Whether it was the warmth of the sun on my cheeks, the sound of the waves breaking or mile upon mile of soft golden sand, it was a glorious morning to be at West Wittering. Located in West Sussex, this is normally a popular spot with people travelling there from far and wide. Not today though, the beach was deserted with the exception of a few dog walkers and a handful of surfers. What a perfect day for taking some more photographs with the Fujifilm X-A3 (do read our review here).
Six year old POD has always been a good eater so we’ve been lucky in that respect. She loves broccoli, peas and carrots especially and there are an abundance of fruits she enjoys like bananas, apples, raspberries, strawberries and melon. Tomatoes and cucumber are also firm favourites too. POD has school lunches during the week with the rest of her meals at home. She gets the recommended daily allowance of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day most of the time. Of course the amount of food a child needs varies depending many factors like age, body size and physical activity. As a rough guide, one child portion should be measured as the amount of fruit or vegetables that can fit in the palm of their hand. But latest nutrition research suggests children should have double that. So how do we make sure our children are getting enough of the good stuff?
We’d not really thought about performing arts until the opportunity to do a trial at Stagecoach came along. POD was really keen to go so we signed her up for the two week trial. She absolutely loved these classes, spending an hour and a half singing, acting and dancing. So much so POD wanted to continue going every Saturday. That was a year ago.
I’ve loved photography ever since I can remember. While those pre-digital days waiting for negatives to be developed didn’t always produce the desired result, the best of the bunch were lovingly stuck into albums. Labelled of course with where I was and the date so I could look back on them years later. Much has changed since although my passion for photography has remained strong. I relish capturing our family adventures which feature in blog posts, are framed on a wall or displayed in photobooks.
My go to camera is an SLR and it’s with me much of the time. I find the quality of the images from my smartphone fairly poor so it’s certainly not something I can rely on. It’s not an ideal scenario lugging an SLR around but I’m hopeful the Fujifilm X-A3 mirrorless compact digital camera could be that missing link. Created for budding photographers looking to take their photographic skills to the next level I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
We recently escaped to Center Parcs for a weekend at Longleat with friends. As if being in the forest wasn’t exciting enough, six year old POD was thrilled to have one of her chums and his brother to play with too. Her new Berghaus jacket arrived from Blacks just before the trip which was great timing given she’s outgrown her waterproofs. What a great location for its first outing – not that we aren’t spoilt for choice in Surrey of course!
Shleich has come up with the perfect way to recreate Sony Pictures’ Smurfs: The Lost Village movie. The Smurf House, complete with Papa Smurf and Gargamel and Azrael, is a great way to relive favourite scenes from the film and create your own. POD always enjoys watching our little blue friends so she couldn’t wait to put this set together and have a play. We’ve reviewed a few products from Schleich before and the quality is excellent which is always reassuring.
POD has been a fan of Beauty and the Beast for some time now so she’s excited about the new Disney film. Due for release later this month, it stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Carter, of Downtown Abbey fame, as the beast. To celebrate the upcoming launch, Ravensburger has created a Beauty and the Beast jigsaw.
We saw a neighbour with a Hetty vacuum cleaner the other day. This pleased POD greatly as she’d received her own Hetty, albeit the mop variety. Such was her excitement, she insisted on helping with the housework as soon as we returned from school. She’s not embarked on any mopping before which totally explains her choice of clothing!
Miniature playsets and accessories always make great collectables. Six year old POD always enjoys toys that are portable, often packing a bag if we’re heading off somewhere. The Puppy In My Pocket Dog Carrier and Accessory Pack are ideal for exactly that reason. She’s been able to take them everywhere with her from school to classes to around the house. Founded in the nineties, there are now 100 puppies in the Puppy In My Pocket range with Kitty In My Pocket and Jungle In My Pocket coming this year too.
If you read this post you will have heard about the exciting new PJ Masks toy range from Flair. It brings to life the brilliant animated series on the Disney Junior channel. POD is a huge fan of Connor, Amaya and Greg who transform into the Catboy, Owlette and Gekko superheroes when they put their pyjamas on! We were one of the #PJMasksToys Twitter party hosts with UKMums.tv this week. There were some amazing prizes won and we tweeted about our very own PJ Masks party. POD got to try out the new PJ Masks Toys, play some games and have a whole lot of fun with her friends.
