Celebrating National Picnic Week With John Adams

Celebrating National Picnic Week With John Adams

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Disclosure - We received the three travel games below for the purpose of this giveaway. Any thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post contains affiliate links.

As you can probably tell from our blog we love being outdoors and travel around a lot. One thing we love to do together is have a picnic. There isn't anything better than heading out with a picnic to enjoy. Between the 21st and the 30th June it is National Picnic Week and we have teamed up with John Adams to giveaway a travel game that you can enjoy while you are out and about.

We love playing games and usually take a selection with us if we go out for the day. We recently received a selection of new games from John Adams to enjoy and as they are travel size they are perfect to play on the go.

I am giving one lucky reader the chance to winner a Travel game from the following three we have been playing this week.

Triominos Sunshine

Triominos Sunshine is a bright and colourful version of the classic game Triominos. Triominos is the classic triangular domino game which is lots of fun. Each Triomino tile has numbers on players score points by matching numbers on the three-sided playing pieces to pieces that are already in play.

Little J really likes this game and he found it quite easy to understand the rules although does need help with the scoring part of the game.

Othello On The Move

Othello is a classic fast-paced strategy game. The idea behind the game is you must try to trap your rival's playing pieces and turn them over. The lead can change at any moment with a flip of a disk and the player with the most pieces of the same colour wins.

We've never played Othello before but we're enjoying the travel version. It's easy to set up and use and John and I have been playing in the garden in the evening.

Rummikub Travel

Rummikub is a numbers strategy game which is played with 106 tiles. The object of the game to be the first player to Rummikub. Rummikub means you have placed all the tiles from your tile rack onto the table before anyone else. You can lay your tiles down in number runs and colour groups.

The travel version of this game is so compact you could fit all the tiles in a small makeup bag or pencil case.

Although our giveaway may be closed you can still enjoy the games by buying online at Amazon

Celebrate National Picnic Week and Win A John Adams Travel Game

Michelle

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June Bedtime Stories | Our Favourites

June Bedtime Stories | Our Favourites

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Disclosure - This post contains affiliate links

This month we headed to the library so that little J could choose some new books to read at bedtime. There were so many to choose from however he did manage to narrow it down to just 12 and these are a few of his favourite bedtime stories.

Animal ABC
Learn the alphabet and meet amazing animals along the way using the lift and flap.

Little J really enjoyed this and it introduced him to animals he had not heard of before such as Quokka, Uakari, Ibis and a Yak.

Lunchtime
It's lunchtime for one little girl, but she's just not hungry. A visiting crocodile, bear and wolf however are starving. It's just as well that children taste revolting.

We love this story all about food, friendships and fun.

Mixed
In the beginning there were three colours, Reds, Yellows and Blues. All living together in harmony until one day Red says he is the best. No longer happy with living together, the colours decide to divide but just as it seems there's no turning back, cool blue and bright yellow save the day.

This is a really lovely story about understanding, love, acceptance and also shows what happens when colours mix. 

Something Fishy
There is something fishy going on, but not in a good way. When a cat wants fish, nothing else will do and bringing home a new baby really doesn't help. Who saw that coming?... not the jealous cat.

Little J loves this story and insists that John reads it to him with funny voices. I love listening to him chuckle. 

You Choose in Space

Zoom into Space for an adventure where you choose what happens next. Which alien would you most like to be friends with? What fantastically freaky food will you munch for lunch?

After reading You Choose in Space little J also wants to try and find You Choose and You Choose your Dreams too.

What stories have you been reading this month?

Michelle

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Max Photo - Photo Book | Review

Max Photo - Photo Book | Review

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Disclosure - I received a discount code towards the purchase of our photo book. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own.

We have been so lucky over the years to enjoy many adventures together as a family of four. I often look through my hard drive full of photos with a smile on my face remembering all the memories we have shared together so far. I had an idea a few months ago to create a photo book of our adventures from the last six years but never got round to it so when Max Photo offered me the chance to review a photo book I knew exactly what I wanted to create.

Having the idea to create a photo book is the easy part it's actually choosing the photos that you want to put in which is tricky as I love them all. After browsing the website for photo book ideas I chose a hard cover medium landscape book.

The book is approx A4 size and comes with a standard 20 pages. Once you are ready to create your photo book you click personalise and you can then add your photos ready to start your book.

The website lets you save your progress so there is no need to rush and try and get your book created all in one day. Adding the photos took me days as I wanted to make sure I had the right photographs and it was tough to narrow them down.

Once I had all the photos in the album I was then ready to design the book. The front and back cover is a full A4 size landscape photo then each page can have a different layout and there are lots to choose from. One page could be one large photo and the next could be 5 smaller photos, its entirely up to your personal preference. I had a mixture of different layouts as it depended on the photographs.

You can also give your book a title. I chose Our Adventures 2013-2018

After about a week of creating I was ready to checkout. The standard cost for a medium landscape photo book with 20 pages is £25 however you can add more pages at £1.50 per page (2 sides). My total cost for the book was £52 with free delivery to a Max Photo store.

My book was ready to collect within 5 working days. I am so pleased with the finished result, it's beautiful.

I love that I can now browse through my favourite photos without having to trawl through the computer hard drive.

I actually saved the book on the Max Photo website and I was able to duplicate the order within 30 days, which I have done to give as a gift so it saved me having to create it all again.

I'm actually considering creating more photo books as I love how easy it was to create, that I could take my time, personalise each page and the book itself is lovely.

For more information you can view the personalised photo books available by visiting Max Photo

Michelle

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Photowall Canvas Print | Review

Photowall Canvas Print | Review

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Disclosure - We were gifted this canvas for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

We love our family pictures around the house and have a number of canvas and framed large pictures that we like to  keep up to date as much as possible. Choosing a provider to bring your digital photographs to life on a large scale can be daunting as there are so many different services offered these days. For our latest canvas we wanted something a little bigger than we have had previously, and Photowall had exactly what we wanted.

The online process was simple enough. As you would expect we needed to upload our photo, in the highest quality possible. The higher the quality of the picture, the better the final version of your canvas is likely to be. After uploading its time to choose the size of your canvas. Finally you can choose whether you want the canvas to stretch over the sides of the frame, or to leave the frame on view. We always choose the stretch option, as we like the photo to go all the way around.

Our canvas was printed within 24 hours and dispatched really quickly. It arrived less than 48 hours after ordering which was a really impressive turnaround.  When the canvas arrived it was not the shape we expected!  Instead of a large rectangular parcel, we had a long, but small parcel that would be more at home when posting an umbrella or something of that nature.

We quickly realised that the canvas needed to be self built from the included rolled up canvas, frame pieces and screws.  Every other canvas we have delivered has been ready made, however this was a bigger size than we have had before.  Instructions are provided and overall it isn't difficult to put the canvas together, although I was a little nervous as the canvas itself is delicate.

Once you attach the four frame sides to the canvas and push them together, there are pre drilled holes for you to put brackets over and fasten with the screws that are provided.  Honestly, it took me two goes to actually get the canvas on to the frame properly as I always seem to miss an instruction somewhere along the way with anything involving construction.  However once completed, the canvas looks fantastic, with the quality of the finished product evident when it is up on the wall.

So, if you don't mind a small amount of DIY, and are looking for a quality canvas then you should give Photowall a try, you won't be disappointed with the final outcome.

John

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Helping To Raise Awareness For Continence Week

Helping To Raise Awareness For Continence Week

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Disclosure - This giveaway is in collaboration with Pelviva and I have been compensated for my time.

When I found out I was pregnant with big J almost 18 years ago now, I remember reading every baby and parenting book I could find. I wanted to know everything about pregnancy, labour and giving birth. Those books helped me so much with what to expect and how to deal with almost every scenario. There were some things that I skipped past and one of them was pelvic floor exercises. If I knew then what I know now I would have done all my pelvic floor exercises because now I know how important they are and how much I suffer because I didn't do them.

During pregnancy, childbirth or the menopause your pelvic floor muscle becomes weak. The weaker it becomes it may not be strong enough to prevent your bladder from leaking and that's why some people suffer from bladder leakage. 1 in 3 women actually experience bladder leaks and this can happen when they cough, sneeze, exercise or urgently need the toilet.

If you suffer from bladder leakage you will know what a massive impact it can have on your daily life. It isn't nice when you need to cough or sneeze and you have to cross your legs tightly or hold yourself which I know I have done myself plenty of times and seen women do it to.

Not being able to go running or play on the trampoline with the boys has been something I have missed out on due to not doing my pelvic floor exercises however Pelviva - an award winning muscle re-trainer has been designed with this in mind. Pelviva exercises your pelvic floor muscle for you. It uses a unique technology which works naturally with your body, making your pelvic floor muscles contract and reconnecting your brain to your pelvic floor.

The Pelviva treatment has been clinically proven to improve bladder leaks in 84% of women in just 12 weeks.

Pelviva is a discreet, disposable, single use intra-vaginal medical device. Made with a soft body responsive foam, adjusting to differences in female anatomy and movement during use. Treatment is over a 12-week period, with 30 minutes usage every other day.

This week is continence week (17-23rd June) to help raise awareness of continence issue across the globe that can have a huge effect on peoples lives. I know that this can be embarrassing to talk about even amongst friends but like I said earlier 1 in 3 people suffer so you are not alone.

To help raise awareness I have teamed up with Pelviva to offer one reader the chance to win 1 months supply of Pelviva worth £199.95. All you need to do is complete the entry form below and come back daily for bonus entries.

Our giveaway may be closed but you can still experience Pelviva by finding out more information on the Pelviva website

Win a Months Supply Of Pelviva Worth £199.95

Michelle

Giveaway closes 30/6/2019 at 11:59pm

Upon entering this giveaway you agree that should you be the winner your details can be passed to the promoter to arrange fulfilment of your prize.

All other entrants details will not be used in any way. They will not be added to a database, mailing list or passed to the promoter. 

Entrants must have a valid UK address. 

Bulk, third party or any other entries using automated software will be disqualified. 

All entrants and entries are checked and verified. 

1 lucky winner will be chosen at random by the Gleam application. 

Playdays and Runways will contact the lucky winner within 3 days of the competition closing. 

The winner must respond within 28 days. If no response a new winner will be chosen. 

This prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative. 

The Prize : 1 Months Supply Of Pelviva

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EasyRead Time Teacher Watch | Review

EasyRead Time Teacher Watch | Review

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Disclosure - We were sent the EasyRead Time Teacher Watch for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post also contains affiliate links.

Most kids will be excited to just have 6 weeks left in school before the Summer, however little J is really looking forward to learning all about their new topic at school this term, learning to tell the time. Time is something we have tried to teach little J in the past but he wasn't ready. We were recently sent the EasyRead Time Teacher watch and we are hoping combining the watch and learning about time in school he will soon be a whizz at telling the time.

The EasyRead Time Teacher Watch comes in two different versions, minutes past and minutes to the hour or 12 and 24 hour. We tell the time using minutes past and minutes to so we chose this watch for little J.

We ordered the EasyRead Time Teacher minutes past and to watch with a red and blue face and a blue strap however there are lots of colour choices available.

How the watch works is very simple to understand. To read the time in minutes-past and minutes-to the hour we have taught little J the three simple steps that make up the 3-step teaching system.

Step 1. Read the number at the end of the long hand

Step 2. Say which side the long hand is pointing to (past or to)

Step 3. Read the number at the end of the short hand

Put it together and say it like it is. 10 minutes past 10.

The watch has a 33mm diameter and the large clear dial shows every detail little J needs. The hands tell him which numbers to read.

I was so pleased to read that the watch strap is washable as little J being a typical boy gets very muddy I know the watch strap won't stay a nice shade of blue for very long.

Little J is really enjoying telling the time and has picked it up quite quickly thanks to the watch. I am hoping it has given him a little head start when he begins his 'time' topic in school this month.

Michelle

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Celebrating 35 Years Of Tetris | Review

Celebrating 35 Years Of Tetris | Review

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Disclosure - We were gifted the products below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post contains affiliate links.

I only found out about two weeks ago that the 6th June is World Tetris Day. It's a day to celebrate one of the most recognised video games of all time. This year World Tetris Day is also a time to celebrate the 35th birthday of Tetris. To join in with the Tetris fun we have been sent Tetris Dual and Tetris Speed games to play and also a set to giveaway.

Little J loves games so when he saw the duo he was quick to open them and hand me the instructions. I am always the one to read the rules and then teach everyone how to play.

Tetris Dual is a quick thinking head-to-head, tabletop strategy game based on the original Tetris. Set up was easy and play is very similar to Tetris in that your aim is to drop the Tetrimino shapes displayed on the LCD screen into the play grid. You score points by placing a shape next to one of your own colour, completing a full row and cleverly blocking your opponent.

Little J got the hang of this really quickly and after a few games he beat me, which shocked me as I had always thought of myself as the Tetris Queen.

It's a really quick game in that you have to think and act fast as the more shapes you can fit in to the grid in the time limit the more points you will score.

Tetris Speed is a fast card game where a card is placed down in the middle and the remaining cards are divided amongst the players. The card in the middle shows the next Tetrimino shape to be played, so players must race to play a matching card from their hand but if you take your eyes off the cards for a second someone else may have played that card and already moved on to the next shape.

I thought little J would really like Tetris Speed as he loves card games such as snap and top trumps but I think it may just be slightly too old for him as he got quite frustrated when he could hold all his cards in one hand and again its very fast paced so while he was still looking for the correct shape we had already moved on to the next. I do think though this will be one for him to enjoy in the future.

Our giveaway may be closed but you can still enjoy Tetris games by purchasing them on Amazon.

Win Tetris Dual an Tetris Speed Games

Michelle

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