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Simplified Mum Life

Nina A Spencer – Motherhood Mentor – Simplifying the every day for busy overwhelmed mums -Mum Of Twins Twice! Placenta Accreta Survivor, Mental Health Champion, On my own simple living Journey filled with adventure and travel . Embracing The Imperfectly, Chaotic moments of motherhood.
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Lanzarote Travel

Our first holiday to Lanzarote was for our belated honeymoon back in 2010. Pre Children. Since then we have visited the Beautiful volcanic Island a number of times with our ever expanding family. Lanzarote Travel is part of our life now and we want to share our happy place with you.

Lanzarote Travel

Take a look at our little Lanzarote Travel Guide you will see that we only recommend places that we have been to ourselves either as a couple or as a family.

Before you head off find out why we love Lanzarote so much It will always hold a place in our heart and will always be our go to for a simple family holiday.

Where To Stay

A great Place to stay for your Lanzarote Travel is at Finca De Arrieta in the North of the island. Here you really can live a simple life while on holiday. If you fancy some time offline this place is a great place to do so and recharge. There is a range of activities around the glamping village so you and the little ones will have plenty to keep you busy.

Night Out

Whether you fancy a night out with the kids or a date night with the other half even a night out with a group of friends The Roof Top at the Biosphere is the place to go.

There is more than just a cinema at the top of the Biosphere How about a bite to eat or test your hole in one skills at the Jurassic world crazy golf.

Vlogs from the island

This is one of our first ever vlogs.

There is so much more to Lanzarote than meets the eye. Why not see for yourself.

Feliz Navidad

Fancy spending Christmas in Lanzarote? Lanzarote is a Spanish country which means they actually have two christmases The spanish Christmas or Three Kings Day is actually on January 6th. We have been to lanzarote for New year and Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos for a few years now. It really is a magical time.

Lanzarote Travel Guide

Why not Use this to pin This page for your Lanzarote Travel Board on Pinterest

More Travel tips

If you are off away with children maybe a couple of the other posts will help you when planning your trip.

We have flown and been to various destinations as a couple as a big family with grandparents and with both one set of twins and two sets of twins.

Although I’m no expert I feel that some of the mistakes and stresses we have encountered along the way are enough to pass on a little bit of advise.

I hope you find some of these posts helpful Please head over to our Travel pages for more holiday inspiration tips and reviews.

Nina x

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Health & Fitness

Body Image – Mental Health Awareness week

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK. The Theme being Body Image. Since having my cesarian Hysterectomy for my second set of twins birth I think I’ve actually grown to appreciate my body more.

Mental Health Awareness Week

For Mental Health Awareness Week I have decided to write a Mental Health related post each day during the week. Day one Is Body Image.

Body Image

I am someone who is not only living with a mental illness at the moment (and probably always will be ) but I’ve also lived with it on and off for a lot of my adult life. I think its so important to share our experiences so that people feel less alone with their thoughts.

Body Image Isn’t something I’ve really had an issue with although I know that I need to lose some weight and I’m not overly confident about my mummy tummy. But it doesn’t really affect my mental health.

In fact I think I’ve actually become more appreciative of my body as I’m getting older. Its got me this far in life in a relatively healthy state.

It has grown 4 babies two at a time.

My body healed after the 2 major operations and 2 routine operations I’ve had in my life.

Pregnancy and Body Image

When I became pregnant I worried that because of the shape of my bump while carrying twins People would just look at me and think I was fat rather than having a lovely little bump. But it grew those babies.

Then when I got pregnant for a second time and I knew I had to have a cesarian Hysterectomy I was told the cut would be vertical. I panicked that I would see the scar daily and that I would be sad about it. Im not, I look at that scar and think how lucky I am to be here.

Proud

I’m proud of that scar. Not take my kit off and show all proud but proud none the less. Its a scar that saved my life!

Menopause and body Image

Ive still got work to do on my body to be classed as “in shape” but I’m now going through menopause which makes losing weight harder and can change your body considerably.

So I really do have mixed feelings about body image and although as I’ve already said it doesn’t affect me mentally I know that it can be a big issue for a lot of people.

Nina x

Find out more about Mental Health awareness week head to the website

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Adventures Portsmouth

Family Days Out Portsmouth – Spinnaker Tower

Looking online for family days out Portsmouth before out trip we came up with the spinnaker tower.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was a little apprehensive about this little trip.

Family Days Out Portsmouth

We wanted an activity for our little two day stop off before we headed to our Isle Of Wight trip.

After seeing The Spinnaker Tower I thought the kids would love the experience. But just looking at the pictures made me feel a little queasy I’m not great with heights.

Spinnaker Tower

The checkout button was soon clicked and fears put to one side as i wrote the trip into our agenda.

On our way there you could see it towering above the city and again I felt a little nervous.

The kids were so excited and I thought I just have to go up.

Amazing Views of Portsmouth

We went through the entrance and into the lift. it took no time at all to get to the first floor as the doors opened I could see the view.

It was amazing. We continued through the doors and into View Deck 1 There are window all around but I felt completely at ease.

I even hopped (walked tentatively) on the glass floor where you you can peer down to the floor 100 metres below.

The kids thought it was great apart from Jessica. Mason however wouldn’t come off it.

Afterwards we headed up to the top floor via the stairs for an ice cream In the Sky Garden!

This experience is well worth the cost. We paid £35 for a family of 4 (under 4’s are free). Obviously food and drinks are extra. There is a chance to buy a souvenir photograph which we did for £10

So if your wanting to try something new or need to conquer your fear of heights why not give it a go.

Nina x

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Adventures Isle Of Wight

Family Adventures On The Isle Of Wight. | Family Time Put Simply

An Isle Of Wight Family Holiday Has been on my bucket list for a while.

We bundled everyone in the car and took the 200 plus mile road trip to the South Coast. We stopped off at Hayling Island for a couple of nights before heading to The Isle Of wight.

This year we are trying to cut back on splurging on lots of things. Sometimes when we are on holiday we can spend pounds and pounds just on eating out and visiting Different attractions! Our biggest expense this trip was fuel!

We started with a couple of days in Hayling Island with a short trip to Portsmouth. There we had booked a trip to the Spinnaker Tower. I was apprehensive of this trip as I’m not great with heights. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to put my fear to the back of my mind.

Old Fashioned Fun

Most of our days on the island were spent by the beach or geocaching.

Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses

We visited quite a few beaches and coves while we were there. It was the dream. I love beach days.

Some our my favorite are:

Sandown Beach

– This is a beach great for building sandcastles and digging holes. There are lots of lovely cafes and restaurants dotted along too great for a cuppa or an ice-cream. This is the longest we’ve spent at the beach all holiday. The kids loved digging and running to the waters edge to fetch more water for sandcastle building. The little two love rolling around in the sand too. I have to say though the sand is quite yellow (and stains) so dont put your kids in their best white outfits.


Steep Hill Cove

  • This is my new favourite place. Its such a pretty little cove. Its a rocky beach and there are huge rocks which are great for climbing, but obviously be careful as they can be slippy. There is a lovely little coffee shop that we tried Unfortunately there wasn’t much open on the day we went as it wasn’t quite their season however there are a couple of places to eat there and a few holiday houses to rent (Which we may have to have a look at next time!)

Ryde Beach

  • The Beach is the first one we went to its a lovely little beach for playing in the sand. There are lots amenities and there is even a little play park right next to the beach.

Bembridge Beach –

One thing on my bucket list that never got ticked off was a beach breakfast on this beach! Apparently the sunrise is amazing from here with its overhanging trees and driftwood dotted around. again like most of the bays we saw its a pebbly beach. But dont let that deter you from visiting. There are trees for the kids to climb and even my little twin loved playing with the stones. There is the lifeboat jetty to walk down too.

Colwell Bay

  • – This was on my list for one reason only and that was to go for a cuppa at the stylish The Hut. this place didn’t disappoint. there wasn’t really a beach when we got there but never the less the kids enjoyed playing chicken with the waves and the cuppa we had was very nice I just wish we had gone on a brighter day!

Cowes

: Although this technically wasn’t a beach me and the big two had a great time learning to skim stones into the sea from a little bit of pebbly shoreline. These are moments I remember from my childhood. It really took me back to my dad trying to teach me as a child. I can still only make the pebble bounce twice.

Overall

We tried to be as frugal as possible on our Isle Of Wight Family Holiday so each day we packed a little picnic and we would either take it to the beach with us or we would sit in the car parked somewhere with a view and eat it.

Of course not all our time was spent at the beach and while the babies had a nap in the back of the car we would have a little drive around looking for Geocaches.

This is such a great way to see new places that you probably wouldn’t have visited otherwise. The kids loved looking for treasures. There are loads on the Isle Of Wight too.

I will post some of our not so frugal adventures in separate posts over the coming weeks.

We also visited the Needles, Tapnell Farm park, The Garlic Farm and as I said at the beginning of the post we also visited Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth before we got to our Isle Of Wight adventure.

Have you been to The Isle Of Wight? What is you favourite frugal thing to do on holiday?

If you want to take a look at where we went Just scroll in on the map below!

I love reading your comments it make me feel like a part of a community I would love for you to also head over to our youtube channel and take at look at some of our vlogs. Meanwhile here is our Isle Of Wight Family Holiday Vlog

Nina x

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Celebrations

Grandma’s Great Egg Hunt – Family Time put Simply

There is only just over a week left of School before the Easter Holidays and I got to thinking about what we will be doing during the Half Term.

We are off on holiday for the first part of the holidays but then after that we have a full week to participate in Easter activities

Including out annual family easter hunt!

Every year grandma hosts an egg hunt.

She buys boxes of little eggs to hide in the garden and each child gets a basket to store their eggs

A couple of days before a set of eggs per child are labelled with their name and on the morning of the hunt they are put out around the garden. sometimes in-between downpours of rain!

Then after all the eggs are found and many consumed we have a lovely buffet style tea where we can catch up with family and friends.

Its a great day for all of us and the kids really look forward to the egg hunt.

Sometimes the most simple things are the ones we remember arnt they.

I think we can be guilty of overcomplicating some of the holidays and celebrations throughout the year.

We love Christmas for example and if we are not carful we can make Easter as complicated and exuberant as christmas but our egg hunt is such a fun little activity and it doesn’t require loads of stuff. Just lots of work from grandma & grandad who put the effort in sorting the eggs and then creating the delicious food!

DO you have a easter egg hunt? What activities do you do in the Easter Holidays? is Easter as big as Christmas is your house?

Nina x

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