It’s a first on expatbabyadventures, Im popping my competition cherry!!! Courtousy of the lovely Sean over at Paultonsbreaks I’ve a humdinger of a prize for you lovely lot.
Paultonsbreaks are the geniuses that launched the place that a few of you may know as just a little place called “PEPPA PIG WORLD” heard of it??????
So wanna go to Peppa pig world??? You do? Ok so it just so happens that I’ve got 4 tickets to give away, two adult tickets and two childrens tickets that are valid until August 2013.
I dont know about you but sometimes I find family days out stressful, fun….. but stressful and sometimesI could do with a complete survival guide to get through it.
So thats it, thats all you have to do to win this fabuloso prize, is tell me your tops tips for surviving a family day out! Whitty or sensible, long or short, whether its common practice for you or just and idea for your first family trip, I want to hear them.
So you’ve got until the end of January to enter, I not going to rattle on and set alot of rules, however there are a couple, firstly you’ll need to connect with moi on twitter. I’m easy to find @expatmammy, this will be how I’ll contact my lucky winner. Please be aware, that the prize is just entry ticket only, no transport or refreshments are included. The judges choice is final and the judge will be Expatdaddy, this is purely as he is imparticial and doesn’t know or follow you like I do. I want to keep it as fair as I can.
So there’s nothing else for me to do but wish you luck, I will announce the winner on 31st Jan 2013.
expatfamilyescapades 
Ok….i’ll kick off with my survival guide: Ensure cool bag fully stocked with drinks and nibbles to keep the kids quiet in queues, pick up a leaflet or guide book at tje entrance so that the kids can look for themselves what they’re going to see and do, avoid gift shop at all costs amd make sure that you have a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge for when you finally get home and the childrens exhausted little bodies are safely tucked up in bed.
Wow I always run into trouble when taking my two boys aged 5 and 1 out because we always manage to forget something! So my survival tip would be to write a list of everything you need and I would recommend a packed lunch so you know exactly what you’re getting!
Following as @sweetie_tweeter
My top tips for surviving a family day out are:
If you have a journey longer than half an hour (oh, who am I kidding-5 minutes), have a variety of toys / books you can distract little people with in the car)
Take supplies – you can guarantee you’ll hear cries of “I’m thirsty” or “I’m hungry” throughout the day, and a picnic is always cheaper than eating onsite!!
Take a change of clothes for the little ones – last year my 4 year old got so excited about finding a clue on the Gruffalo trail he ended up not looking where he was going and went straight into a ditch full of water!!
If you have a babe in arms, it’s always good to take a spare top for you too – never forget when my 6 week old threw up all over me at Chessington!! Lol
Most of all, take a massive block of patience and keep your sense of humour intact – you’ll need it!! @chelseamamma
A fully stocked bag with books and toys for entertainment whilst travelling and also snacks (nothing too messy!). A change of clothes just in case. Take a packed lunch in a cool bag complete with drinks, food outlets are pricey at theme parks. Don’t forget any soothers (such as favourite small cuddly toy and dummies) in case of toddlers wanting to crash out and nap, even if they have on the whole dropped naps. Either cook something in advance or order a take away that night, you sure as hell won’t fancy cooking! Don’t even consider the gift shops unless you have take out a loan, you can be sure you won’t be able to make it out without purchasing anything when you have children in tow and no one wants to be dealing with a tantruming child in public. Whether travelling by car or public transport allow extra time for delays. And if you have a child still in nappies, take two more than you think you will need! 😉
Firstly, let me just say this prize is awesome! My inlaws live near Peppa Pig World and every time we drive past it we are pestered to go. I would be one much loved mummy if I won this!
So here’s my survival tips..
Make sure you know where you are going (sounds simple, but we often get lost when relying on our phone maps to get us somewhere!
Travel bags for the kids stocked with new colouring books, their favourite story/picture books, toys and snacks. Also we have our ipad stocked with downloaded cbeebies/cbbc programmes on iplayer for desperate times! We also have blankets in the back for travelling at night.
For the day out itself we always take a coolbox with lunch, snacks and lots to drink. If it’s in the summer take sunscreen and hats. I make sure they both have a change of clothes, including jumpers or cardigans. Like Mummy Glitzer we avoid gift shops unless they have birthday money or pocket money to spend.
Last tip: Have a bottle of wine waiting at home for mummy and daddy for post children’s bedtime!! 😉
Fab competition x
Top tips for surviving days out are to just let someone else take them and if no one wants to take them then….
-Take a picnic as eating out can be a small fortune, keeping sandwich fillings simple, lots of fruit but not bananas as they get mashed up, lots of juice and crisps. Keep some raisins or mints in your handbag so they are within easy reach.
-Try to take only what you need as no one wants to lugging around extra bags on a long day out
-Always carry baby wipes as children always mange get dirty hands and they also come in handy when there is an accident and they hurt themselves
-Always plan ahead and inform the children what your plans are for the day, we have a look through the website/brochure/leaflet before going so they know what to expect
-if taking a toddler take a lightweight stroller with you but also a child rucksack carrier (for daddy to carry them in) nd reins if they are walking as no child wants to stay strapped in a buggy all day
-Pack a mini first aid kit with plasters, antiseptic wipes, arnica and sudo crem
X x
My tips for a family day out are:
Patience – you will need this when hubby gets lost on the way there and refuses to ask for directions, toddler throws a tantrum and kicks your seat for the four hour drive and baby fills his nappy, you realised you have no nappies and you are in the middle of nowhere without a service station in sight.
Organisation – it takes us about ninety minutes (yes, ninety and this on a good day) to start getting ready to leave the house until we finally do. So try and plan a little better than me and maybe write a list of requirements the night before. Baby wipes, packed lunches, entertainment may all help keep your sanity in check. Also a map.
Military Precision:
If you have a family with older kids they may want to go off on their own. I find drumming into them years before the pros of good timing helps to ensure they meet you next to the elephants at midday. You may need to plan ahead.
Laughter:
It’s always the best medicine. That and anything ending in ‘odamol’
Leave early, take spare clothes, don’t forget the camera battery, or tickets! Go and have fun!
I take all the usual stuff lunches etc and do all of the usual preps but my tip of survival is to cherish every second of a day out. Our babies grow up in the blink of an eye and you can never get these times back. Nothing is more valuable than the look of delight on my boys faces when they are enjoying a day out. I don’t care what we forget or the challenges we face on a day out, they are soon forgotten but the good memories last forever! I have 4 boys aged 5, 4, 1 and 10 weeks and love family days out ;)) xxx
My little tinker loves Peppa Pig and is completley obsessed with her. On a day out we have found a good few fool proof steps to get us through the day so everyone enjoys it and its as stress free as possible. Here is a quick run down of how we like to roll:
Be Prepared – We find things are less stressful on a day out if we are prepared. So generally we plan well in advance when we are going to have a day out. The night before we have a quick chat about our plan of attack for the following day and if we are doing a packed lunch we get that sorted so its ready to go.
Pack Light- I am a fiend for trying to pack enough to cover any and every occasion that should occur but that usually means carrying enough supplies for a small army. Nobody has fun if you have 101 things to carry and multiple bags to keep track off (in addition to your child). So try to pack only the essentials.
Assign jobs – My husband and I are terrible at working together, we are both stubborn and headstrong. The only way we can get through a day out without killing each other is to have our own jobs. So one of us looks after the child, the other watches the pushchair, if you get my drift. That way no one is stressing over having to be responsible for it all.
Timings – Always, always, always plan to leave the house at least half an hour before you actually really need to. No matter how hard we try our little one makes us late. This just takes out the stress of us actually being late for real and prevents any parent tantrums.
Throw out the routine – if you are headed somewhere exciting little ones are not going to eat or sleep when they ‘should’ they will be too busy. Just go with the flow.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep – this one doesn’t really need much explination. If you can’t do something you have promised tears are sure to be shed.
Always have an incentive for going home – bribery works a trick on this one. Nobody wants the day to end in a tantrum bacuase your little one doesn’t want to leave.
Failing all of the above we make sure there is a bottle of wine at home to help you to cope with the fall out.