If, like so many other families, you spend most of your weekends outdoors, whether it’s watching the kids play in a little league game or spending the day out fishing then you soon learn that it pays to be organized. There is nothing nicer than waking up first thing in the morning to glorious sunshine and saying “come on kids we’re going out”! So being prepared for all eventualities is essential. You never know when you might want to be spontaneous and go on a family day out or drive past a beach and decide to have a well earned rest or an outdoor picnic.

Keeping your trunk full of helpful items such as coats, jumpers, umbrellas and blankets are a great idea. This way you will never be caught out come rain or shine . If you are looking for a decent picnic accessory blanket then the Siesta Riviera blanket. It has a waterproof back so you can use it on wet or dry ground and it folds up to a handy holdall for easy storage and even more handy carrying. Other useful items so keep in your trunk could include balls and games for the kids to play (or even the adults) will be invaluable when stuck for something to do. Other items could include a handy wine tote for those lazy afternoons (please remember not to drink and drive though).

So next time you are having an afternoon by the beach or whether you are just stuck in traffic and want to stretch your legs you will be ready with your trunk full of supplies to handle any situation.

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I am a mother of four boys and while I love all of them (including my husband!) with all my heart, I really get tired running around after them, cleaning up the house, cooking for what seems like an army battalion, and just generally being a mother. All my tiredness disappears, though, when it’s dinner time and we’re all sitting down together. It always feel like a basketball game every time, I sometimes literally have to blow a whistle or say foul!

So you can understand that I very much look forward to our vacations, which I really try to arrange as often as possible. We have a big SUV, and we are all comfortable in that big car. When travelling, particularly when the destination is quite far, we always make it a point to bring folding chairs and picnic backpacks with us, so that we can stop and have a picnic anywhere we want to. Or when it’s traffic, we just pull over somewhere and rest. But the best thing of all, is their gift last mothers’ day! It was an ultimate serenity portable recliner, complete a shade to protect me from the harsh sun!

I am very much looking forward to our next trip. I will definitely look and feel like a queen when I am lounging in my chair, with my big sunglasses. Surely some heads will turn with plain envy! Now if I can just get one of my boys to fan me and give me grapes, the scenario will be complete!

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Going on picnics is always tricky. Of course, I would want to serve my family or friends with cold drinks that are cold and warm soups that are warm. Often, if the trip is too long, the ice melts or the soup cools down. Worse, the temperature could change so much so that the food spoils before I can lay it on the picnic table. Sometimes, I’ve thought of just bringing uncooked food I could grill on site but then I still have the same problem of varying temperatures. My initial solution was insulated lunch bags. The only thing is that the more commonly available picnic backpacks are either not insulated or too small for the mass of food I usually bring to fee a family of five plus friends.

The eco-collection – large cooler totes were the perfect solution. The size was just large enough to fill with stuff one person can carry. I just recently got two of those, actually. I’m surprised to note that they do really work. For one thing, the food’s temperature is as it should be. What I do is keep the drinks that need to be cold in one of the cooler totes then have the raw food packed in the other cooler. I figured that barbecues taste best when they’re freshly cooked anyway so bringing them along with us in cooked form are likely to increase the couple’s cost. With a new gas-powered portable grill as well as the tote, picnics will be tricky no longer!

Every woman needs some time off from the rest of the world. Even a mother, perhaps even more for a mother, taking short vacations or a day away from the regular routine, can do wonders for both physical and mental health. Every now and then, I fill up a small bag with food, coffee and water. It is an extremely stylish bag, by the way. I call that bag my Ultimate Columbia Coffee Backpack. The insulation keeps the contents in pretty much the same temperature as they were originally so that when I put the food on the picnic table, I can be assured that these are as fresh as possible.

Picnic backpacks and coffee backpacks are all the rage nowadays. Most of my friends have been giving them as wedding gifts. I wouldn’t mind receiving another one, really. Then we could use it for when the whole family eats out. It’s so much more convenient because everything can be neatly arranged inside. Another benefit is that I also have both my hands free while I’m walking to the picnic site and, therefore, am less prone to tripping and falling. Well, theoretically, anyway; I can’t help that I’m a bit of a klutz. While I’m careful not to give in to my klutzy self and while carrying my coffee pack, I go on my own to the park every now and then,. I bring a book to help me relax. Sometimes, it’s just good to get away from it all for a couple of hours.

I am very fortunate to have a job which allows me to spend almost all weekends with my family. I didn’t have to give up the once in a lifetime chance of seeing my children grow up and witnessing the many firsts in their lives. Parents are parents because they have children. Rightfully so, every child would want to share the most important moments in their lives with their parents. Time together is a premium in my busy generation. With this in mind, my husband and I set about planning a special summer weekend for our kids. The summer, of course, called for largely outdoor activities, preferably near the water. A day trip to the lake seemed ideal. Thus, we set about packing our picnic table with chairs along with the food, drinks and blankets. The picnic table is one of the most essential things to bring during a picnic. It was our main strategy to keep away the ants and other creepy crawlies along the lakeshore away from our food. Folding picnic tables are not only space savers but are more handy as well. The wooden ones are specifically more sturdy, just what we needed to handle the volume of food we usually bring on family outings. I personally prepared three kinds of sandwiches, a Caesar salad, potato salad, lasagna, pesto pasta, fried chicken, beef stew, fried rice, apple and cinnamon pudding and chocolate cake. My husband, on the other hand, packed wine, soft drinks, bottled water and various fruit juices. With the nice venue and impressive food spread, it was undoubtedly a resounding success. The children are already eager to go on the next one!

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My best friend from college and I have stayed together over the years. We had boyfriends together, got broken hearted together, and finally got married and even ended up being neighbors! Not next-door neighbors which would have been very ideal for us, but a few houses away. We take turns in hosting dinners and lunches, though she sometimes says I am on the losing end since her family is bigger. I don’t mind, really, I just love having her and the family over. We love to travel together, of course with the family, and our husbands and children have naturally become close, too. We always have our annual out-of-town affair, which is always special for both of us. She has a big family with four kids, and I just have one boy – though I swear sometimes it feels like I have six sons on my hand! Anyway, whenever we travel or go to the park, we always bring our folding wooden picnic table, which comes very handy, indeed.

We love spending time together, that’s why we both invested in some picnic backpacks and supplies. The hours of fun and laughter more than make up for the amount we have paid for each of our picnic tables. Sometimes, we just picnic at each other’s lawn with a nice pitcher of lemonade, or play cards, or just people watch, when we have nothing else to do. I wonder if there’s a folding picnic table which can sit six? That will be ideal for my best friend! I need to start looking now for Christmas!