Tag: Family

Day 57: VIP Matchday Experience

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In 31 years supporting the mighty Cambridge United, I’ve travelled to games on foot, by bike, car, train and coach. Never did I expect to be chauffeur-driven to the Abbey Stadium!

This summer, A2B Taxicabs – based in Ely – partnered with the club, sponsoring the largest hospitality suite and providing VIP matchdays with door-to-door travel. Wanting to offer some extra joy to fans who were returning to live matches, A2B are running competitions throughout the season. I entered the first and was fortunate enough to win.

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Day 54: Draw With Rob

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We’re in the fourth week of COVID-19 lockdown. It’s certainly been tense at times in the Smith house, but we’re all still healthy, and I’m incredibly grateful for that; I sincerely hope you and your loved ones are well, too. The weather has been gorgeous for the most part, which has helped as the boys love being outdoors.

For less favourable days, I’ve tried to find some new indoor activities that we can do as a family, and I was delighted to find Draw with Rob on YouTube.

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Day 53: Family Rave

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Raves became big news when I was at school – legal and illegal raves swept up the nation’s youth  throughout the 90s. They were frowned upon by many grown-ups but to a youngster, they sounded pretty exciting! I loved the energy of the music and still do – The Prodigy will always be one of my favourite bands.

But, despite loving the music, I never made it to one of these dance nights. I was a bit too young and far too timid. Now as a grown-up myself, I had the chance to go to my first rave and this was one that no parent could complain about.

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Skylark Maize Maze and Funyard

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In a sleepy corner of the Fens, on the outskirts of the small village of Wimblington, is a destination for a whole day of family fun: Skylark Maize Maze & Funyard. Living just under half an hour away in Ely, it was on our list of activities for a family day out and we got our chance to go this August, thanks to a VIP ticket from the Skylark events team.

The funyard is open all year round with events to coincide with Easter, Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night and Christmas. During the summer there is a very special addition — the maize maze. The 12-acre maze is themed and every year is different. In previous years the maize has featured the BFG and Star Wars, both of which we’d have loved, and this year is no different as the theme is dinosaurs!

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Day 43: Go Ape

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At 47,000 acres, Thetford Forest is Britain’s largest lowland pine forest that spreads across the border between neighbouring counties, Norfolk and Suffolk – slap bang in the middle of East Anglia. High Lodge is an activity-packed recreation site within Thetford Forest and is owned by Forestry Commission England.

Being a 50-minute drive from our house, it’s a place where we go for a whole day. There is plenty to do whether you want to be active, take it easy or a bit of both. Adrenaline seekers should head to Go Ape! Founded by Tris and Becs Mayhew back in 2002, High Lodge was its first location. On Day 43 of #100DaysNoTV, I took our family for a Go Ape adventure.

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Day 40: Campervan Road Trip

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Time is our most precious commodity – being with people you love is what this life is all about. Modern life challenges our ability to obtain that longed for work–life balance. In what seems like the longest ever ascent from winter to spring, quality family time has been in short supply: Rob started the year with pneumonia 😦 and has been travelling to and from the US with work (thank goodness he has a break from all that for now).

It has made it even more important that we maximise our time at weekends. One thing we love is to get out to the coast: fresh air and space do us all the world of good. When we were chosen by Bumble Campers to have a complimentary campervan for a weekend, there was only one thing we were going to do: find a free weekend and drive to the seaside. 😉

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Day 39: Bird Nibbles

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Back in 1979, the RSPB invited their junior members to count the birds that visited their garden at a set time. It encouraged children to get involved with nature and allowed the RSPB to work out the top 10 UK garden birds. Fast forward to 2018, and it’s gone from strength to strength with over half a million people expected to take part in the annual #BigGardenBirdwatch.

Our boys are rarely happier than when they’re playing outside, and as we like to encourage their love of nature we ordered this year’s RSPB birdwatch pack. Within it was a ‘recipe’ for bird cakes. Simple to make at home, we decided to make this our activity for day 39 of #100DaysNoTV.

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