When I Grow Up
est. 2004
A Creative kind of Life. A blog by Helen Hobden
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british blogger sitting on the grass under a blossom tree
3 reasons to be glad of a wet bum
June 22, 2018
Something dawned on me at Glastonbury Festival on the Thursday night last year and this is the story behind it: Rain and I were sitting in a field on our little fold-up seats, surrounded by all sorts of weird and wonderful vehicle creations waiting for Johnny Depp to appear (in actual real life, right in front of us) to introduce The Libertine, soon to be shown on the massive screen in front of the ever-growing crowd. All of a sudden, a woman amongst the group of friends sitting near us jumped up, saying something along the lines of, ‘I think someone’s spilt their drink here – I’ve got a wet bum.’…..
how to road trip with kids
7 ways to survive a family road trip – holidays with kids advice!
June 5, 2018
Are you going on a road trip with your kids? Does the thought of going on holiday with children fill you slightly with dread? Well, worry no more – I’m here to help you out! Our first family road trip was back in 2002 when our daughters were seven and four years old and we did the classic California route that’s become very popular recently: Los Angeles then travel along the coast to San Francisco; to Yosemite national park; through Death Valley to Las Vegas; to the Grand Canyon; to San Diego for Seaworld then back to LA for Disney Land. And that was pre Sat Nav – I can still hardly believe we did all that with paper maps! Anyway, since then we’ve done a variation of that loop three more times and several camper van holidays in the UK from long weekends to a three-week tour of iron-age sites. Last year we drove from Washington DC to Orlando via Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans. I feel that we’ve got pretty good at road-tripping by now……
Basildon Park national trust house
A visit to Basildon Park near Reading. Places to visit near the M4
May 12, 2018
Last week we actually had a taster of a social life and drove all the way to London for a friend’s birthday barbecue. I was a lovely weekend, and it was so nice to go to a party and chat to old friends and meet new people. If you know me, then you’ll know this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I think I managed not to panic and say anything stupid! Anyway, instead of the usual A303 route back to Somerset, we decided to take a slower route beginning with the M4 and then detouring through the English countryside. We stopped for a while at the National Trust property near Reading; Basildon Park…..
hire car driving past stonehenge at sunset
Looking for a car rental company in central Somerset? Review of KNW Self Drive in Wells
May 11, 2018
I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t sure whether to write this blog post. Being negative about local companies is not really the direction I want to take this blog. However, due to its recent anniversary, I looked back at my first posts, and they were mainly reviews designed to be useful to the general public. I like the idea of being useful. If no-one writes mundane reviews of things like car hire companies because they want their blog to look pretty and be a fun positive place (which is really what I want mine to be), then no-one is going to know that it might be worth looking at other places instead of KNW Self Drive to hire a car for the weekend….
Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival 2017 – Review & photos
July 15, 2017
Yes, I know it’s a bit late in the day, but I think I’ve written a review of every Glastonbury Festival since this blog began, so I can’t break with tradition can I? This was the first year I vlogged the whole event, so I’ve been intensely editing all the hours of footage I came home with, so please click the link if you’d like to watch the video. Anyway, Glastonbury 2017 will definitely go down as one of my favourites and I have to be honest, that’s mainly due to the perfect weather! I don’t go for the bands – if you’ve been to Glastonbury Festival, you’ll know it’s about so much more than the music, and it’s almost impossible to explain why……
The Glastonbury Festival sign
A sneak peek at Glastonbury Festival 2017 a week before the fun starts!
June 16, 2017
This is mainly a photography post as there isn’t a great deal to say about it really! I had the opportunity to have a walk around the Glastonbury Festival site last night, so of course I took my camera with me! I also vlogged it, so when I’ve had chance to edit the footage, I’ll add that too. I’m pleased to report that the ground underfoot is very firm and the grass very green. It amazes me how much there is still to do in the next six days, but so much has happened in the last week, I’m sure they’ll manage it!….
3 days in New York
3rd and final day in New York + Review of The Wyndham New Yorker Hotel
May 22, 2017
Our third day was only just over half a day really as we had a train to catch late afternoon to take us to Washington DC. So as this is a shorter post, I thought I’d include a quick review of the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel and my overall opinion in visiting New York. There were no bus tours this day, but we took an Uber to see the Grand Central Station, and it really is not one to miss on your places to visit list! We ate breakfast in form of cookies in a cafe there called Zaro’s, and they were the most delicious cookie and chocolate chunk scone I’ve ever tasted in my life. Then we spent a while taking photographs….
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