25 fantastic tips on buying your first home

Buying your first home is an exciting experience. It can also be incredibly time-consuming with all the viewings and paperwork involved, disheartening when offers fall through and confusing in finding the perfect mortgage rate for you. There are several online guides, mortgage calculators, financial advisors and government schemes that can make the process a little more straight-forward. But it can still be a confusing time! I asked more than 20 bloggers their advice on buying a new home and received so much wonderful advice! Read their tips below!

Eight unique festivals around the world

I have a serious case of wanderlust at the moment. Well, I always do but maybe with the warmer weather I have a desire to travel abroad. Along with beaches, mountains, city tours, visiting famous landmarks and beautiful walks amongst the some of the most beautiful natural landscapes there is still more to do and see! I've been thinking about different cultures and diverse religions around the world recently and how there is so much to appreciate. I asked several other travel bloggers about their experiences and have picked these five unique festivals around the world.

Pizza Express Review in Brighton

I was recently invited to attend the Brighton branch (Jubilee Street) of Pizza Express in collaboration with Mumsnet to review their new limited edition Piccolo Story Explorer activity pack and experience their local caricaturist in partnership with Puffin Books. Our task was to sample the full Pizza Express experience including caricaturist activity, activity pack and the Piccolo menu choices.

Holiday fun with Super Camps

During May half-term Pip went along to his first ever holiday camp! Super Camps is one of the biggest holiday childcare providers in the UK for children aged 4-11 years old. They have 83 locations around the country spreading from Cornwall to North Yorkshire. There are a range of camps to suit different ages and specialist clubs to cover various interests such as cooking, LEGO® and outdoor adventure. Super Camps can be booked on a daily or weekly basis, depending on availability, to suit the needs of the child and parent. They also offer an extensive range of activities – so many in fact that I would love to attend myself! Although I was there in collaboration with Britmums as part of a blogger campaign and review, I registered on the Super Camps website as anyone else would do. It was straightforward to navigate. I simply typed my postcode/town and a list appeared with all the Super Camps within my region. Luckily for us, there is one based at Brighton and Hove Prep school, somewhere previously unfamiliar to me but easy to travel to and near the centre of town. Within minutes I had made the booking and received a confirmation email with details about the day and what to bring (a healthy packed lunch and snacks).

Class Of Their Own Giveaway – Win a week of holiday childcare in Brighton!

Pip started reception class in September and has had a wonderful introduction into school life. There is whole new life that comes with starting school and although it took a few months to adjust we are now in the full swing of things. Pip has made so many new friends and I have too. There are school classes, a diverse range of after school activities and holidays clubs. Plus, Pip’s social life is busier than mine! When Pip started school I discovered Class Of Their Own. Established in 2001, Class Of Their Own provides high quality, affordable and secure out of school play provision for primary schoolchildren aged 4 - 11 years. They run breakfast, after school and holiday clubs across Brighton and Hove. I recently met some of the members of the team, including Tanya, the Director, and Andrew, the Marketing Manager. It was a pleasure to meet them in person and hear more about their organisation. With values guided by quality, integrity and respect their focus in on play! The quote of their website states’ “Play is not merely a way of passing time, a leisure activity, as many people see it - it is the way in which children learn about life.” There are numerous benefits to play including confidence building, developing unique personalities and growing socially, emotionally & physically. And of course, Play is fun!

Pip turns five!

Pip turned five last week! I can't believe five years have whizzed by because to me Pip is still my baby boy. Actually, it feels like he's been here a lot longer than five years. It's difficult to think back to a time before he came along and we have filled the last five years with so much including many wonderful adventures together. Here's a little list of some of Pip's highlights in the last year.

Starting school
The biggest change in the past year has been Pip attending school! He started reception class in September and I'm so pleased to say that he loves it. I had a couple of doubts at the beginning because he seemed so young but school life has been wonderful. His school and teachers are absolutely amazing. It’s such a little friendly community hub and the best thing is that Pip thoroughly enjoys school and everything that comes with it. He loves to learn and socialise and has developed so many beautiful friendships. He looks forward to school every single day. Not sure how long it will last but we are appreciating everything that comes with school life. I've also met so many new parents and have volunteered on some of the school trips which have been a lovely insight into school life.