Well it has too be said that the summer holidays has not been much of a summer, has it? There have been a lot of wet days, but then this is a British summer! However, we have still had fun, and we have managed to get out and about most days, with only a handful where I have succumbed to soft play or staying at home for playing and a movie.
In fact having looked back on my photos taken overt the summer holidays so far, I am pleased to see that we have actually spent a lot of our time outdoors – even in the drizzle. What with bug hunting, kite making, scooting, swinging, splashing about and rolling down hills, we have had a lot of good times to make many happy memories with.
All that running around in the great outdoors makes for hungry boys (and Mummy!), so I always take a picnic with us. It makes a day out so much cheaper than eating out and you can eat wherever you can find a spot to lay a picnic blanket on, or maybe a log to sit on!
A picnic is such a fun way to enjoy time together as a family or with friends (or even both) and I think it is important to invest in a decent cool bag, preferably one with a strap for ease of carrying around. In hot weather, it is good to include some ice packs so that your food and drink are kept cool, and nothing goes off!
Normally my cool bag insulation consists of bottles of drink which I have placed in the freezer the night before, or I freeze the boys tubes of yogurts to keep their lunch boxes cool. This is because my freezer is usually too jam packed to accommodate ice packs. However, I was recently sent some ice gel packs to review which I have placed inside my full freezer quite easily due to them being so thin.
They are so easy to refill too, you simply run them under a cold tap and the cells expand with the water.
BUT even when the packs are filled with water ready to freeze, they are still thin enough to fold in half, making them slim line enough to fit into even the smallest freezer spaces (yes!). And they are light to carry around too once you take them out and about. Plus they are leak proof – unlike the plastic bottles I have used that have bene known to leak because a lid was not screwed on properly!!!
I have been using these packs for a few picnics now, and they keep our food and drink cool all day long. They will continue to get lots of use too, come rain or shine.
I was sent some ice gel pack from ThermaFreeze-Europe for the purpose of a review.
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
Those cool packs look really useful Jenny. Our freezer is as packed as yours sounds to be – so they’d be great to tuck them in a small area. I’m guessing you joined them to roll down the hill after you took the photo of their preliminary roll 🙂
Angela x