Surviving Ryanair with kids - not so eco friendly

Biding time in the airport with a travel trunkie

After experiencing one of those horribly hostile Ryanair journeys en route to our manufacturing partners in Portugal, I decided the time was nigh to purchase a new wheelie suitcase which would abide by Ryanair's strict carry-on luggage requirements, after all - Ryanair are not going to go away - they are omnipresent; 'If you can't beat them join them', as they say. Recession of not, they fly us at Old Rectory to Porto direct from Dublin and this is where we print hundreds of metres or fabric and have our children's clothing made. So with the bitter taste still fresh from paying an on-the-spot €30 fine for a carry-on-bag which I could have wedged in the metal box given half the chance, but at first hesitation was growled at to 'PAY FINE NOW, PLEASE'; and still wallowing in extreme annoyance of being told my liquids bag was bigger than the regulation one which I then had to purchase, without further adieu I decided to discard my old trustee bulging red case for a slimline Samsonite - gosh this trip was costing more that I'd bargained for. Check list for the future; tick 'no' to pretty much everything when booking online; add one of those very useful hand held luggage scales to this years Christmas list if there's a fiver to spare on each trip - pay for priority boarding and enjoy the ride - wishful thinking I'm sure but no harm in dreaming.

So when my husband and I decided to book a last minute flight to Spain and decamp by a pool for one week with our 5 children, it was with fear and trepidation that I agreed to fly with Ryanair - the first time ever for us to travel Ryanair en masse. I was breaking my secret cardinal rule that I'd never travel Ryanair with the children....

First off, with two hours to spare we checked our one bag in successfully; air hostess was very cordial and friendly; no hidden surprises, bag was under 20 kilos.

Next up, get through the scanners - not too bad; requisite de-belting, buggy folding, body frisking, older boys already impatient at my lagging behind as I must put back on belt, shoes, watch, hair slides, bangles etc.

Quick trip to the pharmacy to get a pack of nappies for the toddler. Shoot, no nappies in boarding area. They have a tight-fit pack of no. 3 nappies on other side of scanner but can't go through that palava again. No bother, we've already decided that we'll ask an unsuspecting parent very sincerely if they have a spare nappy that they might give us; with that idea settled on we relax and make our way to the food lounge.

Feeling the first 'travel high' we get slightly carried away and treat ourselves to the waiter-sevice-restaurant - just like the good old days, 'even thought we could do a bit of plane spotting from a comfortable looking corner booth but this we realise is an optical illusion on our behalf - we're looking onto a roof and storage area.

I announce gleefully that the Eggs Benedict look delicious (can't see them anywhere, only on the menu and in my mind's eye), which prompts the twins to order these also. Kind of know they might be disappointed after my building them up but feel the boys need to make small choices for themselves etc. 

After half an hour of hauling the toddler off the middle of the table and deciding that the kids should avoid the piles of hollandaise sauce smothering the eggs (thinking travel motion and heavy sauce might not be the best combination) I finally admit that I wish we'd found a McDonalds - my 11 year old thinks I'm bonkers and cool at the same time. 

En route to gate 107 I get diverted and admire/try on sunglasses, promising to meet others at the gate in a few minutes; I have to admit here that I embark on a purchase; a half price pair, guaranteed to protect sensitive eyes and reduce hay-fever symtons; a practical pair my husband would be proud of - he might even borrow them so I have every good reason to purchase. At this stage, my phone's buzzing, visa machine being sniffy with my debit card; shall I bottle out now and say I don't want to take them; card goes through; I have to leg it unashamedly all the way to 107 without stopping; the new wheelie is suddenly aerodynamic. 

Greeted at 107 by inconsolable 5 yr old who is convinced we will be separated on the plane as we have missed the priority boarding slot - don't like to tell him that he's probably right but we put on our best weary-parent faces and don't encourage him to stop crying.  Well here's the happy part of the story, with out any prompting from us, a really friendly air hostess confidently inquires as to how many of us there are and endeavors with success to seat us all together.

Truly Scrumptious is packed to the rafters with sweets.

Rewind to the not-so-long-ago days of halcyon travel when all was calm and convivial up in the skies, I would have brought books, colouring pencils, games and snacks galore for the children on board but now a sharp nibbed pencil could cause you mortification at the gates. Sure this time, we hadn't even a spare nappy for the toddler, I think we knew we'd never ask a stranger for one but twas worth pretending we would just to enjoy our meal. No, all I really had to hand for the boys were 2 Michael Morpugo books for the older lads and some sweets from Truly Scrumptious - an amazing nostalgic sweet shop in Wicklow, that's packed to the rafters with jars of every type of sweet - old favourites and new flavours - a regular haunt for every young dweller and visitor in town.

Truly Scrumptious Lollypops

Our sweets tasted all the more better for their clandestine journey on board. Scrolling through at least a years worth of photos and videos on my iPhone with our sticky fingered toddler, who only wanted to see about five photos of the same thing repeatedly we managed to stay sane and I decided that Ryanair wasn't that bad after all.

Bubble London, June 2011

Beasties print for boys - spring/summer 12

This time last week we had just finished a day of air travel, taxi rides and the setting up of our stand for Bubble trade show. Our day had begun with a 4.30am alarm call to catch the 8.10am Ryanair to Stansted. What with parking, checking in large bags, faffing about trying to balance each checked in bag to nothing over 20kg it still felt like we were rushing to the  gate with only time for a coffee to share whilst queuing to board. How and ever, on landing at Stansted airport we were met by Stephanie's husband James, who'd been in Portugal for a couple of days overseeing events with our manufacturers. Now with time to spare before our taxi transfer to Islington we regrouped and caught up on Portuguese news over lattes and croissants.

Old Rectory stand - Bubble London, June 11

With one trade show behind us, this time we were far more organised with our packing; For example, far fewer garments were brought along this time. At our first trade show we had made the assumption that interested buyers might want to take a sample garment away with them - this is not the case. We cut down on our paper(broshures, business cards etc.) and did away with our bespoke table and chairs brought by land and sea last time - an extravagant luxury.

It was great to see familiar faces again and share the anticipation of what the next two days were to bring. Overall the stands looked great; maybe a sign of the times but brands are going that extra mile to be noticed - selling children's clothing is no walk in the park right now. Green Baby who won best standout competition created a stand worthy of a Chelsea Flower show entry with a garden shed, wheelbarrow, scarecrows and a fun collection of potted flowers in baked beans tins. 

Sping/Summer 12 butterfly dress

Our Beasties wallpaper, which I have a huge soft spot for showed off our new spring/summer print for boys. Our girls butterfly print can be seen on our new girls dress above.

Not forgetting our reason for being at Bubble, which is business and potential sales it was a busy 2 days. Contact was reestablished with existing customers and new ones made. Order forms were filled out and business cards hopped from hand to hand. Second time out at these trade shows brings a new level of business acumen to Old Rectory; Delivery of our first collection is out with customers with a few teething problems experienced along the way -  nothing that can't and isn't being sorted out but enough to merit a longer forward order time on Spring Summer 12.

While the cat's away the mice will play!

Meanwhile back at Old Rectory my eldest son James was busy indoctrinating the younger boys on 'bow and arrow making'. Scary, the one above, he's getting a bit too good at the velocity - this photo was sent to me whilst at Bubble away from my brood. You can imagine my angst as to whose eye this arrow should land upon - thankfully no ones.

With a young family in tow, you're always gonna hit the ground running on return from  abroad. Since arriving home, there has been much planning for our spring/summer '12 photo shoot, unpacking, delivering stock and planning for the next two months ahead. 

Kids holidays and work - I'm looking forward to blogging about that. Lots of mini adventures.

Wolsey and first delivery of Old Rectory clothing

Whilst taking rocking chair 'timeout' with my very grouchy coldy 19 month old who along with a green snotty nose is sporting a boxer style paper stitch above his right eye - steri-strips are a fantastic invention with 5 boys, I have read, back to front this fantastic and comprehensive magazine, Angels and Urchins. This issue is offering lots of advice and tips on summertime with children, ie  - family holiday travel reviews(I'm already planning  a caravaning holiday in France on the advice of one such candid review), what's on, days out, book reviews, website reviews et al. What I really like about this magazine it that it's advertising pages are organized into categorized sections, nothing is haphazard, so much easier on the eyes and head when there's such a vast array on offer for parents. Angels and Urchins will definitely feature in our marketing plan.

A candid and comprehensive parenting magazine

Old Rectory clothing featured in Angels and Urchins magazine

A fun day out

Mum's Victoria sponge cake

Nothing like a deadline to focus the mind and get things done -  OLD RECTORY garden party 2011! After a busy week of mulching flower beds, lawn cutting, baking and generally prettifying the studio we offered up a saturday afternoon of tea, sponge cakes, sample sale and an array of children's crafts. Grown ups enjoyed mingling and shopping whilst the children delved into some some jewellery making, clay painting, stamp printing and having their faces painted. The sunshine lured us all onto the courtyard with copious cups of tea and Mum's delicious sponge cakes. This is the fun part of launching a range of children's clothing - an excuse for a party in the sunshine!

Paula from Uccelli Jewellery stringing some creations with the girls

Children painted clay moulds

Like all parties, the fun is in the planning as well as the partying. Reasons for having the party were to show our range and sell samples as discounted prices, this is the reality of thinking up a children's clothing brand - we have to move stock, sell and create space for new stock. Another reason for the party celebration was to give us a firm date on which we would start selling online - the time is nigh, we are selling at www.oldrectory.ie. We also love our studio and where we work, it's a pleasure to share it with you on a sunny afternoon in June. Planning was fun; a bit like thinking up childrens' birthday parties but for boys and girls (I have 5 sons and my 11 and 9 year old definitely don't want girls at their birthday parties right now!). Mum thinks nothing of baking for large social gatherings- years of parish fetes, children's parties and fundraisers, even my boys request 'Didi's cake' at their birthdays - so I admit I didn't worry an iota about food. Stephanie and Luca did a fair amount of gingerbread making and eating so hats off to the bakers. We managed to install a working kitchen into the studio in time for the party, which was always the plan but previously on the back burner. This has transformed the space and will make easy the cooking preparations for any future print workshops

Kitty in Old Rectory top with Coco

Paula Boyle, an NCAD college friend of Stephanie's came down from Co. Armagh with her eye catching range of jewellery. Paula, founder and designer of www.uccellijewellery.com focuses on strong colour combinations in the use of fused glass, laser cut perspex and fine wire silver to create an expressive collection of bold pieces. The combination of her talent and the sunshine converted non jewellery wearers into jewellery wearers. I am loving my necklace.

Pirates in waiting

Future Old Rectory model

Our first delivery of clothing will be going out to the shops next week - can't wait. This will be truly exciting. But we got a precursor of the enjoyment gained from seeing people wanting to buy our clothes at the Garden party. It was such a feel good factor selling face to face and getting feed back from customers. We will have to resist the temptation of stalking our stockists and interfering in the selling process. I'll take umbrage if our darlings are at the back of the shelves!

Painted butterfly

Busy at the craft table

I love the fact that children enjoy disguising themselves as butterflies, pirates, bugs, robots or what ever else takes their fancy. Our face painter Rosie was inundated with eager children lining up to be someone/thing else for just a few hours. So much fun and imagination.

'Thrash the rat'

When we were growing up our local parish always used to have it's summer fete in the most picturesque field overlooking Brittas Bay. Held during the August bank holiday weekend it would attract locals and hoards of holiday makers from the caravan parks. My favourite games at the fete were the Greasy Pole and Thrash the Rat. With such a strong memory for these games I can only guess that I was quite a tomboy during those years, or else I was at an age of which games that attracted boys where even more exciting for us girls; A bit confusing but one way or another we used to love pummeling/or be pummeled by our opponents off the Greasy Pole with old pillows and thrashing the  rats that were dropped down the drain pipe. Thrash the Rat was my Dad's game at the parish fete so we reinstated it in all it's pride and glory at the garden party and glad to say it's still as popular as ever. The Greasy Pole will just go down in history as a wonderfully risky game which we parents would have heart failure over today!

Stephanie and Luca in Old Rectory owl

Shop till you drop girls!

Notes for the next party -  Plenty of tea and cake. New stock. More interior accessories for sale. Pyjamas for the big brothers and sisters(in the pipe line). Can't wait for Paula's new collection of jewellery. Loving the mixed collection of cups and saucers, keep an eye out for more at car boot sales etc. Be a bit braver in enticing a bigger crowd through the doors now that we've cut our teeth on first party. Another sunny day please. Greasy Pole - maybe not!

Wrapped in soft organic Old Rectory blanket

Printastic!