A Day as a Penguin Keeper at Birdland Park and Gardens

I am proud to introduce my daughter Jade, with her first guest post for you. She is here to tell you all about a lovely place to visit with children. Birdland Park and Gardens in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire is a lovely, family friendly environment with lots to offer, including an assortment of over 130 bird species. The prices are very reasonable, and there are extra activities that can be prebooked at fantastic prices. Click on the link to visit their website for more information, or join them on Facebook here. For Jade, the best part of our visit to Birdland, for a life-long penguin fan, was the keeper experience, which included feeding the penguins, amongst many other duties. Here is an account of the day, in her own words. 

British Barbecue Blethers with MoneySupermarket.com!

Like most families, we tend to hit the ground running when the sun comes out and head for the burger aisle! We love barbecues, especially the boys, so when I heard about The Charcoal Challenge from MoneySupermarket.com I knew I'd be getting involved! £50 is a lot of money, so we thought we'd better make a bit of an effort! So... Out came the napkins and flowers! Just because you're eating at home, there's no harm in creating a bit of atmosphere. The thing with barbecues, though, is they can get a bit samey, so we've got a few side dishes to add a bit of variety.

Kids Grow Wild at The Parent Game

 Fun in the Garden, Parent Game Style! 

Here at The Parent Game, we believe in a fun, relaxed approach to life. So, when a lovely Gardening Kit arrived from Money Supermarket, we knew just the friends to invite along for a bit of fun in the sun! The kit included everything you could possibly need to brighten up your borders, as shown by my lovely volunteers!

Thrifty is the Word!

This is a competition post, in association with fromspendingtosaving and whichoffshore and it is on a subject we are very, very fond of at The Parent Game, saving money! Fromspendingtosaving is a brilliant new blog, by the writer of Northern Mum, charting one family's all-too-familiar road to solvency, surviving on one income. It's a story most of us know all too well and we all do what we can to make the best of it. It's all about imagination I think, when it comes to a thrifty life with children. We've all heard the older generation telling us how they managed to entertain the children with next to nothing but their imaginations and the great outdoors, but things were different then.

For the Love of Matilda Mae

On February 2nd this year a tiny light went out in the world. A light that burned with the love of devoted parents, who worshipped her. The little light was Matilda Mae and at just nine months old she passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep. A victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Gold fit for Royalty (and possibly me!)

Welsh gold is considered the gold of royalty and it's not hard to see why. It has a wonderful pinkish tone that sets it apart from other golds and gives it a really elegant, exclusive look. I first became interested in Welsh gold when I met my husband, nine years ago. He had a beautiful wedding ring, inherited from his grandmother, which had the slightly pinkish tone attributed to Welsh gold. The ring dated back to the mid 1800's so it would be difficult to prove conclusively either way if it is pure Welsh gold, but it was very beautiful all the same. On the anniversary of the date we met, seven years later, we got married and I've never taken it off since (bit scared to, to be honest!) You can see it in this picture, though not very clearly, I just thought I'd indulge in a little nostalgia, as it's our anniverary next week!

Beautiful Birthday Boots with Butterfly Twists

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Butterfly Twists, the clever people behind those amazing folding shoes that are so useful to have in your handbag or car. I actually had a lot of birthday emails, offering discounts off products on account of being another year older, but most of them required me to spend a disproportionate amount of money to recieve the 'gift'. So, I was a little sceptical when I read that I had been awarded a £25 voucher to use on the Butterfly Twist website. On further investigation though, I found that there was no catch, it was £25 to spend on any product! With Ballet Pumps starting from £25 and delivery from a modest £3, I couldn't lose, so I went shopping! Considering all the shoes are based on the same concept, the variety of styles is outstanding. Here are some examples of the vast array of different designs.