#Word of the Week: Procrastination

So my word of the week is...

It has been the final week of the holidays, and ,true to my style, a list was made off the things that I had yet to do or wanted to do before Titch goes back to school and I go back to work.

1. Ironing
Now normally, during term time, the Husband does all the ironing and cleaning as he is at home in the day. However, in the holidays I like to show my appreciation and do some of those monotonous jobs that the Husband does week in and week out.  So far this holiday we have lived on ironing the clothes we need each day. So I bet you can imagine how many piles there are.  Therefore, it was my intention to have a quieter week and tackle the pile. We are now two days away from the end of the holidays and it hasn't been touched.  Looks like the Husband will be doing it next week.

#Thursday Thoughts

They say that Happiness is a piece of cake ... 

I say Happiness is eating a piece of cake.

What are your #ThursdayThoughts ?

Why we chose medication

Titch was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD back in January 2015 after an assessment at the Maudsley Hospital in London. At the time he was still in Foster Care and looking for his forever family - us.

When we adopted Titch, we were given the report from the Maudsley and spoke to his doctors on the phone who made it very clear that Titch would struggle to cope in every day life without medication. However, as we had not officially become his parents yet, social services were very much against the medication and hoped that his behaviour would settle as he become comfortable with his new family.

Back to school

We are now into the final week of the 6 week holidays and everywhere you look when shopping 'Back to School' signs can be seen. In actual fact these signs have been up since the first day of the holidays in most supermarkets.

At a recent gathering I heard friends talking about how they couldn't wait to send their kids back to school so that normal routines could resume, and ,likewise, the Husband can't wait for Titch and I to go back either.  Now I may be biased ,being a teacher, and I totally understand how having 6 weeks off can affect parents - it is a long time to try and keep them amused, but I love the holidays and , although I am also looking forward to getting back into normal routines, I will miss the holidays and these are my reasons why.

London: Kew Gardens

We always find it difficult to decide what to do on the day we come back from a break away, especially when you have to drive back home. As a family enjoy National Trust places and there are quite a few on our journey back to the Midlands; however, on this occasion we decided to do something in London before leaving in the afternoon.  As we stayed in Chiswick we were not far from Kew Gardens and having heard so many good things about it we decided to give it ago.  

We brought our tickets the night before online as they were slightly cheaper, and doing my own research found that in the car park can get quite busy.  So we decided to head to Kew for 9.30 as it opened at 10.00am. 

Although we were there 30 minutes too early, we spent this time plane spotting as Kew is in the flight path for planes landing at Heathrow.  This kept Titch and the Husband good until the entrance opened.  As we had pre booked we just needed to scan our tickets from my phone and we were in.  

One thing we did not realise was how big Kew Botanical Gardens is.  There was so much to do that , even though we had been there for 5 hours, we could not fit everything in.  

If you are worried about what there is for kids, Kew is very kid friendly.  After a bit of a walk alongside the waterside path, we came cross 2 areas for kids. 

The first was a log climbing area. The husband and Titch couldn't resist this. Logs from trees and trucks of trees were laid out as an obstacle course that your could walking around - or run, jump and hop like Titch did.  

Next to this there was also a man made badger set, which we all decided to explore. Titch loved exploring the different tunnels and appearing in different places.  We could have definitely spent more time here than we did, but as we had never been before we wanted to explore.  

Along with the gardens outside there are also a few Temperate houses.  These were great to explore and we all loved looking at the different species of plants.  You can even walk up stairs to a veranda that covers the perimeter of the house so that you can view the plants from a different view. 

There is also a tropical house and although extremely humid inside is worth the visit. We loved exploring and examining the different patterns of the leaves in here and we even managed to spot on Iguana that was lay on a branch.  

Do you want to venture up 253 steps? Well we did.  We paid to climb the Great Pagoda to see the spectacular views across London - 18 miles I think.  As we queued up the member of staff advised us to climb to the top straight away and not to stop on any floor, instead to do them as we come back down.  Oh my... we climbed the 253 steps and we were shattered. It was hot and sticky but definitely worth it as it gave a 360 degree view of London around you. Titch was exceptionally happy that he could spot the London landmarks that he had visited or seen in previous days.  

Kew Gardens as so much to explore that we found it hard to decide what to visit.  We did though visit  The Hive - which Kew Gardens describe as ' a unique, multi-sensory experience designed to highlight the extraordinary life of bees.' We were all fascinated. The sounds that you hear inside are stimulated by actual bees in Kew.  
You will also find at Kew, a treetop walk, a play centre for children, Kew House, Cafes and food vans and they are currently building a children's sensory garden. There are plenty of places for a picnic too. 
We had such a wonderful day, and if we loved closer would definitely purchase the yearly pass to visit as we would never get bored.  

Parenting a teenager vs Parenting a toddler

Although I have been writing my blog for about a year now, many of my posts are either recounts of days out or reviews of places that we have visited.  There are plenty of blogs out there, but there seems to be a shortage of blogs from parents of teenagers.  This got me thinking why? Surely there is a need or even a place in the blogging world for them. Or maybe I just haven't come across any in my search.

With this in mind I thought why not broaden my blog.

So here goes... My first parenting post.

Parenting at any stage has it's own unique challenges as each stage in a child's development has it's own characteristics. That being said, there are similarities and differences between parenting a teenager to a toddler.

Communication
Toddlers love to talk - asking a million questions a day, teenagers on the other hand can become uncommunicative. My 13  year old son is still in the ask hundreds of questions a day stage, and as much as it can drive me mad, I know when all these questions stop I will be wishing that they hadn't.  Although we may think a teenager is not listening when we speak to them, how we speak to them is highly important.  Mutual Respect (one of our Great British values) is the key not just with teenagers but toddlers too. If we spend our time shouting and screaming, how can we expect our children to speak back to us in a polite manner. This is something that my outspoken son questions all the time. Why is it okay for parents to shout at their children when they are angry, but it's not okay for him to get angry and shout too? And I have to agree with him - but I would never tell him that. With teenagers  we still need to talk to them, as their listening skills are still there and they may hear more than you think.

Needs and wants 
With toddlers and babies we spend our time meeting their needs as they become dependant on us. We choose what they wear, what they eat, what they do that day. Teenagers, however, want to these choices for themselves. They don't want to be told what to wear. They are developing their own personalities, their own likes and dislikes.  However, there are also arguments  to whether we should give toddlers more choice. Should we force a toddler to wear the clothes we pick or should they be given some choice allowing them to make decisions and learn from there mistakes? Most of the time my son chooses his own outfits, but he will always ask if I think it is appropriate as, on one occasion, he refused to take a jacket that I had given him to wear and, unfortunately, it rained. A lesson was learned that day. The same goes for food.  Some days my son doesn't fancy what we are having for tea.  As adults we wouldn't eat something that we didn't fancy or like, but we insist that children do. Both toddlers and teenagers have wants and needs, and maybe they are not so different maybe we just need to approach those wants and needs in different ways dependant on their age.

Life Skills
As a toddler you are teaching them life skills, how to take care of them selves, how to use their manners, but with a teenager you begin to monitor their lives: what they are watching, who they are spending time with, what they are accessing on the internet. The life skills that we teach our children at different stages will depend on the child's needs. Toddlers are like sponges, they copy and mimic our behaviours and the life skills they often learn are through watch our repetitive behaviour for example, how to cross a road.  Although a teenager may think that they don't need you to teach them anymore secretly they do.  They still watch and learn from your behaviours: how you interact with others or how you deal with stressful situations. So it is vital that we set these examples for them to learn from. I always tell my son that you never stop learning from others, and even now as a 33 year old there are many life skills that I still learn in this way.

Dependance 
A toddler is reliant upon you to help them and show them how to do the things that they do not know how to do. They rely upon you to feed, bath and comfort them.  My 13 year old would never admit to needing me to do these things for him, but secretly he does. But rather than making it obvious they need you in more subtle ways. I am sure as he gets older his reluctancy to be tucked in or to be kissed and hugged will be even more obvious. But I will never stop trying, because there will be one day when he won't refuse and will be in need of comforting.

Parenting a teenager will test your limits just as much as they did when then were little and if not they will push you that little bit more.  However, even though they may not admit it they need you just as much as they once did.

Hotel Review - Premier Inn Chiswick

We have been to London a few times recently and have stayed in Premier Inns each time.  We choose Premier Inn because we know what we are getting and know what to expect. Plus if you book early enough and you aren't too fussy about where you want to stay then you can get some good deals.

After purchasing our Merlin Passes in February, we decided that we would book 2 trips to London. 1 in May to do Chessington, Thorpe Park and Hampton Court Palace and 1 in August to do Central London attractions. For our first trip we stayed at Premier Sudbury as it was an ideal location for visiting the parks; whereas, for this trip to Central London we decided to stay in Chiswick.

There were a few reason initially why we choose here:
1) The price - 3 people for 4 nights (without breakfast) for £156
2) Location to drive to - straight off the M4
3) Location for amenities - Chiswick has it's own high street with restaurants
4) Location to visit Kew Gardens on our last day
5) Onsite car parking (chargeable at £10 a night)
6) Tube link straight into London Via District Line.

Getting there 
As my Husband has only passed his since last year, and not had much experience driving around big cities, the Premier Inn Chiswick was in the ideal location and the drive to it was straight forward - leave the M4 at the end onto the A4 and you are there.  It was also easy to get to Thorpe Park which was around 25 minutes away.

There is also onsite parking which is always useful in London.  The only down side is that if you leave the car park there is no guarantee that you will get a space especially if like us you are not coming back till late.  Luckily we did manage to get one. And we then left our car parked until the day we left.

Rooms

As mentioned previously, we are not new to Premier Inn and have stayed in a few around London.  That being said, we found that this hotel was just that little better. It felt clean and new.  The room on arrival was spotless and there was plenty of room for the three of use.  The only downside to the room was the lack of storage for three people - but we managed.  

Location

The hotel is located about 10 minutes walk away from Chiswick High Street where you will find, bars, restaurants and shops.  We found this useful as on one night we did not fancy the journey into London and instead stayed local.  The only downside to the location is that the nearest tube station - Turnham Green- is between 15 -20 minutes walk away. Now when going out in the morning this was not a problem, but after already walking over 18,000 steps around London, the 20 minutes walk back to the hotel seemed to take forever.  

Hotel Bar and Food 

Originally we had decided not to book breakfast as sometimes we miss it; however, after our last visit  and spending £16 each morning on a Costa we decided that the £19 all you can eat breakfast for 3 of us was a better deal. Plus it kept us all full until late afternoon which suited us as then we could have tea a little later than normal too. The breakfast itself was great. Lots of choice and always fresh. 

On a couple of nights we had a few night caps in the bar. The drinks were reasonably priced for London and the staff were always very pleasant. 

On the last evening, we were so tired that we decided to eat in the hotel.  

The food was averaged priced for hotel food and we all enjoyed it and thought that it was worth the money especially as it meant we didn't have to walk very far.  

For the price we paid for 4 nights in London in August we think that we got a really good deal.  Would we return again? Yes definitely, although if a similar priced hotel came up but was closer to a tube I think we would try there.    

London: Sealife Centre

We have already visited two of Merlin's Sealife centres at Blackpool and Manchester and thought that both of these were great, but then again we all love anything to do with sea life and never get bored of seeing the same things over and over.  Knowing how good the other Sea life have been, we decided to pre book our time slot for the Sea life Centre when doing the London eye with it being in the same area.

Our time slot was fro 5.15pm and we got there at around 5.00pm. There were no queues so we went straight in.  Like all other Merlin Sea life centres there are photograph opportunities all the way around.  You can skip these and all the staff are extremely pleasant when you say that you don't want your photo taken.

One thing that we did love at the start of the London sealife centre was the glass floor that was above the Shark tank.  We thought that this was a great way to start the tour. In the other sea life centres there have been booklets that the children get to collect stamps as they go around. If this was available there we didn't see it, but this time as a treat we did treat Titch to the Ranger Pack at a cost of £4.  This kept him busy on the way around and searching for facts. He particularly enjoyed using the magnifying glass to look closer at the animal.  For Titch this added to his experience as rather than just walking pass each exhibition he was keen to look closer.

Although it was busy, it was much calmer than our previous trip to Madame Tussauds. The only queue that we encountered was when going through the tunnel.

As with the other Sealife centres, there was plenty to see.  Now maybe because of the time we went, we did not see or hear of any talks that normally occur in sea life centres, in actual fact there was not many staff around.  This did not ruin the experience as we read all of the information that we wanted too.

Titch enjoys anything interactive so enjoyed playing the Jelly fish game which is something that is not at the other Sealife Centres.

We also enjoyed seeing the penguins, although most were asleep.  

In total we spent around 1.5 hours in there which is about the average time we have spent in any Sealife Centre.  As Merlin pass holders it is obviously worth going too, but if I was a paying customer I am not sure if it would be worth the money unless we had some sort of discount or deal - which they do for the London Merlin Attractions (5 attractions for £55) 

London: The London Eye River Cruise

Before going to London we had read on the Merlin Pass holder Facebook group about the London Eye River Cruise.  As pass holders you get 50% discount - which is pretty good.  We booked the River Cruise that afternoon and were given the 6:45pm cruise slot.  If you want an earlier time then I would definitely recommend that you head down the the South Bank Pier in the morning.

We arrived on the Pier at 6.30pm, to a queue that was already extremely long, and most must have been queuing up since 6pm. As there was already quite a considerable number of people in front, we knew that we weren't going to get a seat up on top deck - this did disappoint Titch but we assured him that we would still get a good view from below. So if you definitely want to be up top I would recommend getting there 30-45 minutes before your departure time.

The cruise lasted 45 minutes going from Westminster down to the The Tower of London and back.  And although we had been to London many times before, and knew about some of the monuments that the guide told us about, we also learned some new things too. You also get to see these monuments from a different perspective on the Thames. Being downstairs did not ruin the experience. We still got to see the sights and took some great photos.

I would though recommend sitting on the left downstairs,  as when you get to Tower bridge the boat turns left which gives you a good view of Tower Bridge (see photo), where as if you were on the right you would not have been able to see this.

We paid just over £16 for 2 adults and a child and think that it is definitely worth the money for something different to do in London.

London: The London Eye and Southbank

Having been London many times before, we have also been on the London Eye Many times too, during the day and in the evening, but never as a Merlin Pass holder until today.

The Southbank area was extremely busy when we arrived at 1.30pm.  Following the advice of other Merlin Pass holders we had pre-booked all of our London Merlin attractions before hand.  We could have waited until we had got there, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to go on at the time you want.

When we arrived, before we got onto the London Eye, we wanted to book the London Eye River Cruise as recommended by others.  To book you have to walk pass the London Eye to the pier. There was a queue but it moved quite quickly.  We did want to do the cruise in-between the times we had booked for the Eye and London Sealife, but the next available time was not until 6:45pm so we booked this instead.

As with Madame Tussauds, we found that staff were unsure where we had to queue up if we had Merlin Passes and Pre booked times, as one gentleman told us that we needed to go inside to collect tickets.  This is not the cases, you simply go to the fast track queue show your pre-booked tickets and Merlin cards and you enter the queue.  Our time slot was booked for 2.30pm but we decided to go over at 2.15pm and they were happy to let us in as the normal and fast track queue do merge.  I would definitely recommend pre booking, as it was extremely busy and the queue to book time slots was long.
Titch loved the London Eye once again, and it is something that none of us get bored of each time we try to spot things that we hadn't before.

After getting off the London Eye, we had a couple of hours until we needed to be at the Sealife Centre.  We decided not to do Shrek as it was heaving nor the Dungeons, I am a wimp, so instead we walked down the Thames enjoying the street entertainment, had some lunch and then Titch played on the climbing area behind the London Eye.  And of course a cheeky Ice-cream to cool us down.  😉

Titch loved watch the street entertainment and then further down under the South Bank Centre the skateboarders at the skate park- free entertainment to kill some time between Merlin attractions.

London: Madame Tussauds

Having already visited MT in Blackpool, we were hoping that MT London was going to be better, and it didn't disappoint.

We had pre-booked our tickets the day before as were wanted to get there at around 10.00am for our first attraction of the day.  We arrived in Marylebone from Baker Street tube station a little early at 9.30am, but hoped we would be able to queue to go in as already the queues were building up outside.  Although the staff outside were very helpful we found that they all did not know where we needed to queue up.  Initially we were told to queue up at door 2, another gentlemen told us we needed to collect our pre booked tickets,  finally when in the queue for tickets we asked another girl who said that we didn't need to queue up instead we needed to go through fast track.  Once we got to fast track we were straight through - no queues at all.

Once inside, we realised how busy it was. You could hardly move in the first room.  There was lots of pushing for photos, for many of the Wax figures people tried to make queues but others pushed in.  There was one organised queue for pictures with Harry and Megan which was quite long.

After the initial room the queue, pushing and chaos did seem to reduce.  There was the odd family of 10 who thought they were above the rest still... patience was definitely required.

Having already seen the Wax figures at Blackpool, we did feel that the ones at London were better. They looked more realistic and the variety was good too. 

We all also enjoyed the extras in London: the Cab ride and the 4D cinema. 

The cab ride was a great way to learn more about the history of London and was a welcomed rested from the crowds, as was the 4D experience. 

At the end there is a shop where you can collect your pop badges if you are collecting them.  We did buy pin badges so not sure if you have to buy something to get them though.  

Although it was busier and crazier than the Blackpool MT, I think we all prefer the London one.  There was so much to see and do that all of us were kept entertained throughout the whole experience.  In all we spent about 2.5 hours here but I would say that you could spend more or less depending on how many figure you want to see. 

If I could given any advice, it would be: 

1) Pre book your time slot if you are a Merlin pass Holder 

2) Buy your drinks from inside (2 bottles for £3) rather than from the stall outside (£2 per bottle) 

3) Make sure you are patient 

4) Use Tube at Baker Street - right next door 

5) Do not go in the holidays if you are easily annoyed by rude people 😂 (like me) 

Thorpe Park Lates - Why it was worth it

As previously mentioned Titch, the Husband and I had previously visited Thorpe Park in May. This time, however, we visited in the late evening and stayed on for Love Island Lates.

We travelled down from Stoke -on -Trent earlier that day as we Thorpe Park was one of the many things that we had planned to do in London over our 4 night stay. Reminder to all Merlin Passholders - MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER YOUR PASSES. Yes we forgot ours and it wasn't until we had drove along the M6 toll and were on the M42 when we realised.  Luckily we had left early so we headed back along the M6 to fetch them. A lesson was definitely learnt.

We arrived at Thorpe Park around 4.30 and ,as it had been raining that morning, the park was relatively quiet, with the queues for most of the Thrill rides around 5 - 20 minutes, except for Colossus which was over an hour! 

We headed for Swarm first with it being the ride furthest away from the rest and with the queue time at 5 minutes. As we hadn't been since May,  I had completely forgotten what it was like. The ride feels much slower than other Thrill rides especially compared to The Smiler at Alton Towers, but it is so smooth and I think the slowness of the rides adds to the Thrill as each turn and loop is experienced in what feels like slow motion rather than at great speed.  Titch wanted to do Swarm again later  as we left. And I have to say riding swarm in the dark was definitely an experience - we also got to ride it 3 times in the space of 10 minutes as there was no queue.  For the final ride of the night we switched sides and went over the bridge; Titch was sat on the inside and I was sat on the outside and we were in the 2nd row - never again will I ride in that seat. Now I am normally fine on most rides , except spinning ones, but that seat with the first turn from the top made me ever so queasy and I screamed the whole way around. Titch and the Husband thought that this was hilarious.

After Swarm we made our way around to the main area of the park. This is the one thing that we really like about Thorpe park - everything is so close, so the walk between rides is shorter meaning you can, in theory, get onto more rides.  We headed to Stealth - one of our favourite rides - and queued for about 5 minutes.  As we love it  so much we decided to go back on it later at around 8.30 just before dusk and the view was spectacular - if you can keep your eyes open.  Making our way anti -clock wise around the park we noticed that the other Thrill rides such as Nemesis, Saw etc were over 30 minutes waiting time so we headed for Rush and Vortex before heading to Pizza Pasta for tea.  

Now having ate here on our last visit to Thorpe park we knew what to expect. This time as it was after 5pm, Titch was free and the Husband and I were £10 each - which we thought was a great deal.  Inside it was clear that the staff were trying their best to keep it clean and tidy; however, it did feel particularly dirty at that time of night. The pizzas were good and there was still plenty of choice with fresh ones coming out still every few minutes or so.  

Luckily after tea the queue time for Colossus had reduce from 70 minutes to 10 minutes, so we headed straight there. Now being a plus size lady, I am always nervous before getting onto rides, as I had to do the walk of shame once and it was awful.  Having read about Colossus before this was the one ride that I was most nervous about my weight. Unfortunately there were loads of teenagers messing around by the tester seat so I decided to just get in the queue and give it a go.   Unfortunately, the belt just would not click, so yes I had to do the walk of shame.  But this time, I did not cry, instead I held my head up and just shook it off.  To cheer me up we then decided to go onto Nemesis - no queueing required.  

If it hadn't have been advertised as Love Island Lates I would not have known that it opening to till 10 had anything to do with Love Island.  We did walk pass the beach area where there was music playing but there was only a few people on it.  Other than not there was no other indication that it had anything to do with Love Island. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Thorpe Park. It was quiet, we got on all the rides we wanted to multiple times and got to ride Swarm in the dark - a great evening had for our first night in London.  We only wish that Alton Towers would do more late nights in the Summer too. 

Pesto Review

As a family we often enjoy meals out, but it can often be difficult to decide where to go and we then end up going to the same places over and over. Recently we have had an influx of chained restaurants arrive in our local area offering us even more choice.  However last night,  we actually managed to have night out without Titch and this was a perfect opportunity to try somewhere different... Pesto. We have drove passed quite a few time and I have also like the look of it so thought why not give it a try.


Pesto is an Italian restaurants that serves small plates of Italian dishes - a little bit like Tapas.  There are a few Pesto's around the country but we tried one close to us in Marton, Macclesfield.


On arrival we were greeted by the hostess.  The restaurant was not too busy so we had the choice of tables.  After being seated the waitress was efficient in taking drinks orders and then gave us time to look through the menu.  The menu consists of some recognisable dishes and some that we had never heard of before.  We chose 4 small main dishes: Italian Sausage, Chicken Thighs, Rustic Pizza and a chicken Pasta and 3 sides: Caesar side, Roasted Potatoes and Garlic Bread.

As the restaurant was not busy the food took about 15 minutes to reach us. The husband and I shared al the dishes between us and we were both impressed with flavour.  Everything was cooked perfectly and, although it took us about 30 minutes to eat, it did not go cold.  The only dish that we were disappointed in was the potatoes as they were not what we had expected.  These felt and tasted like they were from a bag of frozen potato cubes that you get at the local super market.

After we had finished, the plates were quickly cleared away and we were asked if we would like desserts. We ordered two coffees, an ice cream and a lesson mouse tart.

Both were absolutely delicious. The ice cream was creamy and the lemon tart was tangy and smooth.

Overall including, a bottle of water, a Becks Blue and a soft drink the bill came to £49 which we thought was pretty reasonable and about average for a meal for two.

Would we go again... Yes and we would definitely take Titch too as he also loves Italian food.

A rainy day - Lego Discovery Manchester

As I mentioned in my previous post, A rainy day- Sealife Manchester, we had heard some pretty bad reviews about the Manchester Lego Discovery Centre.  However, before going I had done my research into what to expect and, as Lego fans, we decided that no matter what we would probably have a great time.

The Lego Discovery Centre is just a few steps away from the Sea Life centre, so we decided to go straight away.  When we got there at around 1.30 pm there was no queue.

We scanned in and asked if we would like an activity pack costing £4. For this you got a Lego Lanyard, 2 pop badges and an activity book.  Titch was less interested in the book, which actually we thought was pretty good, and just wanted it for the lanyard and the pops.

As with the Sea life, at the start of the Lego tour, there is a photo opportunity. Once again we declined and the staff we extremely pleasant and we passed through.  Often people feel compelled to have their photo taken, but if you do not ant yours and you are not intending on buying them the best policy is to be polite and decline.
Once through we you then go onto a short 5 minute factory tour. One thing to remember here is that it is aimed at kids, so yes it is a bit cheesy, but the kids do a get a lego piece at the end.

Once your factory tour is over you are inside the main centre where you will find Miniland. Now although Miniland is not that big we were impressed by the sculptures that we had not seen before such as Blackpool Tower and, of course, for us thrill seekers a boring Oblivion.  Titch even did the voice over.

We then enter into the Lego centre were there was lots to do including, building with Lego, of course, a 4D cinema, stop motion movies, climbing wall, soft play, rides, a cafe and a workshop.

As we were aiming to leave around 4 pm to go and eat we decided not to do everything today.  Titch , and the Husband,  choose to make a movie, watch the 4D show, build with Lego and complete the climbing wall.

We all had 2 hours of fun, making models, testing our cars on the ramps, creating a space movie.
Titch even got to meet a character just before we left.
There was so much that we could have done that we could have stayed at least another 2 hours, but then again WE LOVE LEGO.


If you and your children love Lego as much a we do then it is definitely worth it, if your child is not particularly interested in making models then it probably is not the place for you.

We will definitely be going again on another rainy day - which I am sure we will get plenty of.

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A rainy day - Sea Life Centre Manchester

With the weather predictions of rain for most of the country today, we decided that we would get out our Merlin Passes and head for something indoors. We had already been to the Sealife Centre in Blackpool and really enjoyed it so we thought we would try the Sealife in Manchester, and because we all love Lego in our house we would partner it up with a visit to the Lego Discovery Centre next door.

Before going the Husband and I had read and heard some not great reviews about both places, but we are pretty open minded and normally end up liking places others don't so thought we may as well give them a try.  Maybe if we had to pay out right to go to them we would have been put off by these reviews and not gone.  However, we are glad that we did.

We arrived at the Sealife Centre around 12 pm and queued up in the queue for annual pass holders and pre booked tickets.  The queue was not too long and we were in about 5 minutes later.  A queue then formed for photographs that most Merlin attractions do at the beginning and during the tour.  As we did not want a photograph taken, we politely said no and the staff had no problems with this.
After a wait of around 4 minutes we were ushered into a room called Turtle Bay where there was a short talk on Sea turtles.

After the talk we then entered into the main viewing areas. The initial part was crowed and queues to look into tanks formed, but as we began to walk further around these queues dispersed, and, although it was quite busy, it did not feel overcrowded or cramped.
There was an array of tanks offering information on different  under water creatures, and at times there were dive stations where children could answer questions and collect stamps - which at the end would result in a prize of a pop badge.

After viewing some of the large tanks and spending a considerable amount of time watching the Stingrays, we came across a small lego area where you could make a model sea creature or , like we did, create a small tile to complete a mosaic that Sealife Manchester are currently making.  There re also some large lego pieces in different tanks as currently there is a competition to find them all and at the end you receive a Lego Minifigure Diver - the Husband was very keen to do this and claimed the Minifigure for himself.

Unlike Blackpool Sealife centre, Manchester also provide a small indoor play area.  Titch enjoyed a 10 minute play in here to burn of a bit of energy.
There were also interactive games showing the skeleton of different sea life creatures that we had not experienced before.



Titch also enjoyed touching a star fish and fire shrimps. However, he was disappointed that there was no pop badge for this like there was in Blackpool.

In total we spent around 1.5 hours inside the Sea life Centre. Because we are Merlin Pass holders I can not say whether I felt like it was value for money. However, what I would say is that it is worth booking in advance online and if you are also interested in going to Lego Discovery too then I would purchase the Combi ticket.

If you and your children enjoy looking at Sea life and spend time reading the information, talking to staff, taking part in the challenges and listening to the talks you could easily spent a couple of hours here, and it is definitely worth the visit.

Sudbury Hall and Museum of Childhood

Sudbury is the home to a historic country home and museum of childhood set in beautiful surroundings.  Sudbury was the first place that we visited a year ago when we first become members of the National Trust and being only 30 minutes away is an ideal location for a quick visit.  This time we were meeting friends there who also have two young children.

The car park to the grounds and hall is just across the road and it free to National Trust members.  When entering the grounds there is a small Chapel in front and then to the right you can see the House. Behind the house is the court yard where you will find the restaurant, shop, Childhood museum, reception (for booking the house tours) and the toilets.

Beyond that behind arched shrubs you will find the gardens and a small wooden park - this was where we headed first, and as per usual our child found a tree to climb.

The park is wooden and has climbing equipment, a trim trail,  rope swings, wooden houses and dens and a climbing frame.  The kids spent a good half an hour playing here before we all felt hungry and decided to have a picnic on the grounds just below the house.

After lunch we decided to take the children out of the sun and went to explore the childhood museum.  Inside they is plenty to see and do.  The children enjoyed playing with the old toys, looking at old dolls, and they even were able to climb through a replica chimney to show how small you had to be to do the job.

We then continued our tour around to the house where the children were given a hunt to complete. they were given a small booklet with photographs that they had to spot around the house. This is one of the many things that I love about the National Trust, there is always something on for the children to take part in.

The house inside was beautiful with ornate ceilings and furniture.  I wouldn't say it was the most exquisite house we have seen but it was beautiful in it's own right.

We all would recommend Sudbury if you are a National trust member with children as there is so much to do and see.

Tatton Park - NT

Living in the Midlands we are extremely lucky with our location as most attractions are not too far from us.  This is the same for National Trust places.  Using the app we often look for new places near to us, and about 50 minutes away is Tatton Park.  Tatton park is deer park just on the outskirts of Manchester.

The drive into Tatton park is just what we expect from a National Trust place, open fields, large lakes, garden buildings and deer.  Although Tatton Park is owned by the National Trust it is managed by Cheshire Council and , therefore, there are additional charges for National Trust members for the farm and for parking.

We chose Tatton Park as there are plenty of things to do onsite including the gardens, a maze, the mansion, a park, grounds to walk around and farm.

Firstly, we visited the gardens and the maze, spending around an hour. The gardens like most National Trusts are beautifully maintained.  There are secret gardens behind walls, lakes and ponds to walk around, a Japanese styled garden area and a maze to explore.  Although the weather was warm but cloudy, the gardens were not busy and they were extremely peaceful considering it was in the school holidays.


After a walk around the gardens we decided to head over to the cafe for some lunch. As it was a last minute plan we hadn't packed a picnic so for a change we were going to eat on site.  The cafe was busy but we did not have to queue for long.  It offered a selection of sandwiches and hot food including jacket potatoes.  Most sandwiches were around £4 and the hot meals around the £8 mark which we though was a bit steep, but having no choice we order a Jacket Potato and Tuna, two portions of chicken strips with chips and beans and 3 soft drinks = £29. As we normally take our own lunch we didn't realise that these place charge so much for food.  However, we did think that the jacket potato and tuna was reasonable at £5 seen as it was quite large.

After Lunch the mansion was open so we decided to have a wander through the house. As always the staff are informative and keen to tell you all about the different rooms and artefacts inside them.  The husband was impressed by the house as he thought that it felt homely and I have to agree.  The rooms felt lived in and not like they were for show.

After all the 'adult' stuff Titch was keen to play on the park so that was where we headed.  The park was large and although it was busy, Titch managed to get on all the equipment he wanted.

If you are looking for a day out for all the family I would definitely recommend Tatton Park, I would just take your own food rather than buying from the Cafe.


Information:

Address
Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 6QN

Prices for gardens and house:
National Trust Members:  Free
Non Members: http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/visit/attraction-and-park-entry-prices.aspx