Center Parcs, Elveden Forest - Review (Girls Weekend Away!)

Helloo,

I'm back again with another little trip this time being a little adventure the girls and I took to Center Parcs, Elveden Forest. Here is a little review. I will admit it was a child free, messy weekend for a bunch of 22 year old girls and frankly it was brilliant. 

I missed Corey like crazy, as always just like two weekends before I visited London for the Brit Mums Live blogging conference. Thankfully the brilliant invention of FaceTime meant I can still talk and see him. However, silly no service in the whole of Center Parcs. My only point of contact is through their wifi (luckily free!) on Facebook or Whatsapp. This was hugely disappointing, you know as a blogger I love my phone. It was hard!

Well I will start by saying I have recently passed my test and managed to get a car (5 days before this trip). I decided to be super brave and drive. This even being after accidently destroying my bonnet on the 3rd day of owning a car a few days before, it went into a barrier in a carpark. Whoops. But luckily I was stationary at the time and on my own, so no one was hurt. Just my poor car. But my driving itself is pretty good now I have some confidence. So we got there in one piece safe and sound. In only about an hour and ten minutes from mine. 

Here's a look into the lodge we stayed in. We just had a basic one as price wise was best. However, if you can afford one with a game room then go for it. It was nicely modern decorated, extemely comfy beds. Even a second toilet next to the bathroom. All very spacious, except for the kitchen. 

Here is some pictures of the scenery and shops etc around the resort. 

We decided the cheapest option food wise would be to do a Tesco shop before we went. We decided on meals beforehand, made a list and done the shop. We actually stuck to the list and it came to around £120 for 4 adults. Which is expensive really but a lot cheaper than eating out lunch and dinner. Just sucks meaning have to cook. But we looked at a menu which was £22 for just a pizza, crazy amounts! 

As a blogger, a plate can not be touched until a photo has been taken - it's like some sort of ritual. So I took some snaps of food and drinks (teapot and jug of pimms - had to work with what we could find!). So here you go..

Now it is time to take a little look at what we got up too over the weekend..

FRIDAY

On the Friday night the girls went for a swim whilst I just had a walk round and had a look around. We then headed back about 9 so you can imagine our hunger and had a disaster trying to work the oven, setting alarms off. Whoops. We got there in the end, with a very burnt pizza. Then played a card game called 'sh*thead' with drinks until around 2am. I was rubbish, I lost like 6 out of 8 rounds so I always ended up as the 'shi*thead'!! A little deer headed up towards our room which was so cute, but it was so dark, couldn't snap a pic. We headed to bed just as the worst storm came - thunder, lightening and well being in a forest was pretty scary. 

SATURDAY

On Saturday, I was the first one up as always at about 8.30am. Not surprised as I am the only mum of the group so sort of used to the early mornings. I had a shower and got ready before the girls woke up. One of them not waking till noon!

We sat outside in the sunshine for lunch before they headed off for a swim. Instead I sat in Starbucks with a yummy Mango Passion Juice Blend before doing some shopping and picking up some bits for Corey. 

Then we headed to The Pancake House for an afternoon snack, all I need to say is YUM! Best pancakes ever. I love pancakes but never had stacked ones before. Oh it was amazing. The picture above in food bit speaks for itself really! So good that we ended up going back before leaving.

I won't really go into the evening much as well we cooked mexican food, played a lot of alcohol games (ring of fire, red bus and some others for those of you who may know them!) and as you can imagine got extremely drunk but it was very fun and chilled just in the patio area even played charades! 

SUNDAY 

Well they woke up extremely hungover. Luckily for me, I have never suffered from one. I was up bright and early again before everyone else and cooked a full english whist they got up and ready. 

After lunch, we got to head to the spa with free day passes we were given by the lovely customer services after we complained about something. I have never been to a spa before so had no idea what to expect at all to be honest. I unfortunately couldn't snap any photos as didn't want to ruin anyone's privacy. But it was amazing and beyond the best part of the weekend. I can not explain in words how good it was and how truly relaxing. Like we have never been so relaxed, ever. It included a massive outside heated jacquzzi type pool, lots of steam rooms, saunas and etc. Even water beds, right these scared me because I didn't want to pop one but comfiest thing ever - we all ended up napping for a bit. We didn't have any treatments as far too expensive but who knows, maybe next time.

We then headed back to our lodge and started cooking a bbq. We had a bit of a problem with this. The lodge comes with a bbq, but luckily we didn't buy coal for it as there is a sign on it saying disposable bbq's only. We had to buy some. Very odd! But the amount of food we had for the 4 of us was insane but most of it went. It was an interesting experience all being bbq cooks for the very first time. Turned out so yummy though :)

The girls finally managed to persuade me to go swimming, I didn't want too as I didn't like being in a swimming costume however I am so glad I did. It's not a swimming pool you can actually swim in. It is very much a crazy place full of waves and so many slides and rapids. I swore I wouldn't go on them but I was forced and it was extremely fun!!! 

By this point it was around 9pm when we got back to our lodge so we all tucked up under a duvet on the sofa and watched a movie with some jelly and treats :)

MONDAY 

You had to be out of the lodges by 10 which sucked. But we packed up the car and went for more pancakes before heading to the sweet shop and other shops on the resort. Then we just headed home and made it in just over an hour which was pretty good timing to be fair :)

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Here is a look at some of the little bits I picked up around the shops. I love homeware so it was really hard to stick to just buying these three little cute plaques but so glad I did, now to find little spots for them. I brought Corey a little doggy and an avengers fan. Every time I go somewhere new I collect a fridge magnet and a squashed penny coin thing you can make. I also picked up a mood ring for myself, to recapture my childhood a bit. I may use it as a toe ring! 

There you have it, our weekend away - it was pretty amazing, a very much relaxed and well needed drunken weekend away to let loose a bit with the girls! :) However, I was so glad to be back at home and cuddling Corey!! I will be back in another post for the pros and cons of Center Parcs. So be sure to keep an eye out for it. Plus in less than 2 weeks on 20th July, I will be off to Wales for the week with mum and Corey :)

Love, Gemma xo

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Haul: Summer/Travel Essentials & More

Helloo,

It feels like it has been a little while since I have written a post to be honest but I've been busy, busy shopping! I've finally brought enough stuff in one go to actually do a haul. From now till the end of July, I have 3 trips way - Brit Mums Live Blogging Conference, Center Parcs with the girls and family trip to Wales. Which means I have been buying some travel/summer essentials plus re-purchased some of my every day skincare beauties. All of these where picked up from Body Shop and Boots..

Boots Travel Size Toiletries

Lets start with these little bits, kind of the boring stuff of my hayl. But is it just me that finds travel size super cute?! They make me want to say 'aww' haha. Plus extra bonus they are 3 for 2 in Boots. I wanted to buy Aussie shampoo and conditioner but it was out of stock. So I came across this Charles Worthington as the packaging was colourful, says about sunshine protection so will give a go and see. Hopefully be nice! Always need toothpaste and mouthwash of course, minty fresh and all. Ok, my obsession for yummy smelling shower gels is ridicilous now. But this lemon and tea tree I am so excited to try!! I also brought deodrants, got full size though as we just last me way longer over the trips. I'm pretty sure this stuff won't last my 3 trips and will need to buy shampoo and wash stuff again - I like to use generous amounts!! 

Body Shop Tea Tree Range

Okay so not really a summer or travel essential. However, I was running out of all my skincare bits so was time for me to re-purchase like I do every few months. But these will be coming with me on my travels, got to keep up the skincare regime whilst away. My skin is oily and acne prone - it's yukky and upsetting but this is the best range that I have found to help as long as I do it every day. Sometimes I get lazy at night time - don't judge me, I like sleep. But I'm determined to sort it out and help. The Tea Tree face mask is amazzzing - I prefer way more than the bloggers holy grail Glam Glow. You may see the Camomile eye make-up remover, it is so good and really is gentle so does not irritate my sensitive eyes and gets off the hardest waterproof mascaras. I just highly recommend this whole lot especially if your skin is like mine :) I've wrote about it in the past here and here.

Body Shop Virgin Mojito Range

Whilst picking up my essentials, I saw this new range. I honestly didn't think I would like the scent as it is 'Virgin Mojito' and thought it may be minty (I don't like minty)! However I have to admit I was intrigued by the cocktail maker, who wouldn't be right?! But oh my god, let me just tell you know - nicest scent ever!!!! It's kind of like a lime citrus etc. Yum! I treated myself to the cocktail maker which included the above - mini scrub, mini body butter, mini loufer thing and full size shower gel. All for £25. I thought I would try as why not, but I will be going back for the full size scrub and body butter. I'm pretty sure this is limited edition but please Body Shop make it part of the permanent range!!! 

St Tropez Light/Medium Gradual Tan

I want to fake tan, always have but I am super ghost like pale. Plus the idea of having to go salon every few weeks is just long and expensive. I've tried gradual tans before but they have always been way too orange like Nivea, Garnier etc.I have a summer wedding in August and if I decide to be brave and show my legs then I want a bit of colour that won't rub off onto my clothes. So I found this in boots, a great fake tan make with a gradual tan for light skin. Yay! I've tried just on my legs once but nothing so far. I'm going to apply every other day and see what happens. If I like then I will attempt the rest of my body. Has anyone tried this before? What do you think? :) Even got the face version. It was like £18 for both but they will last a long time, for me anyways. But please single ladies tell me how you fake tan your own backs?!?! 

False Lashes, etc

Here's me all for trying new things, fake tan and now false lashes. Let's start with fact that I don't wear eyeliner, it does not suit me. I love my lashes but I want a little more glam sometimes. In preparation for the wedding I thought I would try some individual lashes, I have a big blogging event next week so can test how long they last. Not sure if I will apply them right, I'm watching YouTube tutorials in a minute to try later on today for a party. Wish me luck!! 

Body tape, this stuff is genious. I have the perfect dress that I love to wear but without this tape my clevage would be an open book literally. So worth it and there is like 27 pieces so lasts me for ages!! Plus picked up a handy little metal nail file for like 89p as keep losing all of mine. 

There you have it some of my purchases to help for my trips away :) A major essential which is on its way in the post is Urban Decay setting spray to help hold my make-up all day for my oily skin - don't go a day without it. I may do a post on what's in my travel make-up bag - what do you think?

Let me know in comments your absolute top 3 essentials for travel? 

Love, Gemma xo

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Fuerteventura Holiday 2015

Helloo,

So last week I was a bit quiet on social media but if you saw some of my updates then you would have seen that I was in fact on holiday. Corey took his first ever trip abroad to Fuerteventura. It is part of the Spanish Canary Islands. We have only ever done holiday's in the UK like our Butlins trip last year. We were lucky with the weather it was in the lower 20s which was lovely as hot enough but not too bad where you can't do anything - perfect for children I think as didn't want Corey to burn. I was going to split this into a couple of posts but decided not too - this holiday was the perfect excuse to use my Canon 700D to test out my photography skills so bit of a picture heavy post!

I admit I was quite worried about a 4 hour plane flight with a 4 year old. I had no idea how he would take to flying or if he would be good. To make it even worse our flight out was at 6 am, so we needed to leave at 2.30 am to get to the airport for check in. Despite waking up in the middle of the night, he was extremely well behaved considering. He didn't like big queues though and as you can imagine there were a fair few! He went through the security fine, not like most kids we saw. He sat on the plane nicely - we brought lots of food and movies on the phone. It worked! He even liked the really loud noises of taking off and landing. On the flight home it was a mid morning flight, he was still as well behaved, although he spilled his orange juice on my new handbag *sheds a tear*. Oh yeah or the fact that the car was broken down in the airport car park on the way home - just to prolong the journey a bit!

We stayed in the most beautiful villa in Parque Holandes. It had four bedrooms, two with en suites and one shower room. It was tiled throughout which was great as meant stayed really cool even in the hotter days. A lovely huge conservatory where we ate all our meals. The best part was the outside, a little area with a swimming pool with beautiful sea views. It was so peaceful and quiet being outside, no noises to be heard at all. It was pure bliss! I felt relaxed after just an hour of being there. I admit I really didn't want to come home and could quite happily move there forever!

I admit, I haven't taken Corey swimming since he was a baby due to illnesses, operations etc. In the past year he has been a couple of times with his dad so I was really excited when we had our own swimming pool so I can finally see him swim. Corey had told me he could swim with just arm bands but that was a bit of a lie. He did need a tummy ring but his doggy paddle was really good. I also taught him the froggy swim and how to float on his back which he loved! It was really fun swimming and now we are back home, he is really excited as I said he could get swimming lessons :)

Between where we stayed at Parque Holandes and the closest town called Corralejo there are around 9 miles of pure sand, it really is beautiful. So one day we headed to the beach to build sand castles which we were really rubbish at, they always fell apart. You weren't allowed to swim in the water at this beach but allowed to walk in it of course. Corey was far too scared to do this at first, it took a good half hour of persuading. But in the end he really enjoyed splashing his feet around and said it tickled :)

Although it was quite expensive to get into the Oasis Park - Fuerteventura Zoo. Around 100 euros for 3 adults and 1 child, it was an amazing day out and well worth it. It was much better than we had imagined, it was huge but packed full of animals. They had over 400 camels!!! We saw all sorts of crocodiles, flamingos, monkeys, children's farm, otters, meerkats, lynx and more. We missed the cheetahs for some reason and they didn't have lions or tigers which at first I thought was a let down but it really wasn't as so many other animals. Corey got to feed some elephants and giraffes which is just a great experience :) We watched a sea lion show which was great, they brought one out into the audience which was right in front of us. They done all sorts of tricks down slides, hula hoops, clapping, diving and more. The parrot show was really good too, they done tricks too including a bird sunbathing. The lady got a bird to sit on my head, I was a bit shocked as wasn't expecting it but Corey found it funny. They kept flying so low that Corey ducked and almost fell off his seat - luckily my mum and uncle were sitting behind and managed to catch him. Corey was not impressed! They had a cute little children's park in the shade that Corey enjoyed, a trampoline which he loved - even more reason to get one at home soon. It had a Botanical Gardens too, which was just full of 100's of cactus'.

We had lunch in Correalejo one day, looking over the port and where the boat trips to Lanzarote were. It was so beautiful and a lovely way to spend our lunch - the food was yummy! Corey had this amazing clown face ice cream which he really loved :) These are some of the beautiful views too, so many mountains which Corey called volcano's!

So one of the best bits of the trip was everything was so cheap like it was insane. Corey and I were given some spending money by my nan so we certainly spent away :) Here is some of the bargains we got that we would not be able to get so cheaply here in the UK -  Havianas Flip Flops £15, Vera Wang Be Jeweled Perfume £35, YSL Lipstick £16, Rimmel Nail Varnishes £1 and Corey got a Spanish Football Top £15. Then of course I got a few souvenirs such as a fan, fridge magnet (I collect one from every holiday!), lucky coin magnet. Corey got a shark tooth necklace, a ring, a toy car and a boomerang that he really wanted from the start of the holiday. The dinosaurs are from the local food shop called 'Hiper Dino' - Corey really wanted to spend his money on them, there is a mummy one, boy one and baby one. He also got flip flops for the beach and goggles to swim under water with - for like £2 each. I also got this black handbag, I have spent around a year looking for the perfect black every day handbag to replace my 4 year old one and finally I have for like £15!!

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So really that sums up our holiday to Fuerteventura :) We had the absolute best time, it was such a great experience and I am so glad I got the chance to take Corey abroad with my family. We will hopefully be going back again and hopefully be able to explore more of the world too. I admit there is not a huge amount to do on the island so quite hard to keep children entertained but if you go to a hotel they have more suitable things for children like evening entertainment, games, pools, more children etc. So I would recommend that :) I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip. I have another post coming later this week on the big debate of taking children out of school for holidays - I'm all for it. 

Now I would love to know where your favourite place to vacate too is? :) I really want to visit Barcelona, Paris and DisneyWorld! 

Love, Gemma xo

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ChillFactor Squeeze Cup Slushy Maker Review*

Helloo,

I have a really exciting review to share with you today, and what better time to share than whilst I am on holiday. I really wish I had packed this as a slush right now would be perfect in the sun! This is a review on the ChillFactor Squeeze Cup Slushy Maker*. I went a bit over the top with taking photos so apologies there is a fair few..

Here is some pictures of the product:

Here is what I used to make the slush:

Here is Corey enjoying himself testing the product:

Age Range: 3+
Price: £12.99
Colours: Blue, Purple, Orange and Pink
Where To Buy: HobbyCraft, Argos, Boots and many more

How To Make: So this maker claims to make slush within a minute. I honestly didn't believe it to start off with. It has the easiest picture instructions ever on the box. With 3 easy steps - freeze, fill, squeeze. So you take out the white ice cooling packet thing and stick in the freezer for 4-6 hours before hand. Taking it out, putting back into the coloured cup section. Then you fill up with whatever you desire to make the slush about half way I would say. Then you squeeze!! Literally it takes a minute.

What To Use: Apparently you can use whatever you desire, even fizzy. I brought the yummy juice that was pictured. As a juice or slush - you must try. I would love to make those sort of blue slushies you can buy from shops in the machines. Someone please lead me in the right direction of a recipe?!

I am honestly really impressed with this product, it was as easy as it says. It means the children can squeeze as well, which Corey loved but I kept a close eye as I was worried when it was a liquid that it would spill. I honestly have no idea how it actually works as there is no ice etc involved. But it does! For the price as well, it will be a great summer essential for the hot water to help cool down :) 

What are your thoughts on this slush maker? Are you going to give it a go?! Let me know in the comments..

Love, Gemma xo

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