse which I knew he would love.

The staff were great as well, the room leader took us over to the baby room as we weren't sure which he would start in so we also got to look around that and the pre-school and were impressed with all. I think one of the main things I like was that the staff were very experienced, the room leader for the 2 room had been there for 18 years and a lot of the other staff had been there for 6 or 7 years plus. Of course there were a few 'school leavers' but for the majority of staff they had been there a while. I also got a real sense of how much they seemed to enjoy being there. They were all laughing and joking with each other and seemed very at ease and generally seemed to be happy to be there - despite it being a Saturday morning. I got a really good feeling about the place.

The Deal Breaker

CK was with us and when we got to the nursery he didn't want to get out of the pushchair, didn't want to walk in with us and didn't want to interact with us. We carried him round with him clinging to us but with time he started to increase his confidence and was happy to get down and then started playing with toys and interacting with the other staff playing peekaboo with one of the women there. He seemed to settle in so well and this also really put my mind at ease as I just knew that this was the right place for him and there was no need to look at anywhere else.

Signing up

We filled in the registration forms right there and then and we are waiting to hear back from the admin as to when he can start, we're hoping to put him in 2 mornings a week to begin with. I'm also going to do a visit in the week - most likely in early September as I want to see what the nursery is like in its normal setting and not when it is being 'staged' for parents to look around. But I'm fairly confident this will be a formality and just another opportunity to warm CK up to going to the nursery again based on what I've seen so far.

I guess I just have to think about preparing for his start now and am looking forward to getting the start date. I need to get him a backpack, water bottle and a lunchbox (he will eat lunch there) so will have to do a shopping trip in the near future as well for these things but I'm really excited for him to start as I'm sure it will do him wonders.

I'll keep you posted as to how you get on - what were your first experiences like looking around a nursery. Did you 'know' as soon as you stepped foot in the building that you'd found the right one? Let me know in the comments below.

When you have your first child, it's hard to know what toys to buy. What they will like and play with and what will be forgotten never to be played with again. There is also so much choice out there with all the manufacturers putting out products aimed at young families, advertising on children's television channels and filling pages of catalogues.

Last summer, we were looking at CK's toys and realised that he was getting a bit old for his rattles and some of the other toys he had had since he was a baby. I wanted to get him something that he could enjoy but would also encourage him - he had been rocking on all fours for a while but still wasn't crawling so I was looking for something that would help him.

Fisher Price Smart Stages Puppy Train

I found the answer at Smyths Toy Shop, it was a brightly coloured train which also came with animal character accessories. It had lights, spinning items (a favourite feature of CK's at the time), played various songs and even better when you pushed the green chimney stack the train would move under its own power. It also uses the smart stages technology and you have the option of three modes depending on the age group of the child.

He loved it from the first moment he saw it, he loved spinning the wheels and the 2 rollers on the carriage, he liked putting the little characters in their places particularly in the driver seat as the train would reward him with a sound and when he realised what happened when he pushed the green chimney he was so happy and pleased and in no time was crawling up and down after it.

Over a year later and with CK now 20 months old this is still one of his favourite toys and it still gets a lot of use. He has even been taking it out in the garden and the carriage did end up in his paddling pool (with no harm done). His favourite thing about it is still the fact that it moves across the room when you push the green chimney. He has even tried sitting on it and pushing the chimney stack in hopes that it will move with him on which is really cute but unfortunately for him its a bit too heavy for that purpose.

I think we paid approx £20 and if you are looking for a Christmas or birthday present for a child between 6-18 months you can't do much better than this. - Here is a full list of the reasons why we think it's the best toy we've bought for our son.

1. The batteries last ages - I've changed them once in just over a year. This compared to other toys where batteries have had to be changed monthly and considering this toy is played with almost everyday I think thats pretty impressive.

2. It's really well made and durable - some of the stickers have peeled off but otherwise its still in really good condition and works very well, the colours are still very bright and despite my son's attempt to 'ride' on it a few times, it's still standing.

3. Very easy for little ones to operate - there are 5 buttons, 2 spinners, 2 loop shaped beads, a slider, driver seat activity button and that amazing light up chimney stack.

4. Doesn't take up much space - we took this to Center Parcs on holiday with us, it sometimes goes with him to granny's and it fits comfortably in his toybox without taking up very much space. (we have a small house and it's the only toy that takes up next to no space at all

5. It grows with baby - it's advertised as being suitable from 6 months to 18 months but we are still enjoying and loving it at 20 months. It also has different stages for different modes of play. Level 1 'Lets have some fun' - for little ones to get used to the toy, Level 2 'Lets learn something new' encouraging children to push certain buttons to learn shapes, colours and numbers & Level 3 'Lets pretend - Yipee!' for general role play

6. Helps your child's development - as well as helping to teach the colours, shapes and numbers mentioned above, it also encourages physical development and in our case helped to encourage CK to first crawl and then walk. It's also been great for improving his co-ordination too.

7. Lots of songs and words meaning parents don't get bored - I think we all know there is nothing worse than that one toy that keeps playing the same tune over and over and over again but with this toy the songs and talking is different so adults don't get bored. Not only that but you also can turn it off or lower the volume as well (great if it was a particularly bad night last night)

8. It rewards children's actions with music and lights - I love the fact that if you put a character in the driving seat it plays a little tune and the chimney flashes, equally if you push one of the coloured buttons it will sometimes ask you to push another button and tells you how smart you are if you've pushed the right one.

9. The little characters are a further bonus and contain rattles. They include a puppy, monkey and frog and the songs tend to be in relation them.They are easy to hold with no rough ages and fit comfortably into the train.

10. It's very good value for money - I think for what we paid (approx £20) this was very reasonable and we have had so much usage out of it and I think we will for a while longer yet. Knowing what I know now I would have quite happily paid more for it to be honest. It was worth every single penny.

A fantastic toy then and one that I highly recommend - if you want to buy I've posted an affiliate link below but I really think this should be on the wish list of every infant from the ages of 6-18 months and every parent and grandparents 'to buy list' for any present given occasion.

Anyone else have one of these? What do you think?

It's that time again. The time I dread - time to cut CK's nails. I've been putting it off for a few days, trying to avoid having to do it, ignoring the fact that he blatantly needs both finger and toe nails cut but it's got to a point where I simply have to do it as every time he scratches himself it leaves a horrible red mark or worse it looks like the cat has been at him.

I don't know if I'm alone in my dread of cutting his nails, I don't ever see this come up in forums or blog posts so it could be just me, but my hatred started in those very first days after he was born. CK was born with nails and scratched his own face within hours of being born and whilst I'd expected his full head of hair I hadn't expected the very long sharp nails. 

Confusion

I wasn't sure what the right way of dealing with them was as I read and heard some contradictory ideas before he was born. Specifically that you shouldn't cut their nails because it could damage the nail bed, and you shouldn't bite them as this could cause an infection. I thought about filing his nails but they were too small and he wasn't too happy about it because of the time it took.

Ignoring advice

In then end I ignored the advice bought the Tommy Tippee nail scissors and we used those for a while, but it was terrible he hated having his nails cut, would wriggle, cry and scream. I found the only way I could do it was when I gave him his bottle and I would hold the bottle in one hand whilst I cut his nails with the other. His toe nails weren't so bad to cut back then and I used to just do them whilst he was playing on his playmat. When he then started holding his own bottle that made things a bit easier but once he was weaned the bottles went during the day and he drank his own at night so I didn't have the opportunity any more.

Other Ideas

I spoke to other mums to see what they did and it was suggested that I cut his nails whilst he was asleep, but CK is the lightest sleeper in the world if I even open his bedroom door he is wide awake. I did try this once anyway and went in with a torch - but it didn't work he sleeps on all fours and the second I touched him he woke up and stirred from the moment I entered the room.

Present day

We use nail clippers now as I find they are quicker. I usually set him up on the sofa and try to distract him with Paw Patrol or Postman Pat. Sometimes it works or he will let me do a few fingers other times he just doesn't let me and screams and makes a fuss, but what can I do? We tried holding him down once too - It was terrible, I felt like such a bad parent for making him cry.

I'm hoping he'll grow out of it at some point so that its no longer an issue but for now I just do the best I can and dread the day I have to trim them.

What has your experience been like? Let me know in the comments below and if you have any tips please also include them as well.

A Baby Announcement

One of my closest friends gave birth to her second child yesterday. I knew it was imminent as we'd spoken a few days ago and she told me she was in early labour so I was very little excited for her. Fast-forward to yesterday and I received a text message from her confirming the little boy had been born, along with his name and weight. I sent my good wishes back via text and since then have been awaiting sight of some photo's once she was ready to share.

My friend can be quite a visible presence on Facebook so I've been regularly checking her account for an announcement and/or photographs, so I was shocked to see another of her Facebook friends had announced the news on her page including the weight of the baby (although at this time the name is not yet on there).

My opinion is that it's wrong and that the only people who should be announcing the news should be the parents themselves. After all they've waited 9 months for this moment and it is for them to share when they are ready - it is a special moment and should not be taken away from them and it is their news to share too

It's not just that either - when you've had a baby you normally want your closest family and friends to know first - so if one of your friends puts it on Facebook before you've had a chance to tell all your family  it is likely that someone will get upset hearing it third hand rather than from you.

I also think that you have to be very careful about posting things on Facebook too early, in my friends case her first child was born very early (2 months premature) and was in the NICU so I can understand why she may not want to share on Facebook after the problems she had with the first birth.

Our Announcement

I had read of several stories on baby forums that I was a member of during pregnancy about family members and friends announcing the birth of someone else's child and I was determined that this wouldn't happen to us. When the time came and I went into labour, my parents, sister and my mother in law were the only ones to know other than us and they all knew not to mention it outside the close family. When the following day I was told I'd needed a C Section, my partner rang my mum and his to let them know what was happening - (my mum said she was starting to get worried when she hadn't heard anything). Finally after delivery and I was on the ward, I rang my mum and told her and told her I was happy for her to tell my immediate family but not to put anything on Facebook as we wanted to do that ourselves. (read my full birth story by clicking here)

Once the news had been passed around the close family, my partner then announced it on Facebook at around quarter past four in the afternoon (CK was delivered at 13.30) - fortunately no one had announced it on our behalf so we were able to proudly share it ourselves and I hope in future that will set a precedent for next time.

Final Thought

I find it quite sad in this day and age that this amazing moment is taken from so many people and that everything does have to be so public. A few forums I have looked at also featured posts like the ones below that people have posted in advance to try and ensure that they are not beaten in making that announcement. I appreciate people want to pass on their congratulations and good wishes but is it really that difficult to wait a little bit longer. I haven't spoken to my friend since yesterday as I want to give her some time just her and her little family and I don't know if she is aware of the news being shared yet but I really hope that she is not too upset by it. If she is upset at least she has her beautiful baby boy to comfort her and give her joy.

Stork Image courtesy of  http://cliparts.co/clipart/3036260

The above image is my own interpretation of many others that I've encountered online - please feel free to save or pin ready for when you might need it.

What are your thoughts on this? Has anyone ever made the announcement for you and how did you feel? Let me know in the comments below.