The Jack & Jill market

Maybe it was just me...

I discovered the Jack & Jill Market at the end of May this year and thought it was a marvelous idea. They take place all over Scotland and come back to each place every few months or so. The best thing about them: although second-hand, the stuff for sale is nearly new and in excellent condition.

Back in May I bought Logan some toys and clothes for the winter, and couldn't wait for the next one. We then decided that we have the perfect family the way it is so we now have tons of baby stuff that we won't need any longer. The Jack & Jill Market seemed the best place to try and sell some of the really nice clothes, toys and most importantly the Travel System that takes up half the space in the loft! So I spent a few hours going through bags of clothes, making sure the pram, chassis, car seat etc... were all still in perfect working order and clean. I also decided that, instead of putting clothes in some random order on my stall, I would bundle them in outfist and put each outfit in a clear plastic bag so potential buyers could see what they would be buying. I went through a mountain of clothes from 0 to 12 months to do this, it took me a while.

It costs £23 to have a stall. That's fine as long as you sell enough to make up for it and more. I had a Travel System for sale so no issue with covering the cost. If I sold it.

We bundled Logan off with his grandparents for a couple of hours and set up our stall. It took 2 cars to bring everything (baby bath, baby gym, so much stuff that one stores!!), mainly because there are 6 bulky items to the travel system. I'd put shoes in a couple of DVD racks and the organisers thought it was such a brilliant idea they took photos! 10.30 am struck at the clock and I was ready to sell everything.

Well... maybe it was just me, but my 2 biggest items, the Travel System and the Babygym, did NOT sell. They had to come home with me. We checked our prices against the other babygyms and travel systems and they were pretty matching. I think if I'd sold these I wouldn't have minded so much about not selling that many clothes, especially since clothes didn't seem to sell much on the other stalls. Toys definitely! And I bought some myself, Logan is very chuffed with his new drum and tractor.

I'll give the clothes to charity, but keep trying selling the pram on the internet somehow!!

I will go back to the J&J as a buyer, but I don't think I'll try as a seller again. Unless I have some smashing toys to sell :)

Click below to see a short video of Logan having fun with his new toys.

Logan's new drum and tractor

First dip in the sea

Logan and I are back! We had 2 fabulous weeks in France, full of new experiences and good times with great people.

The outbound flight took place during the day, and despite only having 1 seat for the 2 of us (approx 80 square cm) it all went well. The couple next to us interacted with Logan, and we walked up and down the centre aisle a few times. The only issue was at landing: although I was able to keep his buggy all the way to the plane before take off, I could only get it back in the luggage reclaim area. I don't know where on earth we landed at Lyon, but it was about 2 km from the buggy. That was not easy with a toddler who's not able to walk long distances yet, and a heavy rucksack.

The first week was spent at my parents' house in the Alps and we managed to see all the family. Some of them hadn't met Logan yet. Logan was his usual sociable self and had great fun with everyone, especially anyone who would let him sit at the wheel of their car, or would let him play with their dog, no matter the size. We spent a day at Walibi, a theme park with both terrestrial attractions and a waterpark. Logan couldn't do much as he's way too young, but we took turns in looking after him. He didn't really do much in the waterpark as he slept most of the time we were there, which enabled me to do all the big scary slides!! We had a picnic lunch where Logan tried for the first time Pate en Croute, which is some sort of pork pate surrounded by a crust. He couldn't get enough of it so we had to hide it as it really isn't very healthy for a 16-month old.

The rest of that first week was spent visiting more relatives, doing the sales (clothes in France are expensive compared to the UK, but well worth a consideration during the sales. I managed to get just about all of Logan's winter wardrobe for a fraction of the price!), and generally getting organised for the second week.

For the second week we had booked 2 flats on the Cote d'Azur. These flats have been in the family for nearly 30 years and we are really lucky to be able to use them. As we were 6 to go (Logan, me, my parents, and my sister's 2 sons) we borrowed my sister's Grandis which is a massive car that can sit up to 7. Lots of "firsts" for Logan that week, including merry-go-round, dip in the sea,  play in the sand, and the fruit!! How different are peaches in the South of France to peaches at Tesco's!! Direct from the producer to the shop within a few kilometres! Logan particularly loved apricots, peaches and watermelon. Bananas are still is favourite though.

As you can't spend a whole week at the beach with a toddler, we spent a morning at the local market (hmmm the smells of local produce, the atmosphere, the saucisson!!), another one in the nearby town of Ste Maxime walking along the lively streets and eating at a lovely wee restaurant where Logan ate up all of his gran's strawberries, and the rainy afternoon was spent taking a stroll to the harbour and back in between showers. It cooled the air down a bit, but not much.

Logan had trouble sleeping the whole time, not wanting to go to bed at nap or bed time, and getting up early (6.30 am! I'm use to at least 7 am!). He changed houses 3 times in 2 weeks I suppose, and went from an environment of 18 degrees to one of about 32 degrees within the space of a flight.

We've been home nearly a week now and Logan has moved back into his usual routine effortlessly. He's picked up a few French words whilst there and I would really like to see the faces of the girls at nursery when he says "encore" "poisson" or "bateau" to them!!