Reviews

Letting go: good clean fun with Persil’s small and mighty kids campaign

This post is sponsored by Persil. It is our summary of a fabulous week outdoors in the sunshine 🙂 Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the best thing in the world. Strange statement, I know, for a post about good dirty clean fun outdoors, but bear with me. 15 years ago my regular night-time pattern was to sleep until 2am, wake for 4 hours, then drift off to sleep around 6, ready for the alarm at 7. Every single night. For more than 10 years. I was a wreck. I survived on coffee, and moaned about everything. CBT changed all that, and …

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Teen Beach Movie

We’ve listened to the soundtrack, and it’s kind of catchy, in a weird sixties/Doris Day kicks ass way, but without knowing the context, it’s hard to figure out why. So Friday evening saw us, popcorn in bowl, huddled on the sofa, glued to the Disney channel, for the premiere of Teen Beach Movie. Instantly I was hooked. Sweet girl, blonde boy, doomed romance as the long summer draws to an end; it’s a winner in any young girl’s book. What is Teen Beach Movie all about? Kind of surfer chick meets HSM Cliff Richard style, the movie sees McKenzie and …

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A BIG night in with Lucky Voice online karaoke (review)

Did you read that? What it says on the box? Oh, yes! Mummy is never going to get access to her laptop ever again!  Because this karaoke party kit arrived last week from Lucky Voice, and now I’ve got the hang of it, I’m planning to exercise my vocal chords every opportunity I get. Lucky Voice have a chain of upmarket Karaoke bars across the country, but this is the first time they have ventured into our homes online. My Mum is rubbish with technology, so she had a bit of a faff trying to set the party kit up, …

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Can you really go to a music festival with kids?

I am told that my Dad was once quite cool. I am led to believe that he introduced Mummy to indie music. Prior to their meeting she was all a bit Take That and Celine Dion (I know!!) but he soon sorted her out with a trip to the V Festival in Leeds. There they had an enormous row about a baked potato, and she fell in love with Gene and the Supernaturals. Daddy, on the other hand, was a huge fan of Dodgy (which I presume is where he gets his fashion sense from), and was fond of something …

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Our dream holiday in Orlando: what makes a good theme park?

Yesterday I recounted our excitement at travelling to Orlando. We were off on the trip of a lifetime, and despite a few hiccups we made it! So, 11 theme parks later, I’m back to tell you what I’ve learned on my epic rollercoaster tour. What makes a good theme park? a. You have to get the queue experience right This (ficticious) Jabba’s Palace attraction has the queue system completely wrong. First, it opens well after the park opening time, so immediately falling short of customer expectations. You will find this at Sea World: we turned up early to beat the queues, only …

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Our dream holiday in Orlando: we’re off on an epic trip!

A while back we showed you this video reveal of the plan for our dream holiday in Orlando. Bearing in mind that by the day of our trip we clearly knew we were off to Florida’s Disney World resort, so we considered Daddy’s attempt to wind us up nothing short of brutal: We quickly put him straight and dragged him away from the Easyjet desks: Panic over, we set about getting excited. Here are some basic tips on how to make the most of a long plane journey with kids: Arrive at the airport super-early. Yes early! The grown-ups will …

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Gifts for Dad. Review of the new Soda Stream, and a Retro Sweets Hamper

We often celebrate Father’s Day early in our house. For various reasons, Sunday isn’t usually the best day of the week for dishing out lavish treatment to our Dad. So we held our Father’s Day festivities today. In reality, what this really means is that Daddy gets his one and only lie-in of the year (he’s a morning person – Mummy is a lazy bulldozer-type person), after which Mummy spends the day clearing up mess without complaining. Much. This is how it goes: Daddy gets his orders to stay in bed in the morning and await his treats. We get …

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Retro sweets hamper Father’s Day

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!! What? I’m excited! We get some very cool stuff to review, but I’ve never had a retro sweets hamper before. I’ve been told many times to calm down, but seriously, with names like Best Ever Retro Sweets MEGA Box + Marshmallows (!!! Hello!) it’s going to take me until at least November to quell the excitement enough to start thinking about Christmas. I’m afraid I actually became speechless as I gazed at the contents of the Marshmallow hamper. It has 44 different retro sweets, including: Black Jacks Chews Fruit Salad Chews Refreshers Original Chews Anglo Bubbly Chocolate Footballs Love Heart Mini …

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London with kids: a perfect weekend and an “epic” hotel!

What to do and where to stay in London with kids: “It’s really nice here, even though it’s a bit posh.” nice  adjective, nic·er, nic·est. 1. pleasing; agreeable; delightful: a nice visit. In other words, kids like it. posh adjective. sumptuously furnished or appointed; luxurious. A posh place. In other words, adults like it. You couldn’t really get a better recommendation for a family friendly hotel. Happy kids + happy parent = great weekend. We’re just back from a very cool weekend in London with the kids. Before the children were born, we spent a lot of time in the capital, wining and dining, visiting the sights and soaking up the …

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How to still dress cool at 50 with Zalando

Simple! Take one very cool Zebra print jacket… add one set of hot jeans… and the coolest boots in the world. Ease one 50 year old Mum into jeans (they’re stretch…), checking purchased length was exactly right for the perfect “tuck-into-glorious-boots” effect. Slip aforementioned Mum’s arms into Zebra jacket, ignoring the nervous “are you sure, darling?’s” issuing from her puckered lips. Gaze reverently at fur cuffs on high-rise heels, before gently sliding onto matriarch’s foot (carefully avoiding bunions). Stand well back – matrons on heels can be unpredictable and dangerous. It’s something to do with rickety bones and dessicated joints. Admire …

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Doing something ridiculous for Comic Relief

I went all out to embarrass my mum today. Egged on by the lovely Mummy Alarm, she decided to give this dress one more outing by joining #TeamHonk’s Red Nose Day Team for Comic Relief. Originally she asked 100 people to donate £1 each. On reaching her target, she promised to wear the silver ball gown she last wore aged 21, to her Eighties themed rehearsal at Rock Choir. Which she did: But not content with that, Mummy raised the bar, by promising to wear the dress again, on Red Nose Day, on the school-run! #nutter… She wanted £200 before she would …

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A half-term family holiday in France is closer than you think

It’s snowing. Again. I’m bored now, and instead of the excitement of a glittering white blanket of silence outside, all I see out of my bedroom window is another long day indoors. I might momentarily relish the slothful prospect of staying in pj’s, but such thrill soon dissolves, to be replaced by sibling quarrels as dirty as the grey slush which lines the gutters. What I need now is a holiday, or at least the delicious anticipation of spending my half-term break somewhere warm, with a great pool, lots to do, and close to a fabulous beach. The May half-term …

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Costumes and ideas for World Book Day

World Book Day ideas: Saucepan Man from the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

Our school stages a non-uniform “come as your favourite book character” day every year on World Book Day. In 2013 World Book Day will be on Thursday 7 March, and the Bug has been pondering his costume for a while. Would he wear my cast-off from a previous year? His answer was no, on the basis that not only has he never read the Faraway Tree (I know, right?!!), but that the saucepans have not fared too well for their 2 year secondment to the loft… So we were stuck, wondering what the best character would be. We don’t have …

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A postcard from Davina and #TeamHonk for Comic Relief

This is a digital postcard sent from TeamHonk during their travels with Comic Relief in Ghana celebrating #goodwork. My postcard came with this message from Annie: “Here is Davina about to film in a school on the edge of a slum. This little chap was very taken by her as you can see! To get to the school we had to walk through a part of the slum which was really so far removed from anything we have ever experienced before. It’s hard to believe just how crowded the area is from this shot x” I cannot imagine how it …

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Choccywoccydoodah: the secret room (wedding story part 1)

As she turned the corner into Foubert’s Place and laid eyes on the shop, she stopped. “Oh, that’s the one,” she breathed. “That was my cake.” Only it wasn’t. The white chocolate wedding cake in the Choccywoccydoodah window had been the ultimate in cake fantasy as she had planned her wedding 13 years earlier. But despite the hours spent designing the colour and style of the chocolate flower decorations, that cake had never been hers. There was a budget; a budget that allowed for the wine (obviously), the cloak (not the dress, it was never about the dress), and the …

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Book review: Monty and Milli: the totally amazing magic trick

By Tracey Corderoy and Tim Warnes. Review by the Bug, aged 5. My brother is not one for practising his writing. But he has recently acquired the ability to read, and can be found most mornings, long before M&D’s alarm goes off, poring over his books. Even the promise of pain au chocolat elicits a groan of disobedience when he is asked to abandon his literature in favour of dressing and coming down for breakfast. Perhaps this new-found ability accounts for his urge to review Monty and Milli. We’ve had The Totally Amazing Magic Trick hanging around for months, with …

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Center Parcs and Tots100 perfect Christmas elf!

Some of you may know that we are Center Parcs bloggers next year. Whilst we are very excited about the prospect of visiting and reviewing Elveden Forest, we are also looking forward to some creative challenges. As it’s Christmas, they have set us the challenge of writing a poem about the Christmas Elf. I like to get handy with a pen so here is my take on the elf: Colouring in was done by The Bug, who wasn’t thrilled to be asked – ahem… There are still some coveted Center Parcs blogger places up for grabs! If you think you could …

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Beautiful fairy lights from Blaze On

You know how when you grow out of Peppa Pig night lights, you’re too cool for the infamous Sleepytime Bunny, or teddies just don’t cut it any more? You can’t quite give up the need for a light in your room, but you prefer to label it an “aesthetic accessory?” You trawl Amazon looking for interesting fairy lights, there aren’t many, but you settle on one and install it by your bed. And it looks fabulous! It really does – until the batteries run out… We recently discovered Blaze On, who amongst other gorgeous things, sell beautiful fairy lights – …

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