• Christmas - crafts - days out

    Woolly Wonderland at Westfield!

    December 4, 2013 - By 

    We had the most wonderful time at Westfield Stratford City today where we were invited to a very special storytelling session of The Gruffalo. The children were sitting quite happily and listening really well. Woolly Wonderland at Westfield! And then the special guest turned up! My children’s faces were priceless 🙂 They both love The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child so it was a real treat for them to meet him. We even managed to squeeze into a photobooth with him for a cheeky snap. The event was organised by Save the Children in their pop up shop at Westfield…

  • days out - playing

    Little Tikes ‘Play Personalities’

    November 27, 2013 - By 

    Last week Little Sis and I were invited to hear more about Little Tikes ‘Play Personalities’. Little Tikes and play expert, Maggie Redshaw, have devised four play personalities that they feel children may take on during their development: Little Learners, Little Movers, Little Builders and Explorers and finally Little Grown-ups. We all know how important it is for our little ones to play but it’s particularly essential for little ones as they grow and develop. Well-designed, safe and appropriate toys help to assist as children change and grow throughout their most formative years. Little Tikes organised a brilliant Christmas Play…

  • days out - London

    The Fat Controller stops at Hamleys Toy Shop in London

    November 10, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • Cath Kidston - Christmas - days out

    My grown up day out

    November 9, 2013 - By 

    Today was a real pleasure as I got a chance to attend the second Mumsnet Blogfest. Last year was amazing, (was it really 12 months ago?) so I had high expectations for today. The day started off well with a lovely walk to the station. Before I knew it I had swapped my rural idyll for Kings Cross and couldn’t resist a quick look around the shops. First stop was Cath Kidston where I treated myself to a new cover for my iPad mini featuring her little birds print, a tin of Christmas mints and a roll of Happy Xmas!…

  • days out

    A colourful day out

    October 6, 2013 - By 

    The toddler and his sister are both obsessed with taking photos on my iPhone so when I heard about a fun challenge to help children capture the colours of red, blue, green, yellow and white while on their summer holidays, well I knew they would love to take part. The toddlers’ selfies are famous around here but fortunately they don’t fit into any of the colour categories so instead whilst we were exploring the Great Western Lego Show the toddler got busy with the camera.* The Great Western Lego Show takes place at Steam so he was kept busy snapping…

  • days out - Local Review - London - potty training

    Enjoying a different view of London with London Open House

    September 22, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • days out - Local Review - London

    A girls’ day out in London

    September 7, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • competition - days out - film review

    King of the Railway at Drayton Manor Theme Park

    September 4, 2013 - By 

    Today we were invited to Drayton Manor Theme Park’s special screening of King of the Railway, the new Thomas & Friends film in the 4D Cinema at Drayton Manor. We had never been to Thomas Land at Drayton Manor before but it was top of the toddler’s to-do list! We managed to keep it all a surprise until we arrived and he was so happy, it was definitely worth keeping the secret. We had a couple of hours to enjoy Thomas Land and we all loved it. It was very quiet so we were able to walk on to all the…

  • days out

    Fluffy pillows and sweet dreams

    September 1, 2013 - By 

    We had a really lovely couple of days in Cambridge, mainly thanks to Travelodge who have just opened its largest hotel to date in Cambridge on Newmarket Road, and invited us to visit. Cambridge is the perfect distance from London, about an hour by car, so we jumped at the chance. We always stay at a Travelodge when we visit my sister so I was intrigued by the new look Travelodge rooms. Before we got to Cambridge we stopped off and visited Wimpole Hall which is a fabulous National Trust property on the outskirts of Cambridge. When we had spent…