Yes I agree, our health is of the utmost importance! And it’s good that you mention this at Easter too – everyone is going to be tripping over each other to find the perfect Easter eggs when they could be treating each other with healthy activities that are fun too! There are loads of fun Easter activities that you could enjoy like Sphereing or Zorbing, and there are some healthy food options as well. Here are some of my favourite classes that you might share with a loved one for the perfect Easter gift that is pro healthy living:

Keith Burke’s MARKET FRESH cookery course is a fabulous introduction to healthy eating. You are guided around one of London’s finest fresh produce market to purchase lovely fresh ingredients before heading on to Keith Burke’s (Michelin Star Chef!) kitchen to learn how to prepare them. This is a great cooking course for couples – - I hear that it is heaps of fun!

Another cooking course you might consider is the quick and easy “cook, eat and run” course which is taking the nation by storm. This incredibly popular course is ideal for those of you who don’t have much time to spend enjoying the culinary arts but would like to give it a go anyway… you learn quick and easy recipes that you can cook up in half an hour, and then you sit down with your classmates and enjoy your cooked meal together afterwards. The recipes are delicious and the class has a very friendly atmosphere. Have a quick look at this video to see what I mean:

And finally, my personal favourite is the THAI COOKERY course, also hosted by Keith Burke. If you love Thai food (and I DO!) then you’ll love this course! Keith is friendly and encouraging, the kitchen facilities are superb and the people are all so nice! I had a brilliant time there, I can’t wait to go back! And best of all my new Thai Green Curry recipe is a hit at all of our dinner parties! This is a must do this Easter.

Good luck with finding the perfect Easter Gift, and I hope that you manage to achieve those six-pack abs you mentioned!

x Stacey

Have you heard of indoor skydiving? My colleagues are all raving about it – it’s the most exciting thing! It’s like real sky-diving but without any of the safety concerns because you don’t jump out of a plane. So how does it work? It’s quite simple really. A bunch of sky-diving enthusiasts got together and took over an enormous wind-tunnel here in the UK. Now they let people come in and put on their skydiving gear, then casually waltz into the wind tunnel and whooosh they’re airborne! Now doesn’t that sound exciting?!

Here are three lucky friends experiencing it for the first time:

Love the pink goggles This is a great gift idea for everyone – male, female, young or old. Who could resist the charm of the wind tunnel?!

Hi there Stacey. George here. Just wanted to ask you about something – do you have any ideas for what I can get my family for Easter? It’s just around the corner and I’m so sick of all of these Easter eggs that you can get at any shop. I just want to give them something fun that we can all enjoy together as a family! Maybe something we can do in the Easter break? Thanks!

George

Dear George,

What a lovely idea! This is definitely the year to celebrate families and friends I’d say, and what better opportunity to enjoy some ‘together time’ than at Easter?

You might take advantage of the special deals that you often get when you enjoy a ‘group activity’ like if you charter a raft for a white water adventure (this particular adventure is valid for six people and you essentially only pay for four, quite a good deal!). Another great idea would be to take turns rolling down a hill when you go aqua sphereing (this particular deal is very reasonable because you only pay an additional £10 for the second and third person in this three-person activity).

If you’re looking for something else entirely then why not enjoy group indoor skydiving for the whole family? This is heaps of fun and you’ll all have a fab time inside the giant wind tunnel! It’s safe, fun and a great way to enjoy bonding together.

There are loads of fun outdoor things to enjoy this Easter, so make the most of your long weekend and Easter break and spend some quality family time together! I hope you are inspired by my suggestions: do let me know if I can be of further assistance!

x Stacey

I was recently invited to one of my friend’s first child’s christenings – and oh what a beautiful invitation we received! I was so excited to see what was on the agenda and then I realised something… I needed to get the perfect gift! So what do you get a beautiful little baby boy for his special day?

It took me a while to hunt through all the different baby gifts to come up with the perfect thing that baby will love (and the parents will adore as well!) but I managed to find it!

Look at this fab photograph on the left! Isn’t it dear? This is what inspired me with the perfect christening gift for baby – a Mother and Baby Photoshoot! Isn’t that lovely?

Mum and baby will be treated to a fun-filled day where they’ll put on their best smiles and pose for a professional photographer. They’ll be able to laugh and have a good time with ‘new baby’ fun and games, and there’ll be some fab photographs at the end of the day too!

I really want to help my friend remember this special day by freezing the moment and capturing her happiness with her beautiful baby boy! I think it’s going to go down a treat, don’t you?

Get the kids out and about this Easter when you treat them to a fun group activity! They’ll enjoy all of the running around and excitement that comes along with such activities like Scuba Diving, a Kids Rally Experience, and White Water Tubing.

Scuba Diving is an excellent outdoors adventure activity for the kids. They’ll learn how to breathe, move and communicate underwater with the help of a professional instructor – and all in a swimming pool that has a maximum depth of 2m to ensure everyone’s safety. Now I’ve been scuba diving before so I can tell you with confidence that this is a great way to spend the day! It’s exhilarating and exciting, and I bet the kids will love it! Have a look at what they’ll get up to:

Another great option is the Kids Rally Experience which lets kids aged 10 – 16 experience what it is like to drive a real rally car. For most kids this age this will be their first driving experience which is why the instructors give them tuition in driving basics like clutch control, braking and acceleration. They’ll have heaps of fun learning how to navigate turns and inclines in a fully-modified rally car! I know my nephews and nieces would love to have an opportunity like this… I should probably short-list it for their Easter gifts!

And finally, what about White Water Tubing to get everyone in the mood for some festive fun! This is a thrill-a-minute activity that is jam-packed with laughter, fun and games. The kids will love racing about the white water course in those giant inflatable doughnut rings and they’ll really enjoy competing against each other to see who can get the most wet!

Hi Stacy. It’s my son’s birthday this weekend and I want to get him something really fun, something he’ll always remember as the best birthday. He’s turning 12. Do you have any ideas? My wife and I are thinking of asking one or two of his friends to come with so it will have to be relatively affordable so we can pay for all of them. Our budget is about £200 for two/three including snacks.

Michael.

Dear Michael,

I think we can definitely come up with something fun here! I’ve worked on three ideas, each for three kids aged 12 with a budget of £150 (to leave some over so that you can provide snacks for them during the activities).

The first one is an amazing Kayaking and Tubing Adventure for kids. This will give the three of them the chance to learn all about kayaking and tubing from first-hand experience! They’ll have such a blast and it’ll definitely be a birthday to remember. Just remember to pack in extra clothes because they will get very wet (which definitely means extra fun!).

The second idea is a Kids Driving Thrill Experience. This allows kids aged 12 – 16 to get to grips with the driving basics before trying them out in a Ford RS – the car of champions. The best part about this one is that each child will actually drive the car (with an expert instructor right beside him, of course!) and they’ll get a head-start on the rest of their friends! This is a definite hit for all car-lovers and adventure-seeking boys.

Finally, my third ieda is a Kids Spy Camp. This is heaps of fun for inventive and imaginative boys as it puts them in their ‘007 shoes’, ready to tackle the trickiest spy gadgets and gizmos! They’ll have to crack a safe, make it through a laser maze, play a game of laser tag, and do loads of other fun spy activities. Imagine how much fun they’ll have!

I hope this helps you!

x Stacey

Happy Monday readers, and indeed – happy March day! Can you believe that we are already into our third month of 2010? Time does go so quickly! And as luck would have it, today is the first proper sunny day we’ve had all year. I can even hear the kids running around in the playground outside!

This is inspiring me to write about some fun summer day activities for children as I’m sure the kids outside would much rather be learning how to scuba dive than heading off to school! Ah! And there goes the bell, calling them to class. I’ll join their ranks and daydream a little bit about what I’d rather be doing…

Here are three great ideas to keep your little ones busy this weekend and on summer days to come as they soak up the sun’s healing vitamin D and enjoy a bit of outdoor adventures:

1. Let them enjoy a PADI Bubblemaker Scuba Diving Course. This beautiful weather is making me nostalgic about the first time I learnt how to scuba dive. It’s such an amazing experience! The instructors are amazing and they teach you all the basics in a very shallow swimming pool so that you don’t panic or get into any trouble. This was very reassuring for me! Kids will love learning how to scuba dive and they’ll be safe and sound in a controlled environment. The bubblemaker course is for children aged 8 – 10.

2. Send them on a white water tubing adventure. This is such a great way to enjoy being outside! You gear up and get seated in a tube before heading out over the artificial white water rapids. Because they’re artificial these rapids can run all year and in any weather – a wetsuit keeps you snug and warm in even the coldest chills! This is a really fun activity, just look at these two enjoying themselves:

This outdoors activity is for kids of all ages from as young as 7.

3. If you’re looking for something a bit less wet then you might consider a fun Kids Spy Camp where the little ones will enter a world of spy activities like laser-tag and quick-draws. They’ll enjoy learning about secret equipment like surveillance gadgets, and they’ll have a blast in all the laser-beam maze and safe-cracking games. This is one of my highly recommended kids birthday party activities, but there’s no reason why your kids can’t enjoy a little extra training on the weekend! Best of all, mums and dads can watch from the sidelines to see their little spies in action! This one is for kids aged 10 – 16.

Hi Stacey, I really like your blog, there are so many good ideas here! I have a question for you and I hope you can help because it’s not strictly about birthday gifts… It’s my daughter’s 12th birthday coming up and I already have the perfect present… I just don’t know what to do for her party! She wants to bring her two best friends with her, whatever she decides to do. Please help! I have three giggling girls on my hands and I have no clue what to do with them!

Sharon (Kent)

Dear Sharon,

This sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun! Luckily, I do have three great ideas that I think you might find useful!

The first thing I’d recommend is a Kids Deluxe Makeover and Photoshoot – you’ll have to buy a ‘ticket’ for each little diva but I can assure you, it’s affordable and the girls will adore it! They’ll get their hair styled, their nails polished and their make-up done before they take to the stage for their diva debut! I can think of nothing my niece would like better!

The second thing I can recommend to you is a fun day at a recording studio. This one is for a minimum of five people so it could be a lot of fun to get the other mums involved and have a whole mum-daugher sing-off! If you click on the link there you’ll see a really good deal that works out to just under half price per person when you make a group booking of 5 or more people. I think that’s a fab idea! The best part about this is that the girls will get a recording of their “hit single” on CD or mp3 to take home with them. The mums will all love to hold onto that as a charming keepsake!

And lastly, (this is my personal favourite) why not treat the three of them to a fun cupcake making and decorating class that will let them express their inner-creativity (and you won’t have to bake a birthday cake either!). This is such a fab class, just look at what they’ll be able to learn:

I hope this gives you the inspiration you were seeking Sharon!

x Stacey