Our perfect family holiday in the sun

When Mark Warner asked me what the perfect holiday was for my family I really had to apply some thought. We are all quite different and holidays can be interesting (to say the least) as we try to find good compromises to ensure that everyone gets to do something they fancy.

First off you have my eldest son and he is all about the water. He announced to me the other day 'Mum, you know those holidays my friends go on where their parents just sit by a pool all day and the kids play in the water and I always said they were so boring? Well I think I am ready for one now'. So at the grand age of 11 years I can confirm that JJ is ready to go abroad, he wants to swim, play water volleyball, hang out with mates his own age and have a good time.

Walking the dog

I actually think perhaps this post should be titled 'the dog walking us' because until Archie gets to the park and has his good run around all he wants to do is pull us there!

This week whilst Daddy was working, the kids and I escaped to see Nanny and once the storm had passed we were keen to get outside and run some energy off. Who better to help us than Nanny's dog Archie?

We all headed to the local park together and enjoyed playing ball with him and chasing each other. It really is the simple things that provide the most fun at times. JJ wanted to stay home with his iPad and play some games as we had been out shopping most of the day but I'm so glad I put my foot down and told him he had to come with us as he really enjoyed himself once out.

This the last post in my series posted as part of the Mark Warner Family Active challenge. They asked us to get active as a family for at least 4 hours in October. I can confirm that we have probably had at least 2-6 hours active as a family every week in October and much of that is thanks to Mark Warner and their prompt. It is fairly easy to get younger children moving but the key I think, is in the adults setting the example and this is where we have a made a real effort this month.

• First we all played basketball together
• Then we barn danced the night away, what a blast that was
• Next the girls and I went out on a wet woodland walk
• Last week I shared with you some of favourite our 'all family' activities such as beach walks and giant hula hooping
• Then this week it is the dog walking. I'm sure you'll agree we have made the most of the October family active challenge!

Have you had a good week, how have you managed to get active this week?

I'm also linking up this post to Fiona's Country Kids - click on the badge to head over and see what others have got up to in their Country Kids exploits.

 

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Getting active without even realising it!

For us moving to the countryside three months ago has made a massive impact on our family activity level but I realise it is a bit radical for all families to move to the countryside to be able to get moving more and having fun as a family. So here are some simple ideas for you to do as a family and they don't even have to cost any money and it is half-term most places, so how perfect -

1)   Visit your local park, they are everywhere and don't just have to be for the kids. These big swings that are popping up everywhere are perfect for adults too.

2)   Go for a walk along the beach - stones or sand they are both great and give you a workout as you struggle to walk along them. Stop to enjoy the view and skim some stones too.

3)   Giant hula hooping, OK it is a bit different but so much fun and none of us had any idea we would be able to do it. Far easier than the girls small hoops!

4)   Local free exercise equipment at parks. We love all this exercise equipment and there are some really great examples around. Poole Park in Dorset is great and has loads of stopping stations all round the lake. We have found a great park in Hailsham, East Sussex near our home too.

5)   Scooting. One of the favourite things my kids get up to is scooting, they do it everywhere but long paths are most definitely their favourite, so things like promenades and parks are great. Then dh and I have to jog along at the side to keep up with them.

Just a few ways that we like to have some fun being active as a family. How does your family like to get active together?

Have you had a good week, how have you managed to get active this week?

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!

Barn dancing the night away

Last week I posted that Mark Warner had set our family the challenge to spend four hours this month together being active and having fun. Quite coincidentally we had paid to go to our local barn dance and decided that we ought to use that time towards our four hour target.  This is probably the most active dh and I have been in a long time and we were very happy and having a good laugh as the sweat poured off us.

Sorry about the quality of the photos, we were too busy having fun to focus on my photography skills!

I could not get the kids to sit down for even one moment, they were having such a wonderful time. I would definitely advocate a barn dance as a way to have some family fun and get fit at the same time. It was hilarious to watch the children and see them grow in confidence as they got to know more of our neighbours. Miss E had vowed before we went that she would not dance with anyone she did not know and of course you can't say that at a barn dance as you change partners every 30 seconds. Miss M was tentative at first with her broken arm but after 20 minutes or so she was fully engaged and wooing all the older people. JJ was his normal self and policing that people were doing the dances right and changing partners in the correct direction etc.

I think the pictures speak for themselves, we had one of the best nights ever as a family and it was especially wonderful to my husband looking so very happy, young and relaxed.

You can even take a peek at Daddy, JJ and Miss E taking part in one of the dances -

 

Have you had a good week, how have you managed to get active this week?

I'm linking up this post to Fiona's Country Kids - click on the badge to head over and see what others have got up to in their Country Kids exploits.

 

Disclosure: For posting about the activities we get up to this month I will be entered into a competition to win a Mark Warner holiday, I am not receiving anything for writing this post and of course, as always my words are honest and my own.

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!

A family that plays together....

A family that plays together, stays together or so the old saying goes and in fact more recently research has found that this is true, if your family share values, beliefs and interests then statistically you are more likely to stay together in your relationship/ as a family.

I'm pleased to say that we do share values and beliefs as a family but our interests are more diverse and at first thought this seems OK to me, variety is good, right? But then think about it a bit more and it really does make sense that if you are doing things together and particularly having fun doing something a little strenuous that gets the endorphins going and gives you a natural high that it glues you all together just a bit firmer.

Since we moved to the countryside a couple of months ago getting fit and healthy has been a big focus for me. I'm enjoying my lakeside walks most days and loving getting out with the kids on the weekends to go foraging and exploring. Dh works some weekends and has therefore not been out with us as much as we may hope and it was an email from Mark Warner Holidays last week that made me realise we need to do something about that.

When we first moved here it was the height of summer and school was on break so each day JJ would get us all out after dinner for a walk or to play a game, it was good having that special time together. Family time he christened it.  Sadly as the evenings have drawn in and school is back on we seemed to have lost some momentum with this but we have a target to meet now. Mark Warner have asked us commit to getting out and having some fun as a family for at least four hours during October as part of their 'Stay Active Family' challenge.

When I first read about the challenge I was a bit dismissive, Miss M broke her elbow a week or so ago and she is in a cast so my immediate thought was that we would not be able to join in. But musing on it, I realised that actually this is exactly what we need and I do not need to make any excuses.

So last Friday it was JJ's birthday and we headed up to the staffroom to join the staff for afternoon tea and a surprise cake for JJ. Another of the families who live on site came up too and we just launched into an impromptu game of basketball. Is there a better way to burn the freshly eaten cake off? This is not the sort of high-energy game that I'm normally up for but I had fun helping Miss M realise that she can do things with her arm cast on, we just have to be careful. I whooped for joy as I scored a goal, or is it called a basket? who knows, it does not matter we had fun.

JJ and daddy got competitive together and Miss E had great fun with one of the volunteers as they ran round and round. I can report than no-one got whacked by the ball and we did in fact have a brilliant time for the half hour we played, as you can see from the photos.

I hope seeing the pictures of this old fat bird playing a bit of basketball might inspire you to try something fun and new with your children. It is so easy nowadays for kids to just sit inside with their iPads or laptops and they are missing out on the wealth of fun we had as youngsters riding on our bikes or playing games such as 50:50 home or Stuck in the mud. It seems universal that kids just want to spend time with their parents and if we lead the way to an active life that is what they will learn and live.

Do please leave me a comment and give me some ideas for fun activities we can do together this month, or tweet me and use the hashtag #MWactive. 

Thanks, Mich x

I'm linking up this post to Fiona's Country Kids - click on the badge to head over and see what others have got up to in their Country Kids exploits.

 

Disclosure: For posting about the activities we get up to this month I will be entered into a competition to win a Mark Warner holiday, I am not receiving anything for writing this post and of course, as always my words are honest and my own.

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!