The Britax B-Agile – Our first impressions!
114 years ago
If you haven’t already heard, I’m now a Britax Mumbassador and our first mission is to test out their brand new pushchair the B-Agile 
Well I’m delighted to say on Friday our B-Agile arrived and I’ve had a few days to play with it now so I thought I’d share a few of my first impressions
1) Size of Box, when the box arrived, I admit I was a little surprised at how small the box was. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but something a bit larger. My first thought on seeing the box was that the pushchair must be in about 100 pieces as there is no way it could fit in the box like that. The size of the B-Agile is quite mind boggling though which I will explain shortly 
2) Assembly, well it took me a while to actually find the instructions on how to assemble the B-Agile (in fact for about 10 minutes I thought they hadn’t been included) so I started to put it together without reading them. To be honest this was hardly rocket science, insert 4 wheels, unfold and attach hood. It must have taken me all of 6 minutes (5 minutes in, the instructions fell out of the pushchair whilst I was trying to unfold it so this gave me a little clue )
Easily assembled and ready for action!
3) Unfolding the B-Agile, again this is hardly rocket science either, unclip the storage lock and it pretty much unfolds itself, you just sort of unfold it and everything clicks into place in about 30 seconds. So simple even my husband can do it (and trust me, with 5 other pushchairs he struggles to unfold that is a real plus!)
4) Folding the B-Agile, this is also surprisingly simple. You just push in a button and lift the handle which is built into the seat and it just folds itself up, then make sure the storage lock has clicked into place and voila. I was most impressed at just how easy to fold and unfold the B-Agile is!
5) Size of Puschair, considering how light and compact the B-Agile feels, the seat is surprisingly roomy. It’s a bit like an armchair. The seat is really deep and both Oscar and Zara seemed very comfortable in it. When it comes to actually pushing it, it feels light and easily manoeuvrable.
Oscar found it very comfy
and so did Zara (she claimed the first proper test ride!)
6) Handle Height, now this is something I always note about pushchairs as I’m 5’10″ and my husband is 6’3″ so we tend to have issues with low handle heights on many pushchairs. The height of the handle on the B-Agile is a bit on the low side for my personal preference and it is a shame that it does not adjust at all but I’m guessing most people will find it an ideal height as they must choose that height for a reason
7) The Hood, this is pretty impressive, it clips on securely and seems nice and sturdy. The hood has a rather nifty zip panel to extend it out even more with a mesh panel in the middle. Zara quite liked the sunroof aspect of it. There is also a peek window so you can check on baby. The back of the hood can extend all the way down when the pushchair is reclined flat so that when lying flat baby is still shaded from the sun. There is also a handy little pocket on it, ideal for storing a purse or muslin cloth.
the mesh fold out panel in the hood
8 ) Shopping Basket, this isn’t the roomiest of shopping baskets but it’s not a bad size, when the pushchair is reclined flat it is a little difficult to get things in and out of it though.
9) Recline, you recline the pushchair through a toggle system at the back of the seat which is pretty simple and it reclines fully back which is handy when Oscar is asleep as you can adjust the seat smoothly and not disturb him. I haven’t quite mastered how to do it with one hand yet but I’m sure I’ll figure out a way.
10) Smoothness of Ride, so far we’ve taken the B-Agile around our test walk, this is basically a gravel track which is only really suited to pneumatic wheels and I have to admit it fared ok, it wasn’t the easiest to push up the hill compared to the Quinny or the Phil&Teds but let’s face it those pushchairs are designed for more off road use. However when on the pavements and around town the B-Agile is much smoother and easier to handle than either of the Quinny or P&T. I’m pretty impressed with how well it coped to be honest as some pushchairs I’ve tested, I’ve almost had to carry up the track
I think I’ll leave it at that for now, overall first impressions are good and so far the B-Agile gets a thumbs up from the Brown household
The Alnwick Garden
314 years ago
We visited The Alnwick Garden back in July 2010 when Zara was around 8 months old. It is about an hours drive north of Durham and we combined it with a visit to Alnwick town.
The Alnwick Garden costs £11 per adult to enter which is pretty expensive but only 1p for children. As it’s not the cheapest visitor attraction in the area it isn’t one we will be visiting frequently but it is definitely worth at least one visit.
There are plenty of things to keep the children entertained at Alnwick Garden. I’m not particularly a gardening fan so the rose gardens and ornamental gardens; whilst looking very pretty, weren’t our main reason for visiting. We wanted to see the fun things like:
The Grand Cascade (that's Daddy and Zara stood in the middle!)
The Grand Cascade is apparently the largest display of it’s kind in the country and there are beautiful and crazy water displays every half an hour. This will provide hours of entertainment for children (and adults) dodging the water spouts. Note to self: Must remember to pack change of clothes for children!
At the bottom of the Grand Cascade are mini tractors which children can ride and collect water in. These looked like great fun but Zara was a little too young to use them on our last visit.
Checking out the whirlpools at the bottom of the Grand Cascade
We also loved the Bamboo Labyrinth , although it is a bit disorientating with all it’s twists and turns. Being a little claustrophic I tried not to panic when I got a little lost. Again, once Zara is a little older and able to run around this herself (and indeed Oscar) I can just imagine the fun we will have trying to locate our children in it.
The Serpent Garden is definitely my favourite part of the Alnwick Garden, this is basically full of metal water sculptures which show how water can move. It is absolutely fascinating and Zara absolutely loved this area. I’m sure she will love it even more now that she is a little older and I can’t wait to take her back to see it again.
Exploring the Serpent Garden
Unfortunately just as were exploring the Serpent Garden we got caught in a torrential downpour (well this is the North East after all!) and had to make a mad dash to The Pavillion Cafe to see shelter from the rain. Of course every other visitor to the gardens also made the same decision and so whilst we were lucky to get a seat, it was a long queue for some food. This was however tasty when it arrived.
After the lunch the rain had cleared up long enough for us to take a quick walk up the banks and back down through the cherry orchard. Unfortunately the blossom and the tulips weren’t out during our visit but I’ve heard that during the spring they look amazing. We decided to skip a visit to the poison garden as there was a bit of a queue for the tours and Zara was starting to get a little tired by then so it was best to keep moving
We went down to check out the Treehouse and the wobbly rope bridges. I was impressed that even with a Quinny Zapp we were able to go on these, a most odd experience pushing a pushchair around the treetops
A pushchair in the trees!
Whilst amongst the trees we checked out the Treehouse Restaurant which looked absolutely beautiful inside and we decided that at some point in the future we will return without the children for a nice romantic meal out
Overall we had a lovely, if rather wet visit to the Alnwick Garden, which was a shame as we would have liked to have spent more time exploring the gardens but I’m sure once Oscar is toddling we will be taking both the children back to see it again
Blue Reef Aquarium, Tynemouth
114 years ago
We first visited Blue Reef Aquarium at Tynemouth back in 2010 when Zara was around 6 months old and we’ve been back a couple of times since. It’s one of those places where the older your children get the more they get out of it but even at 6 months Zara still enjoyed her visit.
Right practical things first, there are good baby changing facilities in the entrance area along with a cafe with plenty of high chairs. We took the Phil and Teds explorer with us on our last visit and found it easy to move it around. Access is good and I can’t see us having any problems when we go back with the double buggy. Parking is probably the trickiest part, we park on the promenade and it can be difficult finding a space at times but we usually manage to get one on our first drive past.
On our first visit we decided to use the baby carrier to take Zara around so she could get a better view of everything.
Letting daddy do the hard work
A baby carrier definitely helps the younger babies to appreciate the fish more
Zara really loved the Monkeys in the Amazon area (ok and so did I)
As a baby, Zara loved the underwater tunnel
Our next visit was when Zara was around 15 months old, and Oscar 5 weeks old so we took the Phil and Teds with us. Zara got a lot more out of the experience this time although Oscar just slept the entire time as 5 week old babies tend to
Zara absolutely adored the otters and could have spent all day watching them
There really were Otters who obligingly put on a great display for us
Zara was also fascinated with watching the seals this time round
She would have sat here all day spotting seals
I can see seals Daddy
There is also a small outside play area near the seal enclosure which allowed Zara to test out her newly found walking skills
Walking the plank with Daddy
Now I have to admit this isn’t the cheapest day out at £8.30 per adult (children under 3 free) but it is one of those places which we will no doubt return to as there is so much to see and do. Definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area
South Shields and The Seaside
114 years ago
We are very lucky living up here in Durham to have the coast just a short drive away from our house. It takes us about 40 minutes to get to South Shields and it is one of our favourite days out when it’s a sunny day. Zara is obsessed with the seaside and will say to us over and over again “seaside seaside”.
There are a few things we love about the coast at South Shields:
1) Parking, if you get there in the morning there are always plenty of parking spaces available and at about £3 for a days parking right next to the beach I think it’s very reasonable
2) The Beach. There is a beautiful beach at South Shields, the sand is lovely, it is right next to the car park, the sea is clean and it provides hours of entertainment for Zara who is obsessed with sand and water
Zara's first time seeing the sea
It got me!
Sand and water = hours of entertainment
3) South Marine Park. Just across the road from the Ocean Beach funfair is South Marine Park. This is a beautiful place to enjoy a picnic lunch or as in our case a chip butty from the Fish and Chips stall across the road (we are veggie remember!). The park has a lovely play area which can get busy but we usually manage to get a swing and play on the digging machines in the sand pit.
Swinging in South Marine Park
There is plenty of grass and open spaces to run around in and burn off some energy. A boating lake with pedalos on it! (Admittedly we haven’t tried these out yet as with 2 small children and a pushchair it is pretty impossible, especially with Zara’s obsession with wanting to be in the water ). There is even a minature steam train which runs around the park and costs £1 a go. Zara absolutely loves going on this (she travels free with an adult) and so we usually end up going on it about 4 times each visit lol.
4) Ocean Beach Funfair, this is a lovely little funfair just across the road from the park and a fab place to take Zara on some rides. It costs about £1.50 a ride (Parents travel free with children) and we are discovering more and more rides that Zara is happy to go on with each visit. Some require one of us to go with her (yeah yeah I know any excuse ) and others she will happily go on alone.
I'm a big girl and can do this one by myself
But I need you to come on this one with me Daddy!
I'm very brave and will do this one alone
but Mummy insists on riding on the horsies with me
Daddy can’t wait until she is big enough to go on the ghost train with him as I refuse to lol. As with all funfairs there are the usual array of fast food stalls, arcades, candy floss and even a mini roller coaster so I imagine we will be frequent visitors here as the children get older.
As far as cheap days out go, this is one of our favourites for sure! Plenty to do, not too expensive and a lovely relaxed seaside atmosphere. South Shields Seaside gets 10/10 from us
Durham Botanic Gardens
114 years ago
On days when we don’t fancy venturing far from home, we occasionally pop along to Durham Botanic Gardens for a visit.
Situated not too far outside of Durham, the gardens are part of the University and cover 10 hectares. Now I’m one for gardening as a rule and all the different plants are a little mind boggling but as somewhere to go for a walk and take in a bit of wildlife, we find the gardens a great place to visit.
Now with a double buggy and 2 young children in tow, accessibility is always something we consider. There are baby changing facilities in the disabled toilet in the main entrance. We managed to fit the double buggy through all the doors we came across and around most of the site without much difficulty. There are some areas where the buggy won’t go such as in the cactus area of the greenhouse and the steps near the winter garden, but the map provided on arrival, clearly shows where steps, steep slopes and disabled access routes are.
We first visited the Botanic Gardens in June 2010 when Zara was around 7 months old and used our Snugbaby sling to carry her around most of the site.
Zara aged 7 months exploring the Cactus House with Daddy
Piggy back with Mummy!
It’s strange looking back at photos from that visit and comparing them to this time…
Back then Zara was obsessed with the giant water lilies and the water!
and some things never change...
Zara loves the rainforest area in the greenhouses, you can press a button to get rain which always pleases her
Wow it's raining!
And although we started off exploring the site with them both in the double buggy, Zara soon decided she wanted to walk instead.
Checking out the Millenium Bugs
Checking out the scary giant rhubarb thingys with Daddy
And of course, more water to investigate
No visit to the Botanic Gardens is complete without a quick visit to the bird hide to check out the birdies. I say quick because a) we like to check there are no other people in there that Zara might disturb with her excitement and b) we don’t like to disturb the birds and rabbits etc for too long.
oooh there is a bunny over there mummy!
After working up an appetite we stopped for lunch at the visitor centre. They have a limited range of food available but sandwiches and cakes are always available and very tasty along with a nice big mug of tea
We love the Botanic Gardens and think they are definitely worth at least one visit. We will no doubt be heading back in the autumn when all the leaves are changing colour as it will be gorgeously pretty then
Funky Giraffe Bibs Review
314 years ago
The lovely people at Funky Giraffe Bibs have sent me some of their lovely bandana bibs for Oscar to review.
The bibs are made using soft cotton fronts and a fleece backing to wick away any moisture and keep necks and chests dry. To me this is essential at the moment as Oscar is just starting teething and proving to be a real dribble monster so he is permanently wearing a bib! The bandana bibs are shaped to fit around baby’s neck and have 2 press stud fastenings so that they can be adjusted to fit your baby.
Looking at their website there are 100′s of beautiful designs so you are guaranteed to find one to match any outfit and with the prices being 4 for £8.50 or 10 for £19.50 including delivery I think that’s a bit of a bargain compared to the price of many bandana bibs on the market today!
Now the practical part (because I’m always practical really ), the washing instructions on the bib does say 30 degree wash only but as with all my washing I chucked them in with the rest of my brights at 40 degrees and then into the tumble drier and they came out perfectly fine (OK so I like to live dangerously )
Along with the bibs we were also sent some Antibacterial handwash and some citrus soap by a lovely new company called Bubble and Balm
They say “The anti-bacterial handwash is naturally formulated using a blend of plant-derived oils and glycerine, and is free from triclosan, sulphates and artifical colours and fragrances. The essential oil anti-bacterial formulation is effective against MRSA, E Coli and other nasties. The hand wash contains Fairtrade sugar from Malawi – sugar acts as a skin softener and mild cleanser”.
Now I don’t exactly know what all that means but I like the sound of natural and Fairtrade! Oh and it smells lovely!
The citrus soap also contains Fairtrade sugar, lots of lovely natural stuff and is free from sulphates, artifical colours and fragrances. The aluminium tin also doubles as a handy soap dish to avoid those soggy soap marks you get! I love this soap and it smells lovely and fresh
The Gallery – Animals
1614 years ago
This post is this weeks entry for The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers
The prompt this week is Animals.
Now I’ve been racking my brains trying to think of a photo other than our cats or some other common animal this week as I often end up going for the easy option! Well I think this photo qualifies as Animal?
If I kiss it, will it turn into a prince?
Wooden Toyshop Review – Melissa and Doug
214 years ago
I’ve been sent some beautiful Melissa and Doug wooden toys to review by Wooden Toyshop. When they chose me to review some of their products and asked me to choose what I wanted up to a value of £40, I was amazed at just how much I could get for that amount Though with my love of wooden toys I could happily have had one of everything from their website
The first item I chose to receive was this fabulous Melissa and Doug Shape Sorting Clock.
I know Zara is a little young for learning to tell the time yet, but she loves puzzles and shapes and has already grasped the concept of fitting each shape into the right hole. It’s a toy that will last her ages as we will then move onto numbers, colours and time telling. The clock is beautiful quality and with the moving hands and the “half past, quarter past” markings on the dial it should make teaching the time great fun over the next few years. The added bonus with beautiful wooden toys is that once Zara has outgrown it, Oscar will be able to inherit it too I couldn’t believe it was only £9.95!
I also chose this lovely Melissa and Doug Jumbo ABC
This puzzle is fantastic, it is about A3 sized and is lovely and bright coloured. It’s great how when you take the letters out of the puzzle, underneath is the letter so it helps Zara to identify where each letter goes. There are also illustrations for each letter such as Alligator, Bear, Cow etc. Zara loves finding all the illustrations. This toy will make learning the alphabet loads of fun and is a big favourite of Zara’s already I thought it was great value at £13.49!
My favourite item that we were sent was this Melissa and Doug Farm Cube Puzzle.
Now I admit, it will be a while before Zara is able to complete this puzzle by herself as it is quite tricky even for grown ups The puzzle is 16 blocks, each with part of a different picture on each side. The puzzle can make 6 beautiful farm animal pictures and is proving hours of entertainment. At the moment our favourite game with Zara is seeing how quickly she can guess which animal we are building. Handy hint, the coloured borders make it slightly easier to put the pictures together!
I absolutely love this puzzle and think it is an absolute bargain at £9.95. You can buy simpler puzzles for younger children but we like a challenge in this household
After choosing all of those beautiful toys I still had a little money left over from my £40 budget and so I chose this lovely Pull Along Duck and Duckling for a bargain price of £5.95! Super cute isn’t it!
I’m absolutely amazed at just how many beautiful wooden toys I could get for £40 and could easily spend all day on their website. My husband is obsessed and is already eyeing up their marble runs for when Zara is a little older
Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands
114 years ago
The Washington Wetlands Centre is a place we only discovered recently and visited for the first time in August 2011.
Situated on the banks of the River Wear just outside Washington, the Wetlands Centre is basically a large parkland full of different water habitats and lots of birds. (OK so I’m not a bird expert but I thought Zara would love to see them ).
First things first, the centre was easy to find, had plenty of parking. Another essential for us, is that there is enough space to take a double buggy everywhere. We managed to fit through every door we found and the paths around the park were all a good surface and wide enough for the buggy. There were also good clean baby changing facilities and toilets in the visitor centre at the entrance.
On arrival we were given a map of the centre and the staff kindly pointed out areas of interest for us. Our first stop on our route around the park was the close encounters area, an area where you can get up close to some beautiful birds and even hand feed them (bags of corn are available at the visitor centre for 80p). Zara absolutely loved this and I think she could have spent all day looking at the birds, although she was also very keen to jump in the water and join them! We kept a close eye on her and made sure she left the water for the ducks to enjoy instead
Zara was tempted to follow them all back into the pond!
So many pretty birds!
As we continued our way around the path, we came across flamingos which were stunning. It was a shame that they were all standing at the far side of the pond but Zara was happy to have a nature lesson from Daddy and view them from a distance. Along the path were various other ponds containing other rare and endangered species. They were gorgeous and I’m sure Zara would have stood throwing them corn all day. When I say throwing I mean as in toddler, complete lack of aim throwing and so it was hardly surprising her coat was full of corn she had thrown over herself by the end of the trip
There really are some flamingos over there honest!
Daddy never takes his teacher hat off!
We then moved onto the Otter enclosure, where we spent about 15 minutes looking for Rod and Musa the resident Otters, unfortunately for us we missed the feeding times (11am and 3pm) and despite all our searching we couldn’t find them so they must have been hiding 
(It was a shame as Zara loved the Otters at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth).
We then continued on around the path, past the Japanese Cranes which were huge and a little bit scary. We then headed down to the nursery and although it is a little late in the season there were still plenty of little chicks to be seen
At this point we continued back to the visitor centre as Oscar was getting hungry and we decided it was a good time to have lunch etc. The food was very tasty and they even had a range of toys to play with so that when Zara had finished eating she still sat happily playing at the table whilst I fed Oscar and we finished our lunch.
After a double nappy change we then set off to the play area to let Zara enjoy some fun in the Splash Zone. Zara loved it here, there are tunnels, water toys, boats and a whole variety of toys to keep the little ones happy for a while. Although she did get soaked in the water toys (note: next time packing a change of clothes might be a good idea!).
Any excuse for Daddy to go on the slide!
Row, row, row your boat...
As Zara was soaked and time was getting on, we decided to call it a day after this, we had intended to go for a walk around the longer circuit taking in the reed beds, wader lake and the meadows but we will have to leave this until next time
We had a lovely day out there and would highly recommend it for a visit
Visitor information can be found on their website here
Zara is...
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