⦁ Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. ⦁ Lightly grease a loaf tin with some butter and line with a sheet of greaseproof paper. ⦁ Sift 225g of self-raising flour into a large mixing bowl. ⦁ Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the flour. ⦁ In another large mixing bowl crack and beat 2 eggs. Add in 4 tablespoons of honey, 90ml sunflower oil and 100g of soft brown sugar. Mix the ingredients together well before adding in 225g of peeled and grated carrots and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. ⦁ Mix the carrot mixture into the flour until the ingredients are well combined. ⦁ Spoon the ingredients into the loaf tin and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon or with a clean knife. ⦁ Place the loaf tin in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. ⦁ Allow the carrot cake to cool down a little before removing it from the loaf tin and placing it on a wire rack. ⦁ In a medium sized mixing bowl add 225g of fromage frais, 50g of icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix the ingredients together until they are well combined. ⦁ Ice the top of the carrot cake with the icing. ⦁ Serve.
We have now managed to get my one-year-old son to sleep through the night, which was a near on miracle and a mighty big achievement! However, he now keeps waking up at 5 am, every single morning without fail. At 5 am he wants his milk, and he wants to get up and play.
In the beginning, I was more than happy to comprise with this new routine of his so long as he stopped waking up every 2-3 hours. Albeit, now after living like this for the past few months, I am feeling far from content with our 5 am agreement, as the heavy bags underneath my eyes will testify as evidence. I have tried to give my baby water instead of milk when he wakes up, and milk from a bottle rather than from me, I have rubbed his back, and I have even been practising the ‘Shushing method.’ So far nothing has been successful, he is still very much determined to wake up at 5 am every morning. My eldest son slept great from 7.30pm-7.30am every day. This is the same routine that I am desperately trying to get my youngest into.
I am questioning the reason as to why he wants to get up so early, because when he does he is still rather tired and he then spends most of the morning in a grumpy mood. Is he waking up early because he can smell the milk on me? Is it just for comfort? Or is it because of the birds outside, singing every morning like their rehearsing for a part in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs musical? It is starting to get lighter outside earlier, round about 5 am, so this could be the reason why. Nevertheless, I already have really dark black curtains, so my room stays fairly dark, but after having numerous conversations with people, I decided to purchase some blackout liners for my bedroom curtains. They’re relatively straightforward to use as you just attach them to the backs of your curtains. I bought the thermal blackout liners, so in the summer they are supposed to keep your room nice and cool as well as dark and in the winter they are meant to give out added heat.
I was really hoping that these blackout liners would be the solution to our 5 am wake ups. Unfortunately, they haven’t solved the situation. Furthermore, they left my bedroom feeling extra hot during the middle of the night. Therefore, I am fairly disappointed with my purchase of the thermal blackout liners. Could it be genetics? As a child, I used to drive my family crazy as I would frequently get up at 6-6.30am. It didn’t matter how late I stayed up and went to bed; I would still wake up extremely early including on the weekends. Furthermore, I didn’t grow out of this until I was a teenager. So is this just a case of genetics? Of my son being an early bird just as I was? Although his early bird is more like the first waking bird! Will he ever grow out of it? Will I ever be able to find a solution? I will keep you all posted, but if anyone has any suggestions, solutions or theories on the 5 am wake ups I will be more than happy to hear them.
Kappuccino 2 is a charming little coffee shop, perfect to meet friends and family for a drink and a catch up. Equally, it’s also a beautiful place to have some alone time, a cup of tea and a delicious slice of cake.
Although the menu is somewhat petite when comparing it with others, it does include a nice range of drinks, snacks, breakfasts, crepes, cakes, and pastries, all fresh of course! Which is what makes this such a fantastic little place to grab a drink and a snack.
Kappuccino 2 is in the middle of all of the restaurants on the river bank of Kingston Upon Thames. It has a nice green picturesque view of the river Thames, and when the sun is out shinning you could believe that you were having a cup of coffee in a hot country.
I ordered a pot of tea for myself, unfortunately they do not do pots of tea, instead I got a large cup of breakfast tea. The cup was large so I wasn’t to bothered. For the boys I order two strawberry ice creams, one in a cone and one in a small bowl.
We had visited Kappuccino 2 once before, a few weeks ago. Me and the boys ordered some drinks whilst we waited for daddy to come and meet us. Although the place was closing we were still served, and still enjoyed a nice drink out on the river in Kingston.
We decided to sit outside as it was such a lovely day and the scenery was so beautiful. It was quite a busy day, even so we were lucky to find a good table straight away. The waiter brought our order out to us which was a bonus as I had a pram and there is nothing worse than trying to carry food and drink whilst pushing a pram! The staff were really friendly once again, I can’t complain about our treatment.
The tea was hot, which was perfect, because some places like to serve their hot beverages Luke warm, which I am not a fan of! The drinks are a good price and I would say that you’re paying for the quality, and the view so the prices are a little steeper than big coffee chains. The tea arrived with the teabag still in the cup with the hot water, which I liked as I like to add my own milk whilst the teabag is still inside and then I leave it to brew for a few moments. The milk arrived separately in a little jug, again I prefer this as it allows you to drink your tea how you like it. I don’t add sugar to my drinks (I’m sweet enough!) So I didn’t bother with any sugar. I was very tempted to try one of their coffees, a latte or of course a cappuccino, however I’ve been off of coffee for almost two years now, and only had about 4 cups so far this year, so I decided to stick with a tea.
The boys loved the strawberry ice cream and scoffed it all before I even had the chance to drink half of my cup of tea. I did have a sneaky few mouthfuls though of my youngest sons and I have to admit, I’m not a lover of ice cream but this strawberry ice cream was simply delicious! Again you’re paying for the quality, and quality is what we got. It was really creamy with nice chunks of real strawberry’s inside of them.
On our previous visit I once again ordered a cup of tea for myself, and then I ordered a strawberry milkshake for the boys to share. The milkshake was in a large glass, plenty big enough for anyone to share. I had a little taste of the milkshake and I didn’t want to give it the kids back! It was so scrumptious! If their daddy had had been there he wouldn’t have given it back, he would have had to drink it all. The milkshakes are real milkshakes, very creamy and also have real strawberry chunky bits inside of them. The boys loved the strawberry milkshake and the whole thing was gone within five minutes. To be honest I don’t know which ones my boys preferred the milkshake or the ice creams? Either way I didn’t get any complaints from either of them.
I am really glad that we discovered this lovely little coffee shop. The place has an authentic Italian vibe, inside and out. The quality of their products is high, and the view of the river Thames is simply delightful and scenic. Whenever we are in Kingston Upon Thames, I think I will be bringing the family back here for a little treat or two. I rate Kappuccino 2 a marvellous 5/5 stars!
What is the best gift to show dad, step dads, granddad’s how much we love them? Some men would be happy with breakfast in bed and a good old cup of tea, Yorkshire tea that is! Other men might be committed to intermittent fasting and prefer not to eat anything until 11/12pm. What works for one, might not work well for another.
I think one think we can all agree on though, is Father’s day is a great time to buy gifts for dad’s summer wardrobe, or summer garden due to the date. This summer father’s day falls on Sunday 18th June.
I am guessing that there are lot of dad’s and granddad’s out there with holiday’s and mini breaks booked over the summer holidays. Even if they don’t, so long as the weather is good this summer, how much does dad/granddad love being outside in the garden and enjoying some food and drink?
My fathers day gift guide is inspired by the summer holiday’s and thinking about what all of the men would enjoy doing this summer.
No one wants to see dad or granddad sweltering outside in the heat wearing a jumper or long sleeve shirts. Nor does anyone want to see him in that dodgy cartoon T-shirt that he’s been wearing in the garden for that past two/three decades. This beautiful cotton colour block polo shirt from Marks and Spencer’s makes a beautiful gift. Suitable to wear for both evening and day, at £38.00.
Autograph – Pure Supima® Cotton Colour Block Polo Shirt from Marks & Spencer’s £38
1.) GET A GROWN UP TO HELP YOU CUT TWO SLICES OF BREAD.
2.) SPREAD THE BUTTER OR MARGARINE ON BOTH SLICES OF THE BREAD.
3. ADD A LAYER OF GRATED CHEDDAR CHEESE TO ONE OF THE SLICES OF THE BREAD.
4.) CHOP THE CHERRY TOMATOES IN HALF.
5.) CHOP THE CUCUMBERS INTO SLICES
6.) PLACE A LAYER OF CUCUMBER ON TOP OF THE GRATED CHEESE.
7.) ADD A LAYER OF CHERRY TOMATOES TO THE SANDWICH.
8.) ADD A LAYER OF LETTUCE LEAFS TO THE SANDWICH.
9.) PLACE THE SECOND SLICE OF BREAD ON TOP OF THE LETTUCE TO CREATE A SANDWICH.
10.) CREATE THE STAR SANDWICH BY PLAYING THE STAR CUTTER INTO THE SANDWICH. YOU CAN DO THIS AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT TO CREATE MULTIPLE FUNKY SANDWICHES.
Whether you are a London resident or visiting the city, the National History Museum is a must go for kids no matter what their age is. It is one of the most visited museums in Britain and contains hundreds of supreme exhibitions. The Natural History Museum is absolutely free to visit, and there is great transport links to the impressive building.
I first visited this museum with my sister and my son, when he was only ten months old and we all absolutely loved it. Two years later I took him back and the magic is definitely still there. We arrived at lunch time and the queue was massive, although we were told that we would probably be waiting for an hour and a half to get in, the queue went down within twenty minutes or so.
The busiest area of the museum by far is the blue zone which contains the Dinosaur gallery. You can find yourself queuing for over an hour just to see the dinosaurs due to popular demand. My advice would be to get there early and to view the gallery immediately, or wait until later in the day when the queues have calmed down. During the school holidays, you can pre-book tickets which also improve your position in the queue.
Whether you or the children have a little or great interest in dinosaurs, it is definitely worth seeing. The model dinosaurs are a spectacular feature and will definitely capture any child’s imagination. The large mechanical T-Rex in the dinosaur gallery is absolutely remarkable and it looks extremely real. All of the children seemed mesmerized when they saw it, as did some of the adults. However be aware of the smaller mechanical dinosaurs on display, as soon as my little boy saw them he started moaning at me to take one home with us because they are so adorable!
There are a few interactive touch screen computers at the end of the dinosaur exhibition, which allow children to do some extra exploring. They can then print a ticket which contains a bar code, allowing the user to access their scrapbook online. It is a fantastic educational tool, full of fun facts, photographs, creative activities, games and quizzes. It would come in really useful for any homework projects.
Human biology is also in the blue zone and this was probably my favourite section. There are plenty of facts and figures, but also loads of interactive exhibitions which demonstrate how the brain and various organs in the human body work, and how babies are made. Visiting this museum can definitely help parents when it comes to having that awkward chat about the birds and the bees. Not only will it make the situation less embarrassing, it will also provide plenty of educational facts for you and your child. I personally had a lot of fun testing my memory, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
The green zone has a really fascinating insects exhibition, which may leave you feeling itchy, but the kids really enjoyed it. Although I am not a fan of creepy crawlies in any sort of way, I did learn some really interesting facts and we did spend quite a bit of time in this area as the exhibition was great fun.
There are some sections of the museum that we missed out on completely such as the orange zone and the Darwin exhibition. Although we were there for four and a half hours we ran out of time, therefore I would strongly advice that anybody visiting the museum should dedicate a whole day there, to avoid any disappointment. The day can be so inexpensive, yet keep the whole family entertained for hours on end.
I am already planning my next trip to the museum with my son, so that we can go back and visit the areas that we sadly missed out on. Getting your children interested in museums from an early age can definitely help them in their education.
Overall I rate the Natural History Museum a whopping 5/5 and I would 100% recommend that you visit this place with your family.
