11/04/201306/01/2015 by jo

Nickelodeon’s Dora The Explorer Live! Goes on Tour in the UK

Late last summer we went to the West End production of Nickelodeon’s Dora The Explorer Live! in the Search for the City of Lost Toys – and it was wondeful. A fabulous interactive show and of all the shows we saw I enjoyed this one the most as I didn’t expect it to be quite so good (don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed everything we saw last year, this one was due to the amount of interaction with the audience which of course if you’re familiar with the show is no surprise really).

They’re out on tour NOW! For a full list of touring venues, please go to nickjr.co.uk/doralive

Dora the Explorer fans will delight in this two act, song and dance spectacular that invites them to think, sing and play along. Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer LIVE! is designed to teach kids to explore, communicate, overcome obstacles, solve puzzles and discover a diverse and exciting world…all while having a lot of fun!

In Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer LIVE! Search for the City of Lost Toys, Dora has lost her teddy bear Osito, and the search is on to retrieve him.

With the help of the audience, Map, Backpack, Boots, Diego and their courageous friends, Dora uses her map-reading, counting, musical and language skills to successfully pass through the number pyramid and the mixed-up jungle to reach the City of Lost Toys. But watch out – you never know what that sneaky fox Swiper might be up to along the way!

One of Nick Jr’s most beloved shows, Dora the Explorer airs every day at 8:30am 11am and 4.30pm, with brand new episodes in March and June 2013. The series sees Dora partake in adventures in her imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests. Dora explores her world just as children do every day, and the show is designed to actively engage its audience using a variety of learning techniques. Award-winning Dora the Explorer currently reaches more pre-schoolers than any other show on television (12.4 million).

LISTINGS

Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer LIVE! Search for the City of Lost Toys
UK Tour

Dates: 28 March – 19 August 2013
Performances: Performance times vary at each venue. For full information please go to the website listed below.

Ticket prices:

Explorer Seats:
Get closer to the action with Explorer seats.
Subject to availability book early to avoid disappointment.
Adult: £18
Child: £16

General Seats:
Adult: £16
Child: £14

N.B There may be some local variations on price, please ask at time of booking.

Groups/Schools/Nursery Prices for groups of 10+
£12 per ticket, with the 10th free*
*Excludes Explorer Seats

Family Rates (four tickets with at least one adult)
Explorer Family: £65
Family: £55

Meet Dora!
Buy in advance from the Box Office, or on the day and meet Dora after the show!
Children: £10
Adults go free!
Please note there is limited availability so book early.

Website: nickjr.co.uk/doralive

11/04/201301/02/2014 by jo

Polesden Lacey Gold Room Chandelier Cleaning

If you’re planning on visiting Polesden Lacey, the National Trust property and gardens in Surrey next week then you’re in for a treat – the house team are going to be cleaning the Gold Room chandelier. It dates back to around 1860 and is highly decorative, made of around 4,000 pieces of cut glass, and adding to the wow factor of the room!

The cleaning of the main chandelier and matching wall sconces will happen mainly in the mornings from Monday 15th to Friday 19th April, where staff will be happy to answer questions about their work.

For more information about Polesden including opening times and upcoming events please call 01372 452048 or see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesdenlacey

10/04/201302/07/2015 by jo

Dear H&M

I love you. You make really nice clothes for my little girl – and that’s what she is, a little girl. Please don’t think you exclusively have my love, but this week you do.

While I’ll still wince inside as I see your stores with their blues and greens and browns to one side, and sparkles, princesses, pink and sequins to the other, the other day I was happy to see a section which appeals to both genders (even if it was tucked over in the boys section a teeny bit more).

Since we received your last catalogue H has had her eye on a Brazil football shirt. What I love the most about that page in the catalogue is there are boys and girls wearing the shirts – it isn’t exclusively male (as of course football isn’t).

H has been having football lessons for the last year – initially she was the only girl in her group but this last term she’s been with three others – and I think it’s great. Somehow in the last few weeks she’s telling me which toys are girls or boys ones, and is starting to notice it a lot more. It makes me sad, I’m not into labelling things by gender.

Seeing something which is inclusive for all makes me happy inside. Even my team (Tottenham) did the weirdest thing, making ‘Never Red’ shirts in pink – for girls. When I got my first Spurs shirt it was blue and white with just the badge on it, as I’m sure many other females did.

So thank you H&M for not dumbing down or pink-ing up the football shirts, and just making them the same for everyone. It makes me very happy. That and it being £5.99 which is a brilliant price!

luv

09/04/201308/10/2019 by jo

Lulu Guinness at Uniqlo

Uniqlo launched their second Lulu Guinness UT collection yesterday – so today I headed to my local Wandsworth store to see what was on offer. If you like Lulu Guinness’s designs (I am in love with the umbrella on her homepage) or indeed a sucker for spots and stripes (I’m in), then you’ll probably love what’s on offer.

What I like the most about Uniqlo’s various UT ranges is being able to pick up a top which is affordable and still looks good – so I was able to get a spotty t-shirt with sort of fold over cap sleeves (I thought very eighties) for just £12.90.

I’m not a fan of t-shirts with collars, but I have to admit I was close to buying one of the ones in-store – but having thought a bit more about it, there’s only a small number of t-shirts available, so I’m holding on in the hope that maybe there’ll be a second range within this lot announced soon!

This post contains an affiliate link, but all clothes are bought from my own hard-earned cash.

02/04/201302/02/2014 by jo

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Trail at Polesden Lacey

We’re barely past Easter and already the excellent Polesden Lacey have another trail for kids, running through the holidays.

Almost 3,500 kids went to Polesden to take part in the Cadbury’s Easter Egg Trail (wow.. just think of all those eggs!), and to enjoy all the other activities on offer. The fun keeps on coming with the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party trail running from 10am until 3.30pm daily until Sunday 14th April.

For only £1 (plus grounds admission), you can help the Mad Hatter find his cakes and party hats, enjoy your own special tea party and of course win a prize.

For more information about Polesden including opening times and upcoming events please call 01372 452048 or see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesdenlacey

01/04/201326/03/2018 by jo

A Cheaper London – an Easter Edition

We had a busy Easter Sunday, and in keeping with my nature of trying not to spend money, we found several things to do….

Easter Island Moai at the British Museum

We started out by heading up to the British Museum – which I found a little bit claustrophobic (disclaimer – I’ve been getting weird dizzy spells, and the light and dark didn’t help, so I felt a bit wobbly), until we headed out into the main area with the roof by Norman Foster – a marvellous sight too and a good place to clear your head. We found the mummy of a Cleopatra (not THE Cleopatra) although I couldn’t help finding it a bit odd… you die and end up in a museum? I know it’s ridiculously old and all that.. but.. I found it odd. We saw the Rosetta Stone too which was interesting, though a bit like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre – you can’t get that close thanks to the crowds!

British Museum

Fortunately the museum is free so we can go back – their canteen was good, and had a deal giving you a free children’s meal if you bought hot food. We wanted sandwiches so didn’t take it up, but keep an eye out as you get there.

Covent Garden Easter Egg trail

We headed down to Covent Garden where they had various easter eggs dotted around, as well as a man dressed as the Fat Controller by the Thomas one, and a large Moshi Monsters bus (which was closed, phew!). We intended to go to the London Transport Museum, but it’s pricey (edited to add – Sharon pointed out you can get 2 for 1 vouchers – check here – we’ll definitely do that in the future!)- it stays open later on a Sunday but even then it was £15 each for two hours (as that’s the time that was left) – though just going into the shop to browse was good enough for the two little ones. We popped upstairs for a coffee to be greeted with this….

EDITED TO ADD – the £15 is an annual price, so actually it’s a fantastic deal – you can go back several times over the course of a year which makes the London Transport Museum fantastic value – thanks for clarifying LTM! (see comments below)

roundel-cappucino

Being in Covent Garden meant I’d have to pop in the Moomin Shop – be prepared to walk upstairs, as it’s unavoidable (so not buggy-friendly), but there are tons of Moomins things to buy, we picked up two books for just over £10.

A walk over the Thames always brings good views, and you can have fun spotting things as well as newer additions to the skyline. On the South Bank is the Royal Festival Hall – and views in the warm.

Thames

I popped into Foyle’s by the river, so caught up with everyone else inside the hall – my sister told me they were on the sixth floor, so on arriving at the RFH found the lifts by the entrance don’t go up that far. I walked further down to the next lift, and stepped into the Singing Lift which is possibly the best thing EVER. It goes higher for the top floors with a “Level siiixxxx” for that, and lower for the bottom with a “Level onnnnnnne” and big smiles from everyone who gets in.

Yes, we may have gone from Level 5 to Level 1, back up to Level 6 and finally Level 2… stopping at most floors. H and G both found it hilarious!

Covent Garden Easter Egg trail

After that we headed home, overall spends were just for food, transport goodies (I got a great 1970-2013 coaster and a kids map of London) and Moomin’s books – so not a bank breaking day at all. We just missed the food market outside the Festival Hall, but I bet it’d be good for bargains…

Oh, and we did plenty of walking – H fell asleep on the tube home and slept well that night – phew!

The Fat Controller at the Covent Garden Easter Trail

01/04/201326/03/2018 by jo

Easter at Polesden Lacey

We love our National Trust membership – I’ll say this a bazillion times as we get so much from it, especially having Polesden Lacey so close (which often makes the Top 10 overall of NT properties and gardens). Last year we went to Claremont for their Easter Egg hunt, but this year we switched.

The National Trust work with Cadburys and do simple trails that two three year olds (and a five year old) get excited about – it’s perfect! They get a sheet with various activities (though it was really too cold), a place to have your photo taken and then the actual trail. It probably took no more than an hour (allowing for a stop in the play area which is conveniently after the second or third clue), and had our three (H, her cousin G and her friend M) running around tracking down each clue.

Polesden Lacey Explorers

My favourite part of Polesden is the tree tunnel (which I’m sure they have a better name for, but we like ours) which had several clues, and leads out to the large grassy area at the front, where the kids had several games of hide and seek, or just rolling down the hill, climbing trees, or sitting on a lion; a stone one that is.

Actually, there was only one gripe – it was a freezing day, and included in the price was face painting. The queue was long and wasn’t moving – so in the end we had to give up, which made the girls sad. On the plus side there’s the free binoculars as you come through the entrance so they could do proper exploring while looking for the clues, so that was fun for them.

Polesden Lacey climbing trees

The Cadburys/National Trust Easter Egg trails have just one more day – today is the last day (Easter Monday) – and there’s loads of trails around the country. Of course, when you finish you get to choose a Cadbury’s Easter Egg at the end, which pleased the three of them a LOT! An excellent day, and it’s all fresh air!

Polesden Lacey Easter Egg trail 2013

28/03/201302/02/2014 by jo

Weight Watchers – A Final Challenge

We have our last Weight Watchers challenge to post about – Easter. Yes, that time when people find an excuse to eat chocolate and stuff their faces – I used to. Then when H came along I didn’t want the associations of chocolate and celebrating in her life – I wanted chocolate to be something we eat whenever we fancy. Having said that, I *could* go overboard on the Hotel Chocolat Easter Sale the day after the main event, and may well have. Ahem. Disclaimer: I have then taken another six months to eat it, savouring the chocolatey goodness.

Actually, looking at myself and how I eat around H, I’ve tried my best not to sneak food around her (like a sneaky chocolate) and have waited until she’s gone to bed. Last March (2012) she was given a chocolate Smarties treat which I managed to convince her was a shaker for a year (she ate it last Sunday when I confessed). Doing Weight Watchers has meant I’ve had to really look at myself and this is possibly the closest to ‘me’ time I’ve had in a long time – and hands up I can say it works for me. The hard bit now is keeping it off and not going back to old bad habits.

Which is where chocolate comes in.

We will have chocolate, but we’ll have it in moderation (small eggs! Good plan!). I can eat it and know I’ve enough points to stay within my weekly limit, and seeing as there’s tons of local Easter Egg hunts going on, a long walk to find things with chocolate at the end is a well earned one (I’m aiming for a 10 point one) – that’s if this rotten weather doesn’t let us down. Polesden Lacey here we come….

I started my Weight Watchers journey around September 2012. In that time I’ve lost two stone, pretty much. My old size 38 jeans are gone – freecycled and put into clothing bins around our village. My old t-shirts need sorting out as they look wrong with my new body shape. I splashed out on some of the clothes I posted about on my New Look post, and got that ditsy print skirt – in a size 14. It fits me. The last time I remember being a size 14 was on my eighteenth birthday.

I’m wearing skinny jeans for the first time in I’ve-lost-count years – probably eighties drainpipes – and I’m starting to feel less conscious about myself. Last weekend we had pizza and I still lost 1lb – I’m edging ever-closer to my goal (only 3lb more to go), so I think it’s fairly safe to say that Weight Watchers works – for me.

Has this been life-changing? Possibly, yes. Would I recommend it? I’d definitely say give it a try. Weight Watchers isn’t for everyone – but if you need help in getting a jumbled life of food in check, it’s worth it. I have a link you can click on to sign up (see the sidebar), although three of my friends have gone for cashback schemes elsewhere – the most important thing is that there are opportunities to try it which don’t break the bank (which is what put me off doing it as we don’t have a lot of money!).

What has helped the most? All of us doing it. Not eating foods with sweeteners – just watching portion size. My wonderful Soup Maker.. quick soups are great. Eating chocolate but keeping an eye on how much rather than eating until I’ve finished the lot. Being careful with crisps – more places are stocking Popchips and that’s great because they taste good! Buying good wine – my tastebuds have changed, they’re recognising cheap and nasty wine so now I pick nice wine and savour it (or maybe I’m just growing up at last?).

There’s only one last thing I need to do – just as I’d started doing Weight Watchers I went for a blood test to check my cholesterol levels, as I’m at risk of high cholesterol. I need to book a follow up appointment, as I’ve been watching my saturated fats plus a lot of the Weight Watchers foods are low in them. I want to see if WW has made a difference to my overall health; I’m also going to try using coconut oil in our cooking to see if that helps.

—

All that’s left to say is thank you Weight Watchers for giving me the tools to help get my life in check – and thank you to BritMums (for the initial campaign we worked on) and ShinyRed (for the second campaign) for the opportunity to work with Weight Watchers.

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I was provided with nine months of Weight Watchers membership for this challenge. All opinions are my own.

22/03/201328/07/2023 by jo

things we like this week

the new Celia Birtwell collection at Uniqlo – Wandsworth had a decent selection in store, so I got a t-shirt which is pretty cool…

Celia Birtwell at Uniqlo

plus I picked up a Mr Potato Head t-shirt for Shaun as they had the Pixar designs still in stock.

Disney Pixar at Uniqlo

The two Very Hungry Caterpillar iPad games that Night & Day Studios made available this week – the freebie one on Wednesday for Very Hungry Caterpillar Day – Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar and the sticker book which was made cheaper – both fab games celebrating Eric Carle’s wonderful timeless pictures. Plus there’s a new book due later this year!

Martha and the Bunny Brothers I Heart Bedtime by Clara Vulliamy – we LOVE everything Clara does and this is another lovely book – beautifully illustrated (I really like the bit where they go up and downstairs) and a fun story too – a full review to follow very soon

Making cheese straws (thanks to Jo for recommending!). Okay, Shaun made them but we had plenty of fun eating them. They’re not too high propoints wise for Weight Watchers either if you switch a few ingredients.

Cheese Straws

Our local NCT Playgroup – we were with the NCT for our antenatal classes, and have made friends we’ll always keep in touch with – watching our kids grow up together and knowing they’ve all known each other since birth is lovely – and having a local playgroup where we can meet more local mums is even better – especially as we’ve now less than a month before we find out where H will be going.

Knitting! The Hooky Knitters met this week, I started knitting a rainbow sock, and we had two new knitters come along – Beka has a blog too and is joining us for BritMums – hurrah!

H&M Kids Basketball shoes H&M – we got a new catalogue and already I’ve placed an order (ssshhh don’t tell Shaun) and shopped in-store. H desperately wants a Brazil football shirt from their new range and being a modern mother who loves football I’m happy she does – Shaun is also happy as if he pretends there isn’t ‘Brazil’ on the back and there isn’t a badge on it, it would be an Australia shirt. On the other hand, I lived my eighties fantasies in this top.

H&M 80's top

How Eskimo’s Keep Their Babies Warm – I’m already chatting about it to mum friends, it’s an interesting book – and I’m only a short way in.

I got a new Mia Tui bag – my fourth – a Sofia. This means I can switch bags for all our activities, especially on a busy Wednesday when we’re running around like crazy – I use the largest bag for swimming, the smallest for going to pilates, and the new Sofia for everything else in between when I need to carry things for H.

Mia Tui bags

Blinkbox – we’ve watched two films we’d never have got around to watching had we not had a free trial (and a PeerIndex perk) – and I’m really impressed – we watched ‘Hit So Hard’ the Patty Schemel documentary and ‘Sound City’ the new Dave Grohl film – both great.

Music – new albums from British Sea Power, Iron & Wine, The House Of Love, having an account at Rdio (like Spotify without the ads) and Cherry Red recreating my youth in CD form.. and getting a thankyou on The Breeders LSXX Last Splash reissue is really special!

Disclosure – there are affiliate links in here, we were sent the Martha & the Bunny Brothers and How Eskimo’s Keep Their Babies Warm books free of charge for review, received Blinkbox as a free trial, everything else has been paid for and is recommended because we like it. Music-wise, some are related to my work but this doesn’t affect my opinion.

19/03/201303/02/2014 by jo

Worry Dolls

H is probably going to be a worrier like me. I’m really bad at talking about my problems until I hit THAT point, then there’s no stopping me. Unfortunately this means that often I’ll mention something and I’m sure my friends think I’m moaning… but hey.

Anyway, H seems to also be like me and with school on the horizon and her nursery days spent having best friends then not any more (god, she’s SO like me), and occasional days when she really doesn’t want to tell me what’s wrong, I decided that we’d make some worry dolls. I then worried about this – of course – as she’s very very young, but my rational thinking was that if she had something she’d express her worries to, then this was a good thing emotionally.

So we kept it simple. She’s got plenty of craft supplies so we raided the lolly stick collection. We selected one of each colour and got her sticker collection out too. Then it was a case of naming them – now, she can’t read but I can; she has a good memory, I don’t. So I wrote their names on each stick.

We both drew faces on them and added a sticker to try to personalise them a bit before I got an old Innocent Smoothies carton and cut it down to size, then found some fabric scraps (a nice red with sparkly spots on) and covered the box – the dolls live there.

That was it. Nothing too fancy, and everything we had around. I then demonstrated how I’d tell a ‘doll’ one of my worries and place it in the box, (I think I was worried that Peppa Pig might not come on tv in time or something) and H followed, mentioning friends at nursery and how worried she was they wouldn’t be her friend any more (SOB!). But it was good – she wouldn’t talk to me about it (and just wanted cuddles), but wanted to share her problems with her worry doll.

It’s an easy one to do anyway. More importantly, H understands what they’re there for – and if she can’t talk to me, hopefully she’ll share her worries with these…

Mum Friendly

the things we do, the things we like

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