babyurbeautiful

I've often spied people posting on Facebook about a local organic farm, and how wonderful their fry-ups are - that alone whet my appetite.

On one miserable Monday, I decided last minute to do a bit of research and check out all of the fuss.

Well, I was suitably impressed.

A soft play area - which was clean, fun, and you can enjoy food and drink whilst the little ones go wild (instead of chasing their tails).

Two different shaded play areas, plus a wooden ship-esque area and many ride-on toys dotted about.

The farm itself is small - but just right. Rabbits, goats, alpacas, meerkats, ride-on tractors - it's got all that you want from a farm.
My son got so excited and squealed with delight at how close he was to all the animals.

Monkeying around

In the lovely restaurant the staff couldn't be more attentive, Albie was presented with a box of toys to play with whilst he waited for his grub - a great touch.

Enjoying Lunch and all the attention

Lunch for me was fish cakes, why on earth didn't I have meat, because immediately I had food envy!

My son had breaded chicken goujons and fries with a side of beans - given he's 18-months he polished the lot off.

Pulled Pork Burger with 'Slaw at £9.95 with fries

In the soft play area - it's a different price, you pay separately for the soft play/farm but a deal for both for 2 adults and 1 child is £11 - you can't complain (a £3.50 saving on the normal entry). There's a few slides, a small under 3 area with giant lego, ball pit, I can't explain how knackered I got following my son in the older bit - excellent exercise!

Otherwise adults are free for soft play, and it's just the kiddy you pay for.

Everything is so good - I looked into hiring for his 2nd birthday (then saw the prices and it put me off!)



The ONLY gripe I have is the price of a tea, or drink in the soft play - it's atrocious. A cup of tea at £1.75 for literally a cup, not even a mug - come on guys, sort it out - you're doing SO well, a tea bag and some hot water - surely you can half the price!

It's such a great day out - and best of all there is an organic farm shop with fresh eggs, fresh meat, vegan, health food, all sorts of health-concscious virtuous goodies to chow-down on.

Definitely worth a visit.

Ashlyn's Farm Epping, Essex

From £3.00 for children for Farm Trail and Soft Play.

LN xx 

Don't get me wrong, the holiday was a lot of fun but it was just completely tiring for both me and the husband. I look ten times more haggard than when we left. Despite a bit of a tan, the dark circles are definitely winning and I've developed a hideous boil on my chin.

The thing is that we stayed in hotels and B&Bs which threw off any semblance of routine for Lucy and us. Because we were all in one room, we couldn't take turns to lie-in while the other did the morning wake-up and breakfast shift. As soon as Lucy was awake we were both awake.

I've concluded that self-catering is the only way to go from now on. I know that this is a no-brainer with most families, but for some reason I genuinely thought that in a hotel we would feel nice and pampered!

A couple of products saved me from looking like complete crap though.

In the morning a dose of Superdrug's Naturally Radiant 2-in-1 moisturiser and serum made my face zing and woke me up a bit. Then a dash of Clinique Self Sun face tinted lotion helped me fake a glow :-)






And for a bit of a thrill (since those were few and far between!) my husband and I tried Original Source Black Mint shower gel for men. Well, men beware! Hubby said that his balls were on fire for some time after his shower :-D and I certainly got some icy cold tingles in sensitive areas. Definitely wakes you up in the morning!

RL xx