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Camp Bestival Packing List – Part 1

July 16, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

It’s just over two weeks until Camp Bestival 2014 – we cannot wait!

Its time for me to start preparing and packing.. Yes it does take me that long and sometimes when I’ve something to look forward to packing is all part of the excitement.

So here is the first part of my packing list. In no real order of importance but all things I think are essential to your enjoyment and comfort at Camp Bestival.

1. Accommodation:

Be it a tent, a teepee, a campervan or a podpad thingy. If it’s a tent get it out now, air it and check for holes or damage. If you are glamping make sure you ask questions as to what is included so as to avoid unnecessary packing

2. Temperature control:

By this I mean be prepared for anything and everything. You will need light, cool layers for the (hopefully) gloriously, sunshiney days. You will also definitely need warm clothes for the evenings. For watching the shows and relaxing outside you need warm jumpers, snuggly hats etc. For bedtime you want fleecy pjs if you have them,thick socks and a good quality sleeping bag or thick blankets. For toddlers and older children a warm onesie is ideal with lots of thin blankets that can be thrown off or added as and when. For babies a winter sleeping bag is best with a onesie and perhaps a light extra top layer.

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3. Something to sleep on:

As much as I love the idea of back to nature camping I don’t love the reality of sleeping on a hard floor for 4 nights. If you are camping for adults an air bed is necessary luxury. For toddlers why not use a readybed we used one last year for Izzy and will be doing so again this year. For babies a pop up travel centre is ideal and easy to transport. Also useful to take into the festival fields if it’s sunny.

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4. The Bubbles:

Bubbles are more important than you can imagine at CB. Every child has them. There are stalls selling amazing wands and bubbles everywhere you look. Take some wands and bubble mix with you. Helps you keep to a budget and stops your child saying please mam..bubbles every single minute.

5. Something to sit on:

As I write this I remember that my camping chairs are broken. Arrgghh. Not good. Sometimes you will want to lounge around on the floor but most of the time if you are over the age of 20 you will want a chair.

6. Wet Wipes:

You will need LOTS of wet wipes. To clean grubby hands, wipe sticky faces and scrub away face paint. For lazy baths and wiping down buggies.

7. Fancy Dress:

Even if it’s just for the little ones. It’s all part of the fun of the festival. No idea what I’m going to wear just yet.

8. Ear Protection:

If you are a light sleeper use ear plugs at night and for your little ones you need ear defenders if you plan to get close to the stage. We used Edz which we picked up for about £10 from amazon.

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That’s it for tonight. More coming up tomorrow.

Tickets are available by visiting www.campbestival.net

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Filed Under: Camp Bestival, Festivals and Camping · Tagged: Babies, camp bestival, camping, festival, packing list, toddlers

The Bestest time at Camp Bestival

August 23, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 6 Comments

So a few weeks ago we arrived home from the most amazing four days at Camp Bestival in Dorset. Exhausted, grubby, tanned and very happy. I was excited before we went but I could never have imagined just how good this festival would be.

There was so much to see and do all day long that it was more than a little overwhelming, the size on the festival site is incredible and at first it seems that you will never find your way about but we quickly got to grips with everything and by Saturday we felt like Camp Bestival regulars.

It is so much more than a music festival. It’s somewhere I could have happily taken my parents as well as my child and I know that they would have enjoyed it.

It was impossible to see everything we wanted to but I managed to see/try most things on my list which you can read here

Here is my Camp Bestival Diary 2012:

Day 1: We arrived at around midday on Thursday 26th and found out car park and camping plus plot with ease. Camping Plus is something I would definitely recommend. It costs an additional £100 per plot (not per person) but your camping spot is laid out for you, nobody can go into your space and there are posh showers and toilets just for camping plus customers. There are also special cafes/stalls which rarely had huge queues. I would do this again for sure. The rest of the evening was mainly wandering around the site and then chilling outside our tent watching what seemed like an Olympic contest for biggest and best tent going on all around us.

As I am not earning at the moment (maternity leave) we were hoping to keep to a fairly small budget for eating out so we look lots of foodie bits with us as well as the camping stove. New blog post coming soon all about camping food. After a lovely relaxing meal in the sunshine ( today has been so hot) we got set up for bed and had an early night.

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Day 2: On waking up and setting up for breakfast we discovered our gas bottle was in fact now empty. Oops. We made a short trip into town and then back to the beautiful festival site just in time for a quick lunch at the tent and back into the midst of things..

It’s hard to explain how much there is to do, eat and watch here .. You could walk around all day long and still not cover everything. So far today we have watched extreme sports, various bands and musicians, eaten ice cream, drank coconut water straight from the shells as well as trying tightrope walking , had lots of freebies and sun bathed. What a glorious day.

When you are in a crowd of 30,000 people you don’t expect to bump into people you know let alone people you vaguely recognise from a profile pic on twitter but that’s what happened.. After an organised meet with the lovely Aresidence,Melkshammum and bluebearwood earlier in the day I bumped into Abi (midwifetomum) Neil (higheight) and their gorgeous daughter Bo whilst taking an evening stroll, it was really nice to meet the people behind the tweets and we arranged to meet for drinks the following eve.

We ended day 2 watching Hot Chip with a sleeping baby across my lap sprawled on the grass near the castle. Perfect end to a pretty perfect day.

Day 3: All of the activities and fun seem to be wearing Izzy out and she had a lovely long sleep last night. Yay. This means we are all bright and refreshed today and ready for an action filled day. A nice big bacon butty breakfast by the tent and we head down to the castle stage to watch The Gruffalo.. A huge crowd of tired and hungover parents are soon cheered by an unbelievably lively albeit slightly inappropriate Dick & Dom and when The Gruffalo starts every childs face in the audience lights up and its amazing. Izzy unfortunately slept through most of The Gruffalo but she woke up in time for Mr Tumble and I’m so glad she did as he was fantastic. I hadn’t really appreciated how good he was until he was on stage but he was fab, myself and Izzy loved it.
Quick break back at the tent for lunch then it was off to meet Shrek. Woop. Should I really have been more excited than my child to see the REAL Shrek in person?! Probably not but I was and we even got to have a pic with him and Donkey. Fun. Izzy is obsessed with her shrek toy and she seemed happily shocked to see a lifesize version.

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It’s a little cooler today which is good news as although I love the sun it’s been a constant struggle to keep Izzy cool then warm (in the shade) and she is covered in a thin sheen of suncream at all times. Having said that the camp bestival site has plenty of shaded areas to chill out in for when the sun is just too strong as well as baby chill out areas and soft play tents. The chill out tent had lots of bepathen freebies too which was nice.

After a lazy few hours of strolling along eating ice cream and allowing myself a cheeky glass of Pimms whilst doing the hump watching The Rizzle Kicks we headed down to the Kids field to meet up with the lovely Abi,Neil&Bo. We walked down to the bandstand and sat down ready to chill out listening to Howard Marks reading an unusual version of Jack and the beanstalk. Lots of fun. This was a unique experience. His melodic voice calmed even the most boisterous children and five minutes in they were hanging on his every word. His version of Jack and the beanstalk with explanations of what a widow is and his own take on the moral of the story was truly a delight. Probably one of my fave CB experiences.

After the bedtime story we were hungry and had the most delicious chicken nachos from the funky and friendly Luardos. If you see their pink van at any festivals you just have to try their food. It’s the best street food/festival grub I have ever tried. Sprawled on the grass eating our food whilst Izzy played with new friend Bo we listened to Gekko- I’ll be honest I’d never heard of these guys prior to this and maybe if they hadn’t been on immediately after HM I wouldn’t have thought to watch them but I’m so glad I did. I loved their set and loved their obvious shock and glee when the enthralled audience demanded an encore. Will be keeping an eye/ear out their future gigs. After the it we checked out the Young British Foodies tent.. This as my third visit to the tent as I just loved walking round the stalls but we made our first and only purchase there which I think was the best decision we could have made.. RIBS! Seriously the best Ribs I have ever tasted from the Ribman. Ahh heavenly.

Next on our list of things to do was heading to the castle field to watch Kool and the gang. I was so excited as growing up my dad loved them and so I often heard their songs around the house. Kool and the gang were in a word EPIC. I rarely use that word but wow I loved it. A few songs they started with were well before my time I’m sure but we bopped along anyway but when they began to play their biggest hits such as: ladies nights, get down on it, Cherish ( my dads fave) and the massive crowd pleaser Celebrate it just became one of my favourite festival experiences ever. Such a happy lively group of singers and so energetic! The crowd were happy and it’s one of those songs which everyone will have personal memories attached from parties and their own previous celebrations. If you get a chance to see KOTG live – Do it.

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Day 4: Tired today after a busy day yesterday so we have a lazy morning and wander around the festival site we then queue to see The Wall of death making sure Izzy has her ear defenders on. What a fab experience! If you see the wall of death at any events or festivals make sure you go and look inside. So much fun and Izzy was enthralled. We have a quick lunch and then head to see Rolf Harris take over the Castle stage. This was fun, we sang along and listened to his stories before going to The Dingle Dell for some poetry followed by a secret gig! Lianne La Havas was this years secret performer and she has an extremely beautiful voice and it was nice being part of such a small performance. We headed back to the tent after the secret gig and packed everything up ready for our journey home tonight and within the hour we were back out and ready to treat ourself to some festie food..after all we had packed the stove away.

I chose to have a lamb flatbread kebab.. Yum. I was even inspired weeks later to make flatbreads after eating this, you can find that recipe here and Andrew chose Chicken &Chorizo Paella both were from lovely food stalls in the castle stage field. We also had some fresh lemonade from the Paella stand which was gorgeous. Whilst munching the opening song of Dub Pistols set started and the crowd loved it, We have seen Dub Pistols perform live 3 times and they are an amazing live act that really get the crowd going. We couldn’t have ended the festival on a better note. We left just as The Happy Mondays got started and it was a peaceful exit and journey home which I imagine would have been slightly more stressful if we had left on the Monday morning.

Overall it was an absolutely amazing festival experience. We are really hoping to go again next year and I would say its suitable for ALL ages.

Check out our Camp Bestival photo diary

Early bird tickets are available now so go to www.campbestival.com and buy yourself a guaranteed fantastic holiday experience for next year!

* I was lucky enough to be offered free tickets for this years festival in exchange for an honest review.

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Filed Under: Parenting/baby, random, Travel · Tagged: camp bestival, Dorset, family, festival, foodie, kool and the gang, luardos, Lulworth castle, Reviews, The Ribman, YBF

Camp Bestival photo diary

August 13, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

I know you are all eagerly awaiting my Camp Bestival review which should be posted later this week but just to whet your appetite here are some of my favourite pics from this years quite frankly amazing festival of fun:

Izzy in her little tent while we put up the big tent..she got tagged:

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Dining alfresco, one of my camping creations:

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Playtime with dad:

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Sleeping through the Gruffalo:

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Dancing to Rolf Harris:

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Uh oh I’m being watched…

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Gonna carry on anyway..

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We met Shrek!!!

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Bopping away to Mr Tumble:

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Playing games outside the tent with Dad:

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And on the last night waiting for Dub Pistols:

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Filed Under: Festivals and Camping, Parenting/baby, random, Travel · Tagged: baby, camp bestival, dub pistols, family, festival, Reviews

Getting the best out of Camp Bestival

July 16, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

I’m very excited. In just 10 days myself, Andrew and Izzy are off to Dorset for Camp Bestival!!

If you haven’t heard of Camp Bestival before the you need to go check it out on the CB site as its quite frankly amazing.

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There are so many things going on over the 4 days that it’s a little overwhelming but in a very good way.

Here is a little summary of the parts that we don’t want to miss:

1. Howard Marks reading bedtime stories for the children.. Ok so Izzy will probably be already asleep when this happens but I want to hear them. I’ve heard Howard speak at a local theatre ( I imagine the stories he tells here will be different 😉 )and his voice is soft,melodic and well just perfect for bedtime stories.

2. Kool and the gang – yes I most certainly want to celebrate good times and cherish the love. My dad is a huge fan of Kool & the gang so I grew up listening to their fabulous tunes and I can’t wait to see them live. I’m also on a huge autograph hunt for my dad.

3. Rolf Harris – he’s a legend.

4. Jimmy Carr – I love his dry wit and immovable hair and I recently missed out on seeing him perform locally so this is perfect.

5. Little Roy – if you haven’t heard of this man who has recently given Nirvana a reggae makeover check him out here my other half loves Nirvana and we both like reggae

6. Shrek the musical – this shouldn’t be so far down my list as it will probably be the highlight of the festival for Izzy who is very attached to her belching, roaring Shrek toy.

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7. The Gruffalo – I have a feeling we will all enjoy this. Isn’t it great having a child and getting to do all the kids stuff again?

8. Festival food – ahh I love festival food. There are so many delectable treats on offer this year but these are what I really want to try:

Roasted corn, smoothies, ice cream (champagne flavour ..yes please), strawberries and cream with a Pimms to wash it down I hope.. The drool inducing tartiflette from La Grande Bouffe ( which I’ve never tried but sounds amazing) fish&chips, pies and salad/wraps for when I start to feel a little guilty. Have to give a special mention to Luardos in their funky pink van… This is street food at its absolute finest. We existed on Luardos burritos and nachos at the last festival we attended and will certainly be having some goodies at CB. According to the CB site they will be located in Kids garden. Lovely smiling staff too which is always a bonus.

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Ooh and the WI tent for tea and cakes. Yum.

9. The Schuh welly exchange: I need wellies and they need shoes. Read about it here

10. Soul park – this is probably just a dream as I will have my 10 month old demanding daughter with me but it just sounds well dreamy, hot tubs, saunas and massages ..at a festival? Wow.

11. One final special mention .. We are all looking forward to watching Dubpistols (even Izzy) they were easily one of the highlights of the last festival we went to and having met them I can also say they are lovely guys!

So at the moment that’s what I’m looking forward to the most but it changes daily and I also want to see the fireworks,the wall of death and silly weddings at the Big Love Inflatable Church.

I believe tickets are still available and the sun is looking to show its head next week too so come along.. Please let me know if you are attending!

* Camp Bestival is held in the grounds of Lulworth Castle, Dorset from July 26th-29th 2012. Buy tickets here

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Filed Under: Parenting/baby, random, Travel · Tagged: camp bestival, family fun, festival, festival food, jimmy Carr, kool and the gang, la grande bouffe, luardos, rob da bank, shrek

What a difference a year makes

July 12, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

A photo of me at 6 months pregnant in Blissfields festival June 2011:

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And one year later Izzy in the same spot:

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Filed Under: Parenting/baby · Tagged: baby, Blissfields, festival, luardos, Pregnancy

Family Festival Fun

July 3, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

We have spent the last five days at Blissfields Festival in Winchester.. It was an unexpected success and we had a fantastic time. I say unexpected as even though I knew the festival would be fab (having attended last year) I was slightly worried about how Izzy would react to the crowds,noise,new place and most importantly how she would sleep.

Before we left I wrote and rewrote numerous lists of baby related items that we HAD to take and then some extras that I just wanted to take and well I’m not going to lie to you there was a lot but panic not I am here to tell you what we used and needed so you and your baba can relax and enjoy.

Absolute essentials:

Ear defenders: we bought Edz kids ones from Amazon which Izzy loved wearing
Wet wipes – think of how many you normally use in that space of time and maybe double it.
Nappies- as above..you never know when an explosive poop day will occur
Food-if your baby is really young then foodie items may be limited so take more than you will need
Kettle- for sterilising,heating food and equally important cups of caffeine(for you of course not baby)
Blankets and warm clothes- tents get very cold in the night and also handy for sprawling on grass
Suncream- no explanation really needed here..even in the UK an unexpected ray of sun will shine
Rain covers- its the UK there will probably be rain
A few toys and comforters
Calpol- this wondrous potion saved us on a night of extreme teething
Bibs and many clothes- Izzy had about 3 changes a day on average
Sling or baby carrier- we used the Hippychick mostly as she’s getting fairly big!

Now the things which aren’t essential but really handy if you have the space:

A travel cot- this means you get some uninterrupted sleep (hopefully
Baby walker or ride along car etc -It helped us relax and enjoy the festival a lot and they can’t move too fast due to the grass 😉 if you can fit it in its a real bonus.
Toys- the more the better really
Stroller type buggy- I spoke to more than 1 parent who didn’t take one to save space and regretted it. Izzy napped in hers and sat in it to eat.

I hope the list above helps you but please ask if you have any questions.

This is the first family festival we have been to with Izzy but we would like to do more possibly Camp Bestival next year and of course Blissfields again for sure. I’m not sure of the set up of other festivals but at Blissfields there is a huge area devoted to young children and babies called Angel gardens this is really fab, there are tents to chill out, toilets just for children, special cafes and you can even bathe your baby there. This year there was a circus theme and Izzy enjoyed it so much!

When the music got a little loud we put on her ear defenders and she didn’t even attempt to take them off which was great, she loved sitting on mine or her dads shoulders and bopping about to the music. I think she will become hooked on festivals as she gets older.

Izzys (my) highlights of the festival were : King Charles, Dub Pistols, Subgiant and an amazing kids band which I cannot remember the name of!

Many more pics to come but here is Izzy on day 1 of Blissfields 2012.

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* just for the record she slept incredibly well. 3 naps a day and long nighttime slumber. In fact if I wasn’t on unpaid maternity leave I would book into every family festival this summer.

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Filed Under: Parenting/baby, random · Tagged: angel gardens, baby, Blissfields, camp bestival, family, festival

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