A couple of weeks back I was asked if I wanted to review something from the Christmas range on the Poppy Shop website. It's a shop that gives all their profits to the Royal British Legion. The first product that caught my eyes was their stunning unisex Christmas jumper. I think it was the pattern with the red poppies that interested me, as well as the fact that I've never really owned a proper Christmas jumper and I was so excited to receive it. When I received, I was really pleased at the thickness and the quality. It looked just as lovely in person as it did on the website.
It's an unisex Christmas jumper which means my partner could wear it too - if he wanted too. However, he's a bit of a ba humbug around Christmas time. On another note, it's a really cosy and comfortable jumper, which is perfect for this time of year since the temperature has really dropped. It's a little bit oversized which makes it even cosier. There are a fair few choices of sizes, from Small to 3XL. I would also say it's true to size.
When I was contacted to review a product from their website, I actually learnt something new. I didn't know that the Royal British Legion had an online store that sells products throughout the year. There's a great range of products, from keyrings, diaries, keyrings to clothing. I think I would be overly pleased with their other products since I am really pleased with the jumper that I've received.
One huge reason to shop on the Poppy Shop website is that all profits from the shop go straight to the Royal British Legion to help our armed forces and families. It's such an important and great charity to support. But not just once a year, throughout the year too.
* I received this product free of charge in return for an honest review.
All images, words and opinions are my own.
There are so many baby skincare products out nowadays, and I'm all up for trying new products out. I remember when I heard about the Baby Dove range, and I was super excited to try them out - not just on Freddie, but for the eldest two and myself too. I've been given a few Baby Dove products to try out, and although I have tried some of their products in the past (that were amazing btw), I've not tried these ones that I've been sent.
Freddie's skin can seem quite sensitive at times, especially this time of year when the weather is colder. He also has awful nappy rashes when he's teething, and I'm always buying sensitive or fragrance-free wet wipes when he does have a sore bum. So although I am all up for trying out new products, as I said above, I am wary about the ingredients in the products and if it's suitable for my baby boy's skin.
Did you know that baby skin is much thinner than adult skin? It's more likely to lose moisture and therefore is prone to dryness. That's when Baby Dove comes in. Their new baby care products are dermatologist tested, paediatrically approved and safe to use every day, even on newborns. Baby Dove has two ranges which are: Rich Moisture range and a Sensitive Moisture (fragrance-free) range.
Firstly, I received the Baby Dove Head to Toe wash from the Sensitive Moisture range. It's fragrance-free, and it helps retain your baby's natural skin moisture. It comes in a 400ml bottle with a pump which I find really handy when you're bathing babies and kids. Usually Freddie will share a bath with Mia and Ellie, so having the pump to get the shampoo/bath wash out is one less stressful thing to do. As well as the girls being older, they can also use the pump so they can wash themselves.
Another part of their range are wet wipes. There are 50 sheets of wipes in their parks, and I received one from their Rich Moisture range and one from their Sensitive Range. Both have 0% alcohol and are hypoallergenic. The Sensitive Moisture wipes are fragrance-free and are gentle as water with immediate moisturising care. I've been using these on Freddie, and they've been great. They're not rough to wipe with and are really soft on skin. They're also suitable for newborns. The Rich Moisture wet wipes, again in a pack of 50, are soft and gentle for your little one's bottom. They are slightly fragranced and have a clean smell. The wipes leave baby's skin moistured and soft - which I have also found on Freddie after using these wet wipes.
Overall, I am really pleased with these products. I will continue to buy products from the Baby Dove range. Not only do they have these products, but there are also loads of other products available from Baby Dove too.
It's crazy how close we are to Christmas. I say every single year, the year has flown by and I must admit, I am panicking a little bit about Christmas shopping. I've not finished yet, I've still got a few family members to buy for, as well as a few extra bits for the kids. Morrisonshave kindly sent me a box full of goodies and Christmas cards. I received some mince pies, all-butter fudge (which was eaten by my partner before I managed to take a photo!), Disney plushes, a cosy throw, DVD, sweets and their range of Christmas cards that are available in their stores across the country.
Morrisons have become a one-stop Christmas shop that sells pretty much anything. From DVDs, home furnishings, sparkly decorations and much more, you'll find it. Not forgetting your food and drinks too. Having a shop that sells everything makes your Christmas shop ten times easier than going from shop to shop. We all know how quick the hours go in the day, so having that store that has everything for you makes everything easier. Especially having kids too, the last thing we want to do is taking them from one shop to the next, as we know how bored they get - which then makes the shopping trip even more difficult and stressful.
If you're looking for a shop to finish your Christmas presents and your Christmas food shop, then Morrisons is the place to go. It's finally good to see that it's not just a food store anymore. My partner and I got to our local Morrisons store to do our weekly food shop often, and we've never been disappointed with the food and other bits we have bought from there. My favourite aisle to go down is where all the other bits are such as kitchen accessories and their seasonal offers and products. It's nice to see different things instead of just food.
You can definitely shop your Christmas in Morrisons, as well as throughout the year you can shop a cosy night in with some of the items I received. Such as the cosy purple throw (which is really soft and warm by the way), DVD and delicious treats. Putting that aside, Morrisons also have a fantastic range of cards. I've received a lot of cards, and I am a huge stationery fan, I love anything from cards, pens to notepads. I've picked out my favourite cards and going to start writing and delivering them next week. They have everyone covered, from your grandparents, nieces and nephews to your pets too.
Morrisons surely is the one-stop shop to go this Christmas!
* This is a collaborative post with Morrisons. However, all words, opinions and images are entirely my own and 100% honest.
Thank you, Morrisons for kindly sending us a lovely box full of goodies.
We were very kindly given another 4-night stay at Bluestone in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. We've been twice before, once in March 2017 and the first time in December 2016. We were all really excited to join in with all the festive activities and to see if they could make it even better from last year. My partner didn't come with us last year as he had to work, so he was excited to see what it was all about, seeing as I went on and on about it for so long last year. You can read about, or Christmas stay in Bluestone here.
We started to travel down to Bluestone early morning on the 4th of December. We had most things packed the night before and just needed to pack the last few bits on that morning. We stopped in Aberystwyth to buy some swimming costumes and a few other bits that we needed. We ended up spending around three hours there, as well as stopping in Aldi to do a food shop, which is around 10 minutes away from Bluestone, it took us an overall 6 or so hours to arrive. Normally it would only take around 3.5 hours, possibly 4, depending on the roads and traffic.
When we finally arrived, we checked in and was kindly shown a map (that we got to keep), with our lodge keys, and it also showed where our lodge was. It can be confusing to get to the right street of your lodge, the three times we've been, we've always had to go around more than once as we either took the wrong turning or went up the wrong street. It took us three times this time, but we eventually got it, and we were staying in Lodge 12 at Castle Close. It was further than the last two lodges we have stayed in.
The lodge we were staying in was the Tenby Lodge. It's a semi-detached one and a half floor lodge and also sleeps 6. It has two twin rooms and one double room. The double room was upstairs, which has a huge balcony that was lovely. The room was huge, with an en-suite. The two twin rooms were downstairs on each side. There's also a family bathroom downstairs and an open plan dining room, kitchen and sitting area. There are patio doors that lead you out to the spacious garden space which was lovely.
The lodge was really clean and very spacious. There's a locked door on one side of the wall, which leads into next door's lodge. This was the first time we've stayed in a semi-detached lodge, and it did put me off a bit that we'd be staying right next door to someone. It also didn't help that we could hear nearly every word that the people in the next lodge were saying, and probably they could hear us too. That was one thing I wasn't too keen on. However, it didn't bother us so much, and we still enjoyed our stay.
We were able to take our car to the resort to unpack. It can stay for up to three hours before having to return it back to park in the long-stay car park that's free. My partner went to go and hire a buggy, but unfortunately, they were all fully booked, as silly us didn't think about booking in advance. We were also told that there's over 300 lodges and only about 150 buggies. So if you're not up for walking everywhere, I'd really advise you to book a buggy way in advance, probably straight after you book your holiday. The girls were so upset, but it got us walking everywhere, which I personally didn't mind. You are able to put your name down on a reserve list for a small chance of getting a buggy during the week.
On the first night, we unpacked everything and went for a walk into the village. We decided to go to the Booking Office and book some activities while we were there. We had already booked The Kingdom of the Elves online, but we wanted the kids to be involved in a lot more activities than they did last time. We booked them in to do at least one activity a day. Santa's Workshop, Adventure Trail and the 4x4 Safari were booked. Prices do vary on activities, you will get a piece of paper with all the of the activities for the week, with the prices and how long they're on for. The staff at the booking office were really helpful and so lovely. You are able to book activities online too, which we should have done but didn't think to do it at the time. Most of their activities have limited spaces.
After having a little walk around the village, we headed back to our lodge for the night. The beds were quite comfortable, my partner found them really comfortable. Our double room was a huge room, so Freddie was in his travel cot further down the room. A travel cot and highchair are included in the lodge, as well as two safety gates for the bottom and top of the stairs.
5th of December
On our second day, the first proper morning in Bluestone, we had quite a lazy morning. It was Mia's 8th birthday, and we played a little trick on her. The night before when my partner took the car to the long stay car park, he had forgotten to bring back Mia's present which was a three wheel scooter. So we thought we'd pretend we had only got her a card. It kind of backfired on us because she said she didn't mind and she was happy with a card - bless her. Both girls were booked to go on an adventure trail at 9.30am. They were the only ones there and were gone for two hours. During those two hours, I stayed in the lodge to tidy, and my partner took Freddie swimming. I went to pick the girls up after their activity, and they both loved it. They went on a hunt all around the resort to find a dragon's egg.
We headed back into the lodge after popping into the village shop for a few bits and play in the park. When we arrived back, Mia was over the moon when she saw her birthday present. We had a quick lunch before heading back to the Adventure Centre for our next activity, Kingdom of the Elves. We went to this last year and it was absolutely amazing. I was really interested to see how they could 'top' last years. It was all different again this year - it seemed like they put extra effort in it again. The girls were given some Elftopia Passports which they loved. They were given a coloured band, and all of our cheeks were stamped with red paint for rosy cheeks.
I was so pleased that the girls were given an elf onesie each and Freddie was given an adorable Elf teddy that they were all allowed to keep. The girls loved them and was so excited. One thing I love about Kingdom of the Elves is how it's brilliant for all ages, kids and adults. There's a lot of funny jokes and things for adults to get involved with too, not just kids. We went through different rooms, and each room was decorated perfectly, and it was just amazing how they did it. The kids were fully entertained throughout.
When the Kingdom of the Elves finished, around an hour later, we stayed in the Adventure Centre for a little bit. We didn't stay too long as Freddie kept wanting to go on the bigger children parts. There was also a lot of kids in the soft play area, but he did love going on the bouncy castle. We headed back out and went for a walk around and ended up in their new park in the village. We chilled then for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday, 6th of December
On our third day, we had another full day planned. We went swimming to the Blue Lagoon in the morning. The Blue Lagoon is free for all Bluestone Guests. It's the first time I went swimming there as I was too nervous to go the last time we stayed. Although, I was still super nervous going but both girls wanted me to go, and I didn't want to lose out on any memories just because of my confidence. I went, and I bloody well enjoyed it. I think it was one of my highlights of the holiday. I have always loved swimming, and I'm proud that I got the confidence somewhere, to put on my swimming costume and just went swimming. It's a fantastic family swimming pool with slides and three different parts. One part is perfect for the little ones such as toddlers and children under 5. The middle part is great for all, and there's pirate theme pool too which is great fun for kids also. There is also a lazy pool that goes outdoors, which is amazing.
In the afternoon, we headed back to the Adventure Centre for Santa's Workshop. I was really interested to see how they would do it this time as last year, Santa's Workshop was in a lodge near the village. It didn't disappoint. It was amazing, yet again. The kids listened to a story from Santa and then went to make their own birdfeeder. While they were doing that, the Elf was shouting a family name one by one to go up to Santa, get a gift and a photo. I was disappointed with our family photo mainly because Freddie and I were standing in the wrong place and not looking. But I still bought it, which was £6 and any reprints were £4.
We stayed in the adventure centre for a little bit again before heading back to our lodge to chill for the evening again because there was a warning with bad winds and rain. We thought it would be best to stay in the lodge incase we got caught up in the bad weather.
Thursday, 7th of December
Our last full day in Bluestone and we were all feeling sad that it was our last day. In the morning we started packing a few bits but not everything. We headed off out by 11am as the girls had a 4x4 safari activity booked. They were able to drive mini 4x4s which they absolutely loved. They had so much fun, and it was hilarious too watch. It was for 45 minutes and although it was absolutely freezing, they loved every minute of it. Afterwards, we went to the village to grab some lunch in the Knights Tafarn. The food was delicious and not badly priced. We went to the shop for the kids to buy themselves a little treat before heading to the park.
Later on, we went back to our lodge and chilled before heading back out for tea. This time we went the Oaktree which is on top of Knights Tafarn. I was a little disappointed with the food, but the kids loved it. After our food, we went outside of the Knight Tafarn and enjoyed the Light Show. I remembered it was amazing last year and was excited to see it again this year. It's a free show/activity for the whole family at 6.15pm every evening. Although, we missed it every other night, so we were excited to watch it this day. The girls loved it, and so did Freddie, we all danced and sang different Christmas songs, and it really got everyone in the festive mood.
Friday, 8th of December
Our final morning of waking up in Bluestone and it was a stressful one. We woke up at 7am and didn't get out of the lodge until 10.20am. It took us that long to pack everything, get everything ready and leave the lodge to the car. You're allowed to bring your car on site for packing on the morning that you're leaving. Checkout of the lodge is 10am, but you are allowed to use all facilities until 3pm.
Yet again, Bluestone didn't disappoint. Full of friendly, helpful and energetic staff every day. I would advise anyone who doesn't fancy walking a lot, to book a buggy a lot in advance. The activities were amazing, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Also, if you were interested, here are three vlogs I made of our stay, if you fancy watching;
* Thanks so much Bluestone for giving us a 4-night-stay.
