bournemouth

Mister Maker

Mister Maker and the Shapes Review

We are big fans of the cast of CBeebies as the kids have all grown up watching them.

We have seen many of them perform live, including, Alex, Andy, Katie, Mr Bloom, the Rhyme Rockets and Sid but one that had eluded us until this year was Mister Maker and we caught our first glimpse of him in the pouring rain at Camp Bestival.

Mister Maker

His show was full of fun and his infamous sidekicks, the Shapes, were there too.

Camp Bestival only shows the highlights of his Mister Maker & The Shapes Live tour, so when I found out it was touring and heading to Bournemouth Pavilion I knew the kids would love it.

In a bizarre twist of fate, it coincided with Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival so we headed into town a little early to see some of the fun in Bournemouth Gardens.

Bournemouth Arts By The Sea

There were lots of weird and wonderful things to see and do, including getting to do their own artwork……

Bournemouth Arts By The Sea

Making their own music…..

Bournemouth Arts By The Sea

….and seeing the bizarre and wonderful artwork that was on display, with much of it highlighting the issue of sea pollution.

Bournemouth Arts By The Sea

It was soon time to head back into the Pavilion, where the kids were handed a piece of coloured paper and waited for the show to start.

Mister Maker

The fabulous supporting cast opened the show with singing and dancing which had the kids joining in from the off.

I had worried about how he was going to keep the kids interested in a theatre show but it is one of the most interactive theatre shows we have seen and every single part got the audience involved with singing along to songs we all know and love, with a Mister Maker twist, clapping and even rolling paper sheets into balls to help create the shapes on stage. 

Mister Maker Live

The kids adored the show and were all inspired by the items that were created. These can be viewed online when you get home, with downloadable instruction sheets to help recreate everything made in the show.

The second half of the show welcomed The Shapes onto the stage, with Circle, Square, Rectangle and Triangle too joining in the fun.

Mister Maker Live

Unlike many other shows you are positively encourage to take photo’s and videos of the onstage antics and the kids joining in. I am only disappointed that I only took my iPhone, but I did manage to catch the kids dancing in the aisles.

Mister Maker

You still have time to catch Mister Maker and the Shapes, as they are touring the UK until 12th November.

Mister Maker
Image Credit: Entertaining Elliot

It was such a hit the kids were singing and dancing all the way home!!

 

Bournemouth Wheel

A Panoramic View over Bournemouth

2016 was the year I promised myself we would go on the Bournemouth balloon, however, it wasn’t meant to be as it disappeared back in June, never to return.

Thankfully, over the Christmas period, we got to take in panoramic views of Bournemouth from a big wheel standing more than 100 feet tall at Pier Approach.

Isaac and I first rode the wheel after his 100 years of Cubs parade which saw us marching through Bournemouth Gardens covered in glowsticks, before making the cub symbol out of glowsticks in the sand.

100 Years of Cubs

Once we had finished we headed back to the Pier to ride the wheel, which was really quiet. I had expected fantastic views over Bournemouth, however, our town is not as well-lit as I thought and we were left a little disappointed that we couldn’t see much and resolved to come back and ride it in the daytime.

Bournemouth Wheel

Yesterday was a beautiful clear day and after being cooped up a home over the festive period I managed to get the kids out of the house for some fresh air, with a walk along the beach, which was surprisingly warm for the time of year.

Bournemouth Beach

The wheel was much busier than our last visit, however we only waited around 10 minutes to board it as they had efficiently set up two queues which were moving quickly. Sebby was nervous at first and Isaac held his hand until he was more confident.

Bournemouth Wheel

You get three full rotations of the wheel and this time we had longer onboard as all the gondolas were full, therefore we got to enjoy the views over Bournemouth Gardens and Pier as they were unloaded and re-loaded.

Bournemouth Big Wheel

My only frustration is that the Gondolas are surrounded by perspex for safety and being by the sea they are covered in salt so taking photo’s is tricky, but I managed to get a couple through the gaps.

Sebby didn’t want to get off, but I managed to persuade him with a promise of going to see the birds in the Aviary in the Gardens.

Bournemouth Gardens

Isaac and Eliza wanted to do the ice rink, but as I was on my own with them I decided we will wait for a time when I have another pair of hands, so we headed back to the pier where there was a spiral Christmas tree-lined walkway leading to a letter box to the North Pole to explore.

Bournemouth

It was a lovely day out with the kids and although the big wheel doesn’t raise you to the dizzy heights of the balloon, at least I can say that I have seen Bournemouth from above now.

The Bournemouth Wheel costs £5 per adult, £4 per child and £16 for a family and is open from 10am-10pm until 7th January 2017. Don’t forget to take ID with you as BH residents get 50p off too.

Country Kids

#PizzaExpressFamily

Pizza Express Bournemouth #PizzaExpressFamily

I always used to enjoy a visit to Pizza Express until last year when a birthday visit, which also happened to be Fathers Day, went badly wrong at their Tower Park branch. I was so disappointed with the state of the restaurant, food and service that we haven’t been back since – until now.

On Thursday we headed to the Bournemouth Pizza Express restaurant which is set in the beautiful old Post Office building in central Bournemouth and our experience couldn’t have been more different from our last visit.

The restaurant was well set out, clean and tidy but best of all it was warm and friendly. Our waitress, Delia, was the perfect hostess, introducing us to new food to try, recommending some dishes over others and being genuinely lovely. She even complimented Isaac, Eliza and Sebastian on their behaviour which seemed to make them want to behave even better.

We ordered our drinks and the kids got going on decorating their hats with crayola colouring pens and stickers that were supplied.

PizzaExpressFamily

When we ordered our food, unusually for us, we decided to have a starter. I love their dough balls and we got a sharing plate with bolognese, pesto and garlic butter dips for the adults although I have to say I preferred the kids balsamic vinegar dip though.

PizzaExpressFamily

I have heard great things about the cocktails at Pizza Express but sadly hubby met us there straight from work which meant we were both driving, so I consoled myself with a refreshing glass of Cloudy Sicilian Lemonade.

I was really impressed with how quickly our food came out. Upon Delia’s recommendation Hubby went for the Calabrese with fiery, soft ‘nduja sausage and spicy Calabrese sausage D.O.P with fresh chilli, Roquito pepper, roasted red & yellow peppers, mozzarella and tomato, finished with light mozzarella, rocket, pesto and Gran Milano cheese. I went for the Pollo salad with chicken, goat’s cheese, red pepper, fresh tomato, black olives and croutons with seasonal mixed leaves and house dressing and Kian stick to his normal choice of Sloppy Guiseppe with hot spiced beef, green pepper, red onion, mozzarella and tomato. Sebby and Eliza both had pasta and Isaac had a pepperoni pizza.

PizzaExpressFamily

Plates cleared it was time for dessert and I did wonder if I could squeeze anymore in, but I managed a light raspberry sorbet which was delicious. Hubby chose, another recommendation from Delia, the Honeycomb Cream Slice, Kian had the Chocolate Glory that we joked was almost as big as him and the kids chose Sundae’s.

PizzaExpressFamily

We really couldn’t fault this visit to Pizza Express in Bournemouth and my faith is restored in Pizza Express so we will definitely be back soon.

Pizza Express Bournemouth #PizzaExpressFamily

How would you like to win some very yummy Pizza Express prizes so that you can enjoy some family meal time yourself?

I will be co-hosting a Twitter party on the 31st March from 2.00-3.30pm and all you need to do is join in the conversation, tell us what you love about Pizza Express, your best tips for dining out with the family and use the hashtag to show you’re on board – #PizzaExpressFamily

Follow the hashtag from now because we will also be bringing you a very exciting competition in a few days, lots of lovely reviews, more information about the Twitter party and a very real party that we’ll be covering direct from Pizza Express in Westfield’s Stratford City. For now though, consider yourself well and truly invited!

Go on, join the #PizzaExpressFamily! You know you want to like a doughball wants garlic butter!

Disclaimer: We were guests of Pizza Express as part of the #PizzaExpressFamily campaign. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

PizzaExpressFamily

I have a very exciting giveaway below to win a meal with Pizza Express:

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