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First of all, I have to admit that I have stolen the title of this post from the ever so lovely Laura from TiredMummyofTwo. I met Laura earlier this year and her enthusiasm for being the master of your own blog was infectious, so there was no doubt I would want to attend an event organised by her. BlogOn wasn't designed to rival some of the bigger blogging conferences, in fact it was perfect in its individuality. There were no choices to be made about which session you wanted to attend (or those you would have to concede to missing), there were simply three sessions, run all day about the things bloggers wanted to talk about and let's be honest, we all like to talk!

My conversations on the day ranged from SEO and the legalities of running a blog, brand discussions, my love of a good wine and cake, to birth stories and the ability to go to the toilet at a festival *looks in direction of a certain Mammasaurus* The day was certiainly not dull.

The Museum of Science and Industry was the perfect back drop for an amazing event and I was impressed by the very personal welcome by the MOSI team as we walked through the door ..... although I am not entirely sure they knew what had hit them with all the ladies (and a few men) trooping through their doors with excitment and intrepidation.

I could sit here all day and rave about the fabulous brands (like the LEGO stand that was very cool) and speakers, yes Liz, Cat, Tanya and Helen, I am talking about you but the thing that struck me most was the strength of a community. I have said it before but in an age where so many of us only engage with some friends online whether by choice or circumstance, the ability to meet like minded people and feel comfortable in your own skin is a testament to each and every person who attended the conference.

There was a TV programme called "Cheers", the bar where everyone knows your name and that is how I felt about BlogOn.

It was a comfort zone, while many were outside of theirs.

It was helpful, without being patronising.

It was exciting, without being overwhelming.

It was familiar, without being intrusive.

And (with the help of our name tags), it was a place where everyone knows your name.

 

 

 

 

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We regularly blog about our Water Babies adventures but more recently the little one was swimming (or splashing) for a very special reason.  Water Babies have been proud supporters of Tommy’s Splashathon since 2006 and with one in four women in the UK losing a baby during pregnancy or birth, Tommy’s are there to help parents and children during those difficult times.

We were delighted to be part of this years Splashathon and wanted to let you all know that collectively, all the Water Babies across  Beds, Bucks and Warwickshire/Midshires have already raised a total of £12,334.98. We still have until the end of August to collect more fundraising money too so let’s keep going!! If you would like to help us raise even more, you can still donate here.

Our Water Babies lessons have been life changing and it is amazing to see how far the little one has come in the last 12 months. In contrast, Tommy's lead the way in maternal and fetal research in the UK, to give every baby the best chance of being born healthy. Tommy's work to fund medical research into the causes of premature birth, stillbirth and miscarriage ..... so whilst Water Babies has been a life changing experience for our little one, Tommy's work does actually change and save lives.

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With tomorrow heralding the end of term, it has to be one of the first years that the weather has not ruined the annual school sports day. I remember sports day as a child and it seemed like the sun was shining every year (but maybe you just don't notice these things as a child or I am wearing my rose tinted glasses again) but ever since my eldest daughter was at pre-school it has seemed like the weather has conspired against us.

Despite this, I have religiously been there every year, even those times when we were told on arrival that it had been cancelled or it was being held in the hot school hall, because it has always been important to my daughter to be there. She is the kind of child that will look into the audience at a school play and wave when she sees us! I always remember that my mum would be at every school event when I was in Junior school but when you move into Senior school, it is not so cool for your parents to be there cheering you on .... which was kind of a shame as I came into my own in Senior school.

I loved being active, whether it was ballet dancing, swimming or sports, I suppose I have a somewhat competitive streak! My eldest daughter however will happily help everyone else get to the finish line, rather than ruthlessly pass someone that had fallen over. That actually happened one year when her friend stumbled in the running race, she stopped to help her and her friend carried on and won the race!

Mum always told me that it wasn't about coming first but the taking part that counts. Unfortunately for me this year I couldn't go, the first year that her Dad went instead of me and guess what happened? Yes, she came first! 

 

This post was inspired by the Sainsbury’s School Games website www.2013schoolgames.com  

Image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

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It is no secret that, as a family, we love Frankie & Benny's, so when we were asked to go and review their new specials menu we were delighted to go and try it out. Now I generally have a love / hate relationship with dining out with the childen, mainly because alot of restaurants consider that all children just eat chicken nuggets, chips and beans but thankfully my daughters like the F&B's menu (especially the warm dough sticks) and unusually on this occasion my eldest plumped for the pizza.

Some of the new dishes include BBQ Burger, Crab Bruschetta and Pulled Pork Pasta Bake and even though we arrived on the wrong day (the menu is actually only available Sunday - Friday), the staff were super helpful and didn't turn us away! The new Specials Menu is only £10.95 for 2 courses, so it won't break the bank and if you are anything like me, you can top up to 3 delicious courses for an additional £2.25.

As always, the F&B's food came out fresh, hot and well presented .... frankly looking good enough to eat ;-) I think that the original diner style eating experience of Frankie & Benny's is sometimes personal preference, so you either like it or you don't, but as a family we always enjoy our time at F&B's and will be returning. Dessert is usually a top priority for me but I simply didn't have room after the delicious Pulled Pork Pasta Bake so maybe I need to choose something lighter next time if I fancy a pudding.

As I said earlier, I find it increasingly frustrating when we dine out as a family to find the limited choices on the childrens menu, so I was interested to read about the new research from the Out to Lunch campaign from the Soil Association and Organix, which included Frankie and Benny's. Out to Lunch is calling for the restaurant industry to improve standards and make changes to their children’s menus. The investigation shows 66% of parents think the food provision for children in restaurants is not good enough. 21 popular high street restaurants and pubs were surveyed looking at what’s on the menu for children over a three month period, revealing that:

• 12 out of the 21 restaurants and pubs have children’s menus dominated by nuggets, burgers and sausages
• Eight out of 21 chains don’t include vegetables or salad in the majority of their children’s main meals
• 10 don’t include a portion of fruit in any of their children’s puddings
• No restaurants have signage welcoming breastfeeding on their premises
• Only 2 chains offer a children’s drinks menu free from added sugar and sweeteners

In line with the research, Out to Lunch has today issued a league table ranking the 21 restaurants and pubs to show the industry and consumers what chains are offering children.

The Out to Lunch campaign is calling on all high street restaurants and pubs to:

1.       Offer all young diners the choice of a children’s portion of adult meals

2.        Serve freshly prepared food, not ready meals

3.        Offer free water to families on arrival

4.        Offer children’s cutlery as standard

5.       Make breastfeeding mums feel welcome

Anna Rosier, Managing Director at Organix says: “Four out of 10 parents (40%) told us they eat out once a fortnight or more with their families. If restaurants and pubs want to ensure business stays strong and see customers return, they need to start improving what they’re serving to children. “We want families – parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles – to help get behind our campaign to see change. Restaurants will only start improving if we start being more vocal about what we’re seeing and vote with our feet.”

Out to Lunch is asking families to carry out four simple steps to back the campaign:

1. To tell restaurants what they think. The Out to Lunch downloadable Campaign Pack includes a review slip to make is easy for families to leave it behind on the table.
2. To be vocal and share feedback with family and friends.
3. To vote with their feet. If a restaurant is not up to scratch, don’t go back.
4. To support by wearing the ‘I support Out to Lunch’ badge on their Facebook and Twitter profiles.

For a more detailed insight into the Out to Lunch league table visit www.soilassociation.org/outtolunch.

So out of the 21 restaurants, where did F&B's come? They were 8th in the league table .......