Another weekend, another lunch date for Munchkin... This time we met up with some former work colleagues. Since our friends are childless, we always have to pick the venue. They live in Brighton and don't drive so we generally pick them up and go somewhere in the Brighton or Lewes area. I stumbled upon a site called Child Friendly Brighton & Hove, which is a godsend for finding Munchkin friendly eateries.
We went to The Half Moon in Plumpton. The food was really good. Munchkin and I both had sausage and mash. We promised to leave some for Daddy to try but it was so nice, we scoffed the lot. The children's menu was £6 for two courses. The children's dessert was anything you like, as long as it was a scoop of ice cream... The children's facilities were good, but not as good as we were expecting after the write up on Child Friendly Brighton & Hove, for example there were no crayons and paper on offer. The play area in the huge garden was great. Munchkin loved the slide and the sand pits. However, the pub let itself down on service and we wouldn't rush back for this reason. Strike 1: Our drinks didn't arrive. It turned out that they'd run out of stout. Rather than telling us, they just forgot our whole drinks order. Strike 2: The wrong menu had been put out and the dish Angmering Daddy wanted wasn't available. Strike 3: I couldn't find the baby change promised on CFBH. The waitress told us they didn't have one so I changed Munchkin on the toilet floor. I later discovered there was a tiny changing table tucked away in one of the toilet cubicles.
Yesterday was a little dramatic. Munchkin has finally worked out what the toilet is for so I bought her some training pants. I've gone for the fabric variety since these are meant to promote quicker potty training. She had a tantrum and refused to get dressed yesterday morning. I gave her the choice of a nappy, disposable training pants or the new pants. She settled on the new ones, but the tantrum didn't subside much. Five minutes later, I found her standing in a puddle. Thankfully she'd been thoughtful enough to stay on the changing mat. Note to self: Training pants hold a small wee, not a torrent. The morning didn't improve much. She had a friend round to play and spent the first half hour avoiding her and the second half hour screaming.
Munchkin has a busy Easter weekend ahead of her. She's going to two Easter egg hunts and may be going on a day trip to Butlins in Bognor and/or a trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine.
Showing posts with label baby change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby change. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
Little Ladies that Lunch
We've been for several meals out with Munchkin and her cousins recently. The first one was a Mothers' Day meal when we were staying in the Midlands, and a total disaster because Munchkin threw up everywhere. Luckily she's now back to her usual self and eating everything in sight.
This weekend, we went out for two meals. On Saturday, we visited my step-dad and went to The Sergison Arms in Haywards Heath. The Serg is a pub that I know well; it was originally called The Sergison Arms, then changed its name to The Dophin after a refurb and image change. It's recently changed its name back to The Sergison. Irrelevant fact = dolphins are in the Sergison family's coat of arms.
The Sergison is owned by Vintage Inns - one of the better pub/restaurant chains in my opinion. There was something for everyone on the menu, which is no mean feat; Angmering Daddy has adventurous food tastes, mine are moderately adventurous, my step-dad's are conservative and very British, whilst Munchkin will have a go at anything put in front of her. It ticks all my boxes for a child friendly hostelry... apart from there being a number of steps for small people to negotiate. High chairs are available, though we don't use one any more, and there's an easily accessible baby change area. The children's menu includes quite a lot of variety, including mini versions of some of the main menu dishes. Munchkin had BBQ Chicken followed by Churros. It was £6.95 for two courses and a drink, which I thought was reasonably good value. She scoffed the lot! I was pleased that the chicken was served with baby potatoes rather than chips. Vintage Inns provide children with a paper activity menu and a jar of crayons. The only drawback with this is that Munchkin drew on Daddy's menu.
On Sunday, we went to an old favourite of mine, Montagues Tex Mex in Worthing, with my step-sisters and their families. It was the first time we'd been there since Munchkin was born. There were nine of us, including Munchkin and her cousin, Flower. As always, the food was brilliant. Montagues offers children under 10 a free two course meal and drink if they are accompanied by an adult who orders a main costing at least £10, so it was free lunch for Munchkin and Flower. Like The Sergison, it has an activity menu and provides crayons, though Munchkin managed not to draw on any grown up menus this time. Munchkin had the Loaded Shells and Flower had the Quarter Back Rack. Both girls had Marshmallow Dream for dessert. Daddy helped Munchkin finish her marshmallows but I'm not sure she needed any help! The staff are friendly and very helpful. There's even a gluten free menu should you need it. Booster chairs are available. Unfortunately there's no baby change table. I changed Muchkin standing up in the ladies' but I wouldn't want to change a young baby in there.
We're going to The Bull in Ditchling this weekend, so I'll add a review if I remember.
This weekend, we went out for two meals. On Saturday, we visited my step-dad and went to The Sergison Arms in Haywards Heath. The Serg is a pub that I know well; it was originally called The Sergison Arms, then changed its name to The Dophin after a refurb and image change. It's recently changed its name back to The Sergison. Irrelevant fact = dolphins are in the Sergison family's coat of arms.
The Sergison is owned by Vintage Inns - one of the better pub/restaurant chains in my opinion. There was something for everyone on the menu, which is no mean feat; Angmering Daddy has adventurous food tastes, mine are moderately adventurous, my step-dad's are conservative and very British, whilst Munchkin will have a go at anything put in front of her. It ticks all my boxes for a child friendly hostelry... apart from there being a number of steps for small people to negotiate. High chairs are available, though we don't use one any more, and there's an easily accessible baby change area. The children's menu includes quite a lot of variety, including mini versions of some of the main menu dishes. Munchkin had BBQ Chicken followed by Churros. It was £6.95 for two courses and a drink, which I thought was reasonably good value. She scoffed the lot! I was pleased that the chicken was served with baby potatoes rather than chips. Vintage Inns provide children with a paper activity menu and a jar of crayons. The only drawback with this is that Munchkin drew on Daddy's menu.
On Sunday, we went to an old favourite of mine, Montagues Tex Mex in Worthing, with my step-sisters and their families. It was the first time we'd been there since Munchkin was born. There were nine of us, including Munchkin and her cousin, Flower. As always, the food was brilliant. Montagues offers children under 10 a free two course meal and drink if they are accompanied by an adult who orders a main costing at least £10, so it was free lunch for Munchkin and Flower. Like The Sergison, it has an activity menu and provides crayons, though Munchkin managed not to draw on any grown up menus this time. Munchkin had the Loaded Shells and Flower had the Quarter Back Rack. Both girls had Marshmallow Dream for dessert. Daddy helped Munchkin finish her marshmallows but I'm not sure she needed any help! The staff are friendly and very helpful. There's even a gluten free menu should you need it. Booster chairs are available. Unfortunately there's no baby change table. I changed Muchkin standing up in the ladies' but I wouldn't want to change a young baby in there.
We're going to The Bull in Ditchling this weekend, so I'll add a review if I remember.
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
The highs and lows of a day out in Worthing
On Sunday, we spent the day in Worthing. This isn't something we do often, despite it being on our door step. The main reason for the visit was that we'd won a Pizza Hut voucher in a raffle at Munchkin's nursery. We decided to make a day of it rather than just popping in for lunch.
Our visit began with a trip to the beach. We set up camp near theWaterwise playground. This playground looks great, if you're aged five to twelve but there's nothing for preschoolers. Even the one and only rocker (a funky looking seagull) is twice the height of Council playgrounds' usual offerings. It seemed rather short sighted of the Council to forget the little ones. I've since looked up the playground on their website and see that they claim it has equipment for children as young as two... I couldn't see anything sufficiently small, not that Munchkin is two yet in any case.
We had a pleasant lunch in Pizza Hut. The waitress noticed it was taking ages to feed Munchkin, so she arranged for our pizzas to be kept warm whilst Munchkin caught up. She was obviously a good listener, as she realised Munchkin was saying "drawing" as soon as she handed her some crayons. (I've been wondering who "Rory" is for weeks!). The children's menu has a good range of options and kids are given an activity booklet to keep them amused. It's also one of the few restaurants I've been to with two baby change facilities.
Baby changing brings me on to my next point. We went for a walk on the pier after lunch, then stopped at Macari's kiosk for an ice cream. It was then that I realised Munchkin stank! I marched her to the nearest public toilet, only to discover there was no changing table. l asked at the Pavilion Box Office, hoping we could use their facilities, but they directed me to Cafe Nero. I decided to ignore this advice and took Stinky to Mothercare, knowing that the facilities were clean, on the ground floor and we wouldn't be asked if we were customers.
We then took Munchkin to the "Wilde About Worthing" sandpit at the west end of Warwick Street. This was an instant hit with us. Buckets and spades are provided, and it's all free. There's music playing, a few deck chairs, and those picture postcard things where you stick your face through a hole and someone takes a picture (no idea what they're called!). I know of the connection between Wilde and Worthing ("A handbag?") but have no idea why it's being plugged so much this year, if anyone can enlighten me, please leave a comment!
In conclusion, Pizza Hut and the "Wilde About Worthing" sandpit are great for small children but baby and pre school facilities were sadly lacking on the parts of the seafront that we visited. We're off to some summer holiday toddler groups in the next couple of weeks so there should be more reviews coming soon.
Our visit began with a trip to the beach. We set up camp near theWaterwise playground. This playground looks great, if you're aged five to twelve but there's nothing for preschoolers. Even the one and only rocker (a funky looking seagull) is twice the height of Council playgrounds' usual offerings. It seemed rather short sighted of the Council to forget the little ones. I've since looked up the playground on their website and see that they claim it has equipment for children as young as two... I couldn't see anything sufficiently small, not that Munchkin is two yet in any case.
We had a pleasant lunch in Pizza Hut. The waitress noticed it was taking ages to feed Munchkin, so she arranged for our pizzas to be kept warm whilst Munchkin caught up. She was obviously a good listener, as she realised Munchkin was saying "drawing" as soon as she handed her some crayons. (I've been wondering who "Rory" is for weeks!). The children's menu has a good range of options and kids are given an activity booklet to keep them amused. It's also one of the few restaurants I've been to with two baby change facilities.
Baby changing brings me on to my next point. We went for a walk on the pier after lunch, then stopped at Macari's kiosk for an ice cream. It was then that I realised Munchkin stank! I marched her to the nearest public toilet, only to discover there was no changing table. l asked at the Pavilion Box Office, hoping we could use their facilities, but they directed me to Cafe Nero. I decided to ignore this advice and took Stinky to Mothercare, knowing that the facilities were clean, on the ground floor and we wouldn't be asked if we were customers.
We then took Munchkin to the "Wilde About Worthing" sandpit at the west end of Warwick Street. This was an instant hit with us. Buckets and spades are provided, and it's all free. There's music playing, a few deck chairs, and those picture postcard things where you stick your face through a hole and someone takes a picture (no idea what they're called!). I know of the connection between Wilde and Worthing ("A handbag?") but have no idea why it's being plugged so much this year, if anyone can enlighten me, please leave a comment!
In conclusion, Pizza Hut and the "Wilde About Worthing" sandpit are great for small children but baby and pre school facilities were sadly lacking on the parts of the seafront that we visited. We're off to some summer holiday toddler groups in the next couple of weeks so there should be more reviews coming soon.
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