Pretty Pink Nails

Last night I swapped the dirt beneath my finger nails for pretty pink nails and a host of other lovely beauty treatments courtesy of local beauty salon Beautylase. I even had my eyebrows threaded which I was surprisingly quite impressed with. I have never been much of a beauty salon type girl. I'm much more comfortable in my jeans and wellies and a bare face, cheeks coloured by the sun, or more usually the chill! However it was really lovely to spend an hour being pampered by a team of lovely and laid back ladies and when I left I determined to treat myself once in a while.

And once we were all looking and feeling glamorous, a group of local bloggers, including Mediocre Mum, who organised the fabulous evening, enjoyed a drink and meal while chatting about blogging, kids and life. It was great to meet the people whose words I read but have never met, as well as meet some new bloggers whose blogs I am looking forward to visiting. I hope we get together again soon.

The only problem I have now is that I really don't want to do any gardening as it might ruin my nails!

A Fun Holiday in a Beautiful Region

Garden Dad is once again outside in the rain, this time planting out our courgettes and squash. I have more sense though and decided to stay indoors and share with you all our camping pictures. I did promise you after all.

So having looked through hundreds of pictures, I have, with great difficulty, selected 25 photos which I hope will give you a sense of the fun we had, as well as the beautiful place we were staying. With day trips to historic Bath, Avebury stone circle and Bowood House (complete with adventure playground and Pirate Ship), we were not short of places to visit and it is not surprising that our Little Garden Helpers have been asking to return.

Water Fight!

Having had a week away and then a very busy week on our return, not least because we had to build two pirate ships for Garden Boy's third birthday (one playmobil and one chocolate cake), the garden has not had much attention. So yesterday, despite the rain, Garden Dad hid our Little Garden Helpers under raincoats and they all headed outdoors to pull up weeds and plant out the french beans which were tangled around each other and were really quite deperate to be in the ground.

I don't suppose the rain mattered too much given that Garden Boy was trying out his new water gun which can fire water the length of our garden. I have a feeling everyone would have been soaked through regardless of the weather. Apart from me, who was sensible enough to stay indoors, although Garden Girl tells me I missed out on a lot of fun and I believe her. I have a feeling the water fight lasted longer than the gardening, given that Garden Dad was back out in the rain after the children were tucked up cosy in bed and there are still some French Beans waiting to be planted!


And for anyone wanting to make a Pirate Ship Birthday Cake, we took the basic idea from here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catster/4234208987/in/photostream/

Review: Vango Cedar Camping Table and Drinks Cooler

During half term we took the children camping to a lovely campsite just outside Bath (there will be more about this in another post when I have sorted through the photos ) but we were really lucky to have the opportunity to try out and keep some new camping equipment from Vango while we were there so this is what we thought.

First up, is this Cedar table which was an absolute Godsend. Last time we went camping Garden Lass was just a baby, but this time she was on her feet, running about and climbing. Everything is an adventure to her and you can imagine how interested she was in all the camping equipment. Having this table to keep everything off the floor and out of reach was a massive help. Because of Garden Lass's sense of adventure we set the table up inside the tent and used it to store things, however as the children get older it will be great for sitting around to eat our sausages and mash and play cards in the evenings.

The table was really easy to put together. Even I managed it very quickly despite three children 'trying to help'. One of the legs is adjustable to allow for uneven ground, which is inevitable when camping and the result was a very sturdy, practical table. When folded up it doesn't take up a lot of room, but it is quite long and we only just fit it across the width of our boot, so take measurements before you buy if you have a small car. Otherwise I really couldn't fault this piece of equipment and with an RRP of £72 I think makes a brilliant to addition to a family's camping essentials.

We also took along this Drinks cooler which is essentially a large cool bag, in a stand. The basic idea is that you can put ice around the edges of the cool bag, then fill it up with milk, beer or anything you want to keep cool. For us, the best bit was that it kept all the food off the floor and folded up small for transport. Unfortunately, on this particular campsite we had no means of freezing our ice packs, however on other sites this facility is provided and this is when this little gem will come into its own. A cool beer after the children have snuggled into their sleeping bags is enough to make this a must have.

We have also used the drinks cooler to keep beer, wine and fizzy pop cool at barbeque's in the garden. There is never enough room in the fridge and with a couple of bags of ice from the local supermarket, this keeps your drinks cool and conveniently located outdoors so there is no need to leave the sun to refill your glass and with an RRP of just £30 we think it really is value for money.

So if you are heading for the great outdoors this summer but want a little bit of luxury to make life easier and the beers cooler head over to the Vango website for more details on these items and to see their full range of camping equipment.