motherhood blog

Planting seeds

| Lavania Oluban

We have been spending a huge amount of time in the garden. Grandad is obsessed with his lawn and has lots of random bits and bobs lying around, and naturally Arlo likes to follow him as he potters around.

To include Arlo we bought a children’s gardening set from amazon but this isn’t essential.

You will need:

  • Seeds
  • Compost
  • Pots (recycled yoghurt pots are great)
  • labels

All of these things are available to order online from Wilko and also in most large supermarkets too.

Seed packets come with instructions as to how they need to be planted. And there’s a lot of preparation which goes into this which can keep toddlers very busy.

We like to add gravel / stones to the bottom of plant pots and then add compost as it helps with drainage.

Filling up the pots with compost is hard work for little ones and it’s great to get hands dirty and scoop/dig etc.

When it comes to planting, it’s simple enough to poke a finger or a lollipop stick into the soil, pop a seed in and then cover it back up again.

Of course at two years old Arlo can’t yet write, but he wanted to imitate us as we labelled all of the different seed trays and so he was content to sit in the garden on a Sunday afternoon and again dish out orders whilst we all did the dirty work.

Sometimes activities don’t go to plan, but I have found it’s good to follow the lead and turn something they are interested in, into an activity rather than take the pens away and cause a tantrum which is no fun for anyone when there’s nowhere to escape!

After planting the seeds a couple of weeks ago, Arlo now knows it’s his job to take care of them all. It’s become part of his routine to water the plants and check up on them all. Which takes him quite a while every day.

Mum Tip – if you have never done this before then start with cress, you get quick results which helps develop interest.

Creative Tonie guide

| Lavania Oluban

How to add content to your first creative tonie

So you’ve set your tonie box up and have been delighted and amazed by the concept. Now it’s time for you to create and upload your own content to a creative Tonie and make the experience even more wonderful.

This process is nowhere near as daunting as you think it will be and once you’ve got the hang of this you will be browsing the Tonie store for more creatives to play with.

First things first – I use an iPhone on a day to day basis so I can use the app but also have access to a laptop which makes the process a lot easier as you can convert, download, save and locate files. (This is how to use audio from YouTube).

Once you set up your Tonie cloud account there are two different audio clips you can add to your creative to test it works. The Tonie song is an “ear worm” and you will be humming this to yourself for the next week or so!

The most obvious thing for me to do was browse YouTube for some of Arlo’s favourite songs. I also searched for stories and found a fabulous five minute video of Michael Rosen reading “We’re going on a bear hunt” – I highly recommend choosing a favourite story so you can join in, having the chance to do the actions and gestures whilst enjoying the audio without having to read is a totally new immersive experience.

Click the “share” button on the YouTube video and copy the link into a file converter on a separate tab.

Once the converter has done it’s job it’s simple to download the audio file and save it on a laptop with a few clicks.

I repeated this with several other clips and then had a little playlist of ten songs and stories ready to upload onto my creative tonie.

The next bit is really simple, you log in to the Tonie website, using the app you select audio files from your phone and from a laptop you can drag and drop your audio files. You can rearrange the playing order before saving your changes.

You can upload voice notes you have recorded yourself directly from an iPhone as these files do not need converting.

Now for the fun bit – make sure the top of the box is clear of Tonies, and you’re connected to WiFi and then you press and hold an ear of your tonie box and it will flash blue.

Once the box has worked it’s magic the light stops flashing and you can pop your creative tonie on the box and play your audio!

This seems like a lengthy process but once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s extremely simple and the only challenge is trying to manage the playlists when you suddenly have lots of ideas for content.

I have added theme tunes to some classic tv shows, and audio from the Ceebeebies bedtime stories and also the baby shark song (which I may live to regret). I still have 38 minutes of space left on this one after adding ten different clips. This can be split in to 99 different clips or “chapters”

My plan is to purchase several creative Tonies and then I can create playlists for specific themes and moods…. and eventually I hope Arlo will be able to tell me exactly what he wants to hear.

The Eden Project

| Lavania Oluban

What a beautiful place. This is a “must do” if you’re visiting Cornwall.

It’s hard to describe what it’s all about because the experience is so breathtaking, but to put it simply it’s a huge project set up in a reclaimed China clay pit with two huge biomes (large greenhouse type domes) and surrounded by an outdoor garden interspersed with art and informative exhibitions.

This is a huge tourist attraction, with clear road signs and directions as you approach, and plenty of car parking space. Be prepared to walk, the car parks are quite a way from the main entrance and the entire place covers a huge amount of space with uphill walks so strollers are a must for little legs.

Entry fee is quite expensive but have a look on the website in advance. I visited with my partner and my parents back in September so opted for a couples membership at £80 which entitles you to bring an adult guest each. By returning again within the year the visits have cost us £10 per adult each time which is more than reasonable for a full day out.

We arrived shortly after opening at 9.30 and it was fairly quiet, there are toilet facilities at the main entrance, as well as a cafe – and don’t forget to pick up a map and check out the daily schedule – or if you want to be eco friendly then photograph the maps to save paper.

It’s difficult to miss all of the different eco-friendly messages throughout the project, from recycling, to saving water and beyond. I won’t go into detail as all of the things you learn are part of the experience, and some of the fact and figures are quite surprising.

My favourite art installation is the giant bee – bee’s are crucial to the eco system, they pollinate flowers and over a third of our food flowers rely on this process, and our bee’s are under threat for a variety of reasons.

Outdoors, Arlo’s favourite area was the sensory garden. A walkthrough area full of herbs and aromatic plants – we spent a long time walking through, using our senses to explore with delight…. mint, lavender, wild garlic and all sorts is on display.

The clever garden design is split into zones, each reflecting a different part of the world, from allotments, to American prairies, so much thought has gone into this and it’s truly as authentic as you can get, because the team at Eden work with people from across the globe when installing…. which I’ll come onto later.

The main attractions are the biomes. You enter at the centre, between the two, where there is a huge two level atrium, with the ground floor hosting the Eden Kitchen with long wooden tables with benches which means there’s plenty of space for large families, and an amazing menu.

We watched the chef’s from above as they prepared the fresh food from early morning and after our walk through the biomes couldn’t resist the menus… jerk chicken for me (£9.50) and Arlo had marinated chicken wings, cassava fries and corn on the cob.

Kids food is very reasonably priced at £5.50 – our membership earned us a 10% discount. A lovely little touch is the provision of paper rolls at the table for cleaning sticky hands.

We decided to explore the Mediterranean biome first, which transports you right there, with all sorts of little details. The plants are of course the main feature, however the sculptures and installations add to the atmosphere, there’s also a beautiful pizza restaurant here too.

We were invited by a member of staff to join a free of charge toddler activity “music in the med” – led by a charismatic conductor. Arlo really enjoyed singing and dancing along with musical instruments in this beautiful environment, and having checked the website there seem to be frequent activities for all ages so make sure to check before you plan your visit.

The walk through the biome led us toward Australia next, and my mum having recently visited Perth was delighted because it was so similar. After talking to the team, we discovered that indeed the Eden project had worked with a team based at Kings Park, so the plants here were planted with the advice of Australians, and not only that, the art work including the totems have been created by an Aboriginal artist too, so this truly is as close as you can get to Australia without the 24 hour flight!

Before you head into the rainforest biome there’s a cloakroom, toilets and a store on the upper floor. I would advise to rehydrate and remove layers as it gets incredibly humid inside. The biome is full of wildlife, and some of the most amazing rainforest plants. One one side of the pathway you could be looking at African jungle and the other, South American plants will line the route!

The route takes you up a winding path and there are water fountains along the way. You will meet some unusual little birds, discover new fruits and then end up in the clouds, just when you think the heat is too much, there’s a lovely little cold room to pause and rehydrate – ready for the rainforest canopy.

As you climb higher there’s a waterfall, a rope bridge and cloud formations to discover before heading back down through sugar canes to discover the BaoBao shack and grab a tropical smoothie.

In this biome we also discovered how a Nigerian artist created sculptures from reclaimed wood after the fire damage to Falmouth harbour. The wood originated from Africa in the 1930’s and we learnt all about how this particular type of wood from Africa is resistant to water so is used world wide by the shipping trade, and it was lovely to find out just how much thought had gone into this installation, and this delighted my dad to learn about his Nigerian heritage.

We spent all day at the Eden project, there’s plenty more to see and do including an indoor science exhibition and an outdoor amphitheater, and even tea tasting sessions.

Arlo was exhausted by 4pm, we took the land train to the top and spent a long time browsing the gift shop and nursery before heading home. So many unusual items, ethically sourced, eco friendly and locally produced – I ended up buying some succulents and a fab bar of chocolate.

Thank you to the Eden project, we had a wonderful day and we will be back soon 🐝

Gousto – recipes delivered to your door

| Lavania Oluban

I work full time, and my evenings are crazy. It’s usually a mad dash for me to get to the nursery through traffic at rush hour three evenings a week. It’s a big transition going back to work after maternity leave. I’d put so much effort into baby led weaning and making sure that Arlo developed a love of food.

Arlo normally runs right at me chattering about his day with some artwork to bring home, and once we get home it’s past 6pm. He does usually have a meal at nursery around 4pm and then snacks but this little child burns so much energy dashing around that he never stops eating. By the time I’ve usually cooked dinner it’s rapidly approaching bedtime.

Before Gousto I was in a little bit of a rut. I would serve my batch cooked portions of bolognese sauce or chilli, or resort to freezer food because I’m keen to spend as much time as possible in the evenings with Arlo, and it was easy. Everything was a bit “Samey” and I often found myself having to pop into the supermarket last minute because I hadn’t remembered to pick up pasta.

This is where Gousto came in. A friend recommended them and provided me with a Discount code so my first order was £15 for four meals to serve two people. Amazing!! Now it costs me around £35 for four meals which is very reasonable considering the quality of the ingredients.

The app is simple to use, you simply choose the date for delivery and the number of people to feed and then select your meals. The options change weekly – there’s a good selection and they’re split into categories – healthy, ten min meals, classics, meat, vegetarian, gluten free etc.

Each recipe has a prep time, a use by date guide and a list of equipment and basic ingredients you might need – usually things like butter, egg, milk and flour. There’s also a nutritional guideline, if you’re counting calories. You can click to expand the description and read the recipe in more detail before you order.

Then that’s it. Once you’ve placed the order you receive an email in advance of delivery with the recipe reminders and this is when I check to make sure I have everything I might need in the cupboards, but there’s nothing else you need to do.

The time slot on delivery day is broad however this doesn’t matter because the box is well insulated. I usually arrive home to a huge box in my “safe place” – and then get really excited to unpack everything.

The cold items are in a separate bag, with reusable ice packs (I freeze these to save for lunch packs and cold compresses). Meats, cheeses, fresh herbs etc

Then these are surrounded by a layer of insulating material which is Reusable. I’m saving mine up to use in the garden when we plant our sunflower seeds.

All the veggies are loose and then there’s a little paper bag with individually wrapped “dry store” ingredients in perfect portion sizes. This for me often includes spices, marinades, honey, pastas and similar.

I absolutely love this because I used to be terrible with food waste. I would find a jar of something I bought for an experimental dish at the back of the cupboard. I’ll use one or two tea spoons, and then it will never see the light of day again. In the past I’d also mess up the balance of flavours so not bother trying again – especially with Oriental dishes – it used to be easier to order a take away than guesstimate how much a “dash” or a “pinch” is.

The box also comes with recipe cards. These are idiot proof. It’s impossible to mess this up because everything is pre portioned to be the right amount. The little packets are clearly labelled and there’s pictures for each step to show you what things should look like as you prepare and cook.

As a side note in my first box I received a Little folder to keep all of my cards which is really useful – I have actually attempted a couple of the dishes again on my own.

Some foods have longer shelf lives than others so be sure to check these before deciding which meals to cook first, and then read the cards. I’ve made things like the Shepard’s pie in advance the day before so my evenings are even less stressful, just popping the tray in the oven takes a minute.

So here we have it. I try and order things I wouldn’t usually cook at home to introduce variety and learn new techniques. I usually order at least one “ten minute meal” which again gives us extra time together in the evenings without having to sacrifice the quality of our meal.

I order the box for two people and this is usually more than enough to share with Arlo, sometimes I might add in an extra potato or serve with more veggies but the portion sizes are not stingy, and we’ve loved every meal so far, and we’ve been doing this for over a month.

If you would like to try Gousto click Here to receive a 50% discount on your first order.

Arley Arboretum

| Lavania Oluban

What a beautiful place. It was my sisters idea to take all of the kids for a little mini break, so we booked a hotel, packed up the cars and headed off on an adventure for the bank holiday weekend.

Arley Arboretum is in Worcestershire, not too far from the beautiful banks of the river Severn where there are plenty of beautiful rest stops for scenic picnics.

The entrance to the arboretum in a lovely wisteria covered archway which takes you into the entrance courtyard, with a little cafe, outdoor seating and a hut to buy tickets. For an additional £3.50 we purchased a Peter rabbit trail booklet.

What a fabulous idea – the booklet and enclosed stickers have been designed with much thought, to guide you around the grounds following the story and looking for Peter at some of the most beautiful spots, at each location a picture of Peter was hidden with a little Beatrix Potter themed set up and we had to match stickers to the location.

The story began of course at Mr Macgregors garden. The first Peter was hidden in the beautiful courtyard at the first of the greenhouses, with a watering can and so we found the first sticker with the watering can, added this to our map and read the next bit of the story.

This told us to follow the signs – bright orange carrots painted on to signposts in the shapes of arrows pointed the way clearly, and as a little checkpoint we found Peter’s blue jacket in the gardens. At this point Arlo was fully invested….. he knows what a rabbit is and is familiar with Peter Rabbit so recognised the blue jacket and then began to point out the signs as we spotted them along the route.

We walked through the courtyard and through an arch into the grounds, past Mr MacGregors gate to look for Jeremy Fishers pond. This area was nothing short of stunning.

I won’t share all of the details and ruin the surprises, but along the route we met Jemima Puddle Duck, Mrs Tiggy Winkle and other characters from the books before finally finding Peter Rabbit.

The walk took us over an hour to complete, and we slightly overlapped with another route for older children called “the goblin trail” so even without the guidebook we decided to follow the signs for this trail too, because who can resist a fairy door?

Our route took us to retrace some steps back to the park area, and we spent a while here with a picnic, and being followed by pheasants. Throughout the day we’d heard the far off sound of the Severn Valley Railway steam trains and we were delighted to discover that just behind the park, was the perfect grass bank for train-spotting.

We sat and played tumbling down the hill before picking up the goblin trail clues again which led us along a path to a sensory garden, which is a work in progress but full of herbs which we took some time to investigate before heading along an enchanted pathway to the maze.

I took a picture of the maze map before we entered, and it took us a good 45 mins to find the centre and then find our way back out again. The kids loved running through, chasing dead ends and each other – by the time we’d finished here it was time to start a leisurely stroll back to the main entrance.

We took our time ambling through the woods and into the walled gardens, which are beautifully landscaped and home to chickens and peacocks which were free roaming, and we sat for a while on the tree swing just to soak up the surroundings, before heading past the fountains to the cafe.

We showed our completed Peter Rabbit trail sticker books and all of the kids chose their reward from a basket full of chocolate eggs and bouncy balls and all sorts of fabulous prizes, and then we ordered milkshakes and sat outside to enjoy our drinks and review the days “best bits.”

The Fairy Tale Forest

| Lavania Oluban

We decided to conclude our May Day bank holiday mini break with a trip to Rays Farm, set in the Shropshire Countryside. With four children to amuse it’s sometimes difficult to satisfy all of the different age ranges, but here there really is something for everyone.

As we arrived we purchased tickets and animal food and headed to the farmyard to meet the animals. Arlo is now an expert when it comes to naming all of the animals and so he roused us all into a few verses of “Old Mac Donald” as we met rabbits, lambs, goats, chicks and ducks in the small animal shed.

We followed one little escapee goat across the courtyard to visit the llamas and donkey before heading to the open field to play with the goats. This is a truly unique experience, and the playful goats were happy to jump and skip around, and over us – this made our day!

We paused for a snack on the picnic benches before parking up the pushchairs and tying up our shoelaces to hit the forest trails. May is the perfect time to explore the beautiful English countryside and the work done along the trails at Rays Farm is inspired.

Along the entire route are wooden sculptures inspired by classic fairy tales, myths and legends. At the start of the route you can choose to go left or right at the big chair. There’s some giant boots you can try for size here too

We decided to take the woodland walk to the left first and came across Excalibur set in stone – alas none of us were strong enough to remove the sword and claim the English Throne – quite fittingly as we were here a news alert popped up to let us know that a new member of the Royal Family had been born.

We followed the path down alongside the brook, and were surrounded by a sea of the white flowers of wild garlic. All of the children were busy spotting wooden sculptures, and Logan the eldest at six years old pointed out an orienteering clip so we spent time looking for these along the route too.

The woodland walk is approximately 300yards and so if you have little ones with tired legs you can head back to the farm, however we marched on, and I’m so glad we did.

The pathway is a bit of a climb up and down, but there’s so much to see and so many rest stops that it’s a lovely route. Here we were delighted with the swathes of bluebells, and along the route were informative wildlife signs.

I won’t post too many spoilers with the sculptures, there’s plenty of nursery rhyme characters to meet along the way – including Humpty Dumpty.

There’s a fairy ring, a story telling witch and then three men in a boat looking over an assault course style play area.

The kids all had muddy knees, and the little ones were tired so without strollers they had piggy backs for the walk back, and then as we left the woods we stopped at the little crooked house for snacks, next to a field of goats at the far side of the farm.

We’d been exploring the woods for over three hours at this stage, and slowly ambled up the far side of the farm boundary to meet the pigs, Reindeer and the owls which bought us back to the courtyard.

We finished our day with some refreshments from the cafe and a little run around in the indoor and outdoor play areas, being followed by a mother hen with two chicks.

The farmyard is lovely, the animals are well cared for and very friendly but the stand out for us was the fairy tale forest. We will be back to explore again as the seasons change.

To read about our day out at nearby Arley Arboretum during our May mini break click Here

Have you got any suggestions for family days out in the Midlands? Have you been to Rays Farm? Which was your favourite sculpture? We’d love to hear from you

Frozen lollies

| Lavania Oluban

Here’s a quick one for you to try out.

These ice lolly moulds from Nuby are perfect for little hands to hold. Last summer broke temperate records and with a teething one year old it was a nightmare trying to keep him hydrated and happy.

I tried other lolly moulds – but they were quite often far too big and Arlo couldn’t manage to hold them, everything melted and made a huge mess before he was finished because portion sizes were too big.

It just so happens that one Mamia fruit pot from Aldi divides perfectly between the four portions of the Nuby moulds – and because Arlo loved the strawberry flavour I knew it would work and mean that he wouldn’t be left out when all the older cousins were enjoying their treats full of sugar.

They are so tiny they don’t take long to freeze either – an hour tops so it’s minimal prep and keeps them busy for a little while.

If you want to be a bit more adventurous then try adding in your own mixture of ingredients – yoghurt works wonders and I’ve shared one of our favourite flavour combinations in another of my posts. Let me know how it goes in the comments!