Ministry of Sound Classical at Rochester Castle

There are nights that stay with you. Friday night was one of them. Hannah and I went to the Ministry of Sound Classical at Rochester Castle Grounds, and it was everything we hoped it would be. The setting, the atmosphere, the orchestra, the crowd, the energy.

Our Easter 2026

I’ve always preferred Easter to Christmas. Christmas has grown into something bigger, busier, and more frantic than it ever was when I was a child. Yes, I do realise how old I sound saying that. Easter still feels rooted. It remains focused on why we celebrate, and that grounding means even more to me as I move through the ordination process.

Our Accessible Challenge

Disabilities, accessibility, equality and general acceptance has been part of my life for the last 24 years.

When I was first diagnosed at 13 I was more active and “able” and I could walk unaided.

Yet, even then I was facing adversity against what I could or couldn’t do.

I was diagnosed halfway through Secondary school. The campus spread over 9 different buildings of which over half of those my classes were on the 2nd or 3rd floor.

I couldn’t at the time use the stairs. I could do stairs but my legs would give way; it was a health and safety nightmare.

So what were the options?

A 24 Year Promise: The Brighton Marathon

At the age of 13 I kept falling and no one understood why.

I was still young yet the best hospital to deal with me was an adult hospital.

I was, with hindsight, out of my depth. At night it would be filled with alarms, electronic noises and cries of distress.

Mum stayed in hospital lodgings but could only visit during specific times. It was difficult but I spent most of my time trying to ignore the harder moments.

When I wasn’t reading I was watching whatever was on the Ward TV.

One Sunday mum was called in and we were told my diagnosis. (Albeit the wrong one for the next 10 years!)

There were 2 clear points:

Why I didn't go to The Dickensian Christmas

Kent is rich in historical places, people and events. Medway in particular has these nuggets of gold that make me proud of where I come from.

One of the things I love is the community spirit and the events that are held.

Regular readers of the blog know that the family and I often go to events held locally.

Charles Dickens lived locally and some sites locally were included in his books. Subsequently in the summer we have the Dickens festival and in the winter we have Dickensian Christmas market and the Dickens Christmas festival.

These events have been a staple of my life since I was a child.

Mental Health and MEGAN

Since July I have been attending a new mental health support group.

MEGAN CIC is a local group in Medway, Kent.

Medway Engagement Group And Network was established in 2009 and became an independent community interest company 4 years later.

Their aim is to provide a voice for mental health users whilst providing opportunities for people who have or have had mental health issues. In their groups and sessions they allow you to share views and experiences of mental health services as well as any other service in your life.

In addition, they provide a safe and supportive opportunity for service users to share experiences and discuss issues of common concern in a relaxed and informal environment.

Harvest and Food Banks

We had our Church's Harvest Festival last week.

It is an event that I look forward to.

The event is different to other services there or at other churches. It isn't all "God" and "Jesus" and focusing on Christianity.

Instead it is all about community and giving; something I wish our church was more about.

We invite our local Cubs, Scouts and Guides to the service. We make the service more family friendly rather than having a service where the adults listen to the sermon and the kids go to the youth group.

We listen, learn and watch information on Food Banks. We hear statistics from up and down the country and what our local one specifically does.

Top UK Theme Parks for Small Children

We are in the school holidays once again and yet parents up and down the country are running out of ideas to keep the kids entertained. If you are looking for ideas for a good day out for your kids then a theme park is always a nice treat. If you have younger children and want to avoid the busy, more adult-focused theme parks then take a look at these ones that are aimed for toddlers and under-10s:

Gulliver’s World

There are three Gulliver’s theme parks in the UK – Warrington, Matlock (Bath) and Milton Keynes. The park is completely designed around children, so much so that adults are not allowed in without children accompanying them. There are some great rides for the older kids, including roller coasters and water slides but none of the big rides that they are too small to go on. For the toddlers, there is plenty to do too, with play areas and at Milton Keynes there is a farm park.

Legoland, Windsor Resort

Even if your kids are not huge fans of Lego, they are going to love Legoland. There are roller coasters, 4D interactive rides, water play areas and game zones to enjoy. There are also educational workshops, such as learning how to program robots. You can stay over at the Legoland hotel and make a real holiday out of your trip. Or if that sounds too expensive, you could take a look at other options like caravans in the local area. There are park homes for hire all around the UK, to help you to have a theme park holiday without the expensive hotel costs. Visit this website for more information.

Paultons Park (Peppa Pig World)

If your kids love Peppa Pig then they will love it at Paultons Park. It is located in the New Forest National Park and has loads of fun activities including rides, play areas, animals and birds, as well as a picturesque surrounding park to explore. Two new rides have just been opened and there are over 70 different rides and attractions to enjoy.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Whilst Blackpool Pleasure Beach has a lot going on for adult groups, it also has plenty for the younger children too. There is a separate area of the theme park especially for younger children and it is free for under 2s to enter the park. Nickelodeon Land has loads of exciting rides and things to do, plus characters like PAW Patrol and Spongebob Square Pants to meet. You can also have loads of fun in the games arcade with penny slots and other fun games to play if the weather is not too nice.

Thomas Land (Drayton Manor)

Drayton Manor is an exciting theme park that is suitable for all ages. Located in Staffordshire, the park has an area for younger children called Thomas Land and is themed around Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. With over 100 rides and attractions, plus a 15-acre zoo, you will have a very busy day trying to see and do everything at the park.

You will also find a Dino Trail, crazy golf, indoor play area, a Thomas exhibition and a high ropes adventure area. There are even live shows that you can visit for some extra entertainment. In the school holidays, there is a Zoo Club where your kids can learn all about what it takes to be a zookeeper and includes a full day of activities.


(This is a collaboration. I am under no obligations to give a positive review! Please see my full disclosure at the bottom of my blog)

Review: Lazer M.A.D.

The other week we were invited to the launch event of Lazer M.A D. latest blaster.

Now, before I let you know about the event I will talk about the blaster.

The basic set blaster comes with an attachable target. The blaster itself is unique compared to others that are currently available on the market due to some very clever design features. Lazer MAD is the first home blaster that’s completely wireless for unrestricted play as well as having a design that makes each blaster customisable due to the accessories for it.

Brick History at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham



I often receive emails asking if we are interested in going to one event or another and although I think many would like these events I usually turn them down if they either don’t strike something we would all be interested in as a family or are not educational for Home Ed.

It has always just been something that I have done and never mean it to be a negative to the event we have been invited to.

Recently, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham contacted us regarding “Brick History;” an event that travels through time exploring 13.8 billion years of the world. Now, admittedly, I have always enjoyed the exhibitions that they hold and as we are currently studying Castles and what they were made of, clever clogs over here thought learning about history of bricks that it would fit quite nicely.

Well, as many of you would enjoy, I was wrong; not that learning about how bricks were made wouldn’t be a great exhibition to visit but the truth behind the exhibition itself was surprising and cool…

English Heritage Festival 2018

 

I love living in Medway. We are really lucky that our area is full of lots of activities and full of history! It could be a trip to a castle, Sweeps festival (coming up next weekend) and the Dickens festival to name just a few.

These events are always a wonderful family day out, a little learning adventure and, for me, a family tradition that has carried on from when I was a child to being a parent.

At the weekend we had the English Heritage Festival which is always a fun-packed day out for the whole family celebrating the most iconic and ironic of English traditions.

It is always a day full of activities, fun and good food and drink; something that I have always loved and so have the boys. It was also the first time that Hannah had come to join us. With the good news that she can finally come and live here in Kent it seemed right to start throwing her and the kids into some of our local events.

Christingle 2017

The Boy's and I went to our Church's Christingle service on Sunday which was great.

For us it one of the important traditions that we, as a family, enjoy; yet, for others, it is a real central activity at this time of year and with that it is always lovely to see a filled church with a varying degree of generations together.

Dickens Christmas Festival 2017

We are extremely lucky to live in part of the country where we once housed Charles Dickens both in his early years and his last years; because of this we have several events throughout the year in Rochester to enjoy together.

One of my favourites is the Dickensian Christmas which was a staple event of my childhood and one that I like to get the boys involved with too! We had also planned the event with Hannah's visit to us so was looking forward to sharing all the things we enjoy with her.

The boys Mum also volunteers at these events so it suits us both to be involved; myself as a eager onlooker and herself as a breastfeeding support worker. So once we had collected the boys we were off to check our this years festivities.

Rochester Christmas Market 2017

We started our December activities and visited the Christmas market in Rochester.

This is the second year that we have visited a Christmas market and I was surprised to see how much it had changed from last year.

Last year the stalls were all within the castle grounds and although they had a different array of items being sold I have to admit that there was a slight underwhelming experience with what was on offer compared to Christmas markets that I had read and heard about; not that I still didn’t enjoy myself.

This year it was clear that the market was a lot bigger!

Although the majority of the stalls were still within the castle ground there were some down on the castle courtyard.

These stalls were bursting with a variety of different foods and all with individual takes.

There were a few that stood out and I wanted to explain why they did and why, if you are attending, you should check them out!

Half Term: Diggerland Kent

We are extremely lucky and have so many great attractions on our doorstep. As many of you know we try and visit as many of these landmarks and attractions throughout the year as possible; from days out to the seaside, visiting castles or just some random exploration of local woods. Kent seems to be full of child related activities. 

One attraction locally has always appealed to us and I don't know why we haven't been before! 

Diggerland Kent is literally 5 minutes away from us but can be found off of the M2 for signs of Rochester. 

It is known for it's great family days out and even won several awards at the Kent Digital awards (Where I was lucky to meet many of their team!)

The lovely Hannah and the two children were with us again this half term trying to integrate the children, and us, into the future of us being a blended family and although the day to day activities and normal activities seems to be going really well we realised that we haven't tried to do the "family day out" experience with all four children!

We thought Diggerland fitted all of this criteria and provide us all with a lovely day out!

*Be warned this is a photo heavy post. But, how else are we meant to show you the great time without showing all the fun stuff we got up to!*

#Familygoodtimes Visit To McDonald’s

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As a child my parents had a very strict view on us eating out at fast food restaurants. It was always a treat if we went; something that I have always tried to keep with the boys.

I have very fond memories of my 8^th birthday party being at McDonald’s. Surrounded by friends and family, enjoying eating my special treat and interacting with the characters available.

It was a staple of primary school parties growing up and I remember going along to several and having a great time.

The Characters were always fun, engaging and full of entertainment obviously so much so that it has remained as a great childhood memory!

It has been something I have wanted to replicate for the boys even if it wasn't for birthday parties.

Luckily, across the country, McDonald’s are having and holding a host of character visits surrounding the release of the Emoji movie. We were pleased then to be invited along to experience this!

Hever Castle

Hannah had a rare moment last weekend when she was child free and had a chance to visit Kent.

Like me, Hannah is a history buff, especially with Tudors, and with Kent being filled with hundreds of historic attractions we thought we would take advantage of this fact and go out for the day. Hever castle, the birth place of Anne Boleyn and part residence of Henry VIII, is only a short drive from mine so had to take advantage of the free time and visit!

Teddy Bears Picnic 2017

As you might have seen throughout this last year the Church, St Bartholomew's Bobbing, that the boys and I attend have family themed events that are also open for the local community. One that was very popular previous years was our Teddy Bears Picnic. So once again we held one; I decided to have some fun and do the post on the Teddy Bear Picnic song.

Medway Armed Forces Day 2017

Although it isn't a set public Holiday, as it is in other countries, Armed Forces Day, previously known as Veterans Day, is usually celebrated and remembered across the UK at the end of June.

The boys and I have always been supporters of the day and event. However, despite the boys attending the local event in previous years with their Mum, it is something that I haven't attended so thought I must at go this year!

Fathers Day with Pizza Express

Fathers day for me is often a very mixed day. The last few years I have had the boys for the day and it has pretty much been like any other day where it is full of love, fun and enjoyment but where I still end up playing adult and dad and don't really stop.

I suppose being one half of a co-parent relationship and doing it independently allows this to become the standard experience especially when the boys, and their mum, also spoil their step father for the day. However, due to this being the case I do at times get a bit down when I see other dads being spoilt so try to make a special and extra effort to do something special.

Luckily this year our treat was presented to us from Pizza Express who are treating dads this Fathers day.

We were invited to go visit their new premises on Gloucester Road, London to have a pizza party and celebrate Fathers day by making and eating our very own pizza; what a perfect activity to bring father and son together.