Country Kids: Country Wide

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This weekend has seen us go from one side of England to the other and back again. Aside from the overnighters in hotels, we've been outside all the time and it's been brilliant to take advantage of the beautiful, albeit stiflingly hot, weather.

On Friday night we drove to Reading, where we stayed overnight before heading off to the LolliBop children's festival in Regent's Park, London. It was a blisteringly hot day, and someone decided that black would be a good colour to wear. I think at one point I actually almost passed out as my vision was swimming and my head was light. However, I'm made of sterner stuff and don't do fainting. All I needed was an Oreo cookie milkshake and the sight of Messers Maker and Winters entertaining my son to perk me up. (The pint of water and paracetomal may have helped!)

LolliBop is a great festival and I've never been in Regent's Park before so it was refreshingly beautiful when surrounded by the grey buildings of London. The festival is a riot of colour, sounds and entertainment, and we thoroughly enjoyed everything there. However, we were only too happy to be back on the train heading out of the smoke later that afternoon where we picked up the car and drove to Gloucester where we did another overnighter in a different Premier Inn. This one was fantastic and tranquil, in the middle of a lovely country village with a stereotypically quaint pub attached.

This morning we packed up early and headed off to the Forest of Dean to surprise The Boy with a Thomas Days Out trip. The Boy has recently started a fascination with the little blue engine and we regularly have to sing the theme music. Today was no different once he'd found out what was going on. Seeing his little face break out with sheer delight when Thomas chugged into the station made my heart burst, he had the best time riding on a vintage steam train and meeting Sir Topham Hatt.

To finish the weekend off, we drove up to Puzzlewood near Coleford. It's a stunning small forest that we've been to before and is such a gem to explore. At the time The Boy was only 20 months old and fell asleep while we were walking around, so this time I was very eager to show off the wonders of the mysterious woods (used in Merlin and Doctor Who). He didn't disappoint as he traipsed around the moss and mud-ladened tracks, exploring steep paths, stone steps and searching for The Gruffalo at any opportunity!

And of course the weekend wouldn't be complete without a splash in the paddling pool, right before turning his hand to his first ever spot of car cleaning!

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LolliBop 2012

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We were lucky enough to be invited to LolliBop 2012 at Regent's Park, London last weekend and happily went along on Saturday, the second day of the weekend long event. It was a beautifully hot and sunny day, perfect for lots of little ones to enjoy all the fun and games that had been created for them.

LolliBop 2012

The festival was held in a corner of the very large Regent's Park and was perfectly cordoned off keeping the children safe and secure. There were a huge range of activities for the children for all different ages (listed here) and there was definitely something for everyone from the under four year olds section through to the Halfords' race course (which got booked up well in advance!).

For such a large section of park, there was unfortunately not much natural shade, however the organisers had done an excellent job of creating several areas to provide an escape from the blistering heat; in the picture above you can see the coloured banners which were one of the areas. I'm grateful that they had also created a bloggers' lounge which was under the shade of some trees giving us an opportunity to cool off. (I later discovered that there was another section of the park which had a few trees and provided a relaxing area, but it wasn't obvious on the map or when walking around).

The refreshments were very good and it was nice to see a good range of family foods and drinks from Pizza Express, pie stalls, burgers and milkshake stands. The Oreo cookie milkshake was to die for! Unfortunately while the queues for these weren't long in length, they were in time, so next time I'll be taking a picnic. The toilets were portaloos and the least said about them the better. I'd envisaged the portacabin style facilities which I've seen at other children's events, where a sink with running water and soap are available.

These were some of our highlights of the day:

20120819-233400.jpg

  • Top left: Alex and Katy from CBeebies perform the I Can Cook song
  • Top right: watching Mister Maker in the LolliPalladium tent
  • Bottom right: being a shopkeeper in John Lewis Lane
  • Bottom right: creating a sandart picture with ScratchPatch

It's only when I look at the official higlights of the weekend that I realise how much else we missed, despite being there for most of the day. I can't wait to go again next year, when I definitely will not be wearing black!

We were provided with free tickets for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

The Gallery: Streetlife

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I've posted before about the day that The Boy and I discovered the wonderful world around us when we went into Cardiff on the train, so I didn't want to use those photos again for this week's gallery theme of 'Street Photography'. However, when I was writing up a review earlier I came across a photo that I feels fits the theme really well at the moment.

This photograph was taken when we were in London for the Britmums Live blogging conference, right slap bang in between the start of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the upcoming Olympic games.

I feel it kind of sums up Britain at the moment, what do you think?

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What I Learnt At #BritMumsLive 2012

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Last year I decided that I didn't want to go to CyberMummy as, on the surface, it seemed too much like an INSET day for me. When it came to a month beforehand, I suddenly realised what I would be missing out on and decided that 2012 was the year that I would be going. And so on Friday morning with my husband and son in tow, along with our suitcase and bedguard (!), we set off on the train to London.

I had an amazing weekend; meeting new and old friends, learning ways to improve my blog (mainly thanks to Julie Hall's sessions) and remembering how to be me again. Way too many things happened for me to blog it all but I will give a run-down of the things that were most relevant, informative and interesting for me. Basically, what I learnt:

  • It didn't matter I was wearing because no-one cared. Honestly. I think most people went with the philosophy of not having baby sick, toddler snot or ground-in Weetabix on them, and by and large it worked.
  • According to the TK Maxx woman, I need to wear dresses. I did try and let her down gently that it was never going to happen, but she refused to believe me. Poor deluded fool.
  • I didn't win the BiB Snap! award, but for the first time ever I didn't beat myself up about it. The celebratory atmosphere of all involved was so lovely that I genuinely didn't mind. Having got to the finals was reward enough for me.
  • Twitter avatars are deceptive. People you think will be tall (Her Melness, From Fun to Mum, and Kate Takes 5) are actually petite and perfectly formed. Completely took me by surprise. Likewise those that I thought would be smaller in stature were in fact joining me in the lofty heights (The Ana Mum Diary).
  • Jenny from Mummy Mishaps is a fantastic friend that I am lucky to have.
  • You need to take twice as big a clothing recepticle as you initially need. The quantity of goodies that you will leave with, will far surpass the available space in your luggage.
  • I have the attention span of a gnat and was only able to see out the end of two sessions (Accountancy & Design, and Crossing the Chasm). I ducked out halfway through others as they were either of no interest to me or I wanted to catch up with people.
  • Don't sigh out loud when the long-winded stage discussion is opened up to the floor. Especially when so many bloggers (about twenty-thirty in this case) can turn around and smile at you knowingly. And if you tweet about it, be prepared to be retweeted. Quite a bit.
  • I do want another baby. I blame Matilda from Edspire for this; she's too damned gorgeous. In fact, I cried when I held her. Who knew that would happen?
  • I need to label my pictures on my blog with keywords in order to increase my SEO chances. I should also use subheadings with the keyword.
  • Bloggers are genuinely nice people who care about each other and are supportive and friendly. I was especially pleased to get to meet bloggers who I've been chatting with for over a year, some for eighteen months (RedTedArt, Christine Mosler, Michelle TwinMum, Seasider Clare, Two Point Four Children, Missie Lizzie B, Mum On The Brink).
  • You can never have enough wetwipes (goody bag contents).
  • The Hoxton Hotel is not child-friendly and is an extremely expensive breakfast options (£32 for the three of us).
  • When Ruby Wax isn't trying to be funny, she's actually quite funny.
  • Sarah Brown is funny. And honest and humble, courageous and an amazing woman in her own right.
  • The man from Google+ is a very nice chap, but when he says that your personal Google+ profile will not be linked to your anonymous blog page in anyway, he is in fact, talking absolute bollocks. To clarify, Mr. TBaM did a search on me and the profile picture that came up was TheBoyandMe's. Not good for an anonymous blogger. I knew Google+ was evil.
  • London is a very nice place to visit occasionally, but there's no way I could live there.

I could talk about what I didn't enjoy but well, what would be the point in that? Enjoy the pictures!

[slickr-flickr tag='britmums2012']

Many thanks to Toyjeanius who sponsored my ticket to attend.

In The Night Garden Live (Review)

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On Saturday we were lucky enough to attend one of the best events I've ever been invited to: a VIP Gala Performance of In The Night Garden in the O2 in London.

I took The Boy to see the ITNG tour when it visited Cardiff last year and he adored it. It was his first experience of the theatre and he sat captivated for nearly an hour at the tender age of 22 months old. He wasn't the only one, and I was 33 at the time! This year the tour is visiting some of the larger venues that it didn't cover last time around, but the two stories of the Ninky Nonk or Pinky Ponk are still the same. If it ain't broke, why try and fix it?

The whole experience, for it is just that, is something that every child should have. In a purpose built inflatable theatre, you are welcomed into a small and cosy auditorium. On this occasion, that doesn't mean cramped, it actually means cosy and welcoming. Reminiscent of an ampitheatre, the rows of seats face down to the grassy stage where Upsy Daisy, Iggle Piggle and Makka Pakka re-enact the moment when Iggle's blanket kept getting lost. With the help of the Tombliboos, the Pontipines and some very clever puppetry, Iggle is reunited with his beloved blanket in a heart-warming performance.

I can't express how enjoyable the whole performance is. With images projected onto the screen, scaled and proportional versions of  the main characters and brilliant acting, it is a must-see for all the family. And because of the clever layout of the auditorium, there is no worry of missing anything or not being able to see properly; we were sat in the fourth row back and there were another four or five rows behind us. But just look at how close we are to The Boy's beloved friends!

And of course, the best bit about the whole thing is getting to meet your hero or heroine from the show afterwards. Just look at his little face:

In The Night Garden Summer Tour is in the O2 until 9th June 2012, when it carries onto two other venues in London before travelling off to Manchester and Birmingham. Try and take your pre-schoolers, they will love every second of it!

More information on the Facebook page and by following the twitter account.

I received free entry into the performance in order to write this post. The Boy received a goody bag. My opinion and enjoyment is honest and unbiased.

The Gallery: Sunshine

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With the sunshine bursting all over the nation, Tara has decreed the theme this week to be just that:

Sunshine!

Watch it rain when she opens the linky!

However, for the moment I am going to use an image that I took on the weekend when we went to London. We've never taken The Boy there before and haven't been ourselves for about eight years, so this was a big thing for us. Originally invited to a press event in the O2, we decided to turn it into a family day out and stayed overnight in a hotel in Slough. We got up early on the Saturday morning (we even had to wake our son, an unheard of event) and caught the train into 'the big smoke'. He adored it and found the underground fascinating.

After we'd finished in the O2, he asked if we were going to London again? I suppose the size of a place is quite a difficult thing for a two year old to understand and so we explained that we were in London. That's when he declared that London was where the London Eye was and Justin had been on that. We'd already discussed the possibility of taking him on it, but weren't sure if he'd 'get it'. After that little proclamation from him, we trekked off to the embankment and found ourselves queueing for an hour in the blazing early afternoon sunshine.

We queued for nearly an hour and he didn't complain once, why would you when you have this to enjoy?

Oh, and yes, he adored the whole experience. My 366 photo from Saturday shows that.

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ITNG In The O2!

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I'm very excited!

This Saturday we're going to London with The Boy! It's our first time there as a trio, and the first time I've been to the UK's capital city in more than eight years. As we're also going to be going for a blogging conference in a month's time, I'm feeling extremely cosmopolitan all of a sudden.

However, this Saturday's trip is so that we can visit the O2 for a VIP performance of In The Night Garden Live!

We saw the smaller tour last year and absolutely adored it; my then not even two year old sat perfectly for nearly an hour, completely and utterly enraptured by the antics of Upsy Daisy, Iggle Piggle and Makka Pakka. He wasn't the only one as I was captivated by the magical performance as well. The puppetry was superb.

However this year the smash-hit show is bigger and better as it brings the world of In The Night Garden to the stage. The event will be taking place in its own all-weather purpose built inflatable showdome and is coming to The O2 after proving to be a huge hit across the country. Not only that, but we'll get to do something that we didn't last year: meet and greet Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy. I know that's going to blow The Boy's mind!

The doors will open at 10am on Saturday 26th May for this special VIP event in the Live Quarter at The O2 in London, and we wouldn't miss it for the world!

For all the latest information on the tour, follow In The Night Garden on twitter and Facebook.

We are being provided with tickets for this event. My opinion and excitement is genuine and uncontainable.

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