Summer Swimsuits

Now it’s spring I can start to think about buying the kids some new bits for the warmer weather and I am thinking about HOLIDAYS! With that in mind here's Isla in her new Popupshop swimming costume that I absolutely love and she does too! 

It’s such a bold print and I feel like it matches her personality. It was a bit more than I would usually spend on a kids swimsuit at £22, but I’ve always been a swimwear fanatic.  I love checking out the new kids swimming costumes when they come in the stores, and I am a big fan of animal print. Isla rocked this Zebra print two piece that I’m sure came from Sainsbury's last year, and the price tag on that one was lower, so you don’t need to spend loads to have good style sense.

I got the tiger swimsuit online from Little Sunflowers and they were brilliant to deal with, I received the swimsuit the day after purchase. Now I’ve discovered Popupshop fashions, I’m coveting lots more things from there for the kids! 

Sand Le Mere Holiday Village- Review

Recently we took a little trip Up North (East Yorkshire Coast to be exact) to check out a holiday village, Sand Le Mere, after it's recent £4 Million makeover. I have to say that when we were offered the opportunity I really had no idea quite how far up north we were going and quite how long it was going to take us to get there from south of the M25 - 8 hours including 2 service station stops! Admittedly the M25 and the M1 were being particularly nasty to us that day and we also drove through almost constant rain. I have to say had I realised what an arduous journey it was going to be then I would probably have passed on this chance especially as we were only going to be able to enjoy 2 full day times there. However we went, took my mother in law too and had an enjoyable time. 

On arrival we collected our keys from the bar (reception being closed at the hour we arrived) and we set off to find our home for the weekend. Isla had been asking are we nearly there yet from joining the M1 so it was good for us to actually be there and not have to answer that question 100 times. Noah was knackered and so we set about organising who was sleeping where. We'd been left a travel cot to put up and this is where my first piece of constructive criticism comes. I know that the staff aren't to know that we were going to arrive at an ungodly hour and it would have been nice had this have been set up. But also it didn't feel like there was room for the travel cot as the room with the double bed wouldn't house it and the other two rooms had two single beds - so we had to do a bit of DIY in one of the twin rooms and take one of the beds apart put the mattress in the double room and put the bed frame on it's side so that we could fit the cot in.  This meant that Isla and Noah were in sleeping together. I feel that this is something that should have been set up before we arrived. What we did discover from the weekend was that it can work having the kids in together - the first morning we were woken by their giggles which was really cute (even if it was 6.20am!).

Once sleeping arrangements were sorted out, we got the kids ready for bed, got them down and then listened to the beeping from a smoke alarm. Low battery. No ones fault as such, batteries run down and I don't know when the last person would have been in the mobile home before us, but we didn't have a battery and it was too late to go in search of one so we went to bed with it intermittently beeping until the morning. I'm going to also add here that when you go and stay in a static caravan you can't possibly expect to have a lot of room and beds are half the size that they would be at home, so while me and the OH laid in our single beds listening to the smoke alarm beeping we had our feet hanging out the bedroom door (we are both 6 foot tall!) and our bottoms hanging over the side of the mattress - thought you might like to conjure up that image in your minds! 

In the morning, Isla was very excited about our temporary home, the night before she'd been massively excited when she saw a camp bed emerge from under a sofa in the lounge - actually looking in awe and uttering "That's amazing!". We had breakfast and then we got ready for a swim at the all new swimming pool. This was exciting for us as Noah hadn't been swimming as yet and we couldn't wait to see his reaction to it. When we got to the main building an adult swim was in progress but this was fine because there were an untold number of 2 penny slot machines (Isla loved 'winning' money) and an all new soft play area. I also went to reception to tell them about the need for a new battery for the smoke alarm and the bathroom light wasn't working. Both things were fixed while we were at the pool.

Once the pool was open to all we dropped MIL at the cafe where she could watch us through the window, got ready and took to the pool. Isla was totally hyped, loving every minute of it. It's hard keeping up with her really - she's in and out of the pools (there are two - a small one with a slide and a main pool) and then in and out of the splash area. Noah on the other hand was a little bit shocked by his emergence into water and clung on for dear life but then after 5 minutes he relaxed and loved it! He had his Little Swimmers on that I'd kindly been sent to try and he looked so cute, he was laying on his back floating about - I wish I could have taken photos. The pool is the real attraction of the whole complex, it's so safe, the steps, floor and walls of the pool are soft and spongy, no hard tiles to contend with. It really is the star attraction! My only piece of constructive criticism here is that the showers need to have hooks nearby for people to hang their towels. A minor detail.

After swimming we had lunch in the restaurant. The staff were really friendly, they heated up Noah's food and the food was tasty and pretty speedy. It also looked out on to the playground so adults could finish their food and watch the kids playing. The only thing I would have liked to see is the kids meals on the menu had an accompanying soft drink but they were all fizzy ones, a juice, fruit shoot or water is more appropriate for the really little ones.

In the afternoon we took a 50 minute drive to Bridlington for a bit of seaside fun. It was a really lovely sunny day and Isla had a top time, couple of rides at the fair, quick sandcastle session and a donkey ride. We had some tea there - lovely dressed crab for me. YUM.

The following day we wanted to do the same as the day before in the morning, and take a trip to the pool. However when we pulled up in the car park we could see through the window that that there was no one in the pool. I ran in on my own to check out the situation and the pool was unexpectedly closed. There had been a power cut and this had lead to the pool losing water. As far as I know it was closed all day and this was a real blow as the kids loved the pool and had been promised swimming, so we kept our promise and made our way to the local pool at Withernsea. It wasn't as plush and new but it did the trick and we had a good time.

On getting back to the van we had a little group of ducks outside our window and so the kids threw them a couple of slices of bread and it really entertained them. That night we cooked our first meal in the van. I would say that it's tricky cooking in such a small space with small toddling babies around but we managed. Isla loved mealtimes in there. I'd love to see things through child's eyes again as she found the whole thing so magical I think.

The following morning we had breakfast and set off for home. So you see it was a short trip and my review is on the basis of a very short time spent at Sand Le Mere. We didn't experience the evening entertainment but we saw plenty of people with sleeping babies in buggies making their way there for some fun. There were just a few things that I've already pointed out that could have made our experience better but what I have to go by is how good a time did Isla have and I would say that she loved every minute of our time away.



We were given free accommodation in exchange for this review. All opinions and words are my own.

Robe-Around by Sporty Bump - Review

I was given the great opportunity to try out a 'Sporty Bump Robe-Around' -  a wrap-around pleated towelling robe aimed at pregnant ladies and new mums to be. Created to give complete privacy during pregnancy. Ideal in public places such as the swimming baths, gym, tanning rooms or health club. The trial of Robe-Around couldn't have been timed better as Isla has started swimming lessons and we now head to the pool on a weekly basis. As my bump has grown, the more I've come to appreciate the roominess of the design!

The central theme of Sporty Bump products is that they recognise that us pregnant women have needs and we want to look and feel good even as our body shape changes. This particular product is excellent in that it has pleats built in so that as your bump grows it still covers your modesty! There is also no chance of the towel falling down on you in the changing rooms due to the nifty velcro fastening at the top!

This is also not a product thats use ends when pregnancy is over. We all take varying amounts of time to get our bodies back in to shape after having a baby so the towel still works to keep our body under wraps!

Personally I have found it to be my towel of choice now for swimming. The fact that it stays secure and grows with my body is brilliant. I'm not shy about my pregnant body at all but I think that the concept is great for women of all shapes and sizes who may not feel so confident in a changing room environment.

Getting changed with a toddler can take time, they wander off all over the place and so without the velcro fastening I'd be forever tucking in a towel as it would inevitably fall down all the time. The length of the fastening is also quite long meaning that the towel is one size and will fit even the biggest of bumps!

It would also be perfect as a holiday cover-up for the pool or beach. One size fits all and it comes in black.

It can be purchased from http://www.sportybump.co.uk/ and it retails at £20 plus p&p. You can keep in touch with Sporty Bump on twitter http://twitter.com/SportyBump) and Facebook.

I was sent a sample 'Robe-Around' for the purposes of this review and did not receive any other financial reward for the post.

Swim Baby Swim...Summary review

Sunday was Isla's last lesson with Anne and we had high hopes for it to be brilliant, as you usually do when you've been looking forward to something all week. I can say that this lesson was a 'good' lesson - if anything these lessons have taught me that Isla will dictate how the lesson goes and this week she did well, but because I was on a high about how good she was last week I thought it was going to be the same again. In her defence she has a cough and about 8 BIG teeth cutting through, so I'm not going to quibble if she's a bit clingy in the pool one week. Anne as usual was her calm, patient self which helps a lot when Isla's not playing ball!

We did some practicing at jumping in the pool and that went fairly well as she could see the older children doing it and she likes the splashing! We used the float again and also some wind up toys that we put in the water just out of reach to encourage her to reach out with her arms. We reinforced on her the need to kick her legs, regularly uttering 'Kick, kick, kick, kick!'. She did a couple of bits with her face under the water but she was quite clingy in the pool and had a cough, so think that she wasn't quite sure this week. Anne was so pleased with her though and says that she will be a great little swimmer - and that's good enough for me!

And so I come to the end of my review posts for Isla's lessons with Swim Baby Swim UK, it may be my last review but it's not the end of the road for Isla and her lessons with Anne, we've decided that she has really achieved over the past 6 weeks and we've booked up for a further 6! All in all we've had some brilliant family time, we've immersed Isla in a hobby that we hope she will learn and improve at. I feel it is so important to learn to swim. It is a life saving skill and in time we hope to have plenty of holidays to my parents house abroad where a large communal pool won't pose a hazard for our family, it will be place of fun. I myself was taken to regular swimming lessons when I was child by my dad and I remember it fondly. I want Isla to experience the same. Also from talking to Anne I've realised that it really is the earlier the better when it comes to starting babies swimming lessons, as babies are born with the ability to swim. So when baby boy comes along we will definitely be getting him used to the water just like his big sister.

I'd like to say thank you to Anne for the opportunity and we look forward to continuing with Isla's lessons for the foreseeable future.

This is a sponsored post, we received a course of 6 swimming lessons. Opinions expressed are my own and are completely honest.

Swim Baby Swim UK - Review

So we're nearly at the end of Isla's swimming lessons with Swim Baby Swim UK and it's been brilliant, this week was so enjoyable, it was such a great start to a Sunday. We're all really enjoying the lessons and may need to keep them up - still to decide on this.

I was really looking forward to this lesson as last weeks hadn't been the best due to me feeling a bit tired due to pregnancy and Isla really missing me being present with her and my OH in the pool. She wanted to get out and be with me and so it cut short the lesson. I wanted this Sunday to go really well and I couldn't have hoped for it to be any better!

As usual there was no stopping her from trotting round the pool to the steps, she just loves the water. Once in we went up and down holding the float a couple of times and she was really kicking her legs, like more than she's ever done before and I kept saying 'kick, kick, kick' and she was really going for it with lots of smiles.

She also learnt to get out of the pool on her own by climbing out from the side. This a is bit tricky from the point of view of her age and how she quite often doesn't listen to what we're telling her, because once out she wants to run around, but we managed to get her back to the edge and encouraged her to plop back into the water with a big splash! She's getting so comfortable with having her face under the water now. We had a couple of goes of putting her under the surface and then encouraging her without help to swim between me and Daddy. I have to be so brave to do it as it's easy to freak out a bit and grab her but her big blue eyes are open and you can see that she's holding her breath until she surfaces. She looks unsure when she comes up but she gets so much praise when she does that she is fine. Anne's presence by our side is so reassuring and she's so encouraging.

We did 'piggy back' rides up and down the pool and she now holds on to us tightly without help while we swim underneath her. She loves this and says 'giddy up, giddy up!'.

I always encourage her to look at the other children as they are all slightly older and they are all jumping in and doing bits of swimming on their own and given that children love to imitate other children, it's good for her to see what they are all doing.

The best bit of the whole lesson for Isla was when she got given a badge at the end of the lesson, she loved that, it was such a nice touch. We're so pleased with her progress that we're considering continuing with Swim Baby Swim lessons. It's the last lesson next week, so here's hoping it's as brilliant as all those that have come before it.

We're also going to be testing the Swim Baby Swim Swimming app on the iPhone, where we can practice things we've learnt in the lessons and follow the advice in the tutorials in the app.

As per previous 'Swim Baby Swim' posts, I have to add that this course of 6 lessons has been provided to Isla without charge.

Silent Sunday - Swimming Sunday

Swim Baby Swim UK - Review

At the weekend we had our 2nd swimming lesson with Anne from Swim Baby Swim and it was brilliant! We came away on a real high and in fact it was the beginning of a really lovely Sunday spent with family and friends!

This week the Hubbie got in the pool with us and joined in which was great as Isla really is in this 'Daddy's girl' phase at the moment! We'd been saying to her all morning that we were going swimming and she knows what that means and once through the changing room doors there's no stopping her getting into the pool.

Firstly the kids were given dive sticks that they were to drop to the bottom of the pool to encourage them to look down into the water. At first it was quite hard to get Isla to drop it but once she did and saw that it meant Daddy had to go under the water to retrieve it she was happy to do it and more importantly she was looking down into the water watching the dive stick sink to the bottom and watching Daddy fetch it.

We also went up and down the pool holding Isla, encouraging her to 'kick, kick, kick!', which she did. This week it was Daddy's turn to swim the length of the pool with Isla holding onto his back, and again she thoroughly enjoyed it.

The best part about the whole lesson though was that she went under the water on 2 or 3 occasions and it didn't phase her. The best one for us being when Anne 'swam' her towards the side with her head just under the surface. Once she reached me at the side and came above the water we clapped her and although she looked a little bit uncertain once she saw the clapping and praise she was getting she started to clap herself. The fact that Anne did this really took the heat off us, because as parents it is really hard to not be fearful and Isla wouldn't have felt any panicky vibes from her. Anne is so calm and patient and that transmits to the children.

The kids in the lesson who are more practiced with their swimming all really trust Anne, so when she's asking them to take a hand off the side of the pool and come to her they know they won't come to any harm, likewise when they jump in the pool from the side. They are confident in the pool. The parents also learn to get their children to focus on them.

The principle with these lessons is that there is no need to use buoyancy aids as these really hamper the natural ability that children possess. They keep the body in un upright position which isn't helpful when eventually the child has to learn to swim in a horizontal position. Anne's lessons teach the importance of breath holding and floating.

For more details on Anne Hawley and Swim Baby Swim, go to:
http://www.annehawley.co.uk/index.html

Isla and I are taking part in the lessons as a trial and they have been provided free of charge for the purposes of the review.

Swim Baby Swim UK - Review

Recently I was lucky enough to be asked if Isla and I would like to take a swimming course with Anne Hawley of Swim Baby Swim. Well, I jumped at the chance because Isla really is a little water baby. She absolutely loves the pool and I knew that this was an opportunity too good to miss!

I will be reviewing the course as it goes on over 6 weeks and I'm so pleased to say that lesson 1 went brilliantly!

Anne Hawley is widely recognised as the pioneer and expert of infant swimming and has been in the profession since 1974. Her reputation and lifelong commitment to safely swimming infants has resulted in her distinct, innovative and unique method of swimming babies being copied all over the world.

Anne teaches at locations across London, Surrey and West Sussex. Our lesson took place in Chessington, Surrey which was the most convenient for us and the pool was within a hotel health club, so was really clean, with good facilities and quite a calm setting. The lessons are 30 minutes in length.

We got in the car on Sunday morning, slightly bleary eyed but looking forward to our new weekend activity. Once we were changed and in our cossies, we met Anne and started the lesson. We were in a small group with 3 other children. The exercises we did help to build confidence in the water and ultimately independence.

Isla had fun with the floats, body surfing up and down the pool. I also swam the length of the pool with Anne holding Isla on my back, which I think she found amusing, like I was her own personal dolphin. The kids were also encouraged to grip hold of the side on their own. Isla proved that she doesn't mind getting water all over her face, when it was sprinkled over her and finally the most nail biting part from my point of view was when she was submerged. It was Mummy that needed to be brave on that occasion. Anne talked us through what we were going to do. I was to lift Isla up in the air twice, smiling at her the whole time and then on the third lift bring her down just under the surface of the water. I was to then slowly bring her back out of the water. I did exactly as I was told until the part when I had to bring Isla back out of the water and I did what Anne said most parents do the first time they do the exercise, which was panic slightly and bring her out quick! She made a fuss for about 10 seconds and then as soon as she saw a toy in the water was completely fine again. I'm resolved that Mummy will do better next time.

Isla absolutely loved every minute of the lesson and so did I. We hadn't realised that Hubbie could join us in the pool too, so this Sunday he will be bringing his trunks and sharing in the experience. I'm a firm believer that learning to swim is imperative in childhood and from my conversation with Anne, if children are taught to swim from birth they can even be swimming at least 5 metres independently before their 1st birthday! Imagine that? A baby could be swimming before taking their first steps. My Dad took me for swimming lessons when I was a little girl and our plan is to do the same for our little ones.

I'll keep you updated on how our lessons go, I left the pool on Sunday feeling like we'd had a really great bonding session and couldn't wait to get to Isla's Nanny and Granddad's to tell them all about it. To be continued...

For more details on Anne Hawley and Swim Baby Swim, go to:
http://swimbabyswim.info/

Isla and I are taking part in the lessons as a trial and they have been provided free of charge for the purposes of the review.