Ten Best Blog Posts of 2021

2021 was a great year for my blog. After falling out of love with writing I changed the focus of my blog and started writing about adventures, and places I’ve explored. I also went through a rebrand to reflect the new direction, and become Keyne to Explore.

I’ve really enjoyed blogging again, and it seems you guys enjoy reading it! Here are the top ten blog posts of 2021 that you’ve enjoyed!

10 – Rookery Open Farm

In the summer we visited Rookery Open Farm near Stoke Bruerne and spent a good half a day there. What I loved about this farm is there are pens that you can enter to feed and stroke and the animals, which the kids loved. There’s also a huge outside play area, and an indoor soft play area – great for active children!

9 – Thrift Farm

Thrift Farm is my favourite farm we’ve been to, and it’s especially great for toddlers. It’s only small, but there are a few animals to feed and see and a huge park area. I find it perfect for a couple of hours visit.

8 – Loughton Horse Park

One of my favourite things this year has been discovering the parks in Milton Keynes. I love all the different themed parks we’ve found this year, and Loughton Horse Park has been a great one to explore. At the time of writing this blog post, my daughter was just getting into imaginative play and loved all of the horse-themed park items. We’ve been back since then, and she’s getting a lot more out of imaginative play now!

7 – 30 Things I Learnt Before I Was 30

In 2021 I turned 30 and wrote a blog post about things I’ve learned. I loved writing this post and looking back on my 20’s, especially as I did quite a lot in those years! It seems a lot of you also enjoyed reading this, as it was my 7th most popular blog post in 2021. I wrote a similar post about 26 things I learnt when I was 26 too if you fancy taking a look back on some of my old thoughts!

6 – Gravity Milton Keynes Parent & Toddler Sessions

Another great thing I found in 2021 is the parent and toddler sessions at Gravity Milton Keynes – fantastic if you have a toddler with lots of energy!! The sessions run 6 days a week and you get the whole trampoline park for under 5’s, so there’s plenty of space for them to run and crash around.

5 – Caterpillar Park

Another great themed park discovery in 2021 was Caterpillar park near Stony Stratford. This was actually the first themed park we came across in Milton Keynes, and I love all of the details. My daughter particularly likes this park for the caterpillar slide and the trampoline!

4 – Thoughts on Returning to Work After Maternity Leave, A Pandemic and Redundancy

In 2020 I went back to work after having Ivy during a pandemic and having been made redundant at the end of my maternity. I wanted to write about how it felt going back to work to a completely new job, not seeing your colleagues again, and fitting back into a full-time role with mum guilt.

3 – Linford Manor Park

A couple of new parks opened in Milton Keynes during 2021, one of which being Linford Manor Park. We really enjoyed visiting this new park and wrote about our visit here. There have been more improvements around Linford Manor since writing this blog post, but we haven’t been to explore them yet.

2 – A Guide To Spending A Weekend In York

In 2021 Chris and I were lucky to get away to York without the kids and spent a long weekend exploring the city. With so much to do in York, I wrote a little guide to things we got up to, and how to make the most of a weekend there.

1 – A Guide To Sunflowers at The Patch MK

My most popular blog post this year was the guide I wrote about the Sunflowers at The Patch MK. Over the past few years, we’ve visited Pach MK for the sunflowers, and the pumpkins, and love our visits here! It’s always such a great day out with the kids, and you get to take home your own sunflowers!

Thank you for supporting Keyne to Explore in 2021, I’m looking forward to many more adventures and exploring Milton Keynes in 2022!