OUR 2017 HIGHLIGHTS!

I love looking back at all that we've done - I'm always surprised by how much we have squeezed in and this past year was no exception. New babies, days out, holidays, theatre trips...the list goes on! Here's our highlights of 2017..

NEW ARRIVALS

The absolute highlight of January, and actually the whole year was welcoming baby Erin into the world! 9lb on the dot and the spitting image of her big brother, my planned c-section went very smoothly and we were soon home getting used to being a family of 4. She slotted right in and it was hard to remember life without her - and we've been very lucky as she was such a good baby!

It's mad looking back at these photos from when she was a newborn, you do forget how small they are! Elliot has taken to big brother duties like a duck to water - he loves making her laugh and they have a lovely little bond. She's going to be walking soon I think so I might have trouble on my hands once they get up to mischief together!

DAYS OUT

We have had some lovely days out over the year including Gruffalo hunting at our local country park, spotting dinosaur bones on the Isle of Wight, taking in some fantastic scenery here in Dorset, pretending to be knights at Corfe Castle, dinosaur crazy golf, stomping round model villages pretending to be giants, paddling in the sea, climbing trees and so much more.

We are so lucky to live here in Dorset because there is so much to see and do!

LIVE SHOWS

I've always loved going to live shows and concerts and it's brilliant that Elliot enjoys this too, Erin has also demonstrated a love for music and dancing so I'm sure she will be coming along with us in the future!

This year we have been really fortunate to see lots of family friendly shows and these are definitely some of our top moments of 2017. We had the pleasure of seeing Andy Day and his band The Odd Socks twice this year. The first time was at Camp Bestival which despite the mud was a brilliant day out! It was also our first time seeing Andy the Odd Socks live - we've had the songs on repeat for ages now so it was great to experience them live.

Our second live Odd Socks show was in Richmond and was one of two special gigs to launch their album. We managed to nab seats right in the front row so we felt very special and Elliot absolutely loved the show. The highlight for him though was afterwards when we met the band, Andy remembered him and knew him by name and the band said they'd seen him on YouTube!!

Another highlight for Elliot was going to see Justin Fletcher's live show in Southampton. We've seen him before a few times and always had a great time, this was even better though as we had such good seats right near the front. Justin came down to the audience and Elliot was over the moon when he said hello to him! We also got to see Mister Maker in Bournemouth which was another fab show - and who doesn't love dancing to the shape song :)

HOLIDAYS

We had a big holiday this year and the four of us flew to Orlando for two weeks. I was slightly apprehensive about travelling such a long way with a 5 month old baby and at certain points I did wonder if I was crazy but I needn't have worried! Erin was absolutely fine on the 10 hour flight and she had a lovely time throughout the two weeks. Florida is one of our favourite holiday destinations, there is just so much to do, even if you don't visit the theme parks. We just did Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure which are our favourite parks. Elliot was chuffed because he was tall enough for lots of the rides (he was too short last time) and he became a bit of a daredevil!

Florida Memories

We also visited Clearwater Beach which holds fond memories for us - last we went there we didn't have kids so it was abit different this time round! We had a lovely evening strolling along the beach, watching the sunset. We also managed to see a launch at Kennedy Space Center which was a brilliant experience! There's still so much we want to experience in Florida so no doubt we'll visit again soon.

As well as our long haul holiday we also had a mini break to the Isle of Wight which was a bit of a spontaneous last minute idea. Well, as spontaneous as you can get with two children under 5! We only stayed for 2 days but managed to squeeze lots in including the highlight of the trip which was fossil hunting on the beach. Elliot was in his element and we even managed to find the famous dinosaur footprints which was amazing!

FUN WITH FRIENDS

We are very fortunate to have a lovely big group of close friends here where we live. Us Mums met at our local Under One's group when the babies were small and we have all stayed good friends since. Nowadays there are alot more of us with lots of siblings so it's always a crazy time if we all get together!

We've had some fantastic times together this year including the many birthday parties we've hosted. We also put on a mini sports day for the kids in the Summer Holidays which was fun - although it didn't quite go to plan when the weather wasn't on our side! Fortunately we were able to hire a local hall that very morning so we held it inside, everyone took part.....even the mums ;)

There is so much more that I didn't have room to include but needless to say, 2017 was a great one for us and I can't wait to see what 2018 holds!

What was your highlight of 2017?

Something Special Interactive Magazine

There's one thing that is guaranteed to catch Elliot's eye when we go shopping. Not sweets, not toys....but the magazines! He just can't resist them and I get nagged to death to buy them!

There are so many magazines aimed at pre-schoolers but one of the best ones on the market is Something Special - Mr Tumble is so popular with the little ones and the magazine is just as informative as the Something Special programme.

The latest issue (out on 8th June) has gone interactive and you can watch the characters come to life! All you need to do is download the Blipper App (it's free) and you can access all the extra features in the magazine. Everytime you spot the Blipper symbol, just blip the page using the app and you will find lots of exciting surprises such as videos and even a message from Mr Tumble himself.

Elliot couldn't wait to get to grips with this magazine and the first thing he did was investigate the free gifts. And what brilliant gifts they were! There was an explorer set featuring a notepad, pencil, magnifying glass, binoculars and stickers. The other gift was a make your own Mr Tumble puppet. This little activity was a massive hit and Elliot spent ages sticking on the stickers to make the puppet - he didn't need any help from me and was so excited with his finished result!

The magazine is bursting with activities for little ones and they will recognise all their favourite characters from the Something Special programme. I love that the magazine incorporates Makatron too - on each page you will find pictures of Justin doing the sign for the words used on the page.

One of Elliot's favourite aspects of the magazine is the stickers and he will always look for these first. He enjoys finding the correct page and I think it's a really great way of enhancing his number skills as he is recognising the numbers and matching these up with the page numbers.

The interactive aspect was fun to explore - I've never used Blipper before but it was very simple and even Elliot was able to use it. There were at least 5 Blipper symbols scattered throughout and we had lots of fun spotting these and "blipping" the pages.

One of the things I love about this magazine is that there is plenty for Elliot to do without needing me to help and he is quite happy sat going through the pages and finding activities to do.

The Something Special magazine was a big hit in our house Elliot can't wait for the next issue to see what free gifts there are! 

The new interactive issue is available from 8th June and is £3.99

Disclaimer: We received the magazine for the purpose of this honest review. All views are my own