#LITTLELOVES: Family Holiday to Iceland, Gurgle Magazine and Pancakes

This week has been one of the most magical weeks I've had in a while, we went on our first family holiday abroad to Iceland. Don't get me wrong, it was exhausting, but that country is simply breath-taking and we shared so many special family moments together. We chased the northern lights, swam in the Blue Lagoon, drove the Golden Circle, discovered Reykjavik and survived an intense snow storm! There will be plenty more all about our trip here on my blog and I've been posting lots of photo updates over on my Instagram, treasureeverym (you can also search #isabellaexploresiceland on Instagram to see all of our photos).

Gurgle magazine - on holiday I took my last two copies that have popped through the letterbox and then sat on the side waiting for a moment to be read. Though there wasn't all that much time to sit and read them I did catch a few precious minutes on the aeroplane to read through their summer sun article and plan our next family getaway, we've done it once so now the world is our oyster! (Until another child is added into the mix in June and it all becomes the scary unknown again).

Do the northern lights count? We drove for hours, sat around for hours and then just as we were about to give up the sky filled with these magical dancing waves of light. It really is a sight to be seen and I feel incredibly lucky to have witnessed them.

Peter rabbit cartoon on iPlayer. As I mentioned in last week's post, Isabella doesn't watch cartoons usually so when we downloaded some for the flight to/from Iceland I was hoping she'd be entertained. What do those cartoons do to children? She became obsessed with 'my rabbit' and wanted to watch it at any opportunity, so when we didn't let her we had tantrums galore. It's going to be fun weaning her back off again now that we're home, but that's what I feel like I've spent my week listening to.

Pancakes, Icelandic style. I'll tell you something for free, Iceland is one seriously expensive country! We were warned about this, but thought...well how expensive can it really be? I'll tell you. We're talking over £15 for a small block of cheese, £10 for a punnet of blueberries and a can of country vegetable soup...£10!! Can you believe those prices? That's just the cheapest supermarket chain in Iceland, imagine how expensive it is to eat out or shop there. As a result we bought a small amount of food to cook in our apartment, including a pancake mix you just add milk to. These were delicious and it made so many, always a bonus. 

Mango camel coat. I don't know about you, but there are a few wardrobe staples I am useless at buying or indeed finding in the first place. Boots and coats are mine; they always seem to look silly or cost too much or not fit properly or not have my size, so I just give up. However, on a recent shopping trip to Birmingham Bullring I stumbled across this camel coat in the Mango sale. It's comfy, slightly more stylish than my previous coat and was from Mango! Who would have thought little old me would own a piece of clothing from Mango, let alone a coat. 

I just feel so lucky to have spent so much quality time with my little family this week. Isabella has been testing at times, but we've made so many special memories altogether. No mummy/daddy going to work or getting jobs done, just quality time together in an incredible country.

What have you been loving this week?

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x