JW Adventure

Leaving the house with four under fives takes a little longer than you expect (even after six months practice) and I need to be prepared.  I try to stock my changing bag the night before so that if I am running late I can grab it and go.  I have a wonderful leather changing bag from What Daisy Did, a fairtrade company creating sustainable fashion and working closely with the artisans in India. Using natural materials and offcuts, What Daisy Did designs unique bags that outlive the short trends and last well.  They employ skilled workers, pay them a fair wage and offer flexible working hours as well as working with homeless charities to help tackle poverty.  Every part of this bag's journey is sustainable and well thought out and the bag is beautifully made, strong enough to cope with everything we stuff it full with and perfect for using long after the babies are out of nappies.  And to show you what I keep inside my changing bag on an average day ...

Winter has hit but we aren't letting it get in the way of our adventures.  Over the Christmas and New Year period we have alternated between cosy indoor time with new toys and running around outdoors burning off some of the boxes of chocolates we have been consuming.  We are lucky enough to have the beach on our doorstep and it is the perfect place to let the children explore.   Cora loves being outdoors, but being non mobile means she feels the cold a lot more than the rest of us.  We have been sent a Bundle Bean to help keep her warm whilst we are out and it is ideal for the changing transport modes we use.   Whilst a traditional footmuff is great, the Bundle Bean has the benefits of adapting and I can use this one on a buggy, car seat or sling thanks to the adjustable velcro straps.  It isn't just a winter product either, the waterproof outer means it is an ideal picnic blanket or outdoor play mat in the summer too.  The one i...

Dear Me, 6 years ago, You will be fine. Everything is about to change, and you won't really appreciate just how much until it does.  People have tried to tell you, but you are so focused on pregnancy and the birth that anything beyond seems too far off still.  You may not know what to do at times, but that is fine, parenthood is about learning and all those people doling out advice had to learn once upon a time too. It is all going to matter so incredibly much, and then suddenly it isn't, but the things that will be important to you are important.  You will become obsessed with breastfeeding, the contents of your baby's nappy, first foods, the average crawling age and what merk of babywipes to buy.  You will chat for hours about these things without getting even a little bit bored because that is your everyday.  You will find friends who find these things just as fascinating, who can debate baby led weaning vs puree all afternoon over a cup of luke w...

Have you ever been somewhere and realised that you left a little piece of yourself there when you left?  That is how we feel about Puy St Vincent.  This year was the third time we have taken a family ski holiday, the third time we have headed to the snowy French Alps with Snowbizz - The Family Ski Specialists, and we know that it won't be the last. From the helpful staff in the office to the friendly greeting at Gatwick airport to the Pink ladies welcoming us to Turin, we felt looked after at every stage of our journey and in resort I felt confident leaving my children with the qualified nannies and knew that the boys' ski lessons were all overseen by Michel, who makes it his business to ensure every child (and adult) is getting the most from their time in Puy.   This year was our first time with four children, and I was a little worried about how it would all go.  They are all still so young and with two under two, we were flying with one on our lap each an...

We are a family that loves to travel, but as we have grown, we have had to think more about how to make our holiday's as cost effective as possible.  With four children we don't often fit the standard family requirements and we have had to change the way we travel to reflect this.  Here are some of my top tips for travelling on a budget. 1) Flexibility makes it easier to get a better price so search for flights for the week you want to go away and check if one day is significantly cheaper than the others.  Fridays are usually the most expensive so being able to go midweek can pay off.  Flexibility on location helps too, you may want to go to Spain for example but browsing a site like Spain-Holiday.com and checking out different regions means you can find something to fit every budget . 2) Book each part of the holiday separately to ensure you are getting the best deals.  Check out sites like skyscanner to compare flight prices and book everything direct ...

We have just returned from our third family ski trip to Puy St Vincent with first time skiing , how the boys got on skiing at 2 and 4 years old and how to enjoy a ski holiday even if you can't ski , but I wanted to share our top tips for taking kids, because even this year we are still learning how to make things as easy and relaxing for us all. So here are my five top tips if you are planning on taking children on a Snowbizz ski holiday. 1)  Pack light The bigger two boys got dressed into their thermals each morning in preperation for their ski lessons, and they very rarely got out of them.  In the afternoons we either went back out in the snow so they needed them on, or they ran around the creche or the apartment still in them because it was the easiest thing to do.  One or two pairs is fine for the week if you go for something like merino wool as they are self cleaning and they wick the moisture away.  For Dylan and Archie I packed thermals, a fleece ...

Why is it that the more desperate you are for them to stay the little, the more determined they seem to be to grow up?  We have not only passed that half way mark, but my little lady is now 7 months old.  Cora still needs me in many ways like a newborn, but she is learning new skills and becoming more independent every day too. We started weaning as she turned 6 months and after a slow start, she is starting to enjoy her food more.  Toast and broccoli are firm favourites, carrots are not.  We are following the baby led weaning principles but I did try offering her something on a spoon out of curiosity - she was highly unimpressed!  Cora eats one meal a day, sometimes two and I hope to encourage some kind of regularity in the coming month.   At 7 months I would love to say that sleep is improving but it would be a lie, we seem to be stuck in a pattern of hourly or two hourly feeds through the night still and Cora will only settle in my bed. ...