simply-crafting: December 2021

Visit to Cafe Dolce Southport

We've popped into Café Dolce a few times now, usually because the kids need the loo and I'd rather enjoy a coffee than spend time hunting for a free loo.

I'd rather spend my money in one of the independent cafes than the big names, I know there's a slim chance of getting a bad coffee but I don't believe people set up cafes unless they love coffee and care about at least trying to serve a good quality cuppa. At least with an independent café you have a better chance of getting something with a little atmosphere and maybe find a little gem like this one.

The café feels really spacious inside which I find is pretty rare. I like how simple and airy it feels. And these big comfy sofas are fab, the kids can sit back and relax with a nice low table for their drinks.

The coffee is perfectly nice and always appreciated but the real highlight is these epic milkshakes. Loaded with cream and ice cream, the kids love them.

They also do real fruit smoothies which are delicious.

The service is really nice too, the waitresses don't pester, it's quite a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. I don't feel the need to rush my children, or try to make them sit still or be overly quiet. Obviously I don't let them run riot, it's a café not a playground, but I don't restrict them from giggling or moving around within a limited area.

My kids have this thing for asking for two milkshake flavours in one glass and the staff laugh and comply with their request amicably.

I think another reason we keep coming back here is that the toilets are large and very clean. I can put my bag down in one corner and we can all go in together so there's no need to leave my children or our bags and coats unattended. The sink is low enough for them to reach as is the soap.

Here's the link if you want to check them out:

https://www.facebook.com/caffedolcesouthport/

Trip to Kings Gardens Southport

We love Kings Gardens in Southport. It's a large adventure playground which is almost entirely made from wood and other natural materials. There's lots to climb onto and over. It's quite a challenging park for my 3 and 6 year olds. There is a smaller park just next door for younger children.

This trip my Little Pickle has mastered the "big" slide.

It's accessed by a climbing wall. Little Pickle struggled a bit with this at first. But after a few attempts he'd gained his confidence and was going up quite quickly.

The rope bridge was challenging at first too but he's got it down now. He often crawls across it still.

Of course the slide is the main attraction.

There's a bit of a turn near the bottom, which has caused a few friction burns.

He's finally learned to clear the bottom of the slide. His typical comment is "again, again".

Little Pickle's First Hair Cut

Little Pickle has had long hair for a while now. I asked him a few times if he wanted it cutting shorter but he'd always say he wanted his hair to be long like his sisters. I figured that trying to force a toddler to sit still for hair cut they don't want was way more hassle than I want in my life. Then the hairdressers shut down and it wasn't an option anyway.

I've been trimming Little Miss's hair myself and doing a poor job of it, just enough to keep her fringe out of her eyes. Now that the hairdressers have re-opened and we're on holiday with time to spare I thought I'd treat Little Miss to a proper hair cut.

I asked Little Pickle if he wanted one too and to my surprise he said he wanted his hair short like his cousins.

So off to the hairdressers we went . . .

He was a perfect angel and hardly wriggled at all. He did need a little distracting towards the end but for the most part he seemed to quite enjoy himself.

Here's the after picture. It was quite a shock to see him like this at first, I think it took me about a day to get used to it.

Trip to Southport Beach and Pier

We took a trip to Southport on the west coast.

I took the kids for a day at the beach.

The tide goes unusually far out leaving these areas of poodles which are shallow enough that I was happy for my kids to paddle in the them without needing particularly close supervision. They do leave the beach very wet and almost muddy. There is a dry area that doesn't appear to get much sea but it is absolutely covered in millions of shards of shells.

Little Miss cut her finger quite deeply on on of the shards so the kids are reluctant to go back to the beach which is a real shame.

Kaisercraft Paint By Numbers Uniron Castle Craft Kit Review

Little Miss was given this paint by numbers set for her birthday. I saved it for our summer holiday as it's always handy to have some new toys to keep the kids occupied while we're on holiday. I particularly like craft kits like this as often many of the materials are disposed of after the craft project has been finished, so I don't have to worry about bringing them home. And to be perfectly honest at 6 and 3 years old the resulting craft project are often disposed of too or sometimes played with until they fall apart first.

Despite completing this kit without any assistance what-so-ever Little Miss has actually produced a piece that she'll be proud to display on her bedroom wall. She carefully went though each colour and matched the numbers. She had to go back and do all the colours she'd missed.

It kept her occupied for a good hour and she's really proud of her work.

There was enough paint leftover for both kids to have some serious fun finger painting.

City Great Vehicles LEGO 60253 Ice-Cream Truck Toy Review

Little Dude with given this Ice Cream Truck Lego set.

According to the box it's for children ages 5 and up. Little Dude is 3 years old but he's long since grown out of putting little things in his mouth so I'm happy for him to play with "big kid" Lego. He's been sharing his sister's for quite some time now and the only issue is that he does tend to lose it more easily than I'd like but that's manageable with a little close supervision.

He can't build the Lego set, I have to do that for him of course. But that's OK, I quite enjoy it. Most Lego set instructions start with the characters or smaller accessories so it's easy to assemble these quickly and give them to the children so they can start playing while I build the main structure for them.

I'm really impressed with this Lego set, it's the first Lego city set I've assembled in decades. The side of the Ice Cream truck is hinged so that the kiddos can get in to play. The side window also slides open which is a great feature.

Little Dude is entering the role playing stage so this is perfect. He doesn't just push the truck along like any toy car, he actually plays with the Lego characters. The little skater dude begs for ice cream at the truck window.

The best bit about these Lego models is that Little Dude has free reign to pull them apart and see how they are assembled without anyone telling him off for "breaking" his toys. He's developing a fascination for how things work and just loves to investigate. I'm looking forward to watching him re-assemble them after dismantling them, his big sister is really enjoying this phase and it's become a fabulous outlet for her creativity.