Summer holidays. You know the ones. The ones that tend to cost an arm and a leg to try and keep the children busy for SIX. WHOLE. WEEKS. Who's idea was it ever to think THAT could be a good idea?

I have three children, and boy keeping them busy is a full time job. I am more exhausted then they are at the end of the day. Seriously, where do they get their energy from? I would like a little piece of that energy for myself.

This year was going to be different. This year i was going to make sure they were busy, and hopefully giving me a little bit of peace. I grabbed my diary, and jotted down where i would like to take them. I then asked my children (aged seven, five and four) where they would like to go. They screamed Peppa Pig World, Lego Land, Water Rides, BIG Rides, Train Rides, Helicopter Rides, Swimming, Bouncy Castles, Zoo, Animal park.... As i jotted their little lists down i finally realised, how on earth was i going to PAY FOR ALL THIS? You know as a parent that these things do not come cheap! Not only do you have to pay to get in, you have to pay for all the souvenirs that are scattered around in places that you just know you wont be able to avoid them. They are very clever at taking you money. While i mentally thought about the costs the suggestions just kept on coming. Fair's mommy, summer fates, and make sure you do not forget Peppa Pig World mommy.

I picked up some leaflets from the local supermarket (Tescos in Shepton Mallet) and sat in the car adding everything up. It came to over £500 in total! Wow. That's not even taking in account the money spent at these places, and we know how much the food costs! After the tickets, food, fuel and souvenirs we were looking at well over £1000. Wow. Do we really need to spend that much for children to have a good time? That is where i hatched a little plan. On my list i wrote down one word. FREE. Everything we did this summer holidays will not cost a penny. It will be family fun for free. End of. I just forked out nearly £200 for school uniforms! I am not going to spend all our savings in 6 weeks. We even have Christmas coming up. *sigh*

It seems that ever corner we turn we need to spend money. But why? Why do we do it? Do we really need to? NO! I have proven over 6 weeks you DO NOT need to spend over £5 per day, per trip. Dont believe me? Keep reading and i will show you how.

• Beaches. They are free right? So why do we not go to them more often? Oh yes, they can be traps but trust me, i made sure nothing cost me a penny. I leave at exactly 4pm. 1 hour-ish travel time and bam! Guess what happens at 5pm? Everything shuts! You know that dreaded bouncy castle on the beach? Gone. Those Donkeys that every kid wants to go on? Gone! Those shops that hang their brightly coloured buckets outside that can be seen for 1 mile in each direction? GONE! Everything is closed down. What children can not see they will not want. And another bonus? The beach is practically empty! No fighting for a space. No worrying about where your child is every single second as when the beach is empty you can enjoy the time there. Your children will not get lost on an empty beach.
  We recommend Weston-Super-Mare, Wembury, Charmouth, Westbay and Pevensey Beaches.

• Woods and Walks. Woods are free. Woods are great fun for children and there are NO tempting shops near by. Also parking is free. It is literally a FREE day out with NO catch. We always pack a picnic and head straight out the door. You can also take a bug catching kit if you like! There are some amazing places that you can explore on your doorstep. We let our children get as muddy as they want, shout as much as they want, explore, jump, dance, chase as much as they want. I do however bring a little first aid kit with me just in case they fall over and BEG me for a plaster. Somehow a plaster has a magical power that can stop tears right in their tracks. However, they do not work like that for adults...
  Woodlands we Recommend: Greyfield Woods, Mendip Woodlands, Cheddar Gorge*,Burrington Combe, Shear Water Lake, Chew Valley Lake, Ebbor Gorge (can be steep in places).

• Country Parks. We regularly go to a lovely place called Ham Hill. Its beautiful there, and my children just love the hills!!! We take a football, a packed lunch and nothing else. You would be surprised how quickly they will tire out! Again, free parking and no shops. There is however a pub (on the other car park) that i think serves food. However, do not quote me on that as i have never been in there. We like free remember.
  We recommend Ham Hill!!

• The National Trust. We recently joined up for the year, and its perfect. Its so easy to find places to go and see, and see what is there. We recently went to Wembury Beach, as well, i was stuck for ideas, fancied a drive and Wembury seemed perfect. Oh and it was perfect. My children had NEVER had so much fun. And because we are National Trust members it was FREE to park. Otherwise it is £4.50. I took so many photographs i was amazed. The children were so happy, and even left mummy and daddy to rest for a while! They were around 10-20ft in front of us playing in the rock pools. It was heaven and i can not wait to go back there.
  We recommend Wembury Beach

• Google. Google can be your best friend if you know how to use it and know which search terms you put in. Did you know that putting in "family days out" or "what to do in the summer holidays" will 99% of the time take you to places that cost money? What you should really be searching for is "woodlands in **** area" or "beaches in Dorset/Devon". Sometimes the word FREE will actually bring up a lot of pages that are not in fact free. Its a trap!

• Castles. Granted, these are not free and quite rightly so. I went into a castle in Eastbourne and it was stunning. We had a free audio tour that the children just LOVED! It cost for our family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) just £13.50. Yes, they did have a little shop in the castle, but my word, it was amazing! The castle was built in Roman times, and used throughout history. The little shop had all these girfts that were relevant to that time. I thought why not. We have done everything else free throughout the holidays, and i do actually have quite a lot of money left over. We brought the children a wooden sword each, and i brought a set of Roman Coins. Total cost for the day? £33.97
  On an added note, the Castle would had been free entry if we had been English Heritage members. This is what i am signing up for tonight. All National Trust castles, grounds etc... are also free if you are member. It maybe worth you signing up as it will save you a lot of pennies in the long run!
  We recommend Pevensey Castle

Here is a list of places that we have visited including ratings out of five(5), costs, and would we visit again.

Greyfield Woods.
Enjoyment: 4 , Cost: Free , Parking: Free , Would we go again? YES
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Ham Hill.

Enjoyment: 4 , Cost: Free , Parking: Free , Would we go again? YES
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Wembury Beach. 
Enjoyment: 5 - Cost: Free - Parking: Free (if National Trust Member) Would we go again? YES!
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Pevensey BeachEnjoyment: 5 - Cost: Free - Parking: Free - Would we go again? YES
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Pevensey Castle
Enjoyment: 4 1/2, Cost: £13:50 for a family of 5 - Parking: £2 - Would we go again? YES
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Weston-Super-Mare South Beach
Enjoyment: 5 - Cost: Free - Parking: £4.50 - Would we go again? YES
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Chew Valley Lake
Enjoyment 4 - Cost: Free - Parking £1:20 or FREE off peak - Would we go again? YES
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Westbay

Enjoyment 5 - Cost: Free - Parking: Depends on where you park - Would we go again? YES
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Charmouth

Enjoyment 5 - Cost Free - Parking around £2 - Would we go again? YES
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Lyme Regis
Enjoyment: 0 - Cost: Couldn't Park - Would we go again? NO
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Cheddar Gorge*
Enjoyment: 5 - Cost: Free - Parking - Free - Would we go again? YES
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Shear Water Lake
Enjoyment: 5 - Cost - Free - Parking: Free - Would we go again? YES
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The Creation Station (Arts and Crafts)

Enjoyment: 5 - Cost: £11.50 for three children - Parking: Free - Would we go again? YES!
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Mendip Woodlands
Enjoyment: 4 - Cost: Free - Parking: Free - Would we go again? YES
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Ebbor Gorge
Enjoyment: 3 - Cost: Free - Parking: Free - Would we go again? YES

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Burrington Combe
Enjoyment: 4 - Cost: Free - Parking: Free - Would we go again? YES

The Creation Station

Please leave a comment. Also please feel free to add where you have been and if you would recommend or not! 

Also please check out Donna Sims blog here 

My Love, My Life 7/12

There has always been one place that is close to my heart and that is Charmouth on the south coast - Dorset. It is just beautiful there, and my children absolutely adore it there. We generally go in the evening (4pm+) when it is quieter. My autistic son does not like places that are to crowded, he likes to be able to run around like a headless chicken in peace, and i find it more relaxing as I don't have to constantly tell him "NO don't take that little girls ice cream!!" or "That is NOT your bucket and spade!!!". Its far less stressful. He does not understand that he cant have something. He seems to think that because it is there he can use it. I don't blame him at all. Its just the way he sees the world, and to be honest what is wrong with another child using your bucket for 5 minutes? As long as they don't run off with it and take it home i really don't see the problem. Its a shame really that my son is seen as a "naughty" child. He isn't/ He just sees the world differently and doesn't understand the social etiquette that everyone else does. 

Charmouth is one place that i can just let my children be children. We do not have any computer consoles at home, my children do not have tablets, gameboys etc... If they want to have fun they are going to have to make it for themselves - i'm very old fashioned in that way (at only 27!). You see, when i was brought up we didn't have any money - or not a lot anyway. We didn't have all the top of the range stuff but not once did i miss out. My parents took us for day trips that were free. I can remember sat on the beach all wrapped up eating a sandy sandwich because we didn't listen to mum when she told us to eat out picnic before we dug holes in the sand. I can remember my Uncle Mark (who has sadly passed away) make lines in the sand and get to to have races. Yes we had no money, but i had the best childhood anyone could ask for. I want the same for my children. I want them to have fond memories like I do. I don't want their memories to be of that moment they finally completed level 250 on some silly game. 

Here are a selection of photographs from one day at Charmouth, and i hope there will be many more to come now the 6 weeks holiday is here. If your children are driving you insane just make a picnic, chuck them in the car and head to the beach, local park or woodlands and let them entertain themselves. It does not matter what time of day it is, just make it count.

Please head on over to Susanna's blog to see some beautiful photographs and her blog for this month.

My Love, My Life 6/12

The topic this month was a hard one. One that i had to really think about. The more i thought, the more i struggled. I decided then that i was just going to just take photographs, and write about all the travels that we have done this month.



We have been many places the last few weeks. Keeping busy is what we do for the fact that if we stay in it costs me a fortune! My children even peeled off the wallpaper on the walls upstairs!! Of course none of them admitted to who did it. We have been to Cheddar Gorge for a picnic a few times, Chew Valley Lake, Ebbor Gorge in Wells, Greyfield Woods in High Littleton just outside of Bristol and Bath, went for a walk in Frome, Reclamations yards in Wells, Glastonbury and Ston Easton., Black Wood, Velvet Bottom and also Long Wood, and a walk on Radstock Cycle Path. There isn't a place we haven't been in B&ANES and Somerset. We have also travelled to Devon and Dorset. Oh and not forgetting bug hunting in the garden!

Being out and about is what i do with my children. Its what my parents used to do with me as a child. Its a family tradition so to speak. I love watching my children play without any technology in sight (except my camera of course).

Here are just a few photographs that have been taken.

Please head on over to THIS beautiful Blog and take a look :) <3

My Love, My Life. 3/12

As some of you may know it is World Autism Awareness Day. I thought i would tell you a little bit about Roman.

As you know Roman is autistic. When Roman was born he was rushed from Paulton Hospital to the RUH NICU, He had a lung infection and couldn't keep his body temperature up, even on a heat mat. The midwife was very concerned. After 3 days though he was home and he was a beautiful little boy. As the weeks went by he started smiling and would stare at me for minutes and minutes. Even the health visitor noticed he made a lot of eye contact with me. Everything seemed fine, until he was 8 months. He stopped responding to his name and no noise would startle him. Infact i made it my life mission to make him jump like his dad did when i scared him. Nothing. I started to get more and more concerned, but as Josh had just got diagnosed with 48 XXYY i kept it to myself. I didn't want everyone to dismiss my concerns and say 'just because one child has something doesn't mean your other does'.

By the time he was 13 months i couldn't keep my concerns to myself any longer. I went to the doctors as he wouldn't respond to any sound. That was when the "Autism" word was first mentioned. She said it could just be his hearing, and that needs to be checked ASAP. He had his first hearing test at 13.5 months, came back inconclusive. Second hearing test at 14 months again came back inconclusive. The health visitor and community nurse came around to do a SLOGS test. It came back LESS than newborn for hearing and he came below on quite a few other things.

14 months he had ANOTHER hearing test. This time in the RUH. Came back inconclusive although he certainly does have some hearing, they think he zones out or switches off.

17 months old he had his first appointment with Dr Lenton. He helped with Joshua so knew our family history. He wanted Roman to have his chromosomes tested and me and Matt's AGAIN. We had that done straight away. They came back fine. Roman does have a very small duplication in one of his chromosomes... But nothing to cause concern. Infact every single person in the world could possibly have a micro deletion or duplication and not ever know about it. That is what makes us completely unique.

At 19 months we had another appointment with Dr Lenton. I had no idea what to expect. I thought this was just 'another' appointment and was not prepared at all. I told Matt to stay at home. Again, i thought this was just a routine appointment. When i finally walked into the room with Roman there was a speech and language therapist there. She did tests on Roman while Dr Lenton explained everything to me. He told me that on his first meeting with Roman he noticed that Roman made ZERO eye contact with him. He said it was like he wasn't even in the room. He also said that he noticed that Roman was very repetitive. He would run from one corner, to the next to the next and to the next... Constantly repeating himself.

After about an hour of them watching Roman play, doing little tests on him (social, see how long he holds eye contact, role play etc...) they both looked at me and said roman DOES have an Autistic Disorder. He said that he will diagnose him so young because Roman will need a lot of input, input that he will not get if he is not diagnosed. He said that he is very delayed and withdrawn, and that there is no doubt in his mind that Roman is Autistic. I can vaguely remember them asking if i had any questions. But inside i was breaking. My head went to mush. All i kept thinking was "why both my boys? Why?". I walked out into the car, put Roman in his car seat, got in myself and just cried. It was like a dam had burst, like all the pain, all the unknowing, all the worries i had just came pouring out.

Roman is now a very bubbly 3 year old. He will be 4 on the 26th April. And my gosh does he make me smile. He has had very intense input. I had people coming to my house 3 times a week just for Roman. To help him. And it shows. He really is a very bright little lad and i'm so damn proud of him. Hes is over achieving at nursery, something i NEVER expected. He is very good at technology. He is outstanding at maths and has a love for letters - especially 'K' , 'C' and 'S'.
He is going to school September. We have chosen a mainstream school that his sister and brother go to. They are a truly amazing school that will cater for any child with what every additional needs they have.

And that question that first popped in my head, the "why both my boys"? Well that has been replaced with "why not?". Why not them? Because as a family we are unique, we are a fun loving family and we can give all THREE of our children all the support that they need. Yes it is VERY stressful at times, but we try to get by like every other family out there. I don't want us to be treated different. Just think... It could be worse. Our children are happy and healthy. That is what all parents want for they're children right?


Please head on over too this blog. So beautifully written. <3