I’ve started feeling like I’ve spent most of the past 18 months in jeans (partly because I have – first maternity ones, then bargain denim in a variety of sizes) and while I’m not planning to break out a suit for the home office, I’ve been eyeing up a few more stylish odds and ends to upgrade my look slightly. All still suitable for nursery pick-up.

Bardot top, John Lewis

A couple of rather lovely tops have come from an unexpected place – Precis Petite. It’s a range I always tend to think of as being a bit more grown-up. But given I have a daughter, a mortgage and my next birthday is moving me firmly towards my late 30s, I suppose I am too.

And this Poppy Bardot jumper has got a great 50s feel and I love the print – all I need are some capri pants and shades (and a trip to the south of France).

The flashes of neon-y yellow in the range’s colour-block knitted top are perfect for summery days too, and remind me of a similar style from Phase Eight that I used to almost live in on holiday.

Thea top, John Lewis

Phase Eight are sorting me out for summer evenings meanwhile, with this gorgeous lace-detail Thea blouse while Oasis at John Lewis has a great lace front top in red – even better for coping with very small sticky mitts.

And for a slightly more fun vest top (well, you always need vest tops), I’ve got my eye on a mustard Antonia vest from White Stuff – much cuter than it sounds with a yellow fruit pattern against a soft grey background.

Then, just in case the British summertime isn’t quite as lovely as the last bank holiday promised, Warehouse’s draped contrast lace jacket will keep me covered up but summery right through to autumn.

But there’s plenty to tempt parents there this summer with special activities for toddlers to teenagers. 

The Punch Rock School in Ipswich is running two five-day courses in August for budding musicians, letting teenagers form a band, write music, record and play a gig.

Or for some different adrenaline thrills, try a high-speed trip out to sea from Southwold spotting porpoises, the occasional seal and possibly a dolphin during the half hour tour in a 400hp speed boat.

Go behind the scenes at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary for a Wings Junior Falconry course for 10 to 14-year-olds, including an introduction to birds and the essential falconer’s kit, with dates from May to August.

And with a Horrible History walk around Ipswich, kids can enjoy the entertainingly gruesome sides of history, as well as a themed Dangerous Dragons and other Fabulous Beasts tour running throughout the summer holidays.

Or head to Smart4Art at Felixstowe for budding artists, with special classes and fun days for children.

Some of the activities must be pre-booked. For more information see the Visit Suffolk site.

Image: Farid Fleifel/Flickr

It seemed the perfect place for a grown-up getaway – a 10ft four-poster bed, twisting stone staircases, plus a large side helping of history as it once played host to Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Mary I (although not all at the same time).

But why should adults get all the fun? At least this is what the company behind the Tudor castle, Luxury Family Hotels, has decided with a whole programme of activities for kids for the summer holidays.

There’s treasure hunts (a digital version using smartphones and camera – after all, it’s not the 16th century any more) as well as the chance to design your own crown jewels or coat of arms. There’s even the TV-inspired ‘George and the Dragon’s Den’ where children have to think of a Tudor invention to present to a team of Dragons, made up of parents and the team at Thornbury castle.

Along with mural painting and croquet, you can even try your hand at welly wanging.

And for an extra charge, you can pre-book other activities from archery to falconry, as well as hot air balloon rides. Throw in afternoon tea and the hotel’s own vineyard for parents

Even just checking in should get the imagination going, with stone walls, arrow-slit windows, tapestries and carved ceilings in some of the 26 bedrooms, all of which are different.

Rooms cost from £399 for two nights for up to two adults and two children, including dinner for the adults on one night. Children’s meal packages cost £20-25 for two to 12-year-olds, or free for under 24 months.

Images courtesy of Thornbury Castle

Along with more than 70 musical theatre, dance and art workshops, plus live music, there’s a dedicated children’s literature festival featuring some of the UK’s biggest and best kids’ authors.

And as well as the team from the Roald Dahl Museum & Story Telling Centre, Booktrust is heading to the festival for the first time.

So if your kids fancy clay modelling, ukulele playing or joining in the story-telling of Revolting Rhymes, this is the place.

With indie, folk, rock and world music on the bill, anyone looking for a pre-parent festival flavour should be able to indulge too.

Wychwood Festival runs from May 31-June 2 at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire. Tickets can be booked on the festival’s site.

Image: flykr/Flickr

For starters, I don’t recommend trying to pack when your husband is away and your daughter is just discovering separation anxiety so screams every time you turn your back. Sadly that means she also seems somewhat unwilling to play for five minutes while I relax on a sun-lounger either…

A couple of days in, here’s the good, the bad and the meh.

1. Flights are easier – we’ve done a few now, and it no longer feels quite so much like stepping into the unknown. As ever, planning is the key, unlike the family sitting behind me on the plane with two young children (including one teething baby) who seemed to have no toys, not enough wet wipes but chocolate biscuits for the overtired and overexcited kids. Judgemental? Yes, I had to sit in front of them for four hours. And give them baby wipes.

2. Flights are harder – instead of sleeping almost all the way, waking only for a bottle, as Minnie did last time, I had several uninterrupted hours to entertain her. At one point, time seemed to be moving so slowly, I wondered if my watch had stopped. I suspect it’s going to keep getting worse once she starts moving around before it gets better when she can entertain herself more.

3. The lightweight buggy was a fantastic idea. Although she hasn’t had to try to nap in it, she loves being able to look out and I can wheel it with one hand, suitcase in the other (if I have to).

4. We both sleep better – admittedly, that wasn’t at the forefront of my mind at 2am when she very uncharacteristically woke up and wanted to play. But (so far) this time I haven’t started the day in tears after a night of no sleep, and she can settle herself in the travel cot rather than the complex procedure of trying to get her off in my arms then put her down without waking her.

5. Food is far more faff than bottles – but on the plus side, I can slip her a bit of rice cake/bread stick to keep her going if we’re hunting for somewhere to stop for lunch.

6. Two babies travelling together are guaranteed to have totally different routines… Minnie’s cousin is about the same age that she was on her first trip. So he needs longer naps and more regular feeds, and she seems to sleep when he’s awake. Plus he’s too small for her to play with just yet. She does have a nice line in stealing his jingly octopus when he can only look on aggrieved.

7. There’s no letting your attention wander… still. Last time she was too small to entertain herself so needed constant attention. This time, having sadly bypassed the stage where she could engross herself in a toy for a little while, that separation anxiety means she needs constant input (and grandparents/uncle/aunt are only a temporary solution) unless we want the kind of roaring yells which I’m paranoid will wake her baby cousin, disturb the rest of the family’s relaxation and probably disrupt the entire resort. This separation anxiety is only temporary too, right? Please?

8. She feels less fragile – or I’ve become slightly less anxious about her surviving a sudden gust of wind or sunny patch. Or just more prepared when it comes to packing SPF and useful cover-up muslins. On the downside, she can also escape from hats, socks, sandals and velcro is a challenge to be overcome.

9. I’m more inventive – forgotten a wipe-clean bib when eating out? A helpful nylon bag for life will do nearly as well.

10. She’s enjoying it all more. From the cat which prowls on our patio to the fascinating sight of a waitress pouring water, new food tastes from smoky Greek aubergine dip to ice cream, and the bargain mini maracas I bought at a local market, it feels like the trip is now about her as well. And surely that’s the best thing of all.

Top image: DerekTGreen/Flickr