Peppa Pig World

Christmas Fun at Peppa Pig World

Visiting Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park at Christmas time has become a Christmas tradition for us with a visit in 2013 and 2014 and this year it is the youngest member of the family who adores everything Peppa – well George to be precise.

We have visited Peppa Pig World with Sebastian a few times but this weekend was the time when he really appreciated what was going on. As soon as he spotted the sign he shouted Peppa, running and pointing as he went. Peppa Pig World this time of year is nice and quiet and we didn’t queue for more than ten minutes at any point in the day, often walking straight onto the rides.

Peppa Pig World

Sebastian doesn’t talk much although he is saying more and more by the week, so even I was surprised when he spotted each character dotted around the park and called them by their name – the little monkey can obviously say much more than I thought but chooses not to!

Our first ride of the day was Miss Rabbits helicopter which took us for a spin high in the sky above everyone’s heads, followed by the big balloon ride where the kids insisted on spinning us as fast as they could.

Peppa Pig World

Sebastian was so excited he couldn’t decide which ride he wanted to do next, so we chose them by which queue was the shortest to make the most of our day and it was Grandpa Pigs Boats and his mini-a-ture locomotive next.

Peppa Pig World

What I love about Peppa Pig World at Christmas is that even though the weather was grey and miserable the whole park is lit up with magical fairy lights and lots of beautifully decorated Christmas trees around every corner.

Peppa Pig World

As we got on Daddy Pig’s Car Ride the heavens decided to open so we retreated to George’s Spaceship Play Zone where the kids got to race around in the dry before having some lunch. Thankfully the rain didn’t last long and I spotted that Peppa and George had come outside to meet their adoring fans, so we raced over to meet them, although Sebby wasn’t sure at first as they are huge!

Peppa Pig World

Our visit to Peppa Pig World was provided by Pampers to take part in their 12 hour challenge for the ultimate test for the unbeaten dryness and convenience of Pampers Baby Dry Pants as parents have said that trips to adventure parks with young children can be a challenge. Peppa Pig World know this and their facilities for small people are second to none – they have toddler toilet seats on every toilet for those that are toilet trained and large changing facilities for children who still wear nappies. Pampers Baby Dry pants have clever Micro Pearls that absorb liquids up to 30 times their weight and lock wetness away deep at the core, giving your baby up to 12 hours of dryness, even during sleep. The tear-away sides make changing so easy; just pull on, then tear off and dispose when it’s time for a change. They also have a sticky tab at the back to roll them up after use to keep their contents in the nappy when disposing. I prefer using pants on Sebby as being a curious toddler he hates having his nappy changed and less time spent on tricky changes means more time for playing, plus they keep him as dry and comfy as a traditional nappy.

Peppa Pig World

We spent the next hour racing around the park before finishing off with the rides we had missed. Sadly Sebby and Eliza were both too small to go on George’s Dinosaur ride so we watched as Isaac bounced around the track and then they span me even faster than before on Windy Castle and had final ride on Grandpa Pig’s train.

Peppa Pig World

The spinning theme continued aboard the Victorian Carousel and we visited the new Critter Creek which opened earlier this year and is a fully themed world of strange mixed-up creatures known as the ‘Curious Critters’!

Paultons Park

Of course being almost Christmas there is also another guest that we had to visit in their Winter Wonderland – Father Christmas! Inside the Christmas Wonderland you step into a festive dreamworld with adorable animated characters greet you at your every turn as you make your way through the enchanted winter snow scene. You cannot miss Rudolph and Donner the singing reindeer from the north pole before seeing the elves working hard in the Toy Factory to finish all the gifts and presents in time for Christmas Eve.

Winter Wonderland

Thank you Pampers and Paultons Park, we had a fabulous time and Sebastian remained dry and comfortable throughout the day, giving him the change to play as much as he wanted.

Winter Wonderland

Paultons Park have the most magical Christmas Tree – why not check out my video to see why:

Cadbury World

A Christmas Party at Cadbury World

Last year we went on holiday to Newcastle Under Lyme and spent a week exploring various locations up North. One of the destinations I wanted to go to was Cadbury World but sadly we ran out of time so when Carnival Cruises announced that we would be having a Christmas party and that it was at Cadbury World we were very excited!

The drive up to Birmingham took around three hours and was uneventful. We were hopeful for a glorious sunny day but as we approached the site at Bourneville it decided to cloud over, but a bit of rain has never spoiled our fun.

We met up with the Carnival Cruise team and my fellow bloggers right beside a giant chocolate Christmas Tree which looked good enough to eat. The kids were transfixed on a giant cracker above their heads that was pouring out sweets but sadly none reached the floor.

Cadbury World

Once everyone had arrived it was time to start the days events. Our first port of call was the 4D cinema where we got to dive into a bowl of liquid Cadbury Dairy Milk, ride the Crunchie Rollercoaster and take to the skies in a Cadbury Creme Egg airship piloted by the Caramel Bunny. It was good fun although Eliza didn’t like it but I am hoping she will overcome her fear next summer onboard Carnival’s Vista as we will also be able to experience a 4D cinematic adventure at their Thrill Theatre.

Our next stop was more up her street with a visit to the Santa Experience. Santa had his very own show and crashed onto stage from the Chimney. The kids really enjoyed his magic tricks and a fun sing-song before getting a gift from the cheeky elves after the show.

Cadbury World

After the show finished we had some time to kill so had a look in the Bourneville experience which showed us how the original workers lived, worked and played before sampling a delicious Cadbury’s Hot Chocolate.

In a large Marquee it was then time to watch Sleeping Beauty in pantoland as Princess Aurora celebrates her birthday. There was be lots of fun and silliness from the Palace handyman Silly Billy, lots of “boo’s” for the Wicked Queen who tried to ruin the party, but with the help of the magical Chuckle Bean Fairy, a rather good looking Prince and a wonderful audience, Princess Aurora achieved her ‘happily ever after’? I am hoping for some fun shows with Carnival too as they have their very own theatre production company Playlist Productions.

After a break for lunch it was time to take the tour, where we were given enough chocolate to sink a battleship on entry (this may be a slight exaggeration). The smell as we entered was out of this world and we learned how they make their famous chocolate in a special-effects cinema presentation.

cadbury world

After the story you get to take a tour of the factory where photographs are not allowed. It was fascinating watching the machines as they packaged chocolate and sent it around the factory on huge conveyor belts. There were things to do for the kids which broke up the tour like some chocolate tasting and the Cadabra ride where you step into Beanmobiles and enjoy a gentle ride through a chocolate wonderland full of familiar characters as you discover the magic of Cadbury.

Cadbury World

The final part of the journey is the Purple Planet which is a fun interactive experience in a world of digital chocolate delights! Eliza, Isaac and Sebby really bonded with Isla and Noah from Mummy Constant and were busy throwing some shapes in front of a giant screen and then mirrors.

Cadbury World

You exit Cadbury World through their huge shop which is packed full of all their favourites at discount prices so we stocked up on some Christmas stocking fillers. The kids were excited at all the sweet stuff on sale, so I I know they will love ‘Cherry On Top‘ which is a ‘sweets and more’ candy store on Vista.

I had wondered why the Carnival team had taken us to Cadbury World for our Christmas party, but with all the things to do I now understand why and it was lovely to bond with the other members of the #CarnivalFamily team.

blogfest 2015

My thoughts on Blogfest 2015

This weekend I attended Blogfest in London for the very first time with no idea about what the day would bring.

I have watched the event unfold on social media in previous years and it always seems to be a blog conference that the more established bloggers enjoyed, so I was hopeful that I would take useful information away from it.

The first talk of the day was “A Room of One’s Own: Motherhood and Creativity” with Bryony Gordon, Margaret Atwood (via live link), Meera Syal CBE, Bridget Christie, Polly Vernon and Catherine Mann. Unfortunately the live link wasn’t very good and we had no idea what Margaret was saying, but the other ladies pitched in admirably discussing the amusing parts of motherhood alongside how they juggle parenting with their creativity and work.

I have to admit that I really admire Meera Syal and she hit the nail on the head when she said ‘the loss of a sense of self scares many women – but when a child is born, both a mother and child are born’ but she upset me pretty much straight away by slating childcare providers for charging too much.

Blogfest 2015

She went on to say that ‘if you can afford decent childcare your options are different’ and that ‘there is no affordable childcare in this country’. Whilst I agree that childcare is a significant cost and the reason I left my job in an investment bank was because I could not afford two children in childcare, it was also my choice to have children and to concentrate on raising them for their first few informative years.

What the panel neglected to say was that many of these childcarer’s are mothers themselves trying to make ends meet, this is their job and therefore their wages and these women are looking after their most precious commodity and all on the lowest wages. Looking after other people’s children is certainly not easy and the paperwork involved rivals that I had when I worked in the bank.

The system isn’t perfect but most employers offer tax relief with childcare vouchers, there is 15 free hours of childcare offered to 2 year olds where the parents are on the lowest wages and 15 free hours (soon to be 30) offered to all 3 & 4 year olds, plus if you are on child tax credit they pay up to 70% of your childcare costs. But this is for another post, let me get back to Blogfest.

I came away a little riled but a cup of tea, some cake and a chat with some blogging friends soon cheered me back up and I headed off to the Advanced YouTube roundtable with the Crumbs Sisters and Kate Rushworth. Firstly, it wasn’t really a roundtable, think more a load of vloggers lounging around on bean bags and it was more about the how well the Crumbs Sisters have done with hints and tips along the way and a chance to ask questions at the end.

The only thing I really took away from the session is that I need to find my own style and think about when I am uploading my videos. I tend to use YouTube as an extension of my blog, but in reality it should be a stand alone channel and I should promote the content separately rather than just embedded videos in my blog.

My favourite session of the day was ‘Think Bombs’ with Sandy Toksvig OBE, David Baddiel and Val McDermid. Sandy spoke about the state of the rights of women in the UK and the fact that there were more men called John running FTSE100 companies than there were women. She has launched a new Women’s Equality Party and it is certainly something I am going to look in to.

Blogfest 2015

Val spoke about creativity and how she was miserable if she didn’t get the chance to be creative and David Baddiel had the audience in stitches with his self-depreciating humour and slides of tweets where he made some very witty come-backs against trolls. He hit the nail on the head when he described social media as ‘Everyone in the world raising their flag of self’.

Blogfest 2015

Lunch was delicious and there was another chance to chat with bloggers and some of the brands in attendance, who included Cocoa Cola, Unilever, Arla, Village England, Pitrock and Butlins.

The session where I learned the most was the ‘How to be a YouTube Sensation” with Kate Rushworth who works for YouTube itself. I have come away with a page full of things I need to do to my channel to help make it work better for me.

I missed the other sessions as I chose to network with fellow bloggers instead; well when I say network, I really mean gossip. For me that is what a blogging conference is about, meeting up with friends and putting the world to rights.

I wouldn’t say I enjoyed Blogfest 2015, for me there was something missing, which I can’t put my finger on, and I didn’t come away feeling inspired, however, I did take away some really useful tips and the goody bags were brilliant!!

Did you go to Blogfest 2015 – how did you find it?

Camp Bestival

Our Favourite Things to see at Camp Bestival 2015

I have written about the kids favourite things to see and do at Camp Bestival, but going to a family festival doesn’t mean there isn’t things for the adults to enjoy too.

Part of the fun of a family festival is watching the kids have fun, but there are plenty of chances to let your hair down too. Not only is their fabulous food and drink on offer – I had the most delicious Pimms I had ever tasted thanks to the Beales Tent, but there are the acts to see, a chance to relax in a hot tub after a relaxing massage or learn a new skill.

As we have young children in tow, we didn’t get to take part in the relaxing bit, but we did get to see some fabulous acts including my favourite band Kaiser Chiefs. The teen enjoyed Professor Green, Clean Bandit and Wretch 32 whilst hubby and I relived our youth with Soul II Soul, Level 42 and Alison Moyet.

Camp Bestival

The only band we didn’t enjoy was Underworld as I didn’t feel their style of music suited Camp Bestival and we were trying to enjoy the fairies in Lizzie’s Way and the music spoiled it for us, but there were plenty of places to escape to and one of our favourites was the Travelling Bar who played a good mix of music.

Camp Bestival

Of course there is also the carnival atmosphere to enjoy too and you just get swept up on the welcoming vibe. The inflatable church was great fun and we got to take part in a “wedding” which was just brilliant – they even had clothes for the wedding party to get dressed up in. We also get the chance to meet up with fellow bloggers in the Bollywood Bar.

The entertainment goes on until the early hours of the morning and the kids would fall asleep in the trolley if we were out late, although we tended to get back to the tent around 11pm as it is a long old day.

The star attraction in the culinary fun is The Feast Collective, a food lover’s haven packed with the very best street food from around the country! Many are open ‘til late and/or open early so will be ready to serve the night owls returning from the silent disco or early risers with kids tugging at their legs for breakfast.

The highlight of Camp Bestival for us is always the fireworks display on the last night. Simply spectacular!!

WWE Birmingham Review

As Isaac gets older I have noticed that he is becoming more decisive about what he likes and doesn’t like and over the last two weeks he has been very lucky to go to two events which he follows with a passion – Doctor Who Festival and WWE Live.

We were super lucky to be invited to WWE when it visited Birmingham and it was bigger and better than when we saw it come to Bournemouth earlier this year.

Held in the Genting Arena it was a half hour hike from the car park to the venue, but surrounded by excited WWE fans it didn’t feel that long. Inside there were merchandise stands selling tour t-shirts, masks, championships belts and other memorabilia. Isaac had brought his Lucha Dragon mask to wear but Daddy bought him a Finn Bala Mask and a children’s t-shirt too. We were a bit disappointed by the children’s range as they only had one style of t-shirt and it was still ten times too big for Isaac – he will grow into it one day!

WWE Birmingham

The venue soon filled up, the lights dimmed and the music started pumping at full volume…………it was time to begin. The announcer introduced the first wrestler to the stage, WWE legend Ric Flair, who proceeded to whip the crowd into a frenzy before the first fight began with New Day and the Dudley Boys taking to the stage.

WWE BIRMINGHAM

As with all WWE flights it was mixed with acrobatics, humour and playing up to the audience. There were lots of shouts of “We want tables” and they didn’t disappoint.

Next on stage was the self-styled hearthrob The Miz who was met with boos and jeers from the crowd, followed by Cesaro who was met with cheers. It was a fun fight to watch as no winner was clear until Cesaro finally got the upper hand and finished with his famous Cesaro spin move where he managed to spin The Miz over 30 times!!

WWE Birmingham

The Irish contingent were next with Finn Balour vs Shaemus. It was a feisty fight although Shaemus did stop at one point to wind up the crowd who had been shouting “You look stupid” in reference to his quirky hairstyle.

WWE Birmingham

Next up was probably my favourite match of the evening for its pure comedy. Bo Dallas came into the ring all cocky and was beaten in seconds by Curtis Axel. A little shocked that he had been beaten so quickly he requested another opponent and R-Truth arrived. Bo Dallas then proceeded to do the cheesiest dance off I have ever seen to “I’m too sexy” and was completely out-danced by R-Truth who was dancing to “Billie Jean” with the fans were cheering for him. Dallas then attacked Truth. Truth was down momentarily, but rushed back to his feet delivering the “Lie Detector” to Dallas, picking up a victory. Poor Bo was beaten twice that evening and walked off humiliated.

WWE Birmingham

The final bout of the first half was Kane vs Big Show and I have to admit that it did go on a little too long. It did feel like they were stringing it out, but the boys seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

WWE Birmingham

After a much-needed break it was straight back into the action and my elder travelling companions, Hubby, Kian and my BIL Mark were very excited by the fact it was the Diva’s up next. British girl Paige was to referee and it was the Brie Bella and Alesha Fox vs Charlotte and Becky Lynch. It all got very feisty very quickly and even Paige joined in with the fighting at one point, triggering a male ref to come legging it onto stage.

WWE Birmingham

It was now the turn of Tyler Breeze who was accompanied on stage by Summer Rae. He was to fight Dolph Ziggler and Summer tried to get in on the action by wacking Ziggler around the head with her stiletto. She was sent packing and Ziggler finally won the match after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing.

WWE Birmingham

The final match of the evening saw Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens by disqualification in a match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, although half the WWE Wrestlers we had seen throughout the evening ended up in the ring for one final brawl, much to the delight of the crowd.

WWE Birmingham

For the final results of the evening see the WWE Live Events page here.