Family board games: the TOP 10!

Family board games: the TOP 10!

Today I’m focusing on board games. Family board games to be precise. The list below details our favourite family board games and ones I hope you will all...

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Bye bye lockdown, hello ‘new normal’

Bye bye lockdown, hello ‘new normal’

So here we are over halfway through 2020 and what a bloody disaster it’s been! Would be handy if we could just write it off and come back afresh in Jan 2021!! As we are well and truly saying goodbye to lockdown, it’s a chance for me to reflect on the past 6 months.

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Goodbye EleAid – our Asian elephant charity

Goodbye EleAid – our Asian elephant charity

Today’s a bit of a sad day. It’s the day Chas and I have decided we were going to close the Asian elephant charity we’ve been running since 2003, EleAid.
It’s been a super fun ride and along the way, we’ve helped hundreds of elephants from across Asia but it’s got to the point where we no longer have the ability to physically check out projects we would like to support and don’t have the time to ensure the charity is running the best it can be.

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Covid-19: Stay the f*ck at home

Covid-19: Stay the f*ck at home

My mum’s just texted my sister and I. One of her friends’ daughters has just died from Covid-19. The text ended:
…don’t get complacent. I love you both so much.
Don’t become a statistic and don’t put others at risk because you got complacent.

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Esther the Easter cat

Esther the Easter cat

So here we are, week 4 in isolation having just enjoyed a quiet Easter with the family. I’m learning a lot about myself including what perhaps my days before lockdown really consisted of.

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Self-isolation – a blessing or a curse?

Self-isolation – a blessing or a curse?

So here we are, just started our third week of self-isolation and so far so good. There has been fun, laughter, tears, tantrums, school work, Chas’s work, my work, computer games, YouTube videos, arts, crafts, baking (badly), drinking, eating, movies, more eating, online shopping and some very unusual bedtime routines!

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Road trip hell. Adventure awaits.

Road trip hell. Adventure awaits.

I’m writing this blog in the dark with three kids snoring in the background having pushed me out of the bed they insisted we all shared – despite my road trip skills today!

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Shopping, Coffee, Home, Repeat

Shopping, Coffee, Home, Repeat

I was feeling very smug earlier as I had finished the last few bits of birthday and party shopping with a whole couple of days to spare!! My car was in the garage after an earlier ‘prang’ so I ordered a taxi and got a coffee while I waited.

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Bat out of hell – Oh what a night!

Bat out of hell – Oh what a night!

One night a few years ago, Chas was at a conference in Bangkok and I found myself alone with two young children. Ella was no older than about 2½ and Ariya about 6 months. It was fairly late, the girls were asleep and I was enjoying a bit of a chill. There I was sat on the sofa when I felt something fall on me. I jumped up in horror as I saw these two feet sticking out on the ledge at the back of the chair.

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Nativity nightmare with a hangover

Nativity nightmare with a hangover

It was the last day of term and time for the long-awaited school nativity before the Christmas break and I was horribly hungover after enjoying a few too many wines at a friend’s leaving party the night before. I’d woken up late, so literally only had time to throw some clothes on, brush my teeth and wipe the mascara away from under my eyes. No time to shower away the smell of stale wine!

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Pinterest fail…. and proud!

Pinterest fail…. and proud!

Sometimes in a world full of parenting blogs teaching us how to be simply delightful and how to perfect parenting we need to take a stand!  We need to turn around and say ‘I’m a Pinterest fail!’ I’ve tried your way and it doesn’t work.

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Losing a pet. RIP Cleo

Losing a pet. RIP Cleo

Saying goodbye to a pet is never easy, but saying goodbye to one I had hand-reared and had given us so much joy and unconditional love for 13 years broke my heart.

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Travel essentials – hand luggage tips

Travel essentials – hand luggage tips

So many times while preparing for a horrendous long haul flight did I wish that I could just find a quick and simple checklist for travel essentials. As our family grew, so did the amount of ‘stuff’ needed for a long haul flight. This useful checklist contains everything you could possibly need for long haul flights with your little ones.

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Flying high – A guide to flying with young children

Flying high – A guide to flying with young children

We’re an expat family living overseas so our summer holidays (and many Christmas ones) involve long flights back home to the UK. On average, the journey door to door takes 24 hours. I have always hated the long flight back – however flying with young children (and at one point, three kids under 5) – things were taken to a whole new level.

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Stray cat rescue fail… ME-OW!

Stray cat rescue fail… ME-OW!

There’s a stray cat that’s been dumped in our mooban (village), it has a collar but the collar’s stuck round its paw and neck. I’ve taken it upon myself to...

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Newborn shopping list – what you really need

Newborn shopping list – what you really need

Having a baby is expensive – and that’s before all the gizmos and gadgets that are advertised as being vital to your child’s well-being!
So here it is… a detailed list of newborn essentials – what you actually need and what is really optional.

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Flying solo with a baby

Flying solo with a baby

My first long haul flight (on my own) with Ella should have been pretty straightforward. Despite being a little over a year old, this was already her third long haul flight. However it (unsurprisingly) got off to the worst start possible as I managed to leave my purse with all my money in it at the pharmacy in Chiang Mai Airport. 

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New mum expectations – be realistic!

New mum expectations – be realistic!

Being a new mum is hard. No matter how maternal we are or aren’t, nothing can prepare us for the shock of having our own baby. A little person who is completely and utterly reliant on us.

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Be Kind

Be Kind

Having kids is not easy. Knowing what to do at times is not easy. First time mothers need more support than most – just a bit of reassurance that they’re doing it right will help more than you could ever know and never forget to just be kind!

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Fabulous at 40 – enjoying every moment

Fabulous at 40 – enjoying every moment

With less than a week to go before the big 4-0 I find myself in somewhat of a dilemma. My grand plan aged 39 was to be this fitness Goddess and completely fabulous at 40, but unfortunately, I’m running slightly behind schedule – 11 months and three weeks behind to be precise. Oops!

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Blogging – On a whim

Blogging – On a whim

A friend, who also happens to be a super successful blogger, told me not to let my job as an editor get in the way of my blogging. I nodded and smiled, clearly not fully understanding until now!

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What was I thinking?

What was I thinking?

During the course of many (most) days, I can be heard telling someone Facebook a little story that usually starts… ‘So today I tried/forgot/lost/fell etc. I always seem to find myself in situations that I really didn’t need to be in. They undoubtedly include something I’ve done by accident and almost always make me look stupid.

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Connor and the magic pea

Connor and the magic pea

Once upon a time there was a little boy called Connor. One night when Connor was eating his dinner he thought it would be a good idea to put a pea up his nose.

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Who Am I?

Who Am I?

If anyone happens to be reading this blog who doesn’t know me (which is doubtful) I guess the sensible place to start would be with an introduction. I’ll try to keep it brief, although I am known for speaking 30 words when 3 would suffice!

My name’s Rachel and I’m a wife to Chas and a mummy to Ella, Ariya and Connor. We’re an expat family in Thailand

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