50 Days of Summer - Our Holiday Round Up

This summer has been all about family and fun.  We have holidayed in a forest, been to the beach, sailed to the Isle of Wight, visited museums, learned new skills and the girls have even learned how to drive.  The children have seen all three sets of their grandparents in one week (this is the first time this has happened given that they have grandparents that are spread across Surrey, Wales and the Isle of Man) and enjoyed quality time with their cousin's baby, the gorgeous little Michael, who stayed with us for a week.  We've Skyped my nephew Tom and his beautiful new wife Ashley, following their wedding in Georgia.  Ella received her A'Level results getting an A, 2 Bs and a C (the Maths exam was a killer this year!) and is set to go to her first choice university in September. The girls went to V Festival (we bought them tickets for Ella's 18th birthday) and had the best day ever watching The Killers, Jason Derulo, Nile Rodgers, Rudimental and many more great acts. 

We've really enjoyed our time together this summer, nothing beats the time spent with my kids!

The weather has mostly been kind to us, and the sun has shone on the days that we wanted it to.  With just a couple more weeks before the kids return to school, we hope to make the most of the remaining days of freedom (even though the sunshine seems to have taken its leave!)

If you need any inspiration for keeping the family occupied, don't forget that you can get ideas for days out and things to do in the Robert's Bakery 50 Days of Summer guide.  You can download a free copy of the 50 Days of Summer guide here.

If you have any picnics on the agenda you can definitely make them more fun by making some creative sandwiches.  We made some amazing sandwich creations at the Blogger's Picnic earlier this year.

One other activity we are hoping to catch is the Playmobil 40th Annmiversary Tour where life sized Playmobil models will be making an appearance at the following venues:

Today: Fri 22nd Aug - Birmingham Cathedral

Sat 23rd Aug - Derby

Sun 24th Aug -Liverpool

Mon 25th Aug (Bank Holiday) - Manchester

Wed 27th Aug (Morning) - Newcastle

Wed 27th Aug (After school) -Glasgow

Thurs 28th Aug - Middlesbrough

Fri 29th Aug - Leeds

Sat 30th Aug - Nottingham

Sun 31st Aug - Leicester

To find out more details about when and where, keep an eye on the PLAYMOBIL UK Facebook page.

However you plan to spend the rest of the precious days of summer, have fun!!

Keep the Kids Entertained with 50 Days of Summer

If you are looking for some inspiration this summer, for ideas to keep boredom away during the long holidays, then Roberts Bakery has some ideas for you!  In their FREE downloadable pack, there are suggestions for affordable activities to do, places to visit (including many with free admission), fun things to make and picnic friendly recipes to create.

The 50 Days of Fun downloadable pack is filled with things that the kids will love to do. Click on the image below to go to the website:

There is an idea for every day from July 17th, but you can pick and choose ideas for things to do from the fifty days.  Day one suggests making a scrapbook and recording all the adventures you get up to over the summer.  This will be a wonderful souvenir, and I find that keeping a summer scrapbook keeps the kids practicing their reading and writing in a fun way!

I love some of the suggestions, such as the mess free, outdoor water painting which would be a great activity to keep little ones occupied on a sunny day...and if it descended into a water fight, then that would be even more fun!

There are some great picnic sandwich ideas, some of which I tested when I enjoyed the Roberts Bakery Bloggers' Picnic earlier this year.  The Cheezy Beans refried bean sandwich idea is new one I intend to try out.  It sounds yummy!  Or how about trying the Nutty 'Nanas sandwich that I made at the bloggers' picnic? We used the Roberts Bakery 50% White & 50% Wholemeal bread, which was really good.

You can download the two part pack at www.robertsbakery.co.uk/50-days-of-summer

It is a great resource whether you want to follow everyday or just dip into!

Roberts Bakery will be sharing the day’s top pick on facebook.com/RobertsBakeryUK and on twitter @roberts_bakery.

How to make picnic food more fun!

We had a lovely day out at Delamere Forest for the Robert's Bakery 50 Days of Summer Bloggers' Picnic.  Myself, Ian, Ella, Kizzy and Freddy really enjoyed making a fun picnic, with recipes demonstrated by the ladies from Roberts Bakery, which we later got to eat for lunch.  The recipe ideas were really inventive, elevating a humble sarnie into something way more exciting!  

We used the new Robert's Bakery White & Wholemeal bread which includes fortified white flour and high fibre wholemeal flour to bring together the best of both worlds.

Thank goodness the weather was kind to us, as the masterclass in sandwich making took place on benches outside.  Al fresco food preparation added an element of summertime fun to our lesson in picnic prep!

Here's what we made:

Sunshine Sandwich

These 'peep hole' sandwiches are filled with a mix of low fat grated cheese, grated carrot, sunflower seeds and raisins.  Bulking out the grated cheese with grated carrot gives a lower calorie filling and adds extra nutrients. Each hole is filled with one of the ingredients to make an impressive looking sandwich that little ones will love.  You could adapt this sandwich to make traffic lights, popping in tomato, sweetcorn and lettuce in the holes. 

S.L.T.

The vegetarian sausage, lettuce and tomato roll is a twist on the BLT.  The mayonnaise, Greek yogurt and black pepper dressing complemented it perfectly, and was lighter than using mayo alone.  Served in the new Roberts Bakery White and Wholemeal buns they made a tasty roll.

Peanut Butter and Banana Monkey

aka Nutty Nana

The fun monkey faces with peanut butter, banana and a little honey, were really effective.  Raisins added the details and made these sandwiches look really cool and perfect for feeding to my own little monkey Freddy.

Strawberry & Cream Hearts

Cream cheese, rocket, strawberries and black pepper make a really interesting and elegant sandwich filling. It's like having a cream tea on bread! The heart shaped sandwich with a cut out top is the ideal food to serve at a tea party.  They look so pretty and the strawberry goes so well with black pepper and rocket.

With our sandwiches and rolls packed into boxes, we headed to a tent where a storyteller was waiting to share some stories with us while we ate our lunch.  The children loved joining in with the storyteller's tales, and it was great to see Freddy getting involved.  He has come on such a long way from the shy little lad he once was!  The food went down well with everyone too, the veggie SLT being my favourite.

After our picnic, we had a lovely walk around Delamere Forest with Clearly Bex and her lovely children.  We enjoyed the fresh air, scenery and sunshine and had a great time.  It was fabulous to meet a fellow Shropshire blogger!!  Freddy got on so well with his new friend, it was so nice to see them both playing with sticks, jumping in puddles and exploring the forest together.  My girls loved looking after all the little ones, chasing after them and holding their hands as they clambered down banks to paddle in the streams.  After a rainy wash-out of a half term, it was such a blessing to enjoy a day outdoors. 

Thanks to Roberts Bakery for a fantastic day!