Summer Holidays: Mine and Theirs

6 weeks of summer holidays are bearing down on us all at a rate of noughts.

When I was wee, the summer holidays were amazing; 6 (or sometimes 7) weeks of playing outside with my friends late into the night.

I was lucky - where I lived we were free to roam the streets, as the streets were quiet and there were barely any cars.  The houses were all knitted together and there were endless places to ride your bike or push a scooter or a skateboard or go rollerskating without bothering anyone.

We'd meet at the park - without the aid of text messages or phones and we all had watches on our wrists so that we knew when to come back home for tea.

Sadly, my own kids will never really know the joy of this kind of childhood.  It was pretty free.

We lived our lives in hours of imaginative play.  We made our own microcosm of the world in the small area in which we lived.

There were acorn fights (bad idea), games of football (great idea) and skateboard tours (amazing idea).

On wet days we put on our raincoats and all squeezed into our dens, our hideyholes, mainly in bushes or broken down fencing and pretend we were spies or that we had a huge club of detectives who only met once a month.

We had our best bestest bestesest ever friends and we had our sworn enemies.  We loved and lost.  We fought battles.  We played massive tournaments that went on for weeks.

We used stones to draw on the paving slabs and we used our jumpers for goal posts (inevitably someone always lost their jumper).

We ventured out of our zones too - we went to the beach. We cycled as far as we could.

I doubt our parents could have imagined that we went as far or did as much as we did, but we did it all, and without any adult supervision; you simply came home at the agreed time and then went out again until the next time-slot, often begging for 'just an extra half an hour, pleeeease?'

Times have kind of changed and where we live kind of isn't conducive to sending kids out. They'd have to walk up and down a 60mph country road to get anywhere good.  And when they got there, the chances of meeting any other kids are slim to none, seeing as it seems to be less of a thing to let your kids roam the streets.

When I was wee, my mum didn't go to work, so I never had to go to childcare and anyone who babysat was generally doing it because I was already at their house, eating their food and watching their tv, as they did at ours when they happened to disappear in with me for hours on end.

I never went to Out Of School Club. I never had a childminder.

I was so lucky that I was able to stay at home and play.

As my kids gear up for 6 weeks of chilling and eating and going to different childcare venues (and staying at home with us for sometime I might add - we had to use all of our holidays between us!) and getting all of these 'paid for' experiences, like face painting and cooking and going to play centres, I can't help feeling a bit jealous.

It would be very nice to have a long break and lots of fun things to do.

But I can't help feeling a bit sad too, that they aren't going to be racing their bikes at the park without adult supervision, that they won't be doing stuntman-worthy tricks on the swings or seeing how fast they can go on the roundabout without falling off.

Those were the best days of my life.

Halfords Camping Guide: Inspiration and Tenting Fun

The sun is shining (for once) and admittedly, on days like these, we basically live in our garden.

Everything is done outside - the kids love it and go to bed at the end of the day filthy, but happy.

(They do shower.  Sometimes.  Under duress.)

As the school term draws to an end, our thoughts turn to summer holidays and time spent together, making new memories and having new experiences. We love trying new things.  My boys are full of adventure and I'm a bit of a ring-leader when it comes to wrangling up the gang and making them do new things.  After all, life's too short to sit on the shore!

Some of our fondest memories have been spent at seaside resorts, like Blackpool, but we have also spent a lot of time exploring the great outdoors and finding out what our country has to offer.

There's tons to do - beit theme parks, city breaks or a country escape, we really are spoilt for choice!

We live in Scotland, so it's not difficult to find some real beauty on your doorstep, or step into the wilderness and get away from it all.

Even camping in your own back garden can be exciting for the kids!

Being centrally located on a small island means we are also never too far from the sea, the hills, the countryside or the city.

A holiday or a getaway needn't be expensive either; Camping out under the stars in your very own tented hideaway can make for the perfect cost-effective and bespoke solution to enjoying the great outdoors - all you have to hope for is good weather!

Check out Halford's new Camping Guide for a huge host of ideas on where to go, what to take and how to keep the kids safe.
They also provide a brilliant tent guide to help you to choose the perfect tent to help make your experience as comfortable and accommodating as possible.
Available in PDF downloadable or paper format, the Ultimate Camping Guide UK 16 is the perfect companion for all of your summer camping needs.  It even has a great guide to Glamping, for those of us who like a bit more glam in our camping!

The boys have tried out camping a couple of times, most memorably last year in our new garden.  Granted, it wasn't far away, but when you are 4 and 6 years old, it's pretty cool; especially when there's a thunderstorm!

Luckily, I got to stay inside with my two month-old baby while the boys weathered the storm (ha ha ha!  Cheating - but I don't care!)

Dave was determined, after all the time and effort he had put into setting up the comfortable 4-man tent that they were going to spend the night in it (as were the boys!)

Dave also took the opportunity to have a few beers with our neighbour.

Needless to say, he awoke, hungover, beside Ethan, who turned to him at about 6am and said, "Dad!  Why do people do this?"

Needless to say, all is forgotten and they are keen to try again this year (tonight actually - as I write, they are filling the tent with all of the duvets and blankets from the house. There's no hiding for me tonight - nooo!)

I'm going to get wrapped up and have some fun (hopefully) while reading my camping guide to get some inspiration on where to go next!

Happy Camping!

Fifty Shades of Commercialised Hype, and you're all falling for it

I work in a library, and yes I did notice the popularity of the Fifty Shades series.

As part of the fabulous service that you can expect to receive at our library, you can put your name down to reserve a book when it becomes available, and in some cases even order it in to be reserved.

Needless to say, many folk put their names against this title, the books being hastily passed from one reader to the next, usually not even hitting the shelf before ending up back on the reserved pile.  It was crazy. People were phoning and asking about it, wondering when it would be their turn.

The audience? Well, mainly older ladies who use the service anyway and were curious to see what all the fuss was about.  Many, and I mean many, handed the first book back with a groan, pushing it over the desk and mumbling something about 'what a load of rubbish', or 'too far-fetched'.

'I'll stick to the Mills & Boon,' one lady giggled, 'it's a much better read!  That one was terrible, the grammar was awful!'

Some carried on to read the trilogy, remembering to pick up the second or third book, but very noticeably, there are now a lot of half-thumbed through second and third books of the series on the shelves compared to the few battered and well-read first books that were actually returned and didn't actually just end up under someone's bed, never to come back tot he library again.

I suppose, for those who read, Fifty Shades just didn't really hit the mark. They were much more inclined to pick up a dark classic or some of the other romance fiction (of which there are many, in various shapes and forms) to tickle their tastebuds.  The verdict seemed to be that Fifty Shades was just another well-publicised, over-hyped fad. The various comments about it ranged from "poorly-written", to "fifty shades of crap!

Curiosity did get the better of me, and I had a look at one of the reserved books one day, thumbing through one on my lunch break. I wasn't shocked, or even remotely perturbed - I'd spent time working in a high street sex shop which had worse things on the shelf than this.  Just picking out random bits of text turned me right off anyway. I mean, seriously - I didn't have to look far for some hilarious text to back up my view that no person who truly enjoyed words in their art form could subscribe to this as a serious storyline with serious outcomes.

I wrote it off as yet another book that would have it's time and then leave as suddenly as it came. No pun intended.

It floated away for a while and then the rumours came of a movie. It was no real surprise - after all, it was clearly a commercialised hit already.  People who never usually bother to pick up a book had picked up three. Which is quite profitable for your 'supermarket sellers', the ones you pick up along with your shopping or with your lunchtime sandwich. Cheap and cheerful pick-me-ups, right?

The search was on for a man to play Christian Grey, a character whom every critic was holding up on a pedestal as one who would be difficult to perfectly portray.  Who, if the casting was wrongly done, would ruin the very image of man.  The supposition was that these would be very difficult shoes to fill.

He should be at once sexy, but commanding. 

Lusty and serious.

Hot and unforgiving.

Women were going crazy for this guy, so I decided to do a bit of investigating.  After all, I'm not adverse to a bit of perving over fictional characters in movie format.  I've seen Magic Mike (to my eternal shame. What? Channing Tatum is unbelievably smooth in that film. Those dance moves are UNbelieveable!)

After skulking around various film boards, newspaper articles and feminist boards, I was kind of a bit worried as to the kind of character this Grey man was.  After all, if any of my friends or family started going out with or dating a guy who treated them like that, I'd be staging an intervention, complete with identity papers and a house move to another country.

I'm perplexed - how are normal, seemingly functioning and sensible, modern, women even subscribing to this notion of a man so poisonous and degrading to the very core of femininity?

Talk about one step forward ten steps back.

I get the BDSM thing.  I get the allure of bondage and handcuffs and I can even imagine how sexual contracts like the one Grey gives Ana can be a bit of a turn on to the usual lady lounging at home with her day to day life. It's thrilling. It takes away from the normal wishy-washy will-she-won't-she mundane storylines that crop up time and time again in other 'romance' novels.

It pushes a boundary, a social contract even, and it makes it seem legitimate, because ultimately, by the end of the third book, Ana gets her child and her man and her life with them. So, it's like saying, 'oh yeah, well, sure, they have a weird relationship to start off with, but they work it out, yeah?'

I've had several conversations with my fellow women about Fifty Shades, and I have to say, it's not the books, it's not the characters, nor is it the plotline which shocks me the most; it's the reaction of normal, seemingly forward-thinking women to some of the darker undertones of it.  The really, terrible, awful, abusive stuff that, seriously, there can be no excuse for.

It's also the fact that they are willing to normalise this behaviour to such an extent as to jump behind the commercialism, to invest in 'girly nights out' to see the film all together, to fantasise as to which guy is going to play Mr. Grey so perfectly in the film, to shout down the women who point out that sexual fun and antics is entirely right and good, but that a man who takes advantage of a woman in such a way is a bit of a git.

I've heard all the arguments as to how to legitimise Grey's acts - "it's sexual slavery and that's how that works", "Ana saves Christian from himself, so she's the stronger one", "don't be so vanilla", "it's just a bit of fun".

Come on, who are we kidding here? 

At the same time, I'm torn; I remember such over-reactions to similar things like how evil Freddy Kreuger was, how corrupting video games were to young children, the reaction to awful porn like Deep Throat - all of which make us laugh now and say, 'really? That's nothing!'

But isn't that where the real problems lie?

The problem with things like Fifty Shades of Grey is that it does normalise and legitimise.  It raises a bar that the next person has to hit in order to shock, and trust me, this will come too. There will be a time where we look at Fifty Shades and laugh at how ridiculously sweet it was.

And what about the real people in real abusive relationships?  What do they do with this information? Does a woman caught in an abusive relationship now have a chance to romanticise what is happening to her instead of breaking free, in the hope that she too will find her Mr. Grey?  After all the work that has been done by various groups all over the world to say that such behaviour is not right, is dangerous, is wrong, doesn't Fifty Shades somewhat court responsibility for hat happens here too?

Apparently not as long as the people behind it are making their fifty shades of moolah.

Of course, the commercialization which goes along with such a box office hit is phenomenal.  There's Fifty Shades promos on everything.  Hitting the Valentines day market, you can even but Fifty Shades sex toys. Albeit, very poorly made sex toys. Seriously, don't waste your money. That stuff will snap in two if you even attempt to use it harder than a wee bit.

Christian Grey is like a metaphor for commercialism alone - even if you move to Antarctica, it'll find you, right?  Maybe that's the joke here? 

I'm no prude, I have a wicked imagination and I could tell most folk a thing or two about, you know, 'stuff'.

But there's a reason why it's hitting a lot of people's moral compasses and raising red flags.  Reasons I sincerely believe I don't really need to outline here.

Everyone is entitled to explore their sexuality in whichever way they see fit - that's fun and healthy and good.

I think the definition of healthy is what's at stake here.

Papercutting

Today I'm attending an art group where I will be tutoring adults on various arts and crafts.  Interestingly, the classes are to be themed around Commonwealth countries, thus making the choice of crafts a little more challenging!

I figured, seeing as I've never tutored an art class before, that I should start with something I know, so I decided to wade in with papercutting.

Papercuts are an older form of art and can be found in various interpretations all over the world, from China, to India, to England.  The oldest surviving paper cut is from 6th century China, and look a bit like this:

The ready availability of materials needed to papercut is probably the things which has made it so successful as a craft.  Almost anyone can pick up a scalpel, or other papercutting tool (they can be very fancy these days), and a piece of paper and get cutting.

It's very therapeutic too.

I began papercutting after stumbling across a very talented papercutter in one of my craft magazines one day. Paper Panda (or Louise Firchau) is a papercutter based in England who has created her own franchise of papercutting designs based on her own drawings and characters.

The work she does varies from lettering (a favourite of hers), to intricate work detailing houses (including ALL the rooms!), story pieces featuring her now famous bunny and bird characters, as well as some rather cheeky sweary word work.  I don't want to pinch any of her photos to stick up to show you (although I wish I could) because that's a bit naughty, so I'll leave this LINK here instead for you to look at.  You won't be disappointed!

Although, here's a papercut I did all by myself from one of her Paper Panda  template packs which is downloadable and you can keep forever! Great for practicing and making birthday cards out of!

Not bad for a first try, huh?

After reading her blog and having a nosey through the photos on her facebook page, I decided I would give papercutting a try - after all, all I needed was a knife, a cutting mat, some paper and some patience.

I've really enjoyed papercutting - it's a great wee craft which you can be as good at or as bad at as you like!  For those who are not so confident at it, there are various templates which you can download for free and print off, or if you're looking for some more intricate projects, some even sell their own designs for you to try.  Take a look on Pinterest, Etsy etc for inspiration.

One of my freehand papercuts

If you like drawing , you can even draw your own designs - but beware!  You have to think and draw back to front so that when you cut around the lines, you can flip it over to hide the pencil marks.  This is admittedly quite tricky to do! Alternatively, you can scan any front-facing drawing and, provided you have the correct software on your computer, you can easily flip the image and then print it out.

My favourite thing to do is a bit of freehand with a bit of light pencil thrown in.  I've done more than a few papercuts this way and quite enjoy it because it means I can change the image as I go (I am such a butterfly when it comes to these things.  I can never stick with a plan!




Here are a few tips for successful papercutting

Freehand xmas design

1. Don't panic if you can't get it right first time. It can be really hard to get the hang of tension, pressure and the actual cutting blade.  Try sitting with different kinds of card or paper and cutting out freehand shapes for practice.
2. Start with something easy. It might be something that looks so simple that it almost looks too easy, but you need to build up to cutting out tiny detailed shapes. You'll get much more gratification from it if you start slowly.
3. Change your blade often.  The sharper the blade, the better and smoother the cut - and the more likely you'll be able to cut the tiny details
4. Take it slowly. There's no rush! Papercutting should be something you can concentrate on but enjoy. If you are getting frustrated, stop.
5. Cut away from your hand! These are sharp, sharp scalpel blades and it's very easy to accidentally stab a finger - and whatever you do, watch your face! You have no idea how many times I've gone to itch my face or my nose with the scalpel in my hand!

It's great fun - why not give it a try? What's your favourite found craft?

Nickelodeon Land at Blackpool Pleasure Beach: An Amazing Day Out (part 2)

If you missed it, find the first instalment of our trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach by clicking the link HERE

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

The kids had a blast at Nickelodeon land.  They've been watching Nick Jnr on Tv for weeks now, and every time the advert comes on for Pleasure Beach and all the rides, they go crazy!

It was great for them to finally get to go to the place they've been lusting after all this time!

Nickelodeon Land was completed and opened in 2011 after the closure of Beaver Creek in 2010 in order to modernise the children's ride area.

Initially I was very sceptical - I grew up with Beaver Creek and I am not a huge fan of big brand commercialisation as far as children's stuff is concerned.  I was also worried about two of my favourite woodies - The Rollercoaster and The Zipper Dipper.  What would happen to them?  I needn't have feared though - both coasters have been refurbished (albeit in some pretty garish colours!) and restored and, importantly, incorporated into the new re-theme, which has given them both a new lease of life, thankfully.

The Rollercoaster in it's new guise as Nickelodeon Streak in sunny orange!

The Zipper Dipper, now renamed the Blue Flyer - still running beautifully

Both coasters are what I like to class as 'bridging coasters' - namely because these are the coasters that I grew up riding and the ones that got me into my whole theme park geekery.

I used to ride the Zipper Dipper so often, that the man knew my name (and often gave me a 'one last ride' very sneakily at the end of my tickets).  When I was wee, there was nothing more thrilling.  Until I was finally tall enough to get aboard The Rollercoaster!

I revelled in taking my boys on The Blue Flyer this year - they were both big enough.  Ethan even put his hands in the air!

Waiting at the air gates!

The look of contentment!

Ethan's first rollercoaster - he's still working it all out

Hands in the air!

It was so exciting!  That smell too - there's nothing like the smell of rollercoaster grease!

Next on the cards?  The Dora The Explorer ride, a fairly chilled, non-threatening mini covered boat ride which explores the world while playing some pretty annoying music.

Typical Dora stuff, you know?

For some reason, despite the inoffensive and completely boring nature of this ride (it's slow - and did I mention the SONG?) and the fact that actually, it's a pretty cute little pretty kind of ride, there was nothing we could do to convince Ethan.

He was terrified.

Pretty butterfly wall

I don't wanna!

No!  Don't make me look at it!

Hey, Ethan! You like happy sunny sunshine?

No!  Don't make me look!

But we are all so happy and friendly!

I don't trust you, creepy panda guy!

I can't explain it.  This is the same boy who giggled like a lunatic during the Diego Balloon ride (which spin FAST!)

And he quite happily spoke to, hugged and danced with UNKNOWN PEOPLE IN COSTUMES!!!

Hell, he'll even kiss a dead guy...

I have no idea why he didn't like Dora though!

Nick Land was awesome and we did spend the majority of our time here.  The Speedy Pass allowed me or Dave to nip off and do the bigger rides, like Infusion and The Big One which was amazing.

I'd been waiting all year for my ride on The Big One, and on that gloriously sunny day, she did not disappoint!  I would love to partake in September in the Walk The Big One event that Pleasure Beach are hosting.  It's definitely on my to do list! 

In my list of favourite man-made creations, the Big One is top!  She was a smooth and powerful beast on this day and the sunshine just made that first dive more enjoyable.  I've been on so often, that I know every dip and curve of the track - and I always pose for the on-ride camera!

Back at Nick land, the kids were flying through the rides.  They loved the Wonderpets ride that bounced gently up and down, and which they could ride on their own

And the Pirate Boats were Ethan's favourites - going forwards and backwards quite quickly, he was desperate for lots of repeat rides!

 The Spongebob Submarine Ride was high on the boys' list too!

And the Fairy Taxi Spin which had their own steering wheels and air-powered lifting controls that the kids could use to make the Taxi go up and down at will, were really cool too.

Our Taxi awaits!

Ethan and I in the back

Tom and Dave driving!  Help!

Taxi to the clouds please!

We did venture out of Nick Land in to the surroundng areas - I was keen to see what had changed and what had not.  Sadly, Spongebob's Splash Bash was being repainted today, and my favourite Teacups appeared to be out of commission too (hopefully not forever - I had a pang of fear when I saw them roped off).  I was pleasantly surprised to see that a new Learning Garden has been installed, a lovely, peaceful break from the thrills and spills of the busy park.

Bradley Beaver lives!

How nice!  It was great to see a couple of families with young babies just chilling out in the garden on a day like this.

Infusion was a bit rough today - I'm unsure if it's where I sat on the ride, but my head and neck got completely battered!  I wasn't keen for a repeat experience of this looped rollercoaster today!

 Next was the new Wallace and Gromit ride.  Built as a replacement for Gold Mine, it had a lot to live up to!  The boys were initially a bit worried about going on as it's a dark ride, but once we convinced them it would be fine, they really enjoyed it.  Well, Thomas did - Ethan hid his face the whole way around!  Watch out for the the end - there's a rather, er, LARGE surprise!  Hee hee!  I don't want to say what it is and spoil it for anyone - but Tom cacked his pants and it made me (and him ) laugh a lot at his reaction!

We HAD to go on the Grand Prix.  Just had to.  The queue was very large, as always for this old favourite, but the boys didn't mind - the prospect of driving a real petrol car around a track (albeit with some guidance from an adult) was too much of a lure!  I even saw adults going on this themselves!  

River caves were on our hit list too!  After getting wet on the Rugrats Lost River log flume in Nick Land, we headed straight over to the Caves to get another (smaller) soaking.  River Caves was looking very swish indeed after some much-needed refurbishment, and the original features have been updated and added to with some new ones.

A trip to the water fountains just in time for a display was well-timed.  I'd nipped to the loo and when I came back the boys were even wetter!  Dave was showing them how to duck under the water shoots!  Cheeky daddy!

They were also having some chill time outside Trauma Towers.

 The Chinese Water Maze was good for a wee run around too!  Tom is daft on Mazes and it was hard to stop him from running off and getting lost!  You have to be quick to keep up with these boys!

Eating at The Pleasure Beach is a must - there are so many awesome restaurants and take away joints, all at a reasonable price.  There's a huge variation too - from Oyster Bars with chamapagne, to deals on cream teas and cake at smaller cafes and all-you-can-eat pizza restaurants, you will be spoiled for choice!
We opted for some Pizza, Pasta and Salad at Big Pizza Kitchen on the edge of Nickelodeon Land at Lunchtime - mainly because you can eat as much as you like, the pizza is yummy and the staff are all very friendly.

We were knackered by the end of our day - we'd been in the park from 10a.m!  Before we left, Dave and I had met one of our fabulous friends who lives down in Blackpool, and he offered to stay with the kids while we rode something together.

What does it have to be on a sunny day like this?

Well, thank goodness for Speedy Pass!  Straight to the front of another queued out ride!

 Of course, it had to be none other than Valhalla!  It gets you so wet that many often leave it until last.  I've wrung out my t-shirt many a time after riding this, and today was no different!

Another ride recently been done up inside, it was the best I'd ever seen it.  All of the special effects gloriously roared away to the best of their ability, causing the whole boat to 'oooh and aaaah' with delight and fear.  It was amazing.  A Viking's last journey, you are dispatched on the fast-moving boat by staff very quickly and carefully, as they hoover up water from your feet.  The boats are always absolutely soaking when you get in - a sure sign of what's coming.  Everyone wears plastic ponchos which can be bought for £1, but over the years, I have realised how futile it is!  If I'm feeling like I really need one, I'll grab one out of a bin (there are always bins stuffed to the gunnels with discarded ponchos) and reuse it.  I did this time to protect my bag and camera, which it did a good job of, but the rest of me?

A wee bit drookit!

 Our poor friend did a good job of amusing the kids while we were away!  I think he was quite keen to hand them back though!

We couldn't leave without a souveneir.  What I really wanted was a Pleasure Beach hoodie, or a mug.  Something a bit grown-up, y'know?  I love memorabilia.

What did we end up with?

Two Spongebob Squarepants cuddly toys.

Ah, kids!

Ah well - maybe next time!  We'll definitely be making it sooner rather than later.

Thanks for an amazing day Blackpool Pleasure Beach!

If you enjoyed this have a wee look at some of my childhood memories of Blackpool, including my first ride on the Pepsi Max here!

*Disclaimer - We were gifted very kindly some wristbands for Blackpool Pleasure Beach in order to check out the park for ourselves.  We were not expected to give a good review and any opinions are my own. I highly recommend this park over any other in the UK!