Seeing the circus is a bit of a rite of passage for most children. The thrill of being amazed and marvelled by strange and wonderful goings on up on the stage. It's something magical that everyone old and young are captivated by. Cirque Berserk is a show based on the startling and stunning array of acrobatics and stunts that keep people on the edge of their seats. We were recently invited to watch Cirque Berserk at the Kings Theatre, Portsmouth to have a night of fun and fantasy!

With the summer holidays in planning mode, I'm thinking more and more about the trips we are going to take and how to best prepare for them. As most of our days out are going to be UK based, I'm planning the best driving routes and getting my car ready for distance driving. Here are my top tips for ensuring your road safety this summer. 

I love supporting local businesses and local restaurants are definitely top of the list. When you find somewhere that ticks the boxes for fantastic food with a beautiful view, you know it's going to become a firm favourite. I was recently invited to try out Urban Reef, so took a friend along to see how great their food was.

Urban Reef is part of the Urban Guild group and is situated on Boscombe seafront, just past Boscombe pier. With a terrace, mezzanine and an outdoor style eating arrangement, it's the perfect way to soak up the sun whilst you're eating some fantastic food. 

When I started volunteering for a charity, I was more excited to see how I could help those in a similar situation to mine. I wanted to educate and empower and never expected to have so many amazing experiences in return. Every year the Queen holds a royal garden party to celebrate the charities that her and the royal family support. 

Being part of one of those charities, I found myself with a golden ticket this year and have been internally screaming that I was going to be stepping into the gates of the most famous palace in England with some of my best charity friends. 

I am not a non-fiction type of reader. Memoirs and factual books tend to be tedious reads for me and I find that I get switched off. But this year I am pushing myself to try and read new things, expand my horizons and learn more through reading. I was invited to read and review The Language Of Kindness by Christie Watson recently and as you can guess, I was fairly apprehensive. Would I like it, would it be tricky? But with a topic that is fairly close to my heart, I wanted to read the story of nursing, of one woman's twenty year journey through the NHS. And I'm so glad I read it. 

Whilst I love cooking for the family at home, nothing beats heading out for a family meal. The idea of not having to slave away at the oven, deal with picky eaters and do the washing up at the end, is just a slither of pure bliss in a normally hectic week. 

We were recently invited to one of our local Toby Carvery in Hinton, Christchurch that had just had a makeover to enjoy some fuss free family dinner and give us an opportunity to relax, reconnect and have fun with our food. 

I have to hold my hands up and say that joining in with the Mumsnet Book Club has been eye opening and enlightening. I never actually realised how great the books would be. How a bit of diversity in my reading would have me so enthused. And that's coming from someone that literally spent a whole year reading kids books and teen fiction.