What a week we’ve had. Coughs, cold, the flu, Christmas plays and parties. Christmas cards written and sent. Christmas gifts almost all wrapped. Mulled wine made and drunk. Christmas tree bought and decorated. This weekend was lovely and quiet (on purpose) and the only things we really wanted to do was get out to our local farmers market and take a ride on the Santa Shuttle. First stop of the day was the Ruislip Artisan Food and Craft Market. We’re so lucky to have this on our doorstep and the children love it. It’s held around the Manor Farm complex…
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A couple of weeks ago I went for any eye test at my local Specsavers store in Ruislip. I hadn’t had an eye test since my working days so I was pretty keen to see what shape my eyes were in. The eye test was really thorough and I was surprised at how many different things I had to look at or read. During the tests I felt uncertain about which colours were stronger or which letters were more in focus and convinced myself I was going to need the strongest glasses! However to my surprise my eyes were surprisingly…
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Today we were invited to see Peaceful Lion Productions present an adaptation of Nadia Shireen’s ‘Hey, Presto!’ for children aged 3 to 8 and their adults at the Pleasance Islington. Peaceful Lion Productions are a small company with big ambitions, and love putting on shows that appeal to parents and children alike – with a dab of spectacle for good measure. Their new Christmas production is, Hey, Presto! which began on the 4th of December (and runs until the 21st December). We’ve only ever taken them to the theatre once before and thought this would be a lovely treat for…
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This afternoon Little Sis and I visited Westfield London to get ourselves into the Christmas spirit. It’s quite easy for us to get to Westfield London so we hopped on the tube and soon emerged into the shopping centre. I love to plan so had a list of things to see and do. First up was to check out the Christmas lights and decorations which were so pretty. There’s a fantastic indoor ice-rink so we spent a good 10 minutes watching people ice skate. There’s a minimum age requirement of 4 so we’ll be trying it out next year. There…
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Today The Fat Controller took some time off from his duties on Sodor to visit Hamleys, and we were there to meet him! There was storytelling (The Snowy Special and Snowy Tracks), balloon modelling, face painting, colouring activities and more. My children had a lovely time as this was before the shop opened to the public. They loved meeting The Fat Controller and were very attentive when he was reading stories. The Reverend W. Awdry originally created Thomas the Tank Engine to cheer up his son when he was sick. In the same spirit, Thomas & Friends are celebrating Christmas…
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London Open House weekend has to be one of my favourite weekends in London. Hundreds of buildings throw open their doors and over the years I’ve visited some brilliant ones, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices to the Old Operating Theatre, Barnardo’s Village in Barkingside to Ally Pally and the London Eye. Since having children we’ve visited less buildings but we’ve still managed to get out and about. Now the children are that little bit easier to manage and we live in a different part of London it feels like we have so many new places to visit. I look…
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Little Sis and I had our first day out together with two rather wonderful events to attend. Our first stop was the Rainforest Café for a lovely chat with the people at Vosene over a delicious breakfast. Whilst I heard about the latest news and product development, Little Sis was entertained by a magician making balloon animals, juggling and a puppet show. She also experienced her first face painting, although she was only brave enough to get a small flower painted on her arm. Then it was on to Tate Britain to see Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life…
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It’s hard to believe the summer holidays are nearly over. I have to admit to dreading the thought of 6 weeks with two small children but we’ve survived. This year we had a staycation as we’re on a budget, having moved house earlier this year. We’ve had some great days out in London and further afield and decided to treat ourselves to one last day out before thinking about the toddler starting nursery next month. It’s never a difficult decision if you ask the toddler what he would like to do. Of course he chose a trip to the London…
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The weather gradually improved over the Bank Holiday weekend. The first day was wet so we were happy to spend it indoors at the local shopping centre. Sunday was better but we still spent a lot of time indoors, this time at Ikea seeking some storage solutions! Come Monday we were all itching to get out and about so we packed the car with the Bugaboo Bee, scooters, buckets and spades and headed to Ruislip Lido to tick another activity from our Summer Bucket List. The Bugaboo Bee was perfect for coping with the Lido as the terrain quickly changed…