Blog : Little Lilypad Co

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The Little Lilypad is a lifestyle blog mostly written by a mum to two beautiful, cheeky and entertaining daughters. It is sometimes written by the Man on the Pad or by one of our baby bloggers. Occasionally we accept guest posts too. There is frequently talk of sustainable living, saving money, lifestyle and travel. It is hopefully helpful, sometimes funny and always honest.
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  1. Where to go in Manchester this Easter!

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    Quite recently I traced a long lost relative. Someone who was born before me and unfortunately moved away to Manchester and I never got to know her but life has a funny way of working out, through grief and loss are new opportunities and a chance to get to know new family AND a new City. They still live in Manchester and whilst it is not a million miles away from us in Warwickshire, it is not somewhere we have previously chosen to explore. So with Easter on the horizon we thought we would see what Manchester has to offer, aisde from family reunions.

    Museum of Science & Industry

    The Museum of Science and Industry is a large museum devoted to the development of science, technology and industry with emphasis on the city's achievements in these fields. To tie in with the opening of The Innovation Race: Manchester’s Makers Join the First World War, opening on 28 March, the Museum of Science & Industry’s 2015 Easter Programme(3 – 19 April) centres around the mighty and larger-than-life theme of Power: Making War from the Factory Floor. Families are invited to visit this family friendly and interactive exhibition, telling the mainly untold stories of the makers, scientists, engineers, factory workers and business people of Manchester whose innovations and intervention helped turned around the outcome of the First World War. 

    MOSI

    I have been looking at reviews of MOSI and Tired Mummy of Two feels that it is a great choice for Sunday afternoon fun, so we need to add this to the list.

    There are the other obvious Manchester attractions such as Man Utd football ground and the Trafford Centre but at the risk of offending every football fan and shopaholic, we can watch sport or football any time, so we wanted to find things we could do as a family and there seems to be lots on offer. A day trip is not going to cut it so I think we will be needing to stay over and finding a good hotel where I can get a good nights sleep is paramount for me. They have some good deals at 

    Crowne Plaza Manchester

    Tatton Park

    My cousin recommended Tatton Park as a great family day out. Tatton Park is nestled in 1,000 acres of beautiful deer park and you can explore centuries of history at the Tudor Old Hall and witness life above and below stairs in the Mansion. You are free to wander through the Gardens and take the kids to meet the rare breed animals on the working Farm. Between the 28th March and 19th April they have family Easter activities too. You can go on a magical journey with the Lindt Gold Bunny through the fairytale world of the Brothers Grimm. You have to find Sleeping Beauty asleep in the maze and discover the most wonderful gingerbread house in the dell. If the slipper fits, then you will go to the Conservatory ball …..if you arrive before midnight! The bit that tempts me is that there is a Lindt Gold Bunny treat for all children!

    And if chocolate and Brothers Grimm are not your thing, then there is always the Spinningfields Duck Race!

    This is a collaborative post.

  2. Safety First : Driving Theory Test : Win an iPad

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    My toddler asked me if she could drive the car yesterday. Obviously I said no and had to explain that she had another 14 or so years before she could actually get behind the wheel. The tween then piped up that she only had 7 years to go and could she have a car for her 17th birthday (!!) but I told her that she had to pass her test first. (I must start a savings account for the car fund!)

    I passed my test first time but this was long before the theory test was introduced and it occured to me that I have been driving for some 17 years and whilst most things are now second nature, I suspect I would need to revise for today's theory test.

    Theory Test

    Do you think you would pass? Have a little try of this great quiz from We Buy Any Car to test your driving knowledge - you might be surprised at how much or little you do actually know!

    This quiz was created byWeBuyAnyCar.com

     

  3. Fancy a trip down memory lane .... or to Bexley?

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    When I was 7 years old, I met a friend on holiday in Spain. We chatted about everything and anything like most 7 year olds and at the end of the holiday we exchanged addresses and became pen pals. She lived in Bexley in London and I was in Birmingham in the West Midlands. It seemed like a million miles away from each other back then, in the days before email, texting and Facetime. We would write to each other every single week. She would hear about everything from my aspirations and exam woes to friendship squabbles and boyfriend drama.

    Pen friends 1

    I couldn't wait for the letter to come through the letterbox each week to hear about her adventures "down south". Bexley seemed like a foreign land, so when our parents agreed for us to meet up, it was like having a mini holiday all over again. I remember us getting the train and tube into London and my pen pal laughing at me for being in awe of the tube, we went sight seeing around London and went to visit the Queen (although you couldn't get in past the gates in those days)

    Pen friends 2

    Fast forward 30 years and our lines of communication have changed a little (along with our ability to travel without our parents).  I have held my driving licence since I was 17 although there is still some childlike thrill about taking a train or tube ride but rather than sleeping on her bedroom floor like we did as children, I can now choose to say at a local hotel, like 

    Holiday Inn Bexley

     

    Pen friends 4

    She is one of my oldest friends but these days we now we tend to use Facebook and emails to stay in touch and arrange to meet up I love how instantly we can chat now but I do miss seeing the hand written envelope popping through the letter box and ripping it open to see what secrets we were sharing that week.

    This weekend she is coming up to Warwickshire, although I suspect that Warwick Castle may not quite match up to Buckingham Palace, so we will be planning another trip down south very soon and I plan on doing some real sightseeing around London. I may go and visit the Queen again but the London Eye is top of the list for me this time.

    Did you ever have a pen pal as a child? Did you ever go and visit them? 

    Pen Friends 3

    This is a collaborative post.

  4. #Lastingchange : Postcard from Kenya

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    I had a blog post scheduled up for today, something about a minor family crisis that happened over the weekend on the Lilypad that I was going to share on the blog, but then an email dropped into my inbox from Team Honk. An email that talks about their visit to the Mothers 2 Mothers project in Kisumu, Kenya. An email that makes you want to do something.

    Kenya has the fourth-largest HIV epidemic in the world. An estimated 1.6 million people are living with HIV and 1.1 million children have been orphaned after losing one or both parents to the disease.

    Thanks to Comic Relief funding, Mothers2Mothers is helping pregnant women living with HIV to access the life-saving health services they need to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The project is targeting Nyanza province where prevalence of the disease is almost three times higher than the national average.

    Women often discover they are HIV positive during ante-natal care and mentoring helps them to come to terms with this, to deal with the side effects on antiretroviral drugs, to eat well and to deliver babies with the best chance of being HIV negative. Women also learn to breastfeed safely, and to avoid stigma.

     

    A-social-postcard-11

    Team Honk are finding out more about these projects and through blogging, are sharing them with a wider audience. They met with Elizabeth who says: “HIV is just a condition, you can go further, you can make wonders, you can help others” #lastingchange . The project exudes positivity but continues to need help with funding.

    Breastfeeding is something close to my heart and the World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding while taking HIV antiretroviral drugs. Mentoring enables women to breastfeed safely #lastingchange

    So you can see that I changed my blog post for today, it was a small change in my world but the work being done by Comic Relief is making big changes across the world, let's see what else we can change?

    #lastingchange

    @RedNoseDay launches today for 2015. Let’s celebrate the difference donations to @ComicRelief make to lives across the world.