Drusillas Park

I am writing this post as a review of Drusillas Park and Zoo.

I am one of those endlessly hopeful people that enter competitions online on a weekly if not daily basis, sometimes wondering if the majority of them are genuine as I never seem to win much.

Then back in late Summer I received a message online notifying me I was indeed this time in luck! I'd liked and shared a Zoo borns and Drusillas Park post and be drawn as the winner! I was super excited as this meant I'd won my son a cuddly panda, book about baby animals, an iPhone case (which unfortunately doesn't fit my phone- yes I'm still on an iPhone 4) and most amazingly free tickets to visit the park with my little family! :) what an awesome

prize!

The prizes got sent out very promptly and zoo entry was for the next year so we could choose any date at our convenience.

Shortly after we found out we were expecting our second child so we knew straight away it might be nice to visit whilst mummy was still able to comfortably walk around and enjoy the day.

A few months passed by and suddenly Christmas was nearing when we decided this would be a perfect excuse for Oscar to meet Father Christmas for the first time whilst enjoying a trip to see all the animals.

Christmas at Drusillas involved the additional attractions of their winter wonderland, light illuminations show, reindeers, hug a husky and of course Santas Grotto! We couldn't really afford the £50 price tag per adult to visit more local attractions such as Peppa Pig World or Marwell to meet Father Christmas so this seemed the perfect

opportunity to use our free tickets.

Well we're we glad we did! 

We visited on a Sunday as we thought it would be a little quieter, on arrival out first stop was the Explorers Cafe (of course! ) we easily got a table and highchair and ordered fish and chips, macoroni cheese and for Oscar sausages, chips and peas! 

Here is our little monkey enjoying his lunch at Drusillas.

After filling our tummies we walked through to see lots of gorgeous marmosets, squirrel monkeys, snakes, farm animals including the kune kune pigs, goats and cows and then decided it might be best to head to Santas Grotto. We knew there would be a queue as visiting Father Christmas is always high on the agenda and didn't want Oscar to miss it or fall asleep so off we went to find his house!

We joined the queue and after 45 minutes of our tiny toddler being good as gold we reached the front! :)

We walked in to see Mrs Christmas who directed us straight through to Santa! His cabin was beautiful! Surrounded by lots of toys and sat in the corner in a rocking chair was Santa! I held Oscar's hand and walked him over and placed him on father Christmas' lap to meet him. 

Here is the special moment:

As you can see Oscar felt quite happy to see him! After a little chat Oscar then received a gift from the Santa sack and waved goodbye!

On exiting the Grotto we opened Oscar's present together and he got a gorgeous cuddly reindeer!

Mummy also took quite a liking to him!

We thoroughly enjoyed taking Oscar to meet Father Christmas, it was only an additional £6 and the gift was great quality and brilliant value for money. We weren't disappointed! 

After this we continued around the zoo and met penguins, the red pandas, squirrel monkeys, a croc and my personal favourite the gorgeous beavers! 

Even Daddy got involved in feeding the birds!

There is also a huge play area at Drusillas, Thomas the tank engine and hello kitty world, not to mention Amazon Adventure a 300 sq metre soft play area! We didn't get time to venture inside as Oscar fell asleep for his afternoon nap but it looked lots of fun!

What we loved about it was how child and family friendly this place was! A lot of it was sheltered (more so than you would have thought) perfect if the weather is not reliable. Lots of activities and chances to get up close to the animals (without additional costs) this included feeding the birds and walking amongst the lemurs. 

We will definitely be back in the summer when bump has joined us :) 

Its clear to see why Drusillas was voted in no 4 of the top 10 places to visit Santa in in the UK and Europe 

http://your-hols.com/top-10-places-to-see-santa/

Widely regarded as the best small zoo in the country we'll no doubt be back! :)

Drusillas Park is based in Alfriston, East Sussex. You can find out more information about a visit on their webpage:

Drusillas Park

***Update- My blog review has been featured on Drusillas Park's own Twitter page! So glad they liked it :) click on the link to see what they had to say and for their live Tweet from today***

https://twitter.com/drusillaspark/status/559635634181398528

https://twitter.com/drusillaspark/status/561877913512214528

Trendy Tot Thursday!

So here is my first attempt at a blog 'linky' I am not 100% sure I am doing this right but here goes!

The idea of Trendy Tot Thursday #TT_Thursday is to post a photograph/ blog write up of your toddler in their favourite outfit of the week.

Here's Oscar's:

This is his first snow suit and we bought it back in the Summer at Kiddicare, Hedge End. It was in the sale for £21 and these usually cost around £50 so quite a saving. Problem is we had to guess his sizing so went for the 12-18 months size which would correspond with his age. We have found it came up quite large though but feeling pleased he is comfortable in it now. It's still a tiny bit long on the arms but totally wearable, snuggly and warm.

We think it's just adorable and is designed by Joules. We adore the cream colour and all the farm animals and tractors featured.

It has a fleece lining and mittens attached, it also had little shoes but we removed them as Oscar is walking now so he wears his usual Clarks walkers.

He just looks too cute and cosy in it!

Hampshire Culture All Pass

Just wanted to share this wibbly wobbly web link with other mummies and families in the local area as it's such a great deal!

Hampshire City Council are offering the Culture All Pass which allows you to visit a handful of local attractions and country parks for 12 months including your parking costs covered!

This is a limited edition deal up to 9th January, it can be purchased for £75 and I particularly wanted to share with others because I've heard through the grapevine that the pass is being discontinued following this offer!

The pass is valid for 2 adults and 2 Children or 1 adult accompanied by 3 children and is interchangeable who you take along with you as long as one of the named pass holders is present. So you can take Granny or Grandad Uncle or Auntie or cousins, your friend and their child, your neighbour whoever you like really! 

This offer is even more special as its been extended to 15 months access as opposed to the usual 12 months pass.

With a toddler and bump due in the bear future this pass is going to be invaluable for family days out without the price tag! 

The Hampshire Culture All Pass can be used at the following locations:

-Aldershot Musuem

-Basing House

-Burseldon Windmill

-Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

-Manor Farm Country Park

-Milestone Musuem

-Rockbourne

-Staunton Country Park

-Titchfield Haven

Free parking is also included at the following Country Parks:

Queen Elizabeth Country Park

Lepe Country Park

Manor Farm Country Park

Royal Victoria Country Park

Stauton Country Park

Calshot Activities Centre

There are also exclusive deals and offers available to pass holders including:

Exclusive offers and discounts with a Culture-all Passport

• One child goes free at Gilbert White's House in Selbourne when accompanied by an adult with a Culture-all Passport.
• Up to three children go free at Bursledon Brickworks industrial museum when accompanied by two adults with a Culture-all Passport, includes special events.
• 10% off activities @ New Forest Activities Centre
• One child goes free @ Royal Marines Museum
• 10% off at the gift shops @ Milestones Museum and Basing House
• Discounts on children’s parties @ Staunton Country Park
• 10% off barbeque bookings @ Manor Farm Country Park
• 10% off at the Royal Victoria Country Park gift shop
• Discounts on special events and activities Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

Ideal for birthday parties, social gatherings and gift shop treats for the little ones.

We're always stuck for affordable days out as a family, especially at weekends so the pass enables us to go out or the day, picnic in hand and a blanket and just enjoy time together in the country parks, at the farm, or museums! Many of these venues run special events too but check before you leave as not all of them are covered by the pass.

Well that's enough talking! If this interests you check out the web link below as its only available until 9th January!

Hampshire Culture All Pass (15 month special)

**update**

There is currently a petition on change.org you can sign in hope of bringing back the culture all pass. Please if this is something you feel is a great scheme for local families and children and is something you would like to see available then sign up!

The link to the petition is:

https://www.change.org/p/hampshire-county-council-keep-the-culture-all-pass?just_created=true

Ikea Duktig play kitchen hack

We decided for Christmas to treat Oscar to one bigger present rather than lots of little ones as the house is becoming rather full! Having seen how much fun he had with the play kitchens at toddler group and his obsession with opening and closing cupboard doors and carrying round random household utensils we knew a play kitchen would be ideal!

So we set out to find one! We ideally wanted a wooden one so it would be a little more sturdy and hard wearing than the plastic ones, we hoped! I trawled ebay  for something affordable and a little bit different but just couldn't see anything that really wowed us for the money we'd be spending! We had a budget of about £40-£50 and soon realised his wasn't actually much when looking for a wooden play kitchen!

We wanted something, fun, colourful, something a bit different and that was clearly Oscar's own kitchen! We don't ask for much hey!

Well here were some of our favourites that came up within budget:

Mamma kiddies wooden play kitchen £35 with accessories! This was local to Southampton pick up so no delivery costs and comes with 2 pots, knife, spoon and fork. It has nice rounded corners and metal sink as towel rack features.

This is the Plum Hendon blue wooden play kitchen! Gorgeous vivid colour, features removable sink (for cleaning after messy play) an opening/closing oven door for those baked goodies, printed hobs and turntable oven knobs. This came in at around £54.99 so just over budget but with free delivery included so not a bad price.

Finally there is this wooden kitchen and utensils play set including saucepan, salt & pepper shakers and 6 other wooden accessories! Priced at £35.99 with an additional £5 postage.

What we liked about these was the price, the colours and the fact that they looked a little bit different, had a little bit of character to them! I must admit they alllook lots of fun and there is a huge range of these things on ebay if you want to shop around. These were just some of our favourites.

So, which one did we get? None of these! After asking family and friends there was one play kitchen that just kept popping up into conversation and that was the Ikea Duktig Play kitchen.

Why? Quality, value for money, features and fun! These usually come in two pieces the base with the cupboards, sink and hob units then the top which features a microwave and hanging rack.

A total costing of £69 but until early January Ikea were offering the play kitchen for a total cost of £49! Perfect!

So what's so great about the Ikea Duktig? Well firstly Oscar has played with one at playgroup and loves it! So we knew it would be a big hit! He loves opening and closing the doors, putting bits in the sink and most of all playing with one of its unique features- the light up hob!

This is the only play kitchen we'd seen with a light up hob and it really does make the kitchen look like a real one! Ikea also sell lots of nice accessories to go with the Duktig play kitchen including metal pots and pans, utensils and fabric foods!

Now the Ikea play kitchen is not bright, or colourful and is actually very neutral looking. You've probably seen one at a local nursery, childminders or play group and they seem very popular. We decided we simply adored the design with its little extras and microwave on the top (additional play features for when Oscar gets older and taller!)

We drove down to Ikea, picked one up and on wandering through the children's department Oscar had a play through the tunnels, pop up house and of course the play kitchen confirming our choice was a good one :)

Hubby worked really hard constructing it and a few days before Christmas is was assembled and hidden under a duvet cover so Oscar couldn't see it.

However Mummy didn't want to stop there and of course being into my crafts I couldn't resist adding a bit of customisation to Oscar's kitchen! That was when I came across the term 'Ikea Duktig Hack' people 'hacking' their play kitchens and customising their designs! So much fun!!! I had a good browse of lots of customisations online and there are some really creative people out there! I must admit I'm not so great with wood, building  and other fixtures so the prospect of me changing the kitchen too much was terrifying!

That's when I came across an Orla Kiely inspired hack. Simply a bit of Orla kiely wallpaper on a back board and some lighting and the play kitchen looked transformed and a little retro looking! 

This was the one! So I started scouring the web for Orla Kiely scraps of wallpaper to use, at £50 a roll I couldn't justify buying one for the small amount we needed. No luck on ebay, even the end of rolls were going for about £15 excluding postage and I just couldn't afford it.

So I emailed and phoned Orla Kiely direct to see if I could obtain a sample to use. I never got an email back and had little time so I spoke to a customer representative at their store in London. She informed me that Harlequin who make the wallpaper only provide A4 samples, simply not big enough for my project :(

I even tired writing on their Facebook page wall but again no luck! So, as a last chance I contacted Harlequin the people that manufacture the wallpaper. Their enquiries team got straight back to me and offered 2 large sized samples, I was over the moon! Finally I was getting somewhere! Problem was there was no guarantee that the two samples would line up together, the samples department would just send two pieces they had. I said ok to this as they had kindly offered to do all this free of charge for me including delivering the samples and was hoping that the two pieces may match up. I didn't get my hopes up though and in the mean time started to research other options for customising Oscar's kitchen.

A couple of days later and the samples arrived in the post! I unravelled them from the roll with low expectations and to my delight laid them out on the floor! They matched up perfectly! :)

I was over the moon with the colours and pattern! Lovely retro print and just what a funky play kitchen needed!

Grandad popped down B&Q to get some hardboard, we then cut it to size, and used wallpaper glue to attach our trimmed wallpaper piece.

We left this a day to dry and then Grandad mounted the board onto the back of Oscar's play kitchen. We then nipped to Homebase to look for some battery operated LED lighting. We simply screwed these on to the kitchen above the sink and hob to give it that modern look.

So here it is :) we also managed to pick up a kettle from Sainsbury's for only £1.99 that lights up and whistles and fits nicely in the shelving alongside some wooden play food from Tesco.

This was the carousel play food set for £5 and included a milk cartoon, salt and pepper shakers, knife & fork, plate, sausage, bacon, egg, bread, lettuce and cheese slices!

Oscar was lucky enough to have been given a pop up toaster from his Auntie and Uncle for his 1st birthday so we also popped that on his play kitchen! It has a very cute smiley face and came with a plate, knife and a pot of strawberry jam!

So there is our little man's play kitchen! It is a big hit and a joy to see him playing with it! I've since added a chalkboard to the side for him to scribble on and we're really pleased with it :)

The Ikea play kitchen is really sturdy and can be mounted to the wall for extra security, it is lovely just as it is but we had lots of fun giving it a little extra character, so hope you've enjoyed this read.

Want to say a special thanks to Grandad Smith for helping me with the wallpapering, hard board and lighting and for Daddy for constructing the kitchen but also Harlequin Wallpapers for providing a beautiful sample for us to use free of charge!

DIY Christmas

As promised here is an update of all the fun I've had making unique hand made Christmas gifts and crafts this season!

Firstly a lovely idea for Christmas cards, is the hand print reindeer! You simply need some brown paint, red paint (for Rudolf's nose) some boogly eyes and some pens! (Oh and a lovely little baby/toddler/ child)

Oscar and I made these for family & friends:

Oscar was a delight when making these and loved dipping his hand in the paint! Don't worry if they don't look 'perfect' its all part of the fun! 

Once your child has made some hand prints on the card you can use a finger to dab on the red nose! 

Allow these to dry for an hour or so and simply draw on some antlers, stick some boogly eyes on and a festive message and you're done! 

On top of these I made some hand and foot print parrots with my boy! These were gifts for Grandparents. I thought these would be especially nice as the Grandparents don't have much of Oscar's art. Our house is adorned with his masterpieces already but not so much is kept at family's houses so we thought these would make a nice little present.

For your parrot art you will need:

3 coloured paints

Boggly eyes

A box frame

Coloured card (for the beak)

Simply take a painted footprint from your gorgeous little one and allow to dry. Then add two hand prints to make the wings. We used a mixture of paint colours for the wings to give our parrots more colour.

Once these have dried simply stick a boogly eye on, cut out a beak with the coloured card and glue it on to finish off your parrot.

We mounted ours in a box frame £2.99 from The Range and finished them off with Oscar's name and age! They are adorable and fun to make!

Finally here are a few other bits that kept me busy:

Sausage dog and Auntie word art.

These were made on Tagxedo using custom shapes and printed professionally at our local printers.

We also customised a wooden kitchen for our little boy. But I feel this deserves its own blog post :)

Baby & Toddler hand & foot castings

I've been meaning of getting Oscar's hand & foot cast for a long time! So when I saw online that someone was offering them for as little as £15 I jumped at the chance.

Christmas is a bit tight this year, with a string of bad fortune in the run up to December including a broken oven door, hubby's car breaks failing, my car's nox sensor needing to be replaced at an extortionate price and a return to physiotherapy this month its all got a bit too much!

So we put a cap on Christmas! I decided to hand make the majority  of my pressies for family and friends including Christmas cards (post to follow) so that included Hubby's! 

I decided that the one gift to get hubby should be something we can treasure forever so what better than a casting of our gorgeous boys foot and hand!

I popped along to a local mum's group to get the imprints done. The lady took Oscar's casting first and it didn't take long at all, we got some gorgeous prints. I asked for it to be inscribed with Oscar's name and age so we would always remember when it was taken.

I picked the casting up the following week, they had been dropped off in a box and Oscar's was the last one there! I collected it in bubble wrap and was so pleased with the quality! It looked brilliant, the colour was a nice natural clay and the inscription nice and clear. Chuffed to bits I took the casting home and began to think about finishing it off for Christmas.

Sadly finishing the product proved a lot trickier for my skillset (I'm still mastering mounting and finishing a lot of my crafts) . The box frame I bought was not deep enough for the casting. I tried Hobbycraft, Wilkinsons, The Range and none of them were quite right.

The casting came needing a further 1-2 weeks time to dry. Although after enquiring I found out that they can be placed in the oven to draw out the excess moisture which only takes an hour. Thumbs up to that!

The box frame I ended up with was one from IKEA called a Ribba. 

Here is the beautiful casting of our sons hand/ foot.

I must be honest its a gorgeous casting, I was really happy with the quality but hit a few mishaps trying to frame it myself. Life Self Castings Studio in Southsea do offer your casting to be completed in a frame at an affordable price so this may well be worth considering if you want it to be finished off with a professional look to it . If you want to simply hang your casting to the wall that's fine there's also a little hole at the back of the casting to do so.

Here are my top tips:

1. Allow 1-2 weeks drying time in a nice warm and airy room.

2. Buy your box frame and glue in advance. Ikea Ribba box frames are the perfect depth and dimensions for your casting :)

3. Do not attempt to measure up your casting in the box frame until its completely dry or you risk damaging it. If you do sadly knock it or chip some of the casting simply use a wet finger to merge the surrounding area as best you can.

To get a casting for yourself take a look at 'The Life Casting Studio' in Southsea for a timeless imprint of your own much loved little one in your life.

Christmas decorations... on a budget!

I saw this wonderful idea from another mummy friend (thank you Gem) of how to add a bit of Christmas cheer to your home, study or even your office desk at work without having to spend lots of extra money on Christmas decorations!

Simply add a paperback book Christmas tree to surround yourself with a little festivity!

What you'll need:

-A paperback book- 150 pages or more (one you no longer need or you can pick one up cheaply for less than £1 at the local library or in local charity shops) 

- Glitter, sequins or any other materials you wish to decorate your tree with.

(I made a fabric star topper for mine)

- clips

1. Fold back the front cover of the book and gently tear it away from the pages and binding until it is completely removed.

2. You need to perform 3 folds of each page. Here I will use photographs to show you (it's easier than trying to write instructions) please follow the folds as pictured:

Fold 1:

Fold 2:

Fold 3:

Continue for each page until you reach a minimum of 150 pages.

Use your clips to hold the folded pages back whilst you work through further pages.

Work in progress!

Once your tree is complete you can roll the edges in glue and then glitter for some sparkle or glue on sequins, tinsel, gems anything you like to decorate your tree!

I simply added a fabric star on top which I made from one of Oscar's old bibs, drew out a template, cut out the fabric, sewed it together and stuffed with filler, its held on top as a a small cocktail stick was inserted in the base and then I just slipped it into the top of my tree :)

I'm going to take mine to work for my desk as a nice touch of home made Christmas

Have fun making yours!