Thank You Notes #3 - the mamarazzi edition

June, you have gone by way too fast!! 

We're now fully over half way through 2017 and it's been quite the year. 

This month has of course been a pretty big one, with us celebrating Henry's birthday!! Plus I've gone back to work. So a big one, with lots of change, which always brings about a little thankfulness. 

So here's my June (or no.3) thank you notes...

Tips for eating out with a baby

We've been very fortunate that since we've had Henry (and before too) we've been able to eat out quite a bit. I do a fair amount of restaurant reviews and collaborate with Sotonbloggers a lot with events and reviews too, which means plenty of opportunities to go out for dinner.

Obviously being parents, we don't often (I think we've managed twice in 12 months) eat out just the two of us, and generally take Henry with us (thank goodness for understanding PRs) and of course we eat out as a three, or more, outside of reviews too!

With Southampton developing so much at the moment we've certainly been making the most of getting out to eat, and of course we ate out every night whilst we were on holiday. So we've become pretty savvy at taking a baby/almost toddler out for a meal and what to do to make it stress-free and enjoyable an occasion as possible.

A Farm Birthday

So you know we went to the zoo just before Henry's first birthday? Well to continue the animal theme, we decided to take him to Manor Farm for his actual birthday.

Being a Monday we both took the time off work, and after his morning nap, headed out to the farm. As it was during the week and during term time, the farm was really quiet, and in places it genuinely felt like we had the place to ourselves which suited us perfectly.

We loved seeing the range of animals and introducing Henry to different kinds of wildlife. He was quite taken with the baby goats (as was I) and the horse in the main paddock.

The entire place is absolutely perfect for children, with the old farmhouses set out as wartime homes, including a school room (and a taxidermy dog that creeped me out and gave me quite the shock!) as well as animal greeting sessions and a chance to milk a cow (unfortunately Henry was too young, and too tired for us to stick around for this). Plus they have a huge outside play area with sand pits and a mini racetrack, and play equipment. It was so good we went in twice!

Here's a farmload of photos!

A first birthday at the zoo

For Henry's first birthday last weekend, we decided instead of a party, we would go to the zoo with a few friends and family.

With him still being young, and not all of our friends having little's we wanted to do something that everyone would enjoy, especially as we know well how tedious children's parties can be for non-parents, and well parents too.

So last Saturday we packed up a picnic and headed on over to Marwell Wildlife.

Co-parenting - it's a partnership thing

A few weekends ago we decided to make the most of a sunny Sunday and head out to our local beach for a little fresh air and family fun.

Seeing everyone outside and enjoying themselves always makes me feel really happy, and seeing parents interact with their kids whilst playing is probably the highlight. It makes me slightly sad to see a parent on a mobile phone at the side of the park, ignoring their kid.

It got me thinking: I truly believe that raising kids should be a partnership between the people that brought them into the world, where ever possible.