I always have a lot of questions about accommodati I always have a lot of questions about accommodation when we stay anywhere as a family so I thought I’d share this little tour of our room at @windjammerlanding which was a pretty perfect place to stay.

It’s the ‘Ocean View Two Bedroom’ which was like a little house, with an upstairs and downstairs, built into the hillside. Both rooms had outdoor space and their own shower rooms. Such a great option for a family.
A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. We’ve been back a few days now but still miss the heat, the food, the pool, the constant sounds of wildlife and the lovely people. It was such a great holiday and I’m sure we’ll be back one day.
And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is watching her grow and what a wonderful young woman she is becoming. We could not be more proud. Love you Pickle, have a great birthday.
We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in S We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in St Lucia staying at @windjammerlanding and it was just the holiday we needed. Two weeks of sunshine and relaxation in what must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. 

We can’t wait to go back again in the future. Here’s just a little snippet of our trip.
AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @na AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @national_motor_museum despite the rain! The children loved the Little Beaulieu play area and we loved exploring the National Motor Museum and Top Gear exhibit before having a ride on the monorail! We went on an old open topped bus, explored the Beaulieu Manor House and loved the gardens. 
Beaulieu is always a great day out - whatever the weather. This summer they have a whole ‘Summer of Fun’ planned, with activities most days - parades, bird shows and hundreds of sculptures within the grounds too. If you’re looking for a day out this summer definitely think about heading to Beaulieu.
AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to t AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to their first concert - but it was so much more than just a concert! @abbavoyage is incredible. With CGI ABBA and a live band, it’s like being at an ABBA concert 40 years ago but with modern lighting, effects and sound. ABBA look and sound real, it’s a mind blowing experience.
The set includes all the songs you know and love as well as a few less familiar ones.
You can’t take photos during the show which actually made a refreshing change. A whole arena focused purely on the show and soaking up the moment. It’s definitely something the four of us will always remember.
Now, I’m off to sing Dancing Queen all the way home.
AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdo AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdockyard today. They have a fantastic Ultimate Explorer ticket that lets you visit all the attractions as many times as you like for 12 months - and after a day at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard we can see that you need more than one day to really do everything!

We explored HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose Exhibition - which is incredible! We also saw where ships are built and restored and spent time in Action Stations where the kids climbed and did an assault course.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is such a fun, educational day out with something for all ages - we can’t wait to go on their harbour tours next time we visit!
AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To cel AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To celebrate #100YearOfARoads National Highways have launched their #ARoadsToSummer competition! It's all about celebrating summer holiday moments, time together, fun in the sun, days out and more.

So why not be in it to win it? To enter, all you have to do is send @nationalhways a DM on here with a photo or video of your favourite holiday moments. You can also comment on their Facebook or Twitter #ARoadsToSummer posts with your holiday photos. I've shared a few of our favourite photos to give you some inspiration.

The best six entries will each win a £500 @nationaltrust holidays voucher! SO what are you waiting for? Dig out your favourite holiday photos or take some new ones to share!

The #ARoadsToSummer competition runs from 24 July to 10 September 2023. Winners will be announced in September 2023.

Good luck!
Oh these two! Every day I feel lucky to have them. Oh these two! Every day I feel lucky to have them. As school draws to a close at lunchtime, I’m looking forward to a whole summer with them. My favourite people.

They’ve both had a great year at school this year. Troy’s first without his sister by his side and Athena’s first at secondary school. 

They both had great reports, always did their best and have made some really lovely new friends this year. I could not be more proud of them.

Now, let’s go and enjoy the next six weeks before school starts all over again!
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Reviews, Toys, Games and Crafts · October 26, 2018

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

Disclosure: We were sent the featured products for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.

This post contains affiliate links and I may receive commission if you visit a link and buy something. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra, and I only recommend products and services I trust.

STEM learning toys seem to be everywhere at the moment, ranging from chemistry sets to apps that allow children to  make their own mini games. They are only limited by their imaginations and are a whole new concept in toys that children really seem to love and learn from. Programmable robots also come under the STEM umbrella and they tend to vary quite widely in the complexity of how they work and the success that children have with them so when we were sent Power Tracks we were interested to see how the children would get on with their new robot pal.

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

Power Tracks is a STEM Learning toy featuring a cool robot called Volty and is one of the more fun coding robots that the children have played with recently. Volty itself resembles a large rectangular 9v battery but has been given personality with the simple addition of eyes and a little smiley mouth. The set comes with twenty-four double sided tiles that are like giant jigsaw pieces which allow the children to make different tracks with, aiming to program Volty to complete a circuit of the tiles to get back to the beginning.

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks
Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

The set also comes with ten double sided circuit diagram cards that vary in complexity from simply moving forwards to circuits that will have all young minds really thinking. You also get the addition of a set of forty command cards, arrows that your children can place down in a row to help them remember what to program into Volty when they have completed the circuit they want the robot to follow.

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks
Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

One of the things that makes Volty stand out from other similar toys in our eyes is the addition of a simple LCD screen on Volty’s back. You program the moves in using the large arrow buttons and they appear on the screen. Simple. You can see if the button was pressed hard enough, or if you’ve missed out any of the moves you want Volty to do. You can even add moves if Volty didn’t follow the track as you intended it to without having to start the program sequence from scratch. Something that can be quite frustrating if it all goes wrong towards the end, making the children lose interest quite quickly.

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

One thing that could have enhanced Volty would be the simple addition of coloured buttons to differentiate between them. The light grey colour makes it hard to see the light embossing of a trash can and the program icon and easy to forget which one is which. A simple green and red system would make it a bit easier to separate the two.

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks
Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

The tiles that Volty moves on aren’t just a basic track for the robot to follow – they feature electronic devices such as switches, LEDs and capacitors, power boosts and sounds. When Volty goes over certain items, for example a light bulb, his eyes light up! This feature delighted the children and made them want to add more special tiles to see what else Volty can do. One of our favourites was to use a volume tile and then a sound tile. This made the sound louder and the sounds played are random every time, varying from a siren, to laughter to breaking glass. This really keeps the children entertained as they don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

The children enjoyed following the included circuit cards and were keen to make Volty do as many of the hidden features as possible. Once they realised that they could make any circuit they could imagine, they were off. Volty is the best coding robot we’ve come across and is amazing value too. Power Tracks would be a fantastic gift for any child and a great educational investment too. LP and Little Man love it!

Power Tracks has an RRP of £29.99

Introducing the Children to Coding with Power Tracks

In: Reviews, Toys, Games and Crafts

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Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

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