Summer in the city (plus Trunki Paddlepak GIVEAWAY)

Posted by abigailemily August 06, 2015

Summer in the city (plus Trunki Paddlepak GIVEAWAY)

With the start of the holidays and endless long days stretching before us Theo and I have been trying to take advantage of our time without the restrictions of nursery drop offs and pick ups. Although I'll be the first to admit I do miss those few hours in the afternoons to myself, it has given us a chance to leave the little bubble of our neighbourhood in search of new adventures.

In term time I find its so easy to get sucked into your daily routine, and when at nursery Theo used to start at 12.30 and end at 3.30, meaning we usually stayed close to home in the mornings, just going to swimming lessons or to the park. Sometimes it's easy to forget you live in a bustling city with so many fun, and free I might add, things to do just a short bus ride away.

Bristol is an amazing city, and it's times like these I fall in love with it all over again. I love how each area is different from the next, with its own set of parks and shops and interesting things to see and do. I love the centre and the docks which never fail to cheer me up with their soft bustle of people enjoying walks by the riverside. I also love how easy it is to get out to the countryside and explore the wealth of amazing parks and forest walks. Readers of this blog will know how much I love to escape the city and I have a few firm favourite places to gallivant off to. One other thing I love about Bristol is that without a doubt, particularly in the summer months, there is always a festival or event happening somewhere in the city. There's the nature festival, local street fairs, the big harbourside festival (which we actually tend to avoid as its so busy!) the amazing balloon fiesta and many many more. We have also been loving the Shaun the Sheep trail and it has been the basis for many a day trip so far this summer. It gets us out the house, is free and easy to do at our own pace - plus a great way to explore the city!

A few weekends ago we decided to head south in the city to Bedminster to check out the local street art festival that is upfest. We hardly ever venture south of the river, but every time we do we always say "we should come here more often" and this time was no exception. Theo has always been happy to tag along on our adventures, but now that he's getting older we've been encouraging him to make his own choices about what we get up to, and really taking an interest in his surroundings. He has his favourite places to visit in the city, but I think the great thing about growing up in a city like Bristol is that it really opens children up to a wide range of diversity and I really want Theo to embrace that.

So before we set off on our adventure to the south Theo packed his new Paddlepak bag for the day and we encouraged him to think of the things he may need. It's the perfect size for him to carry around his things and its great as it encourages his independence more. We were also recently given this fun Kidizoom camera from Vtech for Theo to try out and to document our outings. We've been contemplating getting a camera for Theo for a while now, as he always takes an interest in taking pictures himself with my camera, which is great, but does put me a little on edge! So being able to give him a camera that is so easy to use, as well as durable (it has already been dropped a few times!) has been great. He picked up how to use it straight away, and I love the double viewfinder meaning that its easy to use like a traditional camera. He's already discovered how to put filters and add in extras to the photos and has played around with the video function too. I think it's great that it's his own piece of technology that he can fully explore and use with ease, it's been great for him to be able to share and show his friends how to use it too, and they are already a fan of the back camera for selfies!

We stopped for food at one of our personal favourites, The Burger Joint before joining the crowds to look at the artists taking over and painting murals over the cities buildings and walls. Music poured out into the street and we wandered around just soaking up the atmosphere.

After a while we decided to escape the crowds and head to the park just around the corner where we lazed on the grass whilst the boys played in the playground. Before long it was time to head home, but we did manage to fit in a few Shauns along the way!

So I thought I'd also share a few of the photos that Theo snapped with his camera from the last few weeks, I quite like seeing his perspective on things, but perhaps he could learn a few tips...(I do love them quite a lot!)