Is Your Car Road Trip Ready?

So you're off on a road trip, a long journey. If you're anything like me, you've made countless lists of everything you need to take. You've made sure the changing bag is complete with spare clothes, nappies and snacks for the kids. You've double checked your make up bag has your favourite lipstick for those touch ups, and you've downloaded a pretty awesome playlist for the journey [sneaking in a little One Direction number, hoping nobody judges!] but have you remembered to give the car a once over?
This is something we often forget, only going as far as to check we have enough fuel [if we're being honest, we regularly forget that too and have to fill up on the way...often at the last minute, but we're past judging right?]
If you have the time or money, it may be a good idea to get the car checked over by a mechanic a couple of weeks before, but that's not always ideal, so I've  put together this list of a few things you probably should be checking before a long journey. 
*Lights. Check all your lights are working; brakes, headlights, tail lights, indicators, etc. 
*Fluids. Check and top up any fluids that are low. This includes fuel, oil, power steering fluid, anti freeze, windscreen wash fluid, brake fluid, etc. 
*Tyres. Check the tyre pressure and tread. If you are looking to buy new tyres make Point-S your first port of call. They also perform simple tyre checks, repairs and replacements, if you're not comfortable checking them yourself. 
*Brakes. Inspect the brake pads for wear and tear, this is super important!
*Charge. Check the battery is charged up. Apparently a little baking soda and water is perfect for cleaning the terminals. The last thing you want is to be miles away from home and the car won't start!

So, lights, fluids, tyres, charge, brakes. Pretty easy to remember. Right? If not, let's create a little acronym. L, F, T, C, B.  How about, Little Fuzzy Teddy Bakes Cakes? Last Fun Trip Before College? Lord Foster Totally Came Back? No? Just me??
Anyway, enjoy your road trip! ;)

Stay Safe!
xxx

*Collaborative Post All words/pictures are my own

Making Memories : Magical Mystery Day

So I got the idea of Magical Mystery Day after reading and reviewing Zoe Sugg's book Girl Online.

So the rules are as follows, taken from the following extract of Girl Online...

“Well, it would always be on a weekday and we’d be given the day off school. The rule was that we had to go on a Magical Mystery Tour”

Noah grins. “Like the Beatles’ song?”

I nod. “Yes. Mum and Dad would take out a map and one of us would have to close our eyes and point at a random place and then we’d go off and have an adventure there... I used to love the way it was our secret. How everyone else would be at school or work and we’d be out having an adventure. And I loved the way we never knew when it was going to happen either. Our parents would just spring it on us.”

I thought it sounded SO much fun and wished we had Magical Mystery Day when I was young. I decided to make it a yearly tradition for my little family! A day out, as a family, somewhere different, not too far away but somewhere new... just explore and have a fun day out, wherever that may be.

As James had the week off work this week, we decided to plan it in, keeping it a secret of course! 

Obviously I don't condone children taking time off school, but Bradley never has any time off, it was the last day of term, with a 100% attendance, I checked and double checked his schedule and made sure he didn't have anything important on that day. It's a one off, something special and I would have thought it was THE best thing ever to have a day off school as a surprise like this!

I did a bit of researching beforehand and wrote down all towns/cities within the Midlands all within an hour and a half from us, folding them up and putting them into a little tub. I thought this was a little easier than picking from a map.

Bradley woke up as normal, came downstairs in full school uniform when I unveiled the surprise that it was MAGICAL MYSTERY DAY!!! He was so excited!

The boys both picked out a piece of paper each. We decided that we'd research both places online, and decide which place we'd prefer to visit.

The choices were, Tamworth and Worcester. 
Bradley got to work researching 'things to do in...' each town. [excuse my laundry in the background, oops!] and together we decided we'd visit Tamworth.

Tamworth is a large market-town on the border of Staffordshire and Warwickshire. It is home to the Indoor Snowdome and family theme park Drayton Manor. 

We arrived in Tamworth after a short 50 minute drive.

Bradley decided we should visit an indoor entertainment centre called Namco Funscape. It had a good sized soft play area for up to 8 year olds and an indoor sand pit [apparently the 1st in the UK] so Taylor was very busy. It also had a bit of an amusement centre so Bradley was in his element, winning tickets left, right and centre. We also had a game of bowling.

It got a little stressful at times as Taylor wasn't happy about having to sit in his pushchair during bowling, and he was getting pretty tired as he's very much all about routine.

After all the fun and games at the entertainment centre, we went in search of something yummy for lunch. We used our iPhones to pick up local places for lunch which led us to this Beefeater, called The Ladybridge. The food was lovely and the service was fantastic.

After filling up on food and drink, we parked up and went for a nice walk around the Castle Grounds.

Tamworth Castle boasts a wealth of history, dating back to anglo-saxon times. You can pay to go inside and explore the period rooms, but we decided to enjoy the nice walk around the surroundings.

Within the Castle Grounds is a large play area including a toddler park, a park for older children including a wooden castle and pirate ship, a skate park, tennis courts and more.
We spent a while having fun on the park with the boys before making the short walk back over the bridge back to the car.

We all had a lovely day out. It was nice for the 4 of us to spend the day together, which can be quite rare nowadays, and we were all pretty exhausted when we got home.

It was such a spontaneous trip, I can't wait for this to become a yearly tradition in my home.

Outfits as seen:

Lianne - Jacket/Primark, Snood/Topshop, Gloves/Primark, Jumper/River Island, Leggings/New Look

James - Jumper/River Island, Jeans/River Island, Trainers/Top Man, Coat/Bank, Scarf/Topman

Bradley - Hoody/River Island, Coat/Sonetti, Joggers/Next, Trainers/Nike, 

Taylor - Coat/Next, Hat,Gloves,Scarf/Tu at Sainsburys, Jumper/Tu at Sainsburys, Joggers/Tu at Sainsburys, Trainers/Clarks

What do you think to Magical Mystery Day? 

Would you do something like this with your family?

xxx

January Beauty Favourites 2016

Hi guys! 

I've taken a little break from my blog recently as I've been really busy with work and I've been struggling to find the time to work on my blog.

I've decided to change my blog routine up a little and cut it down to just 1 post a week for the time being, that way I can concentrate on getting good material out and promoting it throughout the week. Let me know your thoughts!

So anyway, a little delayed but here we are with January's Beauty Favourites... 

Boots No7 Completely Quenched Moisturising Body Lotion
I'm unsure how much this product is as I can't seem to find a price online and I got it as part of a gift box. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do. I read 'lotion' and assume it's a thin, liquid-y substance but I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually pretty thick, for something in a tube and feels silly soft on the skin.

Benefit High Beam Luminescent Complexion Enhancer (£19.50)
This is a fab liquid highlighter and often use it for a spot highlighter on my cheek bones and brow bones and I regularly add a little to my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation to give the matte-ness more of a dewy glow, it gives it a gorgeous illuminating finish.

Estee Lauder New Dimension Shape & Fill Expert Serum (£20.67)
After trying out a few samples of this, I loved the way it made my skin feel so was really pleased to receive it for Christmas. It promises to make contours look more defined and skin look more radiant and it honestly does work! My contours are definitely looking more prominent particularly my cheek bones! Fab stuff!

MAC Lipstick in Velvet Teddy (£15.50)
I've been wearing Velvet Teddy, a deep-tone beige shade quite a lot this month. As much as I love the colour, I do wish it was a creamier finish, I'm not so much a matte fan, but still a popular lip this month!

Aveeno Skin Relief Soothing Shampoo* (£9.49/Lloyds Pharmacy) This stuff is perfect for the Winter weather! All that blustery wind and cold as well as the drying central heating can leave your hair and scalp feeling really dry and sensitive. The lovely lot at Aveeno have launched this skin relieving shampoo. It's been a big hit in this house, the boys have loved using it.


What beauty products have you been loving lately?
xxx




*The post includes a free PR sample