Our trip to France 2nd - 5th Aug

My brother and his family live in Lille, France so we went to visit them. We = my parents, Lizzie and I.

Last time we went was 3 years ago for their wedding and we travelled on the Euro tunnel. This time we went by ferry which I was dreading as I dislike boats and easily get travel sick.

Thankfully it was ok, nice and flat.



Upon arrival in Calais it was my turn to drive, driving on the right is weird but you soon get used to it, luckily we borrowed a sat nav with European maps so it was easy. It took an hour to get to my brother's house.

We checked in at the B&B we were staying at, but they didn't speak any English and our French is limited but my brother is fluent in French and his wife is French so they got us settled in.

It was a lovely house, very well decorated and comfortable.



We were on the second floor and my Dad had the third floor, lots of steps!



On Saturday we went into Lille, it's a lovely city and it was very quiet.






I saw these in the window of a deli, thankfully we didn't try them!



Lizzie loved spending time with her cousins, they all enjoyed each others company.



We visited the Lego store.





After lunch, we found a geocache :) my first one outside of the UK


On Sunday we visited the Citadel which is a fort that was built between 1667-1670. There's a zoo there which is free!









We had a picnic here and found another 2 geocaches.

Lizzie enjoyed the zoo






All too soon it was time to say au revoir, it had been a nice couple of days but I was ready to come home (such a home bird)


A welcome sight


oh and of course I sent some postcards





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Clearing cobwebs

This morning it rained most of the morning, the kids were happy playing and making dens but by the afternoon I needed to get out. It had stopped raining so we headed to Lepe beach for a walk. It was windy and grey but the sea air was wonderful. I love being by the sea, so any weather is fine with me.


I love this house, I'd love to live here, I imagine it would amazing being there in a storm, the waves crashing up on it.


We walked down as far as the lighthouse, along the rocks looking at the fossils. The kids had great fun walking on the sea defences, made from wood.


I took the opportunity to take some photos and play with stones!









We then headed back for an ice-cream with the cobwebs well and truly blown away!



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A day trip to London without breaking the bank!

Lizzie has been asking to go to London for a while now but we've been putting it off due to the cost. Train tickets would be around £150 for the four of us! So we looked into coach travel but I don't travel well on the coach so that was a no too! The only other option was to drive, madness I hear you say?!? Well, not so. My partner put out a request for suggestions where to park on FB and we had a few. We went for Hounslow West station, it was £5 to park and it's on the Piccadilly line so took us straight into the centre. Children under 10 travel free so we just paid £8.90 each for an all day travel card.
We changed at Kensington South (the stop for the museums) then took the District line to St James Park. We started our tour at Buckingham palace and saw the end of the changing of the guard.



From here we walked through St James park, through the Mall and onto Trafalgar Square. We had lunch at McDonalds as I had some luncheon vouchers I earnt through pinecone surveys.
After lunch we walked down to Downing Street, and across to the Thames opposite the London Eye.

After some photos and a quick rest (and an Ice-Cream) we headed to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

From here we took the tube to Kensington South to visit the Natural history museum (free entry) The queue at 2.30pm was long! But it was moving quickly. We decided to stick it out but said we'd just do the dinosaurs today as it deserves a whole day there.

It's such a beautiful building, I loved it. Having been as a child I hadn't realised just how stunning it is. I'm intrigued about it, was it built for the museum?
So all tired out we headed back, after buying some postcards of course!

So I think we've proved it can be done without spending a fortune.
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Rhino Hunting - 26th July

Southampton is home to beautiful rhinos from July until September to celebrate Marwell Wildlife's 40th anniversary. This is a world class mass public art event.

My cousin Tom Joyce had designed and painted one - Where's Ralph for Marwell Wildlife. Ralph is a penguin at the zoo without any feathers so he wears a specially designed wetsuit to protect him.

On Friday 26th July Lizzie and I went in with my Mum to see some of them.

This was the first one we saw, Cosmos.



We had a lovely day exploring and finding the Rhinos. There were some smaller ones that local schools had designed, Lizzie was excited to see the one her infant school had designed - Rumple, but I forgot to get a photo of him! (Or her)

We spent some time in the library and the art gallery looking for them. Whilst in the art gallery I enjoyed looking at pictures of beach huts and VW Campers painted by a local artist Louise Abbott.
Louise Abbott

There is an app you can download to search for the rhinos or you can get a free trail map from the art gallery.

Here are some of the Rhinos







And this is my cousin's Rhino





So if you're looking for a free day out, visit Southampton for a spot of Rhino hunting.

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About me

Hello,


I've decided to start a blog mainly as a diary so I can look back on it in the future.

I have one daughter, Lizzie. I live with my partner on the South coast, close to the New Forest. As a family we enjoy cycling, walking, geocaching and exploring new places.

I enjoy reading, being outside, photography and spending time with my family.

I love beach huts, bicycles, VW campers, writing letters and swapping postcards. And pretty stationery!

I really enjoy the simple things in life, fresh air, sunsets, smell of cut grass, good company and most of all making a lifetime of memories.




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Location:Parkside,Totton,United Kingdom