This summer The Essex Family are planning their first camping trip….to a festival….for 5 days…..with no family camping experience. An enthusiastic Mummy, reluctant camper Daddy, excited 4-year-old girl and 1-year-old who isn’t really such what I’m so excited about….what could possible go wrong?

The way I see it is what better way is there to kick off the last summer holidays before ‘big school’ than with a trip to Camp Bestival.

Set against the backdrop of Lulworth Cove and Dorset’s dramatic Jurassic coastline the wonderful pop-up world of Camp Bestival is built for experiencing your first ever taste of camping – a stunning location, steeped in history, providing one of the best campsites ever for a family festi-holiday! Add into the mix four days of amazing music, live shows, and over 100 things for kids to do, and its going to be non-stop fun all the way.

I am so excited about being a Camp Bestival Blogger.  I think experiences like this are so importance for my children. Life is about making memories, and this is sure to be one that lives on in our minds for a very long time.

I will blogging about the lead up to this great event here on An Essex Wife and also over at Britmums.com, I will also be live blogging from the festival on both sites. How very exciting.

If you have any camping or festival advice for families please do send it my way – I feel we may need all the help we can get!

It’s the time of year again where all my attention turns to festivals, although these days they are normally family friendly ones. Last years trip to Loillibop was such a success with the girls we can’t wait to visit again.

During the May Half Term we took a little trip to explore what family fun the Midlands has to offer for some quality time together as a foursome.  We visited the lovely Baddesley Clinton National Trust property on the way up, then spent a night at Chesford Grange Hotel before coming home (in the torrential rain) via Hughenden Manor. Here is part one of our adventure.

Baddesley Clinton is a 15th Century house with a gorgeous moat all around. The grounds of Baddesley were breathtaking in the summer sunshine, we had such fun just walk around enjoying each others company.

The interior of this house reflects its heyday in the Elizabethan era, when it was a haven for persecuted Catholics. Scarlett loved looking round the house and was especially intrigued by the ‘secret rooms’ where the priests hid. She was also in her element completing the ‘paintbrush hunt’, managing to find 10 of the 12 hidden paintbrushes.

Of all the National Trust properties we have visited this year I have to say that Baddesley have the most friendly staff by far.  The lovely gentleman manning the ’50 things’ stall couldn’t do enough for the children.  We played croquet, fed ducks, built dens and went of a great little bug hunt.  Lots to tick off in the girls complementary ’50 Things’ scrapbook.

I would highly recommend a day out at Baddesley Clinton if you are visiting the Midlands, just make sure you pack a big picnic as the ducks are little scavengers.

We had such a lovely family day in the sunshine – was the perfect way to spend the bank holiday.

For more information on Baddesley Clinton or any of the National Trust properties please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk

It was over 2nd wedding anniversary last week and we decided to treat ourselves to a child-free break to celebrate.  We stayed in The Pier Hotel, Hariwch the night before and then enjoyed the day together in Frinton, Flatford and Dedham.  I had a wonderful time with a wonderful man, I’m a very lucky girl.

I have already blogged about our stay at The Pier and our morning walk in Frinton, now here is the next part of our adventures…

Whenever we go away I like to try to make use of our National Trust membership. For a while now I had been wanting to visit Flatford as people kept telling me how much I would love it, so staying so close by the night before it seamed silly not to go.

From the moment we arrived and walked down towards the river I was in love.  It’s just so beautiful. We first had a look round the John Constable exhibition and then took a stroll down to Flatford Mill to see the location of his famous painting, The Hay Wain.

Making sure we are in the right spot…

The scene of The Hay Wain

I had heard rumor of a tearoom located back up by the visitor centre so we headed off to find it.

It was set on the river, overlooking a pontoon where cute rowing boats can be hired.  Being the silly people that we are we didn’t have any cash on us to hire a boat, but in a way I was glad as this is now a good excuse to go back and visit again with the children.

We had such a lovely time walking around together chatting and enjoying each others company, I really do love spending some one on one time with my darling man.

For more information on Flatford Bridge Cottage and Flatford Mill visit the National Trust website.

I think my husband is all kinds of awesome.  26 miles he ran this weekend, thats one thing ticked off the bucket list.

He is quite simply amazing, a hero in the eyes of me and my girls.

We saw him three times along the route and welled up each time.

When he called to say he had finished I couldn’t help the tears from falling. I was so relieved it was over, and so proud of all he had achieved.

We had a wonderful day in London with our friends, my darling girls were little angels (baby Essex even had an hours nap at the side of the road) and Scarlett was jumping up and down with joy each time she saw her Daddy ran past.

London did itself proud this weekend.  Once sign I saw along the route summed it up perfectly for me…

Run if you can, walk if you must, but finish for Boston

26.2 miles – rather him than me!!

One of the things I was most looking forward to about becoming a parent was having fun.  Going on days out and making amazing memories. Going to places that as an adult you can only go with children. Legoland was one such place.

We are very lucky that the girls have an uncle who works for the Tussauds group, and even luckier to land a friends and family day pass prior to the opening of the park for 2013.

Legoland in March has its issues, firstly it was FREEZING and secondly not all attractions were ready (some don’t open till May) but we still had an amazing day.

What I loved most was how geared up it was for little people.  There were only a handful of rides that The Little Lady couldn’t go on at her height of 1m tall.  Baby Essex was also able to come on some rides with us too (not that she was that impressed by this judging from the tears).

There are toilets dotted all over the park, another plus point when out for a day with the children,

As we walked from one part of the park to another there was hours of fun to be had looking for the lego man and animals hidden in the bushes and by the ponds.

Food, as you would expect, was a little on the pricey side.  However we took a packed lunch with us and then just bought a hot drink and some chips at lunch time (which come in the shape of lego pieces, totally worth the £2.70 a portion).

I would struggle to pick a favourite attraction. The Lego Legends of Chima 4D movie was great (be prepared to get a little wet), the Atlantis Submarine Voyage was educational yet so much fun and The Little Lady loved driving school complete with her own driving license.

We also popped into the Legoland Hotel to have a look around.  I was very impressed and will certainly be planning a summer visit to stay there.  As the weather was so cold we couldn’t do any of the water rides in the park, so that a good enough excuse for me to go back!  I also really want to take Baby Essex back to explore the Duplo Valley Splash and Play area that opens in May.

We all had such a wonderful day, The Little Lady hasn’t stopped talking about it since we got back, and for me it will always be the day I got to take my big girl on the Waltzers for the first time, I will remember her laughter and squeals of ‘I’m getting fizzy’ for the rest of my life