*This post was written as part of our ongoing paid ambassadorship with Studio - all words and opinions are my own
So the Bank Holiday weekend is almost upon us, and I thought I'd share with you guys how we plan to spend it - which is pretty much the way we always spend Bank Holidays now! - at home! Doing very little!
"Well, that's not very inspiring! What's the point in telling us about that?!" I hear you wonder. Well, bare with me....
You see, there was a time when I felt pressured to spend the Bank Holidays out and about as a family - keeping up with the Jones's on social media, taking the kids on a big day out somewhere - perhaps a theme park, or the zoo.
The problem with that is - everybody else has the same idea, and so these places end up even more crowded than usual. Which means queues for everything. And that usually results in unhappy kids and frazzled parents - not much fun!
We'd also end up spending a small fortune for the privilege of spending a day in an overcrowded place - when you take into account the entry price to most of these attractions, along with the cost of some lunch, ice creams and usually an "Exit Via The Gift Shop" fleecing - we could easily be looking at a couple of hundred pounds spent for our family of five.
On one single day out.
Then there's the bank holiday traffic to contend with, and the gamble of the ever-unreliable bank holiday weather too.
So after a few years of making this same mistake over and over - we finally realised that it's all a bit unnecessary. And that actually, we could take just 50% of the money we'd usually spend on that bank holiday day out - and spend it far more wisely!
And so that's what we do.
Instead of throwing money away on a one-off few hours trawling around a theme park, we invest in some new bits & bobs for the kids to enjoy in the garden instead.
This year we decided to update their slide as they'd outgrown their original toddler sized one - there were lots of fantastic looking Slides to choose from on the Studio website, but we settled on this amazing 7 Ft Plum slide as it was wavy - which I knew the kids would really enjoy!
It's the perfect height for them, and just the right size for our garden too - it's currently reduced to just £49.99 which I think is a great price.
We also decided to spruce up our Garden toys with this Swingball set (£17.99) - it's unlike anything else the kids have and it enables them to practice their batting skills and play a bit of bat & ball together without me needing to worry about retrieving lost tennis balls from the neighbours gardens - ideal!
The great thing about doing this is that instead of our hard-earned money going toward just one single day out, it goes on items that will last the kids a couple of years - things that can enjoy over and over, all summer long.
And on the bank holiday itself, we spend the day outside in the garden - making the most of the new things as we enjoy a nice family BBQ together.
We tend to stick to the usual favourites - hot dogs, burgers, corn on the cob and S'mores for dessert - along with a Help Yourself Summer Mocktail (A firm favorite in our house are these Berry Lemonades which is simply Cherry juice topped up with lemonade, with a load of chopped up berries and ice cubes chucked in!)
And that's it - a good old fashioned Bank Holiday BBQ!
Weather permitting of course - let's hope the sun hangs around this year and we don't end up with soggy sausages!
How do you spend your family Bank Holidays? I'd love to hear all about it!
If you enjoy my blog, please consider following me on Bloglovin'
