Tulley's Farm Spook Fest 2018 - review

A Halloween festival, hell yes!  I was so excited to visit Tulley's Farm for their annual Spook Fest (the family friendly daytime version, not to be confused with the terrifying looking Shocktober Fest which is on in the evenings for older kids and adults).   I'd never been before but had heard it was good and was excited to spend a Halloweeny day with the twins since Nik and I were away for Halloween itself.  You know how much I love Halloween and when my friend Steph asked us to join her family there for the day I was even more excited, Priya adores her eldest daughter Bella and they are all so cute together, holding hands and generally being cute!

England's Medieval Festival 2018 - review in pictures

We had a lovely day out at England's Medieval Festival again this year.  Sadly we only made it to the Saturday and didn't end up camping but we still had a blast!  The joust this year was amazing again and we had a great time making more felted goodies with Karen Rao as well as enjoying the parade and battles of course!  We also caught the falconry display this year and enjoyed the new food offerings in the main Buxom Wench Bar tent.

Such an awesome day out!

Chilled in a Field Festival review

Chilled in a Field Festival was so much fun!  We only went for a day as it was a busy weekend for us but we had a fab time.  It's a small family festival held at Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum and has lots going on in the main field and in the woods which was much cooler.  I absolutely loved the rainbow glittery garlands hanging from the trees too, the place was beautiful in the sunlight!

Catching Up!

Wow, it's all busy, busy, busy again!  The summer holiday starts on Tuesday and I don't feel ready for it at all!  I thought I'd write a quick summary of the last few weeks before I start bombarding you with posts I want to share in my next Uckfield FM chat next Thursday (we had to change this month's from the 1st to the 3rd Thursday due to various holidays).

So, what is keeping me so busy?  We had our amazing trip away in Turkey and I am DEFINITELY going to be writing more about that - I always struggle to post about our holidays because I'm usually knackered when we get back but this time I was away again the very next day for a photography workshop I booked months back!  That was amazing too and has me all fired up and making plans for my Bexphoto business, exciting times ahead!  Nik is back into study mode already as he passed his last big exam, whoop, so proud, but that means part 2 is imminent (September) so I'm trying to prepare for constant solo parenting again without getting into such a mental mess like I did last time!  My CBT starts tomorrow to help me learn coping techniques for the things that cause me anxiety and make it difficult for me to cope so hopefully that will make a difference and at least work has settled down to a more comfortable pace so I'm happy there again now.

Woodlands Festival 2018 - our favourite bits

Oh my gosh, the twins did not want to leave Woodlands Festival, Kalyan actually started crying when we said it was time to go home.  They had an absolute blast!  It was such a lovely event with so much going on without being overwhelming.  The beauty of a smaller festival in a lovely venue with fab bands and fun activities.

Elderflower Fields 2018 - review

I'm so glad we had the whole weekend at Elderflower fields this year.  We just had a day there last year (our first time) and although we didn't camp in the end (Nik couldn't come and Mum and I didn't fancy tenting with the weather warnings for rain).  It actually turned out to be a gloriously sunny weekend, only raining at night so there was just a little slippery mud to navigate.

I'll be writing more about it soon but suffice it to say, we loved it, had an awesome weekend and definitely recommend this family festival!  Here are a few favourite pics:

Tinkers Park Steam Rally, Hadlow Down - review

We had another busy weekend after Granny had flown back to Malaysia.  My in-laws came for the weekend as it was Nik's last weekend of studying all hours before his exam.  It was lovely for the kids to see them again as they'd been away the whole time Granny was here so we enjoyed a lovely weekend at home and had a couple of outings as well as getting some more work done at home and in the garden (thanks Dadaji)!

Saturday turned out to be a lovely day after a cloudy start and we enjoyed a brilliant morning at the Traction Engine Rally at Tinkers Park in Hadlow Down.  We'd never been before so weren't sure what to expect but there was lots going on and the twins loved it.  Unfortunately we did run out of cash pretty quickly as the entry fee of £24 for three adults took half our cash (they don't accept cards and we'd forgotten to go to the cash machine) so we only stayed for a couple of hours before we had to go for lunch elsewhere.

We did manage to have some fun on the rides but the majority of our remaining cash was gone on just two rides though as the twins wanted to go on the vintage carousel with Ma & Dadaji so that was a tenner for a fairly short ride.  They loved it though and the vintage style fair looked beautiful.  They had a turn on the little vintage cars (£4 for two of them) which they thoroughly enjoyed in their cute little yellow car.

As for the steam engines themselves, there were so many to see with their dedicated owners polishing and oiling them as well as plenty of real vintage cars and tractors to delight Kalyan.

We had just enough cash for some ice-creams and a few toy cars for their rainbow collection (which inspired me to finally finish building their display shelves (tutorial to follow soon, I promise!)

And luckily a few pennies left to donate for a ride or two on the miniature railway.

And met some lovely friends for a quick catch up too.

The Steam Rally would be a great full day out if you remember to take enough cash for the things you want to do/buy/eat.  We really enjoyed our morning there and would have stayed longer had we been more prepared for all the costs but we had a lovely lunch in town at Hartfields.

Woodlands Family weekend ticket winner!

Thank you to those who entered our competition to win a family day ticket to Woodlands Festival!  The winner, chosen at random, is Pipsan, congratulations!  Please contact me with your email address to receive your prize.

If you didn't win, tickets are still available for this gorgeous new festival in Kent this June, check out their website.  We're so looking forward to it!

Win a weekend family camping ticket to Woodlands Festival in Kent!

I have another amazing giveaway for you from the fabulous Woodlands Festival!  You could win a Weekend Family Ticket (2 x adults + 2 children 4-17yrs) worth £285.00!  Head over to Instagram to enter.

In case you missed it last time, here's a bit more info about this gorgeous new festival in Kent:

Woodlands is a festival founded last year with a real family friendly ethos.  They have loads of fun activities planned this June (8th-10th) and we can't wait to attend!  Not only that but they're raising money and awareness for both Alzheimer's Society and Macmillan Cancer Support so please help them to support two very worthy causes.

You can read more about the Woodlands Festival in Kent here and be sure to head over to Instagram for details on how to enter this fab giveaway and make sure you follow both Olive Dragonfly and Woodlands Festival to remain updated on the competition and any future info/giveaways too!  ;)

Terms & Conditions:
Giveaway closes on 27th April 2018 at midday.
Open to UK residents aged 18 or over, excluding employees of the promoter, the sponsor, their families and anyone else professionally connected with this promotion.
This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Instagram.
There is no alternative prize. 
One winner for the weekend family ticket will be chosen at random and announced on the blog and social media by 30th April 2018. 
You must comment on the Instagram post to enter, you may earn additional entries by commenting on this blog post.
The winners must contact Woodlands Festival with their email address within 28 days to receive their prize.
Woodlands Festival is the sponsor of this giveaway and is responsible for prize fulfilment.  The prize will be emailed within seven days of receiving the winner's details.

The prize is a General Camping ticket so you will need to bring your own camping equipment.

Woodlands ticket giveaway winner!

Thank you to those who entered our competition to win a family day ticket to Woodlands Festival!  The winner, chosen at random, is Jane Hewitt, congratulations!  Please contact me with your email address to receive your prize.

If you didn't win, tickets are still available for this gorgeous new festival in Kent this June, check out their website.  We're so looking forward to it!

Giveaway - Woodlands Festival tickets

I have an amazing giveaway for you today!  The fabulous Woodlands Festival has offered a Sunday Day Family Ticket (2 adults + 2 children 4-17yrs) worth £80.00 to one lucky winner on Facebook!  Head over to my pinned post on the Olive Dragonfly blog page to enter.

Woodlands is a festival founded last year with a real family friendly ethos.  They have loads of fun activities planned this June (8th-10th) and we can't wait to attend!  Not only that but they're raising money and awareness for both Alzheimer's Society and Macmillan Cancer Support so please help them to support two very worthy causes.

You can read more about the Woodlands Festival in Kent here and be sure to head over to Facebook for details on how to enter this fab giveaway and make sure you like both Olive Dragonfly and Woodlands Festival to remain updated on the competition and any future info/giveaways too!  ;)

Terms & Conditions:
Giveaway closes on 12th April 2018 at midday.
Open to UK residents aged 18 or over, excluding employees of the promoter, the sponsor, their families and anyone else professionally connected with this promotion.
This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Facebook.
There is no alternative prize. 
One winner for the family Sunday ticket will be chosen at random and announced on the blog and social media by 16th April 2018. 
You must comment on the pinned Facebook post to enter, you may earn additional entries by commenting on this blog post.
The winners must contact Woodlands Festival with their email address within 28 days to receive their prize.
Woodlands Festival is the sponsor of this giveaway and is responsible for prize fulfilment.  The prize will be emailed within seven days of receiving the winner's details.