Mummy Moo's Blog

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Regardless of whether you run your own business or are employed its still Half term next week. It can be slightly manic going from one child who still has a nap and doesn't speak much to 3 – 2 of whom don't sleep and talk for Britain! I like to ensure I have a plan! 

What do I do?!

I make a list of all the things that are going on and pop them on the calender. That way when we wake up in the morning we have something to do … I’m not regimented if the children want a chill out day, play with their toys ride bikes etc. .. I don't force them, but having a plan in place already means we have things to do. 

Where can you find information?

• Netmums What's on Boards

• Local Raring2Go what's on pages

• Facebook … ask on local groups.

• Book-bags – keep an eye out for flyers and write stuff down.

• Children's Centres – they still run during Half Term and sometimes put on extras for the older children. Ours held a free fun-day with magician, face paints and balloon modelling in the Easter Holidays.

What FREE stuff is available?

• Tesco FA Skills run free 2.5 hours sessions for 5-11 year olds. Moo has been to these most holidays. It's great for him to play football (he has lessons at school and on a Saturday) with a different coach and children its such a good confidence booster.

• Check out the library – not only for the books but there are usually some free activities/craft sessions on during the holiday (you may need to book in advance)

• Take advantage of where you live – going for walks can be fun (and free!) plan some activities. Act out stories – Going on a Bear Hunt or The Gruffalo. Choose a letter and take a bucket/basket and only collect things beginning with ….. Make collages when you get home. Moo like to take out binoculars and books so he can look things up or take notes. There is also a great activity PDF you can print off on 1926 Trading Co. LTD (we plan to do this one next week) 

• Making lunch – kids love and will spend hours making sandwiches so give it ago!

Having a plan and a set time is also useful if you are a mumpreneur – as I have some leverage with my children. “We will do this and then I need to check my emails, write an article” …. its a compromise

So whatever you do this holiday make sure you have fun!

As normal leave any suggestions or ideas below. 

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*Sponsored Post - we were provided with free access to the swannery and a hot beverage. All gifts and cake we bought ourselves and all opinions are mine* 

I've been tapping into #DorsetHour on a Monday night (7:30-8:30pm) on Twitter and having a blast meeting Dorset based businesses I knew nothing about. A few days later a tweet went out about the first cygnet hatching at Abbotsbury .. it's somewhere I had yet to visit, mainly because I always forget until its too late. So randomly a few hours later when an email arrived inviting me to come and see the swans, eggs and cygnets on the 20^th May …. well what could I say?! What better way to spend your 2^nd birthday than watching cygnets hatching? Precisely there isn't!

I must admit I was actually shocked how far it was from us – I had it in my head it wasn't far from the Tank Museum so I thought 45 minutes … 1 hour 15! Ekkk! It was a bit of a trek so defo more of a day trip. Olive started to get a bit grizzly towards to the end of the car journey after she had eaten all the snacks I packed! We aren't one for long distant travelling and it certainly shows!

The setting is really beautiful, tiny quaint typical English Village, thatched roof you know the kind. The Swannery is so well kept it really was gorgeous from the main gates/cafe/toilet/gift shop you can walk down to the main area or we jumped on the tractor for 50p per person (we did walk back up its not far!).

We saw so many cygnets in so many different stages it was unbelievable. Eggs, just hatched, hatched a few hours ago, hatched a few days and now swimming in the lake! It was really awesome! After a few hours Olive finally agreed they were swans and not ducks!

Top Tips

• Go to the toilet BEFORE you go into the swannery – (there are no facilities inside)

• DO NOT think it will be a good idea to let your toddler walk! There is A LOT of walking and most of the paths are right on the waters edge or near the nesting swans – we stupidly decided as there were two of us to let Olive walk. BIG MISTAKE – she was hissed at twice by swans she got a bit close to and nearly ran head first into reeds (if ChelseaMamma was wondering where I was she soon found me screeching NO OLIVE repeatedly!)

• Pack wet wipes .. there is some poo in places children will put hands! (There are a couple of hand gel areas which were handy)

• Wear comfortable shoes – there is a lot of walking. 

There are lots of information points, posters – about old farming methods, insects and butterflies. So there is a lot to take in rather than just the swans. Being just 2 and no pushchair plus a now full nappy we decided at after a few hours that Olive had probably had enough – so we settled in the outside part of the cafe for tea and cake (well it was her birthday!) and a quick play on the see saw and we were done! (OK I omitted the part where we did buy a small but cute Swan teddy and a rubber … again it was her birthday!)

10 minutes into the drive home Olive was sparko bless her.

We only went to the Swannery but there are also some Tropical Gardens and a Children's Farm – you can visit these individualy or buy a ticket for all 3 of them the prices are reasonable for a family of 5 – the Season Ticket it great value at £58 per year. But as it's not actually on my doorstep not sure yet whether I would invest 

With the dreaded awesome Half Term Week looming it is the perfect opportunity to visit. Check out their news and competitions via Facebook page or Twitter at @dorset_swannery .