BACK TO SCHOOL ESSENTIALS

Well, somehow we have almost made it to the end of the Summer Holidays - I know I say this every year, but where did the time go?! The long heatwave of June and July seems like a distant memory and now I'm seeing posts about Halloween and Autumn pop up on my social media. (It's still summer!!!)

Elliot is due to start in just over a week and will be going into year 1. Unlike last year when I was a bit clueless and just bought EVERYTHING I thought he'd need, this time round we feel like we know the score. My back to school shopping has been quite painless and even the trip to Clarks for new school shoes wasn't so bad!

If you're panicking a bit about the imminent school year, take a look at my essentials list and hopefully we will have you covered!

Yazoo Milkshakes - No Added Sugar
My kids love milkshakes and I was really happy to see that Yazoo have launched a No Added Sugar version of their popular flavours. These would be ideal for lunchboxes or even an after school treat. Also good for Mums - my favourite is strawberry ;)

Bacofoil - Zipper Bags
As a parent, I can't get enough of zipper bags and they come in useful for so many things especially packed lunches! They are tear proof and water resistant and come in a variety of sizes. I like to pop Elliot's sandwiches in a zipper bag and then he has something to put all his lunch rubbish in once he's finished - it makes cleaning his lunchbox so much easier.

Personalised Name Labels - Petit Fernand
I've tried a few different types of name labels including iron on ones, sticky ones and even sew in ones (who has time for that!). Petit Fernand labels are the best I've found by far, you can design the label right down to the colour of the font and I love that there are so many different images you can add to your labels. I personally buy the stick on ones as they are super quick to use and pretty much stay put even with rigorous washing.

Ace - Stain Removal Products (Can be purchased from your local Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose or Sainsburys)
I would never have put this as an essential prior to my son starting school but I didn't realise just how dirty he would get!! His lovely white tshirts were coming home grubbier and grubbier but this stuff literally is Ace, and so good at removing stains. I find that roast dinner days are the worst - I will pop a pic up at the bottom so you can see for yourself! (And it came up like new with a bit of Ace!)

School Uniforms from Pep&Co
When you think of Poundland, you wouldn't automatically think of school uniforms but did you know they have their own fashion label, Pep&Co? They have some fab school bits and you can pick up an entire uniform from £6 which is one of the cheapest on the market!

Able Labels - Personalised Pencils
When I was at school (erm...a few years back!), I was always envious of the children who had personalised stationary. Able Labels do lovely pencil packs which would be ideal for pencil cases and they are all hand personlised which gives a beautiful finish. I'm totally envious of Elliot's new personalised pencils!

Sistema Bottles (Various prices and can be found in all of the big supermarkets)
We've been through quite a lot of water bottles this past year but Sistema is the brand we keep coming back to. I love the fact they are sturdy and don't leak, but they are easy for little hands to open too. My kitchen is starting to look like a Sistema shrine because we have a bit of a collection of them, all in different sizes! 

Fluffy Llama notebook - Ryman (£5.99)
I love stationary and I remember being so excited about going back to school because it meant new pencil cases and notebooks! Llama's seem to be in fashion right now so this fluffy notebook would make you instantly cool and popular with your school friends. I'm wondering if (at 37) I'm too old for a fluffy llama notebook.....

I hope you're feeling organised about the new school year started. Do you have any essentials I may have forgotten?! 

Roast dinner lunch day - when stain removal is very much needed!! 

Why Should You Choose Artificial Grass

Why Should You Choose Artificial Grass

Having grass near homes and office workplaces are considered aesthetic. With the advent of science,

the trend of choosing artificial grass over natural grass is taking priority day by day. If you are skeptical

about choosing artificial grass over natural ones, here is why you should choose artificial grass.

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/architecture-clouds-estate-exterior-280222/

1. Water Bill Saving

Grass does not grow anyway we want it to. To keep it in a healthy condition, you need to cut and

water it regularly. Getting an artificial grass sheet will reduce your expenses of water bills

tremendously with little to no effort on its maintenance.

2. Evergreen

Don’t get us wrong – natural grass is awesome at spring and summer but what happens during

autumn and winter? The grass starts to fade away. It turns brown and starts to disappear in the form

of patches. Now, your home doesn’t have the same beauty it had during the peak season of natural

grass. If you opt for artificial grass, it will maintain its look forever. Organize house parties, formal

dinners and earn the respect of your colleagues, praising you because of your beauty aesthetics.

3. Helpful for Dog/Pet Owners:

If you are a dog owner, growing natural grass is a big problem for you. Natural grass is not synthetically

prepared from machines and so, it hurts the paws of your dogs. Dogs love the even symmetry of

artificial grass because their paws feel them as a soft environment. They love to walk, take a nap on

artificial grass and leaving your dog in a better mood.

4. Necessity for Tenants and Landowners

Landowners need tenants to fill up their homes but one question constantly horrifies them: what if

the tenant does not take good care of the house and lawn? As for lawn, if you have natural grass,

you (as a tenant) would have to take care of it. This costs money and most tenants don’t spend on

grass, making it grow unevenly, from all sides. As a landowner, you can invest in a onetime artificial

grass patch and viola – you won’t have to deal with troubles of natural grass.

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-brown-concrete-bungalow-under-clear-blue-sky-210617/

5. Outdoor Sports

Cricket, football, lawn tennis – all of them can be enjoyed on a single sheet of artificial grass. Thanks

to no cutting, no watering, no cleaning – you will have a consistently lush green field at your

doorsteps. So, you can play any game you want with family and friends.

6. Favored by Children and Weak Boned Adults

When children are playing and they fall on a hard patch of uneven natural grass, they can hurt

themselves. Uneven grass is also a problem for adults having weak bone structure. If the fall is

hard, they may suffer from a permanent bone deformation. You can reduce their injuries by

installing artificial grass.

**Sponsored post

Summer Holiday Fun at Mighty Claws Adventure Golf Bournemouth

Last June, we went along to the opening of Mighty Claws Adventure Golf in Bournemouth and since then it has been on Elliot's "Favourite places" list and somewhere that he always asks to visit.

Just in time for the Summer Holidays, we were able to go back this week for a round of adventure golf and some yummy food in the restaurant, The Kitchen Club!

Doing his best dinosaur impression! 

Mighty Claws Adventure Golf is located at Playgolf Bournemouth and just a ten minute drive from the seafront. As you work your way through the epic 18 holes of the Mighty Claws Valley course, you will spot scary animatronic raptors, a giant waterfall (although the recent heatwave has dried up the river somewhat!), a whole host of  ancient prehistoric creatures, ginormous T-Rex and even a smoking volcano!

Each hole gives you tips on the best way to get a hole in one - although if you're anything like me, you just whack it and hope for the best! Some are harder than others, you even have to hit the ball over the river in places which can be tricky. But if the ball plops in there are nets to fish them out with!

An exciting new activity to try this Summer is "Find your Fortune" Gem Mining. Grab your gemstone mix from the reception and race over to the water sluice and see what treasures you'll find as you wash away the prehistoric dirt! (This is £3.50pp or £3ppwith your Mighty Claws entry ticket)

We headed into the Kitchen Club after our golf and couldn't wait to get stuck into the pizzas which are all handmade and cooked in their fancy pizza oven. They are some of the nicest pizzas we have tried and always taste lovely and fresh! The staff were really helpful too - Elliot isn't a fan of cheese so he was able to have his half without, and he even got extra toppings to compensate.

The Kitchen Club have also recently launched a delicious new milkshake menu featuring yummy flavours including Strawberry Shortcake, Oreo Cheesecake and Chocoholic. I have to confess that milkshakes are one of my weaknesses so I was very excited to try them! As you can see, they got the thumbs up from Elliot :)

The celebrate the launch, you can get a whopping 20% off your milkshakes with your Mighty Golf ticket!

Mighty Claws Adventure Golf is open 7 days a week (except Christmas Day), 9am-930pm weekdays, 8pm weekends. 

Ticket Prices: Kids: £6.50, Under 4’s: £3 and Adults: £9.50. Concessions and group prices

available.

Visit www.mightyclaws.co.uk / or visit their Facebook page @mightyclawsuk for more information.