mima08

Hiya, I am trying to come up with ideas for a holiday for 2 adults plus 2year old toddler in July that includes warm weather, pool,beach but is not based in Spain, the Balearics or the Canaries. I am trying to straddle the gulf between our previous independent travel and wanting to have some playmates for my son. Would be grateful for suggestions / ideas, thanks!

Hiya - I bought this one last week and so far am really happy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004YGAFII/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 not used it for the mixing yet, but slicing, grating, blending is ace. The reviews are true, though: the instruction booklet is abysmal, you have to figure out yourself how it all fits together (which it does, very nicely, actually). mx

I had my son there 2years ago and they were brilliant, I felt in really good hands, especially when decisions about emergency c-section had to be made. You can go on a tour to see the birthing rooms etc - it used to be on a Thursday early evening, but you better check.

Well, Virgin came back to me saying that, surprise, surprise, their fix date for the fault causing slow speeds has been moved out to end of May - that means it has been going on since Nov, with fix dates continuously being pushed out... Has anyone experience of Hyperoptic? https://www.hyperoptic.com/web/guest/home

Signed up for easyfundraising. Important tip: apparently if you shop online, your basket has to be empty when signing in to find&remind (the easyfundraising app) allow them to claim your donation - so if, like me, you keep things in your basket, empty it first, then, use the easyfundraising browser extension and shop for your items. mx esme Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "Another easy way to help raise much needed funds > for Xavier's operation is by visiting your > favourite shops online through his charity portal. > > > All of the details are below and there is no cost > to you. The charity gets paid from the retailers > who have agreed to support the cause so you can > help just by buying the things you wanted to > anyway. > > If you shop on-line and purchase from John Lewis, > Amazon, M&S, Argos, Viking and many more. Please > use my 'easyfundraising' account and the retailer > will automatically donate some money at no cost to > you. Please read on to help me get to my target: > > How it works > > easyfundraising.org.uk helps charities, schools, > sports clubs, community groups, and other good > causes to raise money when their supporters shop > online. > > It works in a similar way to many other loyalty > shopping sites, but instead of earning points when > you shop, you raise a donation for your cause > instead. > > You can shop with over 2,000 well known stores and > each will donate up to 15% of what you spend. For > example, John Lewis will donate 1%, Amazon 2.5%, > The Body Shop 6%, some insurance retailers will > even donate up to ?30 simply for taking out a > policy with them! There is no extra cost to you. > > If you would like to help Xavier?s cause in this > way: > 1.Click on ?Find a cause? and select ?Help > Xavier?. > 2.Fill out the quick form to register your > details. > 3.Find the retailer you want to shop with. > 4.Click to visit the retailer, then shop as you > normally would. > 5.Your donation will be shown in your > easyfundraising account within > 30 days. > > So if you shop on-line we are asking everyone to > shop through easyfundraising.org.uk and help raise > money for Xavier. Also, if you like please ask > your friends and family to shop on-line to help > Xavier. > > Thanks you for your support. > > Love > > Sharanjit, Gavin and Xavier xx"

Goodliz, that it's exactly the reason why I want a processor that it's good at mixing, plus I'm feed up with the flour cloud when using the hand mixer....I have this idea in my head that I'd be creating these lovely cakes and making wonderful meals if only I had a food processor....yes, I know I'm delusional :-)

Oh, never thought about tipping delivery person....where would you stop? doors that mean I'm tight? But how to afford all the tips?

Hiya, just jumping on this thread as I been wondering about getting a food processor: - do you think it can replace a hand-held mixer for making cakes dough and the like? - do you find it really chops/grates all of the veg (meaning you don't have big chunks of it left at the end?) Goodliz: I saw the offer in Sainsbury but when I looked (about 4 weeks ago) there were cheaper options on Amazon for the same items. mx

Hi, it varies by airline. Some of the cheap ones allow only the one-piece fold up plus another item (car seat OR travel cot), some specify that the other item can only be e.g. a car seat and some (Ryanair) only allow a buggy, nothing else. Best to check directly with the airline...cue: ages in the phone helpline....sorry! Mx

Hiya, I wanted to resurrect this thread to get some up-to-date feedback. I am based in SE15, in Nutbrook st and since signing up with Virgin less than 1 month ago, my broadband speeds have been extremely slow in the evenings: less than 3mbps generally, sometimes down to kbps... They tell me that there is a known problem in the area, and looking at various threads, I have no confidence this will be resolved soon. Does anyone know a) if Sky fibre unlimited or BT infinity is any good in the area and b) are all these networks all on different cables or the same infrastructure? Not sure how it works with fibre. Any advice would be great! thanks Mx

Indiana - I am glad we are not the only ones putting the cot in the bathroom - when LO was 18month, I booked what I thought was a 1 bedroom B&B in Germany -it was a 1 room place! Luckily the bathroom was huge, otherwise we would have gone to bed very early indeed... We went to this place when LO was 9 months and really enjoyed it: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/VacationRentalReview-g644244-d1675520-Apartment_in_private_residence_with_sea_view_a_c-Santa_Maria_di_Castellabate_Province_.html mx

HIya - i know what you mean about a super active one! I have been looking at this website, yours is still a little young but maybe one for later? http://www.rugbytots.co.uk Not tried them myself yet, but thining about it for next term... mx

My husband and older sons have been going to the Reach for a couple of years now and love the place - really friendly, they keep changing the routes to keep it interesting, have a nice bouldering area and even a cafe :) definitely recommend. mx

Hiya, if you have a look at the fab EDtots website, there are lots of activities for ages ranging 0-5yrs, hopefully you find something that takes your fancy: http://www.edtots.co.uk/directory/monday-activities Personally, I have not been to Cheeky C's but heard from others with older kids (3-4yrs) that it can be fun. Good luck and welcome to the area! mx

I am not sure that they are always much more expensive in all things? Having looked for things a number of times, I found the differences (on those occasions) within ?5 or so... my comparisons have mainly been with toys on amazon, and yes, of course, for the large items, it can be worth it to shop around but I don't think its fair to call Just William's prices "poncy shop prices".

Done! mx

Excellent!

Hiya, I've got a lovefilm.com instant subscription. I stream filsm on the laptop which we hook up (one cable) to the TV. Their library seems to be growing a lot at the moment. I am not sure about kids films as my LO is too young to watch films, but having had no tv in the past (and thus always went down the boxset route), it is nice to have such choice & cheaper too. You do need decent internet speed, though - if it drops below 4mb, the streaming does not work very well.

How is everyone doing? Any amazing stories of success... please? Had my 5th fast day today, I think I went slightly (15cal) over the 500 cals - but I really needed that banana! Weightloss seems to be happening, slowly so far but only started exercising last week. Although the fast days are a bit of a pain (I don't normally obsess about food that much), I do really enjoy healthy food the next day, and am starting to eat better overall... hope all is good mx

In a past life I included very short sessions using body weight in my daily routine: squats / sit-ups/ press-ups, that type of thing, before breakfast and again in the evening, just 15 min each time. It did really help on the toning front and to maintain muscle mass. Needless to say that I haven't managed to fit any of this in since LO arrived, and I only have one, but the theory is good... Have successfully managed 3rd fasting day, and find I do best if I consume most calories in stages between 12-6 in regular intervals-don't seem to miss the evening meal...now just have to stop compensating on the other days and start exercising tomorrow!

Sorry to hear and cannot give any real advice as my experience is (so far) not as extreme. But I can appreciate how distressing it is when your LO doesn't want to eat: mine has been an intermittent eater all his life (some days loads, some days next to none).... which means I sometimes resort to less-than-ideal eating scenarios, i.e. pretending to have a picnic or going out for food. Would maybe shifting the scene (as in location) help to divert her? Good luck mx

Second fast day here - going ok so far. I did the opposite on the first time, ate little meals throughout the day and was really hungry mid-morning till late afternoon, because I had kept 350cals for the evening - then I didn't feel I needed them. Seems everyone is different, will eat more during the day to see how it goes... It did feel lovely to eat the next day, though :) mx

ohhh, what are the 10 cal jellies? mx

Hiya, obviously it is down to individual experiences but here are my two pence worth: I was with the Lanes team for all my appointments, it was great to have a contact phone no and I felt very well looked after, especially after the birth, where I got a huge amount of practical and emotional support from my lovely midwife. By sheer coincidence, however, none of the Lanes team could be with me during the birth - but I had 2 wonderful hospital midwifes during my time on the labour ward and in labour... As for switching surgeries - that is not necessarily a guarantee that you get a midwife team anyway, I believe... Good luck mx

Hiya -I have been lurking on the thread and finally thought I'd jump in. I have run out of the excuse that the excess pounds are baby related - they are really chocs, cakes and wine related...so it's first fast day today! Well done supergolden on your 4th day already - reading about the diet it appears that there is little difference in the results between those who ate a low fat diet vs those who had a high fat one; althought that might be more about the health benefits rather than weight loss.... Does anyone feel the "increased energy" benefits? mx