Things you find on your iPad when you have kids

I have an iPad, which the children often snaffle and use when they are allowed and they have been behaving. Over Christmas, when they were busy playing with their new toys, I was clearing out the photos when I found a set of photographs that made me smile. I've put them into a slideshow for you so that you can see them in the way I first did. I just love watching Missy Woo as she realises what is going on and that it's taking photos of her. In reality, this is over a few seconds but I've slowed it down so that you can enjoy all the expressions on her face.

Enjoy.

     

What's in your boot?

In mine, I have five shopping bags. Empty ones, of the reusable sort. And that's it. Yes, really. When the kids were smaller, we used to keep the buggy in the boot too. Apparently, I'm quite unusual. There are a whole load of you driving around with the kitchen sink (or garden shed) in it.

Don't just take my word for it. Take a look at this.

The reason I'm mentioning this is Shell invited us to an event at Aston University in Birmingham to talk about their Target One Million campaign. Their aim is to reach one million people with advice on how to save fuel and drive more economically.

As I was on my own with the children, we actually travelled down to Birmingham by train. There's fuel saving in action for you. Seriously, they love trains and it was good for me to keep them amused.

The event was opened by the above Quentin Wilson, who I have met before at a previous Shell FuelSave event in Manchester last year who is master of a bit of hyperbole to launch the campaign, and then handed over to Punk Science to demonstrate what factors can affect fuel economy and they asked for a volunteer. Whose hand shot up? This handsome young man.

Those flippers caused no end of trouble, he kept falling over. They also had grown men wearing ponchos and riding Space Hoppers. No kidding. 

One of the ways Shell is aiming to get the message out there is through a series of games on their website called the FuelSave Challenge. Monkey had a go at playing some of the games using the iPads. 

Don't think it kept them occupied all the time though - over lunchtime, Monkey brought over one of the iPads and asked me to help him find Gangnam Style to show the others!

We also got to see the Aston Shell Eco Car, which was designed by some of the Mechanical Engineering students to take part in the Eco Marathon which is a competition to go as far as possible on 1 litre of fuel. The car, designed to be as sustainable as possible, won the design award at this year's competition. 

During lunch, those of us that wanted to got to take a spin out with Quentin around Birmingham in the Shell FuelSave car to see how economical we could drive. I was doing really well until I had to do a hill start - I wasn't confident enough to stop the engine and get started again. Apparently, my overall MPG was the third best out of the drivers that had a go. I was quite proud of myself, although too preoccupied with wondering where our taxi back to the station was by this point. He did eventually find us but he was so late that a run for our train was necessary at New Street -  we just made it before the doors closed. 

Keep an eye out on the Shell FuelSave page as more games will be launched over the coming weeks. In addition, if you register and complete the games, you will be entered into a draw to win one of 10 iPad3s, which is not a bad return for learning a few fuel saving tips. 

Oh, and don't forget to check what's in your boot - clearing it out could save you fuel, and a lot of cash. What IS in yours? 

(Shell kindly paid our travel expenses to attend this event, gave us lunch and a goody bag to take home containing snacks for the trip home. They have provided me with some images and videos from the day, but all opinions, as ever, are my own.)

What we did last weekend

So we went to a wedding and got all dressed up. 

Don't we look smart? 

(Don't tell anyone but Monkey got ketchup down his shirt later!)

It rained during the ceremony but afterwards, we managed to get

a few photos outside before it rained again and we ran back inside. 

(The bride is our cousin by the way)

And after a long time (too long for Monkey!) we finally got to eat!

Later, Missy Woo got to hold her newest cousin. 

Then, after a long day....

Monkey fell asleep on the bed watching Match of the Day.

The Eden Project

One of the aims of our holiday in Devon was to take a trip to the Eden Project. None of us had been, despite it celebrating its 10th birthday this year. We converted some more Clubcard vouchers into tickets so it was a cheapish day out, barring the petrol for the nearly 70 mile trip from where we were staying.

We got there early and got round the Rainforest biome early as we had been advised. I am so glad we did - it was hot and getting hotter all the time but it wasn't too packed. Everywhere we went, it seemed that we were just ahead of the crowd as it would fill up after we arrived. We tried to brave the Rainforest Lookout right at the top of the biome but I don't do well with heights and despite giving it a go, we got up two flights of steps and the children both freaked. I offered them the chance to turn back and they took it, something I was mightly relieved about! Missy Woo even came down one flight of steps on her bottom rather than having to look down. We let my husband go up by himself but even he came down slightly shaking as it was even scarier at the top so I was glad I took them back down. The children loved looking at the plants and insisted on taking photos, more of which later. We found it funny that we saw several robins around who must have made their way in from outside! The displays were well organised and appealed to the children as well as adults.

After we came out, we went into the bakery in the link building, which seems to be the nicest and best place to eat, with a relaxed atmosphere. You take a board and help yourself to whatever you want, order hot drinks from some of the staff then go and pay at the end. Top prices seemed to be about six pounds, which included the most enormous foccaccia sandwich - easily shared between two people. We actually bought the biggest scone I have ever seen which I covered with jam and cream; it fed three of us!

After the Rainforest, the Mediterranean biome was much more relaxed - and smaller too. We sat for quite a while listening to some songs. And lots more photos got taken!

Beyond the biomes, we wandered around outside and Monkey and I took the landtrain as we decided not to wait when we arrived. We all enjoyed the Core too, playing with the exhibits, like the giant Seed statue and the Plant Processor, and watching the films.  We came back via the picnic/play area and stopped for another coffee in the Apple Cafe at the Visitor Centre, which was not as good as the bakery, largely because no-one seemed to be clearing tables and it looked a mess. We found the shop really expensive so we skipped off home after that, though we got slightly lost as we missed the turning back to the A390 within the grounds (Eden Project, please note - make the A390 exit sign more obvious, like adding Liskeard or Plymouth so people know it's the right way to go!).

Our tips (some of these were passed on to me by the good folk of Twitter):

- Get there early and round the Rainforest biome first before it's busy.
- Use the park and ride to save your legs; we were quite close but some of the car parks are a very long way from the entrance.
- Take on loads of water when in the Rainforest biome - there are water fountains around and places to sit.
- Don't attempt to go up to the lookout if you remotely have a problem with heights.
- Wear loose, light clothing because you WILL get hot in the rainforest.
- You can buy an annual pass for the same price as a day visit but you can't do this if you use Clubcard vouchers.
- You can save money by booking tickets online, more if you select the date of your visit. You also get a discount if you arrive on foot, by bike or public transport (but you have to buy tickets on the door to get this discount).
- There are plenty of accessible routes but you will miss some parts if you have a buggy as there are lots of steps, or have a lot of lifting to do. If you can manage without one - I know that's not always possible - I'd recommend you leave it behind.
- Eat at the Eden Bakery - the food seemed the nicest, there were fewer queues, more seating space and the atmosphere was more relaxed. The food in the Mediterranean biome looked nice too.

I've put together a little slideshow of the best photos from our trip. They were mostly taken by the children - I've left off a lot of chopping off of heads and photos through wire mesh etc! But still, there are some nice photos in there and they did really well. It's great that you can do that with digital photography. Apologies that one is on its side but try as I might, Slide won't rotate it even though it says it is.

Enjoy...

We think the Eden Project is a great day out for people of all ages - it's educational as well as fun and pretty much everybody will get something out of it. It is a whole day out - we were there from just after 10 until 4 - so the £60 for a family of four to get in is worth it, especially as most things are included in the price. And if you can make use of the annual pass and visit more than once, it then becomes a bargain!

A bit further along the road - still some way to go!

Six months ago, I wrote that I was halfway along the road on my weight loss journey. Being as that was six months since I started, that should mean I'm there by now, right? Right? Wrong! Is that a bad thing? No!

So what happened? I think the answer is that I have a life to lead. By no means have I not made any progress - I can tell that my clothes are looser, or fit better - I even wear a belt on my jeans now to keep them up and the belt doesn't cut in half so much as it used to. But I also know I still have a way to go to reach the goal that I've set myself, which is to be able to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes.

Big chunks of life have got in the way. In November, I went away to a family wedding. And there was Christmas too. Actually, I don't think I did too badly then as I was ill just after and I didn't eat properly for a few days. I overate on Christmas Day but hey, that's what you do on feast days, don't you? And I had a birthday with an amazing 10 course tasting menu experience. I'm not going to begrudge any of that because I enjoyed every minute of those times. And every time, I've got back into healthy eating afterwards.

Something slightly more crucial might have hampered my progress. I stopped being quite so careful about recording my food intake. I find, for me, that it's the best way of keeping things in check. I always used to use Food Focus for this but I've recently discovered My Fitness Pal which is very good, and it has phone apps so I can enter my food intake when out and about. So, for the last few weeks, I've got back into that again and because I find the site easier to use, I'm keeping on top of it again. It really helps to make good food choices too. But before that time, I hadn't regularly kept properly on top of things and it's so easy to have an extra few calories here and there which hamper your attempts to lose weight. And it's the food intake you need to be wary of - it has a much bigger effect on your success than anything other than the most punishing of exercise regimes.

Talking of which, my new exercise regime is probably the thing that has gone really well. In October, we got a family membership to the local sports centre and I started going to classes again. In particular, Body Pump which I really love - perhaps even more than I ever did before - as I noted in my post a few weeks after I started back. I go to 2 or 3 classes of that each week, coupled with maybe the odd Combat class. I've had problems with that class recently, in that I was getting backache afterwards which, on talking to the lovely Wendy, appeared to be related to not engaging my core muscles properly when doing lots of side kicks. So, I've had to ease up and that's made me enjoy Combat much less - which upsets me in a way, because when I exercised before, I loved Combat way more than Body Pump. When I've not felt up to that, I have gone back to my old favourite - an EA Sports Active workout on the Wii. My back's a lot better now, and I'm spending a lot more time working with the core muscles.

I probably need to turn my progress into numbers but I don't weigh myself; I'll perhaps cover why in another post. I always used to measure myself to record my progress. Occasionally, I check key measurements and I know that they still mostly equate to the measurements I took when I was six months pregnant with Monkey. I can't help feeling that's quite shocking - and that maybe, my starting point was further from my goal than I first thought.

My only other way to do this is to compare my picture from August to me today, wearing the same clothes and everything. Here we go...


What do you think? I think I can see a difference and I definitely have more "shape". Editing the photos and putting them side by side may change the proportions too! I am not where I want to be yet, but I'm definitely getting there. There's no going back now. Please comment and tell me what you think - I have a fairly distorted self-image sometimes and find it really hard to make comparisons.

And just to finish off, I'm going to post a pic I snapped with my phone yesterday. I like it because I think I look happy and healthy in it, even if you can't see the difference so much since August because of what I'm wearing. And looking healthy, that is what matters, isn't it? I'm never ever going to be stick thin. Thanks to why my shape has changed, I don't think I will ever wear some tops that I wore pre-pregnancy, but the rest of me can get there. If I have to drag it there kicking and screaming, I will. Expect further updates - at the very most, in another six months.

(I've not been paid to mention any of the sites I've linked to. I've mentioned them because I like them!)

The Gallery - Before & After

When I first saw the prompt for week 35 of the Gallery, I was totally flummoxed. Situation normal there, as it's not the first time I've been stumped by one of Tara's prompts. But this one was "Before and After" and the brief was to recreate one of my older photos.

For a few days, I really thought I was going to have to give this one a miss. I mean, I have photos of me in my wedding dress and I'm not quite ready to try that one again. I've got pictures of the kids as babies which could be fun to recreate but they really aren't small anymore.

Then I realised the answer was virtually looking me in the face. I had the perfect picture, the means and the opportunity to recreate it. It's one I've used for the Gallery only a few weeks ago so you have seen it before. All I had to do was suggest it to Monkey. Thankfully, I caught him at a good time - he was eating - and he nodded enthusiastically in agreement. I wasn't sure what it would be like but in the end, it turned out pretty well.

So here is the Before picture, taken when Monkey was about 15 months old:

And here is the After, taken after tea tonight:

He still fits in but he has to crouch now.

And not to be outdone, Missy Woo had to join in too as she is surely her brother's shadow:

Why not take a look at the rest of the Gallery at Sticky Fingers? Or have a go yourself if you like. There are prizes on offer this week - two people will win the chance to create their own book with Blurb using their own words and photographs.