Tag Archives: days out

April 25, 2013

Win tickets to Mums Show Live!

Have you heard about the exciting new exhibition called Mums Show Live!, the UK’s first show for parents of 4-12 year old children? The show is taking place at Alexandra Palace which is a brilliant venue (and right on my doorstep!), from 16th-19th May 2013.

There’s a range of really interesting speakers lined up, including:

·         TV presenter and vocal coach Carrie Grant, who will be speaking candidly about her experiences raising children with learning difficulties
·         Betty Herbert, a 35 year old sex expert, who will be offering her advice on how to keep your sex life exciting despite the pressures of being a full time parent
·         And Nutritionist and author Fiona Kirk who can rant for Britain about the crazy lengths people go to to lose post-baby weight

And lots more! As well as great brands to check out and special offers to take advantage off, there are loads of exciting activities planned for children as well. For more information take a look at the Mums’ Show Live website.

Giveaway

There are two prizes of 2 tickets to attend Mums Show Live! for lucky readers of the gingerbread house. If you would like to win simply tell me where the exhibition is being held in a comment below

for an extra entry tell others about the giveaway using the Retweet button below or tweet this message: I want to #win tickets to Mums Show Live! with @gingerbread_mum

Don’t have twitter? Follow the gingerbread house page on Google + or Bloglovin’ - just leave me a comment and let me know.

Small print:

There are two prizes consisting of 2 tickets to Mums Show Live! which will be valid for the 16th-19th May 2013. The giveaway ends May 5th at 8pm. The two winners will be selected at random from all correct entries received and notified by email or their twitter handle. The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available and travel to the venue is not included. UK only.

The winners are Kathy and James Holyland

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Filed under baby products, competition, days out, London

Tagged as competition, days out, London

April 14, 2013

London Transport Museum Depot – We Love Steam!

We’re huge fans of the London Transport Museum so when we heard they had an open weekend at their depot we bought family tickets for today. The last time we went we didn’t have children so I was interested to see how our visit compared.

Happily we all had a great day out.

This year they’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the underground and we had the chance to see the newly restored Metropolitan Line Steam Locomotive No. 1 and the Metropolitan Jubilee Carriage 353 which was originally built in 1898 and is one of the oldest working underground carriages.

We queued for a ride on a steam train from the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales and a ride on the Acton Miniature Railway. The toddler enjoyed everything from the model displays to the Lego representation of Baker Street in 1863. There were also some great family activities but by the time we got to them we were just too tired to enjoy them, a day in the sunshine clearly took its toll!

I loved the huge drawers of Johnston type

as well as the racks and racks of destination boards and tube signs. The toddler was happy to run up and down therv aisles whilst I looked for a tube sign for our new station which sadly I couldn’t find. I consoled myself with a huge line plan of the Metropolitan line – the first purchase for our new house.

The official website for the London Transport Museum can be found here.

William Morris Gallery Walthamstow

A friend told me about the William Morris Gallery and Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, not far from us. Perfect (i.e. dry) weather was forecast this morning so we headed there. The building was beautiful and behind was a hidden gem, a huge public park with formal gardens, a moat, children’s park, cafe and much more.

First of all we let the children (and daddy) run around the park. They loved it, everything was new and shiny and they had fun on the slides, trampoline, swings, slide and sand pit. The shiny paths were perfect for scooting along and there was even space for the toddler to play with his radio controlled car.

When we thought we had tired them out we headed inside the gallery which has recently been refurbished with a cafe and temporary exhibition space added. The downstairs told the story of William Morris and was full of beautiful exhibits. In my old life I was a curator so was excited to see how the item were displayed. I thought it was stunning and was able to read a lot of the captions as the toddler was kept occupied by the interactive elements of the exhibition.

The gallery was seamlessly designed to be completely adult and child-friendly. The toddler practically ran around trying to find each touch screen or dressing up box.

He tried brass rubbing, making a stained glass window, holding a puppet show and building a wooden cathedral. He sat in chairs listening to oral history interviews and did funny things on sofas. In one room we were approached by one of the volunteers and I thought she was going to tell us off for being noisy but she just wanted to tell us something!

I love taking the children to museums and galleries but it’s not often we feel totally relaxed and able to enjoy ourselves. ~~I would~~ we all would definitely recommend the William Morris Gallery!

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Filed under days out, Local Review, London, playing

Tagged as days out, Local Review, London, playing