The Living Rainforest Newbury

The Living Rainforest in Newbury saw us twice in the half term week, its safe to say we are a huge fan! For us as a family its a perfect wet weather day out, I can't bare soft play its always so busy when the weather is rubbish and I wasn't up for swimming. We had also been to the Milestone Museum quite recently so thought we would give The Living Rainforest in Newbury ago and we liked it so much we did it twice!

It appeals to both of the little lads, Tiger is really into his bugs and small creatures and Beaux adores ducks and birds and we are happy just not to have to set foot in a soft play!! The Living Rainforest isn't very big so you couldn't spend a whole day there but you could definitely spend a couple of hours wondering around the indoor rainforest, looking at plants, birds, reptiles, super cute little monkeys and my favorite the aquarium. Some of the birds are loose happily wondering around the rainforest and you are bound to spot some beautiful butterflies.

There is also a reasonable priced gift shop, simple restaurant and play ground which caters for both toddlers and older children. The admission for an adult is £9.95 and children are £8.45 (under 2's are free) the admission is actually an annual ticket so entry is free for a year!! This is great for us, Beaux could happily go every day if I let him, its a great mini day out for us when Tiger is at school during the week.

Top tips: Take wellies, it can get quite muddy! Wear light clothing as you would expect the rainforest is really warm and keep an eye out for the sloth which climbs in the vines above your head!!! 

WIN a pair of SHWINGS!!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its Super Tiger in his new Super Cool Shwings! These Shwings are great for updating tired old trainers or pimping out new ones. Tiger loves these and is convinced it helps him run 'super fast!' and jump 'like a grasshopper!' He definately feel like a super hero in them! These lime green Shwings add an instant splash of colour, they are easy to attach and will fit any laced shoes.

If you would like a chance at winning a pair of lime green Shwings all you need to do is simply comment below (UK entries only) You can get additional entries by tweeting this give away on Twitter or Liking Little Likely Lads on Facebook.

Competition has now ended

Half Term Fun - Living Arrows

Since Tiger started 'big school' in September last year I have really missed him and our little days out together so when half term comes about I can't wait to spend real time with him. We managed to squeeze in a few days out but this was my favorite an impromptu walk along the Sandbanks beach.

The sun was shining and we were all well wrapped up, both little lads love the beach and couldn't wait to have a paddle which of course ended up with the little lads getting soaked so it was bare bums and big cosy blankets on the journey back home!!

6 Styles to wear Long Crochet Braids

I am seriously head over heels in love with Crochet Braids and I'm now on to my second installment, they've given my a new lease of life and they are so easy to maintain and style. With my first set of crochet braids I was in ore of having long full hair so mostly wore it down and didn't style it but this time I've experimented with a few styles, well six to be exact! My favorite has to be the high side bun as its fun, can go from day to night and really is easy to achieve, which one is yours?

Six ways to wear Long Crochet Braids (right to left) - 1. Super high pony tail 2. Long side pony tail 3. High side bun 4. Side Parting 5. Messy top knot 6.Hat it! 

Jan Pienkowski Haunted House - A Trip Down Memory Lane

Who remembers this book, Jan Pienkowki Haunted House book? For both myself and The Mister this was a big hit for us when we were children. I remember this book was the 'IT' book of the time, it was always out on loan at the school library and the only time I managed to get my hands on it was from our mobile van library - why don't they have these any more? The mobile van library's were a big deal in our neighbourhood! And by that time I got my hands on it it was well used and a bit ripped and tattered! So I errr Tiger was delighted when The Mister found the Haunted House book on Amazon for him. Tiger loves all things spooky so the Haunted House interactive pop up book, with so many monster, aliens and ghost to look at and discover is right up his street. I can't believe having not seen it for many years how much I remembered, it's been lovely reading this through with Tiger, a trip down memory lane for me and a new adventure for him.

Silent Sunday 16.02.14

Glaze - Turns your photos into paintings, free app!

I l o v e taking photo with my iPhone and I love editing them just as much so I am always looking for new editing apps. I stumbled across Glaze an amazing free app which transforms your photos into paintings. There are loads of free styles to choose from and its really easy to use, either just simply use the presets or adjust manually. When I initially downloaded Glaze I thought I would have a quick play and then get on with something a little more productive but I got hooked and literally spent hours editing! So I thought I really should share the love and tell you all about it. I am so pleased with the results that I am going to try printing some of my Glaze edits out, they would look lovely in the little lads bedroom. 

Toddlers first Hunter wellies

I don't know why but first wellies are so significant to me.  First shoes aren't so important but first wellies actually moves me to tears. I think it something to do with my baby officially being a toddler able and wanting to splash around in muddy puddles.

This is the first day Beaux wore his little Hunters wellies (£4 a steal from eBay) and he loves them so much! When we tried them on at home he immediately threw his rice cake on to the floor and stomped them into the rug with so much enthusiasm and joy I couldn't be annoyed! (lie! I was a little!) He didn't want to take them off so I thought it would be lovely to take him for a little walk to our local park. 

Beaux knew exactly what to do when he met his first puddle, he was a puddle splashing machine!! By the time he was finished with that puddle it was a puddle no more!! He would literally jump in it until there was no more water left and continue on to hunt out his next puddle victim!

It was so lovely to watch, he did take a stumble and fell plonk on his bum (which I did take a photo of after all the damage was already done) and he wasn't in the least bit bothered. We weren't far from home so we headed back via more puddles to a lovely warm bubble bath. I can safely say Beaux is a huge fan of his first pair of little Hunter wellies. 

ASOS Red Dresses

With Valentines Day coming up I thought I would browse through Asos red dresses and came across these three red dresses, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to dress a bit sexy, sophisticated or a bit more relaxed so I thought it would fun to stick my head on top of some gorgeous models body to get a rough idea of what these pretty red dresses would look like on me (very rough as I'm probably about three times the size of them and black but you get the idea) but as I got to the second edit I started feeling a bit creepy!! Isn't this the sort of this stalkers do?! Anyway I decided to go ahead and publish this post as I thought it was quite funny and just to make it clear I haven't gone all 'crazy and the coconuts'...well maybe, but just over these dresses! Which one do you like the best?

Right to left, all from Asos
Lace Mix Bandeaux Dress £38.00
Lace Cap Sleeve Dress £22.99
Bardot Jacquard Lace Dress £65.00

Boys colour pop jeans

While the weather is so dull and wet (well except for the day I decided to take the photos to write this post! Not that I'm complaining or anything!) I do anything to add a pop of colour to the little lads outfits. Tiger really suits bright colours but I can never find a nice brightly coloured winter jacket so I find that a really bright pair of skinny jeans do wonders for a dreary day. Hey MAYBE putting these bright blue colour pop skinny jeans on encouraged bright blue skies, you never know!! 

Tiger has so many colour pop skinny jeans from pastel yellows to acid green they are so versatile and work all year round. In the summer I would be tempted to team the colour pop jeans with a multitude of colours and tame them with darker colours in the autumn/winter. I really do love this look on him. Ooh and before I sign off check out the footwear, I'm totally cheating on Converse but I do love these Nike slip on trainers, I did originally buy them for him to play football at school in but as he decided it wasn't for him after only a few sessions I thought he should get some wear out of them.