OK so this may not be the most interesting blogpost in the history of the internet, but I hope you'll find it useful.
We're off to Larmer Tree Festival this weekend (I am so excited!!!) and I thought I'd share our family festival packing list with you. Why? To save you the hassle of starting your own one from scratch of course.
This should be a good starting point for any camping trip or family weekend away. Here goes:
MUM'S HANDBAG
Festi Tickets
Festi Programme
Pen
Directions
Mobile– fully charged
Purse
Sunglasses
Small mirror
Dummies & holders
Mummy's bag:
Camera – fully charged
Clothes
Fancy dress incl sunglasses and white shoes & socks (its a 1950's theme)
Jeans
Jumper
Cardigan
Top
Dress & matching warm up eg leggings/tights
Coat
Yoga trousers & top (let's see if I actually make those 9:30am yoga workshops!)
Pyjamas
3xpants
Socks
Warm socks (bed)
Flip flops (wear?)
Other shoes
Wellies
wellie socks
Jewellery
Wilkinet baby carrier & instructions
Toiletries
Hairbrush & band
Make-up bag (include lipstain, sheer foundation, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara,blusher)
Body glitter
Large mirror
Make up remover wipes
Sunscreen lotion
deodorant
night moisturiser
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Nail cleaner
Sanitary protection - mooncup/tampons
Batiste (a life saver - dry hair shampoo. Also has the added bonus of making your hair look thicker. Love it!)
misc
Brolly
water bottle
Daddy’s bag:
Pyjamas
Bed socks
Pants x 3
Socks x 2
Jeans
Shorts
jumper
T-shirts x 2
Jacket
Warm coat
sun hat
Fancy dress stuff?
Packamacs
Boots/shoes
Rucksack for daytime
ear plugs
Toiletries
Toiletry bag
deodorant
moisturiser
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Ella’s bag:
Teddy
Pyjamas
Bed socks
Pants x 3
Socks x 2
Jeans
Leggings
Dress
jumper
T-shirts x 2
Cardigan/zip top
Warm coat
sun hat
crocs
trainers
wellies & wellie socks
Toothbrush & toothpaste
hairbrush & bands
Bubble wand
Baby Lissy’s bag:
Warm sleeping bag
Full body coat
Rain mac
Teddy
Pyjamas
Dresses x 2
Leggings x 2
Jeans
T-shirts x 3
Socks x 2
Cardigan/zip top
Lots of nappies
baby blankets
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Lissy changing bag:
travel changing mat
4xnappies
wipes
bum cream
spare clothes
socks
shoes
food pouches & snacks
water bottle
sun hat
changing mat
nappy sacks
fabric bib
snack box
Buggy
Full blackout shade
Raincover
Tent
Tent,Stakes, poles, mallet
Doormat (seems overkill but hugely useful for keeping the tent floor clean)
dustpan & brush (ditto)
airbeds x 2
sleeping bags x 3
yoga mat & under bed rolls
El duvet & pillow
Parents duvet & pillows
Extra blankets
knee pillows
2 x face towels, 3 x flannels
Torches & batteries
Camping chairs
Foldable stools
Picnic blanket
Bungee cords
Duct tape
Swiss army knife
lanterns
Bunting Flag
Food items
Cereal
Porridge & sultanas&fructose
Fruit
Snacks eg flapjacks,nuts
Pasta & sauce & salad
stirfry veg, ready-cooked rice & sauce
Picky bits incl sliced bread,cheese,houmous,antipasti veg, olives,veg&normal ham
Beans and veggie sausage tins
Tea
Milk
Kara (non-dairy milk for me and Liss)
Coffee & filter jug (just cos we're camping there's no need to put up with instant coffee!)
herbal tea bags incl redbush
Water
Beer,wine
cooking oil
Baby food pouches
Baby snacks
bowls & cutlery forks/knives/spoons x 3
Bib (washable)
tea mugs x3
Camp Stove & fuel
table
lighter
Can opener/bottle opener
kettle
2xsaucepans (1 lid)
sharp knife & chopping board
colander
wooden spoon
Ella water bottle
Washing up bowl & liquid & scrubber&brush & 2 x dishtowels
few clothes pegs
Misc
Bin bags - large and smaller
loo rolls
Hand sanitizer
First aid
Plasters
El ear moisturiser & cream from docs
lavender essential oil (for burns,cuts,insect bites etc)
Lissy chest rub
Echinacea & dropper & cup (Lissy's getting over a heavy cold)
teething granules
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Status Anxiety
Since we got back from camping in the New Forest, where Ella roamed in relative freedom with other people's kids, I've let Ella off the leash a little. She's pretty sensible and road safety aware so she's now allowed to cycle unsupervised around the few streets that make up our neighbourhood.
She gets a taste of freedom, I get a break and everyone's happy.
The other day she made a friend while out on her bike. Ella doesn't go to school in the village so it's a wonderful thing that she has a new play mate living just seconds away from us. She returned home with a phone number, written on a scrap of paper by the girl's mother, and a verbal invitation to play at their house the next morning.
I was so pleased for her that I called her dad to alter our childcare agreement (he was due to have her that day). I called the mother and found myself rushing into waffle mode in an attempt to prove I'm not a negligent mother. I mean, who else lets their seven year old out alone nowadays?
After gushing about Ella's 'just down the street for ten minutes' boundaries, my having a new baby and Ella needing to do play outside when I'm busy with said baby and she's bored etc etc I eventually paused for breath and New Friend's Mother (NFM) invited me to drop Ella off and stay for a coffee. Lovely.
The next day, I discovered NFM has a HUGE house with a swimming pool and zip wire for the kids to play on. What a result for Ella!
While having tea with NFM, who seems very nice, and her neighbour who had popped round (also very nice) NFM's father-in-law appeared and was introduced to me as "Lord So-and-So". Actually, she said his first name but I've substitituted So-and-So in respect of his privacy.
Now, I've been to boarding school with a Right Honourable so I'm not phased by aristos but I got to thinking that my lower social status might be a barrier to Ella's burgeoning friendship.
I'm sure NFM doesn't expect her daughter to hang out solely with the progeny of nobility, but I suddenly felt acutely aware of the class divide and anxious that I would be found out and promptly discarded along with my daughter.
You see, I still retain a vaguely posh boarding school accent. My parents, a teacher and a retired Army Major, are stoically middle class. The majority of parents at Ella's state school think I'm posh (in the main, they don't 'speak proper like I does' despite living in Henley and they're mainly blue collar workers or can't be arsed to work). It could be misleading to someone I've just met.
However, I'm married to a plumber, I live in low rent accommodation (albeit in a very posh area) and my approach to housework is lax on a good day and fairly shocking the rest of the time.
Also, thanks to her peer group, Ella now says 'fanks' instead of 'thanks', regularly drops her Ts, favours the word 'innit' and has stopped calling me 'mummy' in favour of 'mum'. I may have slipped down the ranks somewhat since leaving school.
So, during tea with NFM I became concerned that Ella and I may soon be deemed to be decidedly NOCD ( a deplorable yet strangely amusing phrase used by Army officers' wives when assessing new aquaintances, their child's new boyfriend/girlfriend etc meaning 'Not Our Class Darling' - and by implication not to be associated with).
NFM asked that I pick Ella up from her play date slap bang in the middle of Alicia's nap time. Because Alicia, and of course I, had suffered an unusually early start that morning I explained how keen I was to stay at home so Little Liss could have her full nap so please could she send Ella home at noon.
Suspiciously, to me anyway, she offered to drop Ella off instead (it's less than a minute's walk to my house). I casually breezed 'no need to worry, I am happy for Ella to make her own way back' whilst secretly cringeing at the current disarray of my home and garden.
Unfortunately, NFM ignored my preference and turned up at my teeny tiny two bedroom bungalow with her kids and Ella.
Thank god they didn't come to the door but, horrendously, they lingered by the gate - gazing in wide eyed surprise/horror at the knee high grass on my lawn (we've been away for godsake and busy, um, very, very busy), John's white van parked outside and the rolls of old carpet dumped in next door's garden (they're in the middle of redecorating).
To quote that floppy haired chap in Four Weddings and a Funeral Oh f*ck. F*ckity f*ckity f*ck.
On the bright side, J has now mowed the lawn in a fit of shame and I have taken to sweeping the floors once a day (it used to be once a fortnight) - and am contemplating mopping them in the near future. Once I figure out where we keep the mop...
She gets a taste of freedom, I get a break and everyone's happy.
The other day she made a friend while out on her bike. Ella doesn't go to school in the village so it's a wonderful thing that she has a new play mate living just seconds away from us. She returned home with a phone number, written on a scrap of paper by the girl's mother, and a verbal invitation to play at their house the next morning.
I was so pleased for her that I called her dad to alter our childcare agreement (he was due to have her that day). I called the mother and found myself rushing into waffle mode in an attempt to prove I'm not a negligent mother. I mean, who else lets their seven year old out alone nowadays?
After gushing about Ella's 'just down the street for ten minutes' boundaries, my having a new baby and Ella needing to do play outside when I'm busy with said baby and she's bored etc etc I eventually paused for breath and New Friend's Mother (NFM) invited me to drop Ella off and stay for a coffee. Lovely.
The next day, I discovered NFM has a HUGE house with a swimming pool and zip wire for the kids to play on. What a result for Ella!
While having tea with NFM, who seems very nice, and her neighbour who had popped round (also very nice) NFM's father-in-law appeared and was introduced to me as "Lord So-and-So". Actually, she said his first name but I've substitituted So-and-So in respect of his privacy.
Now, I've been to boarding school with a Right Honourable so I'm not phased by aristos but I got to thinking that my lower social status might be a barrier to Ella's burgeoning friendship.
I'm sure NFM doesn't expect her daughter to hang out solely with the progeny of nobility, but I suddenly felt acutely aware of the class divide and anxious that I would be found out and promptly discarded along with my daughter.
You see, I still retain a vaguely posh boarding school accent. My parents, a teacher and a retired Army Major, are stoically middle class. The majority of parents at Ella's state school think I'm posh (in the main, they don't 'speak proper like I does' despite living in Henley and they're mainly blue collar workers or can't be arsed to work). It could be misleading to someone I've just met.
However, I'm married to a plumber, I live in low rent accommodation (albeit in a very posh area) and my approach to housework is lax on a good day and fairly shocking the rest of the time.
Also, thanks to her peer group, Ella now says 'fanks' instead of 'thanks', regularly drops her Ts, favours the word 'innit' and has stopped calling me 'mummy' in favour of 'mum'. I may have slipped down the ranks somewhat since leaving school.
So, during tea with NFM I became concerned that Ella and I may soon be deemed to be decidedly NOCD ( a deplorable yet strangely amusing phrase used by Army officers' wives when assessing new aquaintances, their child's new boyfriend/girlfriend etc meaning 'Not Our Class Darling' - and by implication not to be associated with).
NFM asked that I pick Ella up from her play date slap bang in the middle of Alicia's nap time. Because Alicia, and of course I, had suffered an unusually early start that morning I explained how keen I was to stay at home so Little Liss could have her full nap so please could she send Ella home at noon.
Suspiciously, to me anyway, she offered to drop Ella off instead (it's less than a minute's walk to my house). I casually breezed 'no need to worry, I am happy for Ella to make her own way back' whilst secretly cringeing at the current disarray of my home and garden.
Unfortunately, NFM ignored my preference and turned up at my teeny tiny two bedroom bungalow with her kids and Ella.
Thank god they didn't come to the door but, horrendously, they lingered by the gate - gazing in wide eyed surprise/horror at the knee high grass on my lawn (we've been away for godsake and busy, um, very, very busy), John's white van parked outside and the rolls of old carpet dumped in next door's garden (they're in the middle of redecorating).
To quote that floppy haired chap in Four Weddings and a Funeral Oh f*ck. F*ckity f*ckity f*ck.
On the bright side, J has now mowed the lawn in a fit of shame and I have taken to sweeping the floors once a day (it used to be once a fortnight) - and am contemplating mopping them in the near future. Once I figure out where we keep the mop...
Monday, 17 August 2009
Thank you for Waiting
Camping in the Witterings; having my perceptions changed at Butlins; increasing two cup sizes on my birthday; reviving my natural healing abilities; falling back in love with my husband; being a reflexology case study.
Normal blogging service will resume shortly. We thank you for your patience.
Normal blogging service will resume shortly. We thank you for your patience.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Time for a Lie-in
A lovely thing happened today. Something beautiful and rare.
Ella woke up at seven this morning as usual, and stayed in her room for half an hour until it was the official 'wakey up time'. What's my secret?
Ah...
Last night we finally got her new alarm clock out and played the Teach Me Time Game. Ella got to level 3 and was chuffed to bits.
I then programmed it to go off at 7.30am, and explained that now she is a Grown Up with her own Alarm Clock it would be lovely if she played in her room and only woke Mummy when the clock went off.
It was a long shot, I really didn't think she'd do it.
But she did.
The Teach Me alarm clock has now risen to Top Birthday Present ever in my book.
When I ordered it I was a bit unsure as it's quite pricey for a teaching toy which at the time (scuse the pun) I wasn't sure if she'd use much or not. But it's clearly worth its weight in gold.
We're off camping soon and I can't wait. Going to Wittering with friends as Part 1 of my birthday celebrations - see here for the rest. Not sure I'll get away with keeping Els shushed up in her partition for another lie-in as, in my experience, kids+camping=much excitement and early waking.
Still, there's enough kids going that I can just chuck her out to play with them in the mornings and stick my ear plugs in for maximum snooze time. Bliss.
A couple of friends have gone to the campsite already. The first report is very promising. Sarada's text last night said:
'It's fab! Rain stopped and blue skies emerged as we were arriving - amazing nearly full moon lighting up the sky! Still settling down the kids (at 11pm). They're so excited. If we're quiet we can hear the sea - I love that sound. So we're all looking forward to a wonderful weekend.'
So am I!
Ella woke up at seven this morning as usual, and stayed in her room for half an hour until it was the official 'wakey up time'. What's my secret?
Ah...
Last night we finally got her new alarm clock out and played the Teach Me Time Game. Ella got to level 3 and was chuffed to bits.
I then programmed it to go off at 7.30am, and explained that now she is a Grown Up with her own Alarm Clock it would be lovely if she played in her room and only woke Mummy when the clock went off.
It was a long shot, I really didn't think she'd do it.
But she did.
The Teach Me alarm clock has now risen to Top Birthday Present ever in my book.
When I ordered it I was a bit unsure as it's quite pricey for a teaching toy which at the time (scuse the pun) I wasn't sure if she'd use much or not. But it's clearly worth its weight in gold.
We're off camping soon and I can't wait. Going to Wittering with friends as Part 1 of my birthday celebrations - see here for the rest. Not sure I'll get away with keeping Els shushed up in her partition for another lie-in as, in my experience, kids+camping=much excitement and early waking.
Still, there's enough kids going that I can just chuck her out to play with them in the mornings and stick my ear plugs in for maximum snooze time. Bliss.
A couple of friends have gone to the campsite already. The first report is very promising. Sarada's text last night said:
'It's fab! Rain stopped and blue skies emerged as we were arriving - amazing nearly full moon lighting up the sky! Still settling down the kids (at 11pm). They're so excited. If we're quiet we can hear the sea - I love that sound. So we're all looking forward to a wonderful weekend.'
So am I!
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Feeling Quiet
I know I've been really quite recently. I will be back on top blogging form soon I promise.
For a week and a half after our honeymoon I was going to bed as soon as I'd read Ella a bedtime story. That's about 7.30-8pm. Yes, really. Call it jet lag, call it post-marital fatigue. I call it bliss actually. However, sleeping so early leaves little time for any other activity (such as blogging).
Then, after we'd got back from an Easter camping weekend in Corfe Castle, Dorset at the excellent Woodlands campsite I got the tragic news that a beautiful friend of mine, Ali, had died in a car accident, along with her boyfriend.
She was only 27, and the smiliest ray of sunshine I have ever known. She'll always be remembered with love - by me and her many, many loved ones. Her funeral is this weekend. I'd like to write more about her but not just yet. I haven't really felt like writing at all.
I promise I'll be back - soon.
Keep checking...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
