Loch Leven's Larder, Channel Farm, Kinross

So, not exactly with the kids today, as they are all back at school. More of a grown up coffee and scone, (nice selection - date & walnut, cherry, cheese or fruit!) After a recent revamp the shop is looking fantastic, filled with lovely goodies that I wish I could afford, but it's always nice to browse. Great selection in the food larder with lovely condiments, preserves, and fab selection of kitchen gadgets, posh stationery, fresh veg and great gifty items like toiletries, scarves and candles - it's very easy to find a birthday present or two here!

Good breakfast menu between 9.30 and 11.30 - eggs benedict looked particularly fab this morning, but I was restrained and only had a scone. There are two new "pods" outside the cafe for private booking for parties, I am thinking a birthday afternoon tea would be perfect in one of these.

I've never been delighted with the waitress service at Loch Leven's Larder - it seems immensely hard to other three hot drinks and three scones and receive the right order without having it triple checked, and children are not a high priority here, have often had them served last rather than first, which doesn't take much effort or common sense, but it does seem sadly lacking most of the time.

And the children's play equipment (slide and a wooden train) is still around, but no improvements on that scene. Considering children must make up a good chunk of their customer base, there's still some work to do on that front - a box of toys in good working order, some colouring sheets, and some investment in the playpark would be well worth it, but that doesn't seem to be high on the agenda. Shame - until then, it will be strictly mums for coffee while kids at school and no weekend visits with the family.

Loch Leven Leisure Pool at Kinross

Swimming this morning at Kinross - we love the pool on a Sunday morning, as it's not too busy with plenty of space for swimming as well as the one-to-one lessons going on. Instructors here and all staff in general should be commended for how friendly they are.

There is a raised floor at one end of the pool from 10-12ish, which creates a shallow water area for non-swimmers, with a wee slide and lots of squeezy toys and foam bricks etc thrown in the pool to make it fun.

The pool is always freezing, and the showers are old and dodgy, but if you want to do some "proper" swimming rather than trying to squeeze between people at Perth Leisure Pool, it's a good place to be. Don't tell too many people though  - I like it quiet!!!

The Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh

I can't call it The Botanics, as my grandmother would turn in her grave. She lived next door to The Royal Botanical Garden and so from an early age I have been well trained in getting the name right! My daughter and her friends look on a trip here as their favourite thing to do in Edinburgh. We take a bus from Hanover Street (23 or 27) down Dundas street and through Canonmills, to Inverleith Row, where we can access the garden by its east gate. It's an easy 10 minute bus ride, and for those little ones who don't get to go on buses all that often, sometimes the trip on the double decker is one of the funnest (sorry, most fun) parts.

Our favourite parts are the Rock Garden (also known to us as the Fairy Garden) where lots of little paths take you around the waterfall and pools, and the Glasshouses (which ask for an entry donation, about £10 for two adults and up to four children). The glasshouses have two large ponds with fish and amazing lily pads, as well as tropical houses and other amazing botanical stuff.

We like the child-friendly cafe and terrace, and we also like exploring around the Chinese Garden as well as outdoor pond with ducks, and various interesting trees for hiding underneath. In fact, every time we go, we find something new that we haven't seen before, from the exhibition centre at the West Gate with it's colourful wigwam decorated with children's drawings to a new path we haven't explored yet!

Most of all we like that our kids go off and play imaginative games among the flowers (sorry botanists). It's great to see them playing outside with nothing more than their imaginations, hunting for fairies. Oh, and it's pretty too!

Aberdour Silver Sands beach, Fife

"What is that bright thing in the sky?" The children were amazed. Being Scottish, they had never seen it before. "It's the sun" I explained. "And when it shines, we go to the beach....."

Aberdour Silver Sands is one of my favourite child-friendly beaches, with great views on a clear day across to Edinburgh. It's a smallish beach so can get pretty busy on a sunny day as everyone takes advantage of the weather. Not too far to go from sand to water for paddling, swimming is harder as the water is very shallow with shifting sand banks, creating islands that you can paddle out to. Care should be exercised with the "sinking sands" even though they cause much excitement and screaming from children!

There is a handy beach front cafe (although it couldn't be less beach friendly if it tried - no beach wear, no bare feet, no using the loo unless you buy something- the rules go on and on. Surely they should just put an outside tap in for feet washing and try to smile, it would make a huge difference!) There is a public loo outside for 20p which is modern and clean if you want to steer clear of the cafe with your flip flops...

There is a bouncy castle and kiosk selling candy floss and icecream on the grass at the top of the beach, which could be seen as advantageous if you don't mind shelling out (ha ha no pun intended) but the kids came back a bit disgruntled after the bouncy castle. For £1.50 each for 10 minutes they said they weren't allowed to touch the sides, and they couldn't bounce properly as there were too many tiny people on it. Bah!

Plenty of car parking for £1.50 for a day, and an easy 2 minute walk to the beach from the car park. We took the train and it was a 10 minute walk from the station, fine on the way there, but would have been arduous on the way back lugging our beach gear and sore feet (thanks to A for our lift back!)

National Museum of Scotland, Chambers St, Edinburgh

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh is a great trip for a rainy day, and it's free! Since kids are free on the train in Scotland over the holidays, this makes for a relatively cheap day out. You can even take your own picnic, as they have a special picnic room within the museum ideal for families.

There are 5 floors full of exhibitions to numerous to detail here, suffice to say there is a great display of animal life that kids will enjoy, and a whole hall dedicated to sciencey gadgety sort of stuff with lots of hands on displays and buttons to press. Add to that the many stairs up to the roof terrace and the cool glass elevator (very Willa Wonka) and hey presto, plenty to keep the kids occupied for a day out. Museums are totally exhausting though, although we couldn't work out WHY we were so pooped after a couple of hours. Luckily there are plenty stopping places for a rest on the way!

While you are in Edinburgh, you have to have a look for the Chris Hoy Gold Post Box, in honour of his Olympic medals.

Muddy Boots Farm Park Balmalcolm in Fife

Muddy Boots is still my favourite Fife Farm Shop, a great place to take kids, brilliant food, friendly service and I love the fact that there are chickens everywhere - you do feel like you are on a real working farm. They try to be different with the kid's play equipment and have some great stuff for all ages of kids. The Muddy Munchkins area for under 7s has plenty to do, sandpit, jumping pillow swings and slides, tractors to ride, and is great for an hour or two for the wee ones.

For £6.50 over 7's can enjoy a bigger jumping pillow, grass sledging, go karts, and access to the indoor soft play castle, suitable for preschoolers and bigger kids alike.All ages can enjoy the barrel bug ride (£1) which is driven with enthusiasm and fun and the piglet racing (£1) to choose a piglet and win a return trip free!

Well stocked farm and gift shop which is lovely to browse, and a good menu for kids and special diets in the cafe, with it's roaring hearth in the centre.

Muddy Boots is not just for summer holidays with the kids - in fact I went last year on the first day of the school term, for a great lunch with friends, nice coffee, and no kids at all!

Levenmouth Leisure Centre

We go swimming a lot, and today we fancied a change of scenery so we headed off to Leven swimming pool, officially Levenmouth Leisure Centre. It's well signposted when you enter Leven with loads of car parking, and kids are only £1 at Fife Swimming Pools in the summer holidays. We didn't go on the big flume, but kids aged 8+ looked like they were having a great time. The pool isn't as big as Perth Leisure Pool, but it does have massive sprinklers, fountains and a wave machine  - the highlight for our kids. There's a jacuzzi but it isn't warm - in fact we were surprised how cold the pool was when we first got in, but recovered eventually. I've seen better showers and better loos, and the pool is generally a bit run down, but the kids loved it so if you can grit your teeth on those things, I'd say it's worth a trip.