The internet is going to be painted pink today! Our darling boy Ollie, who turned 3 last week had repeatedly asked us for a pink party after falling in love with fuchsia a few months ago!

Not fairies or princesses you understand, apparently they are "disgusting" and "for girls". "I like pink."

Well if it was pink he wanted, pink he got! We were so lucky to be able to borrow my in laws beautiful home for the weekend and host a family party in the garden. The sun shone, the pink Cava and pink lemonade flowed and our sweet boy got his wish. Ollie shares his birthday with my Mum so it was a joint celebration!

He was the most grateful and loving boy, delirious with everyone getting into the pink spirit and adored having his cousins as party play mates.

These are special times and I am going to celebrate every single one!

After an awesome pizza and pasta buffet, as much ice cream and sprinkles and sweet treats as we could all eat we headed to the pool!

The giant balloons made a perfect volleyball and we even managed to Skype with my brother and sister in law in America from the hot tub!

A wonderful day of traditional party fun - who doesn't love a balloon between the legs relay and an egg and spoon race?! And party bags for home time.

What an amazing family we have! All in party pinks!

Party details

• The chairs and tables were kindly loaned to us by Dine In
• I sourced party decorations from Party Delights
• The big balloons were from Giant Balloons
• The Little Things party company were very generous and provided lots of lovely party ware including paper sweet bags, stripy straws, lollies and the sweet daisy mason jars
• The tableware, pinwheels and stripy bunting were from Sainsburys
• The birthday sprinkle cake and coffee and walnut cake were from Tesco
• The party buffet was a selection of Domino's Pizza, sides, a meatball pasta bake from Tesco and salads. For dessert we set up an ice cream station for you to make up your own creations and a sweet table for extras. 

Anything else you want to know - just ask!

The next birthday is actually mine! We will be heading to Spain in 2 weeks to celebrate my birthday in Altea with my sister and her family and my brother and sister in law from America! Paella, tapas and Cava sounds perfect! 

Linking up with the fabulous Honest Mum and and #BrilliantBlogPosts and #CountryKids

Summer holidays mean hazy sunny days in the garden and hungry boys!

I have a deep love affair with ready to roll puff pastry and it's always handy to keep a roll in the freezer. You can whip up all sorts in minutes and make a meal stretch a little further if you suddenly have extra guests.

Try these chorizo and pancetta parcels for a simple brunch or tea idea. And if you are not a chorizo fan just substitute it for ham or prosciutto.

Ingredients:

• I roll puff pastry
• Sliced chorizo
• Cubed pancetta
• Eggs
• Oregano, pepper and salt to season
• Olive oil

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/Gas Mark 4.

Roll out your puff pastry (Preferably onto the baking tray as once filled they are tricky to move. You only find that out after you've tried it on a board!) and cut into 4 inch squares. You will need a base and a lid for each parcel.

Fold the corner of the pastry sheet over to create a triangle to give you an accurate square shape for cutting. A 4 inch square parcel will feed 2 small children.

Tease up the edges of your base to create a lip around the base, this will stop the egg from leaking before it's cooked.

Layer your slices of chorizo and sprinkle your pancetta, herbs and top with an egg. 

Place the pastry lid on the top and using the back of a fork press down the rim of your lid to the base. Brush with olive oil.

Bake in the oven for approximately 15 mins until the pastry has puffed and is golden brown.

Slice and eat. I served the boys with baked beans and they loved it.

And if you are thinking of what do do with the left over pastry, why not try these ideas?!

Linking up with #TastyTuesdays and #recipeoftheweek

Open Cherry Candy Floss Pie

Puff pastry allotment cones

Eton Mess bake

Oh Tetbury, you stole our hearts, and the contents of our wallet and purse! Well not stole, we happily exchanged our hard earned pennies for your loveliness!

We had the pleasure of a child free weekend, with best pals, which started on Friday evening the weekend before last. With the M5 in it's typical Summer gridlock (and the schools haven't even broken up yet) we ended up flinging the boys in Mum's car at a services half way up the motorway towards Bristol, in a desperate attempt not to be late arriving in Gloucester!

The boys were thrilled to have 2 whole nights with Granny and just about managed to kiss us goodbye before they started singing Yankee Doodle Dandee at full volume! Granny has quite the collection of children's cds in her car.

After my first visit to the recently redeveloped Gloucester Docks (which is ace by the way) and a long overdue catch up with my girls we headed off to Tetbury on Saturday morning. Rich had been on babysitting duty with the husband at home whilst the girls went to town. We stopped at the new Gloucester Services en route.

It is like no other services you will ever have the pleasure of visiting! 

We arrived in Tetbury to glorious sunshine and despite our friends not being able to join us (Their little girl was poorly in the night!) we were determined to enjoy the night away even if we missed them greatly!

We checked into The Priory Inn, a 2 minute walk to the town centre which sources all the food in the hotel within a 30 miles radius. The hotel has an abundance of contemporary country charm with candles everywhere and simple but sophisticated rooms.

We dropped off the bags and wandered into the town. With a tiny handbag. Oh the small pleasures of no children in tow! Each cobbled pavement bursting with antiques stores, traditional and boutique and floors and floors of loveliness.

We discovered Café 53 where we could have easily spent the entire afternoon, sitting by the pond, drinking wine and eating delicious food.

We rambled aimlessly around the town, pottering, eating, drinking and really and truly relaxing. We even had a half hour read of our favourite magazines with a drink in the hotel garden! Heavenly. 

There are so many shops I would recommend. At one point Rich who doesn't 100% share my love of clutter (about 70% I'd say) exclaimed with glee, "We're antiquing!"

Must visits:

• Domestic Science
• Amy Perry
• Top Banana
• Anne Fowler

Oh and I couldn't not share all my treats! It may not be Easter for another 9 months but that vintage egg mould was coming home with us! I am going to use the old spindles for ribbons on my new office wall and a few treats for the boys. Only fitting to get a Farmer's Market story book in the services!

Where did you go on a child free weekend? It's always great to have a hit list of places to visit!