Kynren 2019 & A Summer of Historic Events | #Durham19

This is an advertisement feature.

I'm delighted to announce that I've been asked to be a regional ambassador for #Durham19 this year - an unmissable year in Durham packed with festivals, events, exhibitions, performances and openings. There is a packed programme of events taking part across the region and I am so excited to be part of it.

Across the year, I'll be sharing some of Durham's top family days out and activities and I kicked things off in style with a trip to watch a rehearsal of Kynren, An Epic Tale of England and take a peek at their plans for this year's shows ahead of their season launch on 29 June.

Driving An Electric Car - #WhyNot Give It A Try?

This is an advertisement feature

We were recently given the opportunity to drive an Ultra Low Emissions Electric Vehicle and share our experience with you all. Our vehicle of choice was the super stylish Audi e-tron which was kindly provided by Lookers for the weekend. If you're interested in what it's really like driving an electric vehicle, read on. I'm sharing the ups and downs and lessons learned in this post. #WhyNot try an electric vehicle yourself? I'm almost certain you'll be pleasantly surprised.

11 Top Tips for taking the Newcastle-Holland DFDS Ferry with Kids

I've taken two return ferry trips to Holland from Newcastle with the kids in tow and a handful of shorter trips (eg Sunderland Airshow) with DFDS Seaways over the years and thought it might be helpful to share a couple of tips I've picked up along the way.

A Weekend Break at Bosrijk Village, Efteling

Efteling is Holland's largest theme park. This fantasy-themed theme park is filled with magic and features elements around myths, legends, fairytales and magic. Efteling is super popular and the third-most visited theme park in the world. I can certainly see why. We absolutely LOVED our visit and would highly recommend to everyone who still believes in magic.

11 of the Best Train Trips from Newcastle with Kids

We love travelling by train and I've lost count of the number of train trips I've taken with the kids over the years. Travel by train is often faster, is definitely less hassle and offers benefits such as 2 for 1 entry to certain attractions when you travel by train (see one of my previous posts linked at the bottom of this post for details). We wouldn't be without our friends and family railcard and for just a small fee, you can save 1/3 off adult rail fares and 60% off kids tickets throughout the year. Find out more about friends and family railcards here (affiliate link).

Affordable Electric Motoring with the New MG Electric Car

This is an advertisement feature. Please note this article was written prior to us test driving another electric vehicle. 

Like many people my age, I don't know much about driving electric cars. I've researched them a little bit but there are still so many questions I'd like to know the answer to. Can I fit an electric charging point to my garage? How many miles can I drive before I run out of battery? Am I likely to run out of battery and what happens if I do? How many charging points are there around the county? What about driving abroad?  How much money will I save by using an electric car? Are electric cars just as powerful as traditional cars? Will driving an electric car really make a difference to the environment? How long do electric cars take to charge? So many questions!

How to spend an evening in St Ives with kids

During our February Half Term trip to Cornwall this year, so many of you recommended a trip to St Ives so I planned an evening here with the family. Although our visit was short and the weather was very overcast, I am so pleased we made time to pop by as I fell in love with the place. Next time we visit Cornwall I'll be planning an extended stay in this area. I'd love longer to enjoy the beautiful beach, spot seals by the harbour, explore the cobbled streets, independent boutiques and cute restaurants. We spent a couple of hours in St Ives, here's what we got up to.......

The Ultimate Guide to Staying at Duinrell with Eurocamp

This is an advertisement feature in 2019. Eurocamp provided our accommodation, we paid for everything else mentioned. The post also contains affiliate links.

Duinrell is a theme park and waterpark with over 40 attractions near Amsterdam and The Hague in Holland. You can stay on-site and one of the companies providing accommodation here is Eurocamp.

If you stay on-site, you are provided with unlimited access to the theme park which is fantastic for families. The location is also perfect for exploring the Netherlands.

We stayed during May Half Term 2019 and had such a wonderful time. I'd highly recommend Duinrell to families looking for a good value holiday with plenty to do and staying here is a fantastic alternative to a traditional beach holiday if you fancy something a little different.

Today's post is a long one but I hope it answers all of the questions we had during our trip. 

25 Family Days Out in North Yorkshire

Ad - this post contains affiliate links. 

We love North Yorkshire and I reckon I've probably visited over 100 times throughout my life. It's not too far from where we live in Northumberland so achievable as a day trip yet it feels far enough away to be an adventure and full day out. In this post, 

I've put together some of our favourite days out in North Yorkshire over the years and added a few recommendations at the bottom of this post from other bloggers too. Let me know if you have any to add to the list.

Solve your Phone Memory Problems with SanDisk

This is an advertisement feature 

I love my Google Pixel 2 (android) phone and I'm upgrading it to the Pixel 3 this week (yeah) but despite my phone offering unlimited cloud storage for photos I've taken, I still find myself running out of actual phone storage on a regular basis. It always happens at the worst moments too like when I'm just about to capture a perfect action shot, go to take the photo only for my phone to flash up that I've run out of internal memory and I have to sit down and sulk while I delete some photos from my phone to free up some space, knowing that I've already missed the perfect shot.

Driving Our Car in the Netherlands | Our Experience & Tips

This is an advertisement feature 

I never thought we'd be the kind of family who drives abroad. We never did this kind of holiday as kids and the whole concept just seemed a little scary and alien to us. Then a few years ago, we were offered a job in Florida and one of the stipulations from the brand was that we had to be able to drive whilst over there. It was too good of an opportunity to miss so Steve stepped up. We hired a car and it was all good. 

Photos from the Fairytale Forest at Efteling

The Fairytale Forest at Efteling in the Netherlands is said to be the world's largest living picture book. Efteling is such a magical place and you can't help but be immersed in the magic of fairytales when you visit. I thought that my three children (aged 8, 10 and 12) may be a little too old to visit the Fairytale Forest but it turns out you're never too old for fairytales and we all had a magical time and really enjoyed this part of the park.