A walk in the park #kiddicare #kiddicareaintree

 

 

The other week, before the kids broke up we got an invite to the opening of the new Kiddicare store in Aintree. I was really intrigued to go as i had only ever ordered online from kiddicare and had always been pretty impressed by their service so was interested to see what their store would shape up like. It is pretty close to me as well so wasn’t too far to go for the kids.

If you have ever shopped with Kiddicare online you will know that they stock a VAST amount of baby and child equipment. Well the store doesn’t disappoint in that area either, it is MAHOOOSIVE.  A whopping 41,000ft²  with over 3,500 brilliant baby products.

We went on a little tour around the store, looking a the extensive range of car seats that you can try out and get dedicated advice on. Then we stopped at the toy area, which is a new area that Kiddicare are getting into. Ever mindful of their small shoppers there is a little play area, with playhouse, a slide, train table and assorted ride on items for the kids to try. We stayed there for a while!!

Personally I really appreciate this. When my son was little there was a store near us that had a similar area that kids could play with the toys, its gone now but it was such a place of refuge for me on days when we had to get out of the house. I was heavily pregnant but with a little boy desperate to burn off some energy and so i used to go often for him to play with the trains. Kiddicare have taken it a step further and included a funky little bench which i can see many a weary mama sitting on while their little one explores the toys.

My two little girls swiftly took possession of some little red wheely bugs and were happy to zip in and out of the aisles keeping up.

A couple of things i was really impressed with:

1. The buggy MOT area – this is available for customers to bring their buggy in and get them given a once over and lets face it the amount of money most of us spend on buggies now. They need to be looked after. This is available for any buggy, bought from any retailer.

2. The try before you buy buggy area. All the buggies are available for you to try out. I dont think i have ever seen so many buggies in my life. I was having serious buggy envy and we are a no longer in the market for buggy shopping although our Phil and Ted probably needs a little visit to the MOT area!! 😉

3. The V.I.B or very important baby area which is a free personal shopper service for mums and dads to be to go and try out products, start a list, make some of those big decisions and sit in a comfy chair and browse the online catalogue..then go check it out IRL! Perfect for those first time mums when your head is still spinning from the fact that such a small person needs so much stuff!

4. The free gift wrap. Your little one been invited to a party and you have forgotten a gift? you can go into kiddicare, buy a gift and wrap it at a large desk near the tills which is brimming with cute wrapping paper. Sorted.

I was especially impressed with the community ethos of the whole of the Kiddicare team. They have in store a large, colourful and comfy event room which aims to encourage community groups such as NCT, baby ballet, yoga etc meet together there. It is free to hire and from the looks of the schedule of events for each day is very popular.

Of course, couldn’t forget the fact that there is an instore Starbucks with a play area for the kids, a lovely plush feeding area for mums and dads!. They seem to have thought of just about everything!

We had a lovely hour in the community room with Time for Ted, a musical play and learn fun group which my girls seriously got into especially the bubbles!!

Of course after all that dancing it was time for drink and a snack and the lovely spacious Starbucks. What a lovely morning, it was just a shame i had to rush back to collect my kids from school and didn’t get to go on a proper spending spree! I will be going back soon!!

 

 

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So whats with Silhouettes? #mamarazzi #photography101

There is a really easy way to give your photo extreme drama! Its shooting your subject in silhouette. You can do this in extreme light situations. Generally the light will be behind your subject and usually its the sun.

In this scenario you are exposing for the sky instead of the subject. This leaves your subject underexposed, remember what i said about kids not being as bright as the sun! 😉

The goal is to have them pretty much blackened out and then you produce a lovely silhouette and not a muddy, dark subject in the foreground.

To get a great silhouette you need to think about the light that is behind your subject. A sunrise or sunset works really well. You can do it at other times of the day when the sun is out. But sunset and sunrise give you the beautiful ‘golden hour’ light when the sun is at its delicate most pretty light and it will just make your sky and image dreamy.

But there isnt many of us who will drag our kids out to the hilltop or beach at crack of dawn so lets just say use the sun when you can 😉

Your camera, if you have it in auto, will be convinced that you need extra light in the dark situation and so will probably pop the flash up and try and add in some light. Make sure you turn the auto flash off.

So a basic approach to get a silhouette:

1. Point your camera toward the sky ( your light source)

2. Press your shutter halfway and keep it pressed down.

3. Now keeping your shutter pressed halfway aim the camera back at your subject. Its also good to aim to not move your camera back and forth but keep it up and down or side to side…just to stop your camera’s autofocus from jumping about.

4. Depress the shutter totally and BAM…there it is.

I find that really good silhouettes work better when there is a clear outline of your subject. So a beach or another open vista. If you are trying to do a silhouette where there are lots of trees you might find it hard to distinguish between the dark shapes, remember anything that isnt as bright as your light source that you are telling the camera to take its light reading from is going to be dark.

Here are some other examples.

Now that we seems to be heading towards spring a little, the sun might be putting in an appearance more often so get out there and give it a go.

Do let me know how you get on!!

 

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Not as expected #motivationalmonday

I bought a teepee a little while back, i think it was last year. My intention was to use it on lovely ‘concept’ shoots the sort that i have been inspired by so many times in the past. I have used it a couple of times but more often than not its been used by the cute little folk in my house. Initially i was a bit reluctant to let them loose on it. There is always a high probability in my house that something like this will get broken or drawn on at some point and so i was a little worried about it not being ‘fit’ for the purpose i had intended.

But gradually it has become part of our furniture, propped away from time to time but out for play..and yes it has been drawn on and broken in that time too!. My oldest daughters like to ‘camp out’ in it in our living room and my smallest two play a lot of games in there, sometimes they let mama join in too, especially when you play a game of peek-a-boo through the hole at the top!

I actually dont mind that it hasn’t fulfilled its initial purpose. I was maybe a little unrealistic to be honest. Dazzled by american photographers who can rely on good weather, beautiful hazy sun flare and warmth..when realistically the soggy  summers and freezing springs we have had, haven’t actually lent themselves to extended concept shoots with little ones.

So for now, its purpose has changed but i don’t think it has less value. It is being well loved. It is part of some stories, cowboys, indians, tea parties, dolly get togethers, trips to the shops, imaginary journeys to foreign lands, and a few sibling fall outs 😉

My intentions may have been different but its purpose now brings a warmth to my soul when i hear it being bought to life.

Sometimes things just work out like that don’t they? Not always as planned but still as good.

i like that.

 

Giveaway time this week is for this super cute MINI BODEN tee for the little toddler guy or gal in your life! Just follow the rafflecopter as always. The winner of the LUSH gift box is Danielle Preira. Please contact me to get your prize! Congratulations!

 

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