We recently got back from another wonderful holiday on the West Coast of Scotland. This time the beautiful little village of Arisaig, which is West of Fort William. One of the hidden delights of Scotland is the food, forget the cliches of battered Mars Bars, we are talking top notch sea food.

All this nice weather we have had recently has made me start thinking about some bigger hill walks with Ella and Joel again. We do regularly walk in the hills at all times of year and in all weathers, but there is nothing like a bit of sun to motivate us all. Luckily living where we do in the South Pennines, we are spoilt for choice for hills to climb.

Unfortunately we have had a temporary interruption to the usual outdoor activities in our house. We were about to leave the house for the Monday morning school run, when I heard a "bump bump bump" on the staircase. When I went to see what had happened, I found Ella curled up in the basket at the bottom of the stairs.

I must admit to being a bit of a geek. Train spotting was never really my thing, it always seemed a bit futile standing watching the trains and never actually going anywhere. Besides train platforms are a bit of a dangerous place for young kids. I have however discovered something much more exciting, and something that you can really get the kids involved in whilst visiting some wonderful places – Ferry Spotting.

We all love looking out for wildlife on our travels, we have seen many different creatures in the UK from tiny ants to enormous stags. If you do want to see creatures it is best to get out at sunrise or sunset. On our annual holiday to Pembrokeshire we often go out for evening walks around sunset time, this time we got a big surprise.

High up on the moors above Lancashire there are some unusual sights. No I don’t mean abandoned cars but something much more exciting, in fact so unusual that Ella and Joel thought that aliens had landed. A few years back, Lancashire County Council commissioned and built a set of artworks high up on the hills with wonderful names such as the Atom, the Singing Ring Tree and the Halo.

It is a well known fact that having young children makes you forget things. When they are very young, it takes you three hours to get everything to go to the beach. When you get there, there is always something that you have forgotten. Never mind, you can always improvise and use whatever nature has provided for you.

Ok, I know that anytime we eat Chinese food Ella and Joel sit there picking the mushrooms out whilst complaining how horrible they are. Despite this fact, Ella and Joel love mushrooms. They like the types that grow outside, in the hills and woods of our wonderful countryside. It doesn’t matter where you live or what time of year, there are often some fungi to be found on a walk and a trip we took a few weeks ago didn’t disappoint.

Hopefully you will have all thought about summer holidays, and maybe even booked something (it is March if you haven’t so hurry up!). A beach holiday is always a favourite in our house, but not the sort where you spend hours queuing at the airport.

We have just returned from a wonderful week’s holiday in Argyll. It is a great place to visit with mountains, sea, forests and plenty besides. We visited an amazing place called Pucks Glen which is near Dunoon. If you want to start the visit off in style, take the Calmac ferry from Greenock to Dunoon and head north along the A815.

I dont know about you but we are all missing the snow. OK I know it causes a nightmare for driving, shopping and working but all that aside it is a great deal of fun. Over the last few years we seem to be having some proper winter weather for once and admit it, a day off work playing in the snow with the kids is quite a laugh.

I am probably the only parent in the world who has never seen a Harry Potter Film or read a Harry Potter Book. This is especially ironic because the family and I have spent many great holidays around the area where lots of scenes from the movies were shot. The West Coast of Scotland is one of our favourite destinations and there are so many things to see and do, especially if you are a fan of the Hogwarts Express.

Last year I took my daughter Ella (9) on a caving trip in the Yorkshire Dales. Every year a local caving club sets up a winch for the public which lowers you 350ft down a very scary looking hole and into a enormous cavern which would easily fit York Minster or St Pauls Cathedral inside it.