The girls are happiest being out and about exploring new places. They don’t need lots to entertain them…they are quite capable of making up their own games and using their imaginations. Give them a new garden to run in and a tree to climb and they are in their element. That’s why we love being National Trust members.

To kick of our year of adventures we headed off to explore somewhere new in January. We picked Cliveden, somewhere we had never been, wasn’t too far away and had lots of pretty gardens. Obviously at this time of year we weren’t expecting lots of colour and pretty flower gardens, we just wanted the space to run off some steam and we were not disappointed:

Cliveden is absolutely beautiful and has plenty to see and do. The actual mansion no longer belongs to the national Trust and is instead now one of the most luxurious hotels in the country – wow what a wonderful place to stay. From the outside you can still imagine it being a glittering hub of society it once was.

Our family particularly enjoyed the maze and long gardens…even if it was really cold and frosty:

The girls didn’t actually want to leave so we would love to go back again. We would love to go when the weather warms up and the flowers pop out but we might make it back before then. Apparently the snowdrops there are going to be beautiful this year and you know how I love getting snowdrop photos each year!

Watch this space.

Karen x