rocknrollerbaby- September 2nd, 2011
Another busy week in the Rocknrollerbaby household and I have been super busy organising this week’s blog entry. We went to ‘Paultons Park’ in the New Forest where this week’s main review comes from and we had a fantastic time! Do read on to find out how much we loved meeting Peppa Pig and Pals in their separate theme park for the little’n’s, ‘Peppa Pig World’ cause it was totally awesome! I’ve also been reading about the fabulous new venture from my friends at www.bizziebaby.co.uk and wanted to let you know all about it! They have recently opened up a review category for special needs and educational toys which is great news. At the moment they are reviewing the ‘McLaren Elite’ a specially designed push chair for special needs children and to read all about it the reviews will be going live on their site next month! Don’t forget if you want to become a reviewer for them you can sign up today and for a subscription fee of just £5 per year you will be sent items that will exceed that value in return for a fair review. It’s honestly as simple as that!
It’s also been another week where I seem to have had far too little sleep. My husband and I co sleep with Florence which has been brilliant but I’m starting to think it’s perhaps time to try and introduce her to her own bed? I really doubt I’ll actually be able to do it just yet so I’m going to set myself the target of doing it just after Christmas and her second birthday! I think 2 years of sleep deprivation (and breast feeding throughout the night) is quite enough! I never in a million years thought I’d be the sort of Mother who not only breast fed for this amount of time but who also had her baby in bed with her?! I guess you just can’t judge until you’ve been in the situation and the situation was that Florence was three weeks old and I finally gave in and brought her in bed without even attempting to put her in the Moses basket because I needed some sleep! I knew I’d get more with her in our bed and be able to feed her without getting up and properly waking up and it was a ‘needs must’ situation. Everyone said I was making a rod for my own back and they were right but I’d still do it again. Co sleeping has been the most wonderful experience and I’m really glad, despite the lack of sleep, that we did it that way!
With the breast feeding it’s like she’s an addict, I can’t get her off it! I think when I do that I’m going to have to just go away for a couple of nights and leave her with my Mum, making her go cold turkey… I’m too much of a soft touch and she knows it! And we’ve always had so many problems with her eating that I’ve often felt that if I’m at least breast feeding her she is getting something in… Also, she’s so tiny that if she ever gets ill the fact that I breast feed makes me worry less about her losing weight. She’s naturally very slim and so even her losing a few ounces makes me worry. Thankfully she has started to eat a bit more recently. I think she’s having a growth spurt! For simply ages time the only shoes that would fit her were the cruising ones and now she finally fits into the proper walkers! It always really annoyed me that they made only cruising shoes up to a size three! One shop assistant told me there was no need to make walking shoes smaller because babies didn’t walk properly when they were a size 2 and a half. Florence got out of the buggy and proved her VERY wrong! That was quite funny.
One thing Florence does like to eat is fruit! She absolutely loves ‘Innocent smoothies for kids’. Well, I’m not complaining, I think she feels very grown up having an actual carton with a straw and she wolfs them down so she must be a fan! I’m rather hoping she’s going to like a recipe or two from their new recipe book ‘Hungry?’. ‘Innocent’ are actually going on tour with their Hungry Grassy Van starting in London from the 9th – 11th September and making its way to Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow on 23rd with stop offs along the way in the places that need healthy food the most like building sites and football grounds! The van will be offering the UK their 5-a-day for £5. The menu is going to be made up from recipes in the book and will include healthy alternatives to fast food favourites such as rainbow root vegetable chips, lamb koftas and veggie burgers. I’ll be tweeting about times and places if you fancy a visit! Florence and I will definitely be checking it out and we will report back on our findings next week! To find out more see www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/hungry.
So, that’s one of the things we’re going to be doing next week (There are many in fact) but now to one of the things we did this week! We did many but this one happens to be my absolute favourite! A while ago I was invited with my family to come and sample the delights of ‘Paultons Park’ in the New Forest. We fixed the date for last Saturday and I didn’t really think much more about it. Until… Florence got into ‘Peppa Pig’. When I say ‘got into’ we’re talking of obsessive proportions and when I say ‘Peppa’ I actually mean ‘Daddy Pig’ or ‘Daddy P’ as Florence calls him. She even talks about ‘Daddy P’ in her sleep and every where we go she seems to spot him! She spies him in shop windows, on back packs she sees being carried down the street, on other people’s clothing… You name it, if there’s a ‘Daddy P’ to be spotted she will, like an eagle eye’ find him! You can imagine my delight then when I googled ‘Paultons Park’ for my research and discovered that not only is it a regular theme park with big thrill rides, shows and water splash areas but it is also home to ‘Peppa Pig World’ a separate theme park area solely designed for the little ones!
We started our long journey from East London towards Southamton very early at 7.30am; a time when actually Florence has just woken up, is full of beans and the last things she would want to do would be driven for three hours in the car. Now as I’ve said, Florence is still really little and hasn’t yet reached 20lb so ‘John Lewis’ advised us to keep her in the infant car seat until she does. This is a real pain on some levels! She hates being so low down and not being able to see anything and it makes her really ratty in the car. I’m willing her to hit the 20lb mark so that she can move up seats but I couldn’t possibly do it until then because they said it just wouldn’t be safe. She’s nearly there but not quite unfortunately, however on this occasion it just might work to our advantage! I suddenly had a brain wave. A while back I was sent some ‘SnoozeShade’ Products for review. So far I have only reviewed the ‘SnoozeShade Plus’ which was utterly fantastic while we were on holiday and I was going to review the ‘SnoozeShade for Infant car Seats’ when I went out with my young nephew next week but I wondered whether Florence might be more inclined to doze off even though she didn’t want to if we used it? She only blooming did! After the initial displeasure of being plunged into darkness, that plus the motion of the car must have lulled her off into sleep and we made it all the way, including a massive detour where I turned over two pages of directions at once – whoops – with her asleep! This was fantastic because it meant she didn’t moan in the car AND she didn’t miss any of the day from having a sleep! ‘SnoozeShade for Infant Car Seats’? LOVE IT! If only we’d known about it when she was a tiny new born and we used to drive around Essex in the middle of the night for hours with a wide awake baby! Just like it’s ‘Plus’ friend it is made from soft dark breathable fabric which blocks out 94% of light, is made from material which protects with a UPF50+ factor and is compact enough to keep with you at all times coming complete with a small drawstring bag. If you use your car seat on your pram I think it would be ideal to provide an extra bit of shade from the sun too! At £19.99 it’s great value and to find out more do visit their website at www.snoozeshade.com.
So, we arrived after a semi non stressful journey (stresses only caused by my inept map reading and inability to turn a single page…) and we HAD to make ‘Peppa Pig World’ our first stop of the day. I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to watch Florence’s face light up at the sight of her favourite ‘Daddy P’ and his world coming to life around her. It was the beginning of the day and it seems everyone had the same idea as it was absolutely packed. I suppose children would want to make it their first stop so we decided to just go on one ride (Miss Rabbit’s Helicopters) as the queues were so long, have a little look around and then come back later when hopefully all the other children would be having their naps! The rest of the park seemed surprisingly quiet and relaxing despite it being a Saturday on a bank holiday weekend? The cars in the car park proved that it must actually be very busy but the park is vast and the rides are well spread out so I suppose that it just makes it seem less busy than it is which is totally a good thing! There’s so much to see and do at ‘Paultons Park’ from animals (Florence was mesmerised by the owls) to the small dinosaur park which was very entertaining and then let’s not forget the rides!
We also had with us Florence’s Granddad and her ten year old Aunty Phoebe so we had a wide variety of ages in our party and I can honestly say there was something for everyone. There are big thrill rides such as ‘Cobra’ and the terrifying ‘Edge’ and then there are old fashioned rides like ‘Sky Swinger’ a carousel of swings and of course the log flume which although didn’t look much was brillioso! We had a superb time! Although it did rain from time to time, when the sun came out it was really warm so I was especially pleased to have remembered Florence’s swimming costume which meant she could have a splash about in the splash area. There are two, one in the main park and a smaller one in ‘Peppa Pig World’ but we went for the bigger area (mainly because we’d just had lunch on one of the many picnic areas next door to it) and Florence and Phoebe had loads of fun running in and out of the water jets! After we dried off we did some more rides, I loved ‘River Ride’, a bumpy slide you are launched down in an inflatable boat and we all took it in turns to take Florence on the many children’s rides.
I was so impressed with the amount they had to do for little ones. Usually at theme parks they are mainly dedicated to older children and adults with a small nod to the little ones but I have to say that ‘Paultons Park’ is geared up just as much for the tiny tots as it is for every one else. In lots of instances there would be a grown up ride and a baby equivalent and watching Florence go round the baby log flume on her own was just wonderful!
Towards the end of the day we made our way back to ‘Peppa Pig World’ and it was definitely worth the wait! We got to go on more of the rides without a massive queue, visit Peppa and her family in their house! (Florence was in raptures), pop into the school house, go to ‘George P’s’ indoor soft play, play in Mr Potato’s playground and much, much more! The highlight of the afternoon was meeting Peppa and George as they came out to say hello and since then Florence hasn’t been quite so ‘Daddy P’ one track minded… She does give the occasional nod to Peppa now and then!
We loved, loved; loved ‘Paultons Park’ and ‘Peppa Pig World’ and Florence adored it! She loved watching the penguins being fed (even if she did think they were ducks), was really excited at all the animals in fact (there are loads from white wallabies to meercats) and she really enjoyed the rides but most of all, of course, it was ‘Peppa Pig World’ which was her favourite and with family tickets starting at £56 (on line price) it’s a special treat that can be saved up for. For more information on ticket prices, opening times and the park in general please see their website www.paultonspark.co.uk where there is everything you need to know!
In a few weeks time, following on with my ‘Peppa Pig’ theme I will be running a competition to win a family ticket to see ‘Peppa Pig Live’ in the story of ‘Peppa Pigs Treasure Hunt’ which is a touring show throughout the whole country so do keep your eyes peeled for that one and indeed my review of it! But for now I am embarking upon my debut into the world of competitions and I’m doing it in conjunction with the fabulous ‘Trunki’ (see www.trunki.com).
After 65 million years they’re back! Meet Rex, Rox and all the other Trunkisaurus extras!
Don’t they look AMAZING! Trunkisaurus’s Rex and Roz have marbled scales and ferocious teeth so you’d better be aware cause this suitcase bites! There’s also a range of Trunkisaurus accessories, the Trunki Travel Chums, which can be used throughout your holiday and for your chance to win a selection of them all you have to do is email [email protected] with your name, address and favourite children’s joke by 23rd September. The joke that makes us laugh the hardest will win this lovely prize from Trunki and have their joke printed on Rocknrollerbaby’s blog, so get your funny hats on people!
So from now and until next week when I shall bring you all the latest news and reviews (and we’ve got some ace ones coming up – watch this space for news from Disneyland Paris and Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Weve also got all the goss on a new film coming out in October but shhhh, I can’t say any more for now as we were invited to a top secret screening but told not to say anymore for now! I wish you many good outings until then! Don’t forget to catch up with all the other things we’ve been up to and can recommend in London at www.kidsfunlondon.co.uk, this week I’m going to be talking about the fun we had at The V & A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green amongst others!
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