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…
days out
My grown up day out
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…
A colourful day out
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…
Enjoying a different view of London with London Open House
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…
A girls’ day out in London
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…
King of the Railway at Drayton Manor Theme Park
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…
Fluffy pillows and sweet dreams
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…
Things to do at Ruislip Lido
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…
Family fun at Lacock Abbey
I’m very proud to say that today is Day 2 of our holiday and we’ve used our National Trust membership on two consecutive days! We’ve been members for years but have found the children never really enjoyed our trips – until now! Yesterday we had a lovely walk around Avebury stone circle and today we…