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A first holiday with your baby isn't always great, what's your advice?

A choppy tide can await winter UK holidaymakers. 
BLOGGER Aqeela offered this post for Have a Lovely Time and it has brought memories flooding back of the first holiday we spent with our baby twins- in a rainy Welsh caravan park. Surrounded by sick and poo, we might as well have been at home. 

I wished the whole week away as I stood at the sink scrubbing bottles. Can you remember your first holiday with children. Was it a success?

And what tips would you offer to make it one?

Aqeela writes:

We've just come back from a week away in Cornwall. I'd been looking forward to spending some time there for ages - it has been two years since we last went and we are 'supposed' to go every year really. I just love it there, we're not really ones for going abroad, and as I have family in Cornwall it makes sense to go there. Plus the scenery, the villages, the harbours, the beaches, it's all just wonderful. I always come back feeling so inspired, and ready to get rid of the bad habits and incorporate more of the good.

Christmas production review: Peter Pan, Theatre Royal, Brighton

 

WE do things a little differently in Brighton, and panto is no exception, writes Joanne Mallon.

For the last few years, Brighton’s Theatre Royal has played host to a Christmas show, rather than a traditional pantomime.

And this year’s entertainment is a musical version of JM Barrie’s classic Peter Pan. Make no mistake, this is a quality production.

Tales from a Travelling Mum by Alice Griffin out now

TALES from a Travelling Mum: Navigating Europe with a Babe-in-Arms is Alice Griffin's story of adventures across Europe with her baby daughter.

Alice has also included contributions from fellow travelling mums.

Havealovelytime's Linda is one of them.

Alice, who blogs at Fanciful Alice, says in her marketing material for the book: "Although essentially it is a travelogue, running throughout the book you will find a healthy amount of advice related to feeding, sleeping, playing and pacifying a baby or toddler on the plane, boat, train, bus, as well as in the car.

"Hopefully this makes the book both an interesting and a practical read for new parents looking to travel with their own children.

Meet the bloggers: Camilla Chafer

Enjoying meeting the bloggers behind this site? It's Camilla's turn...

Hi-ya! That's the sound of an enthusiastic hello or me gleefully karate chopping my way through what ever daft thing the children have encouraged me to do this time. Like my enormously talented co-writers, I'm also a journalist, work I combine with having three children of 11, five and two.

But I suppose you'd like to know about my holiday habits? As a child, occasional summer holidays were spent in a static caravan on the shores of Windermere in the Lake District or riding our bikes up and down the hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds. A foreign exhange trip to Germany in 1994 was my first taste of going abroad but I didn't get to depart these shores again until 2003 when I planned a big trip to the USA taking in LA, Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida with my boyfriend and oldest son.

Photo blog: Bahamas cruise and Walt Disney World press trip

HERE are some pictures showing some of the sights on our recent press trip. Fuller reports will follow:

 

Blue Lagoon, Bahamas, where we spent a wonderful day swimming with dolphins and lazing on a beach, while our daughters played in the sea. Photo by sikulasa on Flickr.

Eating out with children: Some top tips from It's a small world after all

ONE of my favourite blogs, for the quality of information, calibre of writing and beauty of images is It's a small world after all.

As Victoria prepares for an awe-inspiring trip with her family, she makes me feel a fraud for thinking I could ever be a "travel blogger" like her.

Her most recent post, on eating out with children is a case in point.

Check it out here.

It's really interesting to read Victoria's experiences of 'family' restaurants and 'family' menus. And the advice is excellent.  

* Read more parents' views of how children are viewed in restaurants here.

When the yam yams met a yeti* by Paul Garrington

Paul, Penny, Morgan and Dylan can't believe the lengths Carol will go to, to hide a nasty cold sore.

*PAUL insisted on the title of this post. He was recently invited by Skoda to Woburn Safari Park as one of a group of bloggers to try out the new Yeti.

You can also read posts by Singleparentdad, Tattie Weasle and Tim Atkinson.

Paul went along with his mum Penny and sons, Morgan, 11 and Dylan, nine. Here's his report of a fun-filled day:

IF anybody had ever asked me to name 10 Skoda jokes I could have done so easily.

So it's fair to say I was a bit apprehensive about test driving the new Skoda Yeti. But I read some media coverage about it and could see that this latest 'beast' was a force to be reckoned with.

Meet the bloggers: Carol Garrington

IT only seems like yesterday that Carol's tenacity and determination were recognised with a national award. (Okay it was three years ago, even if I still go on about it!) Now, here she is again - inspiring others, this time in the social media spotlight.

Thanks to Mario from Someone Once Told Me for all his time with us recently. Check out his wonderful website for lots more examples of the influential things people have heard. 

*This is a dual post from Passionate Media's works blog. Watch this space for more about our lovely bloggers.

Adam Sandler introduces a new section for havealovelytime.com

THANKS to the team at the Think Parents network, (the same people who invited me, along with six other bloggers to Walt Disney World) I have been made an "ambassador" for Disney Blu Ray.

What does that mean? Well, I've been sent a stack of films to review, and first on the list, is Bedtime Stories. Here's the trailer:

Coming soon on Havealovelytime.com

THANK YOU so much to everyone who has been in touch to tell us about how much they have liked the look of this new blog.

And there have been a fair few - despite the rollercoaster pictures that have featured so far!

Thank you to everyone who has already commented on our posts or emailed to say they have appreciated the information included. Not surprisingly, my mega post about Disney has proved popular, with commenters also sharing their own tips and experiences.

Have you voted in our poll on 'Baby on Board' stickers yet or told us what you think about attitudes to children in public? Why not have your say?

Camilla and family are off to Denmark soon, so I'm looking forward to reading about that. Erica from Littlemummy has 'outed' herself as a member of the team too and she's off for a night in a lovely looking hotel in Inverness.

We've also prepared tips on packing, driving abroad and other handy hints. And we are set to review a range of Frommer's guide books.