Teletubbies Live at the Marlowe Canterbury.

Seriously who doesn't love the Teletubbies? Just look at them they are sooo cute. My kids love them there favourite being the baby in the sky for some reason. So with that, we are off to watch the Teletubbies live show at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. The children have been to the Marlowe before to watch the Christmas panto so I am sure they will have a great time watching the Teletubbies live (now we just need to get my husband round to the idea of it too)

 We look forward to joining in with our friends Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po in a show that explores all of the Tellytubby land. We will get to look out for the things we know and love in the show such as noo-noo. Hopefully will give us a bit of peace during the summer holidays. The show is jam packed with songs from the show and new songs too. 

The Tour has been going around the UK for the last year or so and have finally made it to a theatre near us. Teletubbies is based for any age from babies to Pre-schoolers. It is a great show to take your little ones to as everyone is in the same boat with fidgety children. I am looking forward to not telling them to sit still and be quiet. I can imagine everyone is in the same boat just looking for something to do that the kids will love. I am sure my two will love i when there are songs and dancing.

If your little ones like the Teletubbies then it is one to try or even as a chance to take them to the theatre for the first time. It's short and just the right amount of fun for a great trip out.

It runs from the Marlowe on the 25th and 26th of August at multiple shows across the two days. Prices range from £15 per ticket and look said to be a great end of the summer treat for all the family. Find out more about whats going on at the Marlowe and even books tickets here.

Vampirina Boostatic Backpack and Scooter Review

My children have been kept busy this summer with a wild range of toys. Not only has it been Amis birthday but she also has been sent lots of wonderful toys. One of Ami's favourites has been some toys from the Vapirina set. If you are not aware of Vampirina its a animated series on Disney Jounier. Its based on a vamire eho is also a ballarena. Its based on Vapirina who along with her family run a B&B guest house for ghouls and other monsters. 

With that we were sent the Vapirina Bootastic Backpack aling with Poppy (one of yhe other characters in the show) sooter. Both Ami was ever so excited with she loves anything to do with bags so the idea of a toy she can play with and espeically show her love for school with she was going to love.

The Boo-tastic Backpack includes the backpack that is similar to the one in the show. Vampina is very funky and wears spider web glasses that are contained in the bag set. In the set there is also a necklace with sounds and lights, bat shapped har clips, key ring that attaches to the bag and some stickers. The great thing is that they can all be stored in the bag too. 

The backpack is made of plastic and the straps are adjustable. It opens at the back and can store quite a few little bits. I dont know if you have children like mine that take the most random of toys around. Ami loved the bat hair clips along with Son son who didnt want to miss out. Ami loves dressing up so the glasses were a great addition to aid role play. They loved the skull necklace that played sounds when pressed. 

We were also sent the figurine set, there is two in the collection Vamprina and a Poppy set. Both sets come included with a litte furry animal. We were sent the Poppy and Wolfie set. The sets contain a scooter, a figure, pet and skateboard (for the pet). They both attach together so in our toy Poppy could scoot along with her dog Wolfie. The figures can easily slot into the scooters as have a static base. Poppys ars are movable along with her heads. Its easy to put her on the scooter along with wolfie. 

Both the toys are great for any Vapirina fan. They toys are bright and eye catching. The back pack espevislly for any child who really wants to be like the TV show. The bag retails at £24.99 which is reasonable for the aount of stuff in it. The figure and scooter Retails at £14.99 and both toys are availble at most toy shops.

Smooshins Surprise Maker Kit Review

My kids love any kind of squishy toy at the moment. It seems to be the latest craze with my daughter she is obsessed. She has a few random ones like a carrot and unicorn rainbow one, so when we were asked to try out the Smooshins Surprise maker kit I knew it would be right up her street. You may be wondering what we are going on about but the Smooshins helps you to make your own squishy figures again and again. 

Our Top tip before starting is to read the instructions. I thought I had read them but then found even more instructions in the box and found out we had done it wrong in the first place. The first Stage is to pop the colour pouches which you should set a timer as you only get 90 seconds to mix the mixture 

The colour pouch then gets placed in the surprise maker and you squeeze all the contents into the mould. It then locks and won't open for 4 hours. We did ours in the evening and left it overnight for better results. once the mould is ready you can choose the pieces to go with it in the surprise bags. Also provided is a stand.

We didn't realise that you could only make one at a time so stupidly mixed two packs and one was wasted. My kids did enjoy the Smooshins Maker as they love surprises. They like the surprise of not knowing what mould was in the kids and the pieces provided. The great thing is that the moulds are encased in an egg so you don't know which one is inside. Also, you can create up to 10000 different characters with 6 different colours and all the accessories. 

The Smooshin Surprise maker kit contains 2 surprise moulds, 4 colour pouches and 4 sets of body pieces. The set comes with 4 colour moulds but they can be purchased separately to make more. 

All in all, make sure you read the instructions carefully before starting. Ami did need some help pushing the mixture in the maker set as it was quite tough to start off with. The first time we did it we let it go longer than 30 seconds and it was very hard to push through. Our end results were not perfect, to be honest, but Ami loved them. She has taken them to show her friends her all want to make them themselves. 

National Doll Day with Baby Annabell

Did you know it was National Doll day on the 5th? 

Well, we did of course... we celebrated like we do every day with me pretending to be the Nanna whilst Ami went to work and I was left with the baby dolls. Often during the day, I get a call to say the dolls are having a sleepover and she’s off out with her friends. Obviously if your reading this it’s all make-believe and my 6-year-old daughter does not work or have a better nightlife than me but she likes to pretend she does. I enjoy it when my mother comes round as I say give the baby to great grandma, she loves that.

As I digress into our endless play of dolls we were sent the very important doll that’s been very sought after in our house... drum roll, please... it’s the Baby Annabell brother interactive doll. Ami has been after this and it was top of her birthday list (she’s been planning her birthday for months). She had seen it on adverts and really wanted the doll. Obviously, she has tons of babies what can be so special about another doll.

We have the baby Annabell doll and Ami really enjoys playing with it. The brother doll is just the same and has all the same accessories that Annabell has but rather than striking blue eyes the brother doll has dark brown eyes. The heart on the tummy is also blue rather than pink. 

Baby Annabell’s Baby Brother is a rather cute doll, he looks great and he is interactive too. All he needs is three AA batteries. He comes with his own baby bottle which can be filled with water, a nappy, a dummy, bib and a little lamb locket with a photo of himself. Soft bodied with a hard head.

One of Amis favourite features is the fact that he actually drinks from his bottle. He even cries when it’s time to be burped and has some wind. He makes cute noises and even moves his mouth when you play with him. I find my self-rocking the baby and holding it like a real baby. He sucks on his dummy too which Ami thinks is the sweetest. He even blinks and shuts his eyes to sleep. 

Ami loves changing nappies on her dolls

So when she found out that he actually pees she couldn’t fill that bottle up quick enough. All you do is fill the bottle up and feed he baby and when you're ready you press the blue heard on the tummy. Then he tiddles away. You can use a potty or even the nappy provided. 

We are big fans of baby Annabell dolls, if you followed this blog you would know the number of dolls we actually have. One thing I love is the quality of the dolls. We have had another interactive doll for a

A few years now and it’s still going strong. Although he does sound similar to the interactive baby Annabell doll it hasn’t made a difference to Ami she loves him. With Ami she loves anything real life and how much more real can you get than a doll that pees. 

Celebrating Friendship with Baby Annabell

Ami and her best friend are baby mad. Literally, both absolutely adore babies. They both love baby Annabell too and between them have most properly all the collection. When we were asked to review an Annabell to celebrate friendship I knew they were the perfect pair. We were sent an interactive baby Annabell along with a card with friendship bracelets. I asked Ami who she wanted to give it too and her friend Milly was first on the list. 

Ami was in her element she loves making cards for her friends and always her and her friend Milly are sending letters to each other. One thing I love is how much they love babies, they both have the same doll and are sharing clothes and bottles. So off we went to the beach and we took Annabell and the card for her friend. They were both overjoyed and Annabell was dressed in a coat seriously that baby has a lot of clothes already. 

Another member who loves babies is Son Son. He is forever being the Dad to all the games. He now has to be both the babies dads... Thankfully he is not at the age where he really understands what that actually means. At the moment he is just the dad to all the babies. 

We have lots of baby dolls in our house I think maybe near the twenty mark over the years but none quite like Baby Annabell from Zapf Creation she is brilliant. She requires batteries (that are not supplied) and is fully interactive. Ami and Son Son were over the moon.  She comes complete with some lovely little accessories and is wearing a really lovely outfit. Ami loves a baby doll that is the same size as a real baby. Annabell is also heavy so it feels like the real deal.

So what actually does Baby Annabell do? She does everything. She gurgles and laughs when you cuddle her, slurps on her bottle which can be used with water (she also wee's if you sit her on the potty and press her tummy much to son son's delight ) she also burps to let you know when she is all done. She sucks on her dummy and her little mouth actually moves like a real baby it’s so clever! You can wind her and rub her back to make her burp.  

But it’s not all fun and games, rather like a real baby she sure does cry and even has real tears. It's all very life like I've found myself burping Annabell and thinking what am I doing! Annabell comes with a nappy too which Ami loved she changed the baby about ten times in a row. 

Baby Annabell was a huge hit with both of my little girls they absolutely love her. Priced at £49.99 she might not be the cheapest of Dolls but is worth it. Annabell is such good quality to she will be around for many years.  Obviously, we have had interactive dolls before but I don’t think that we have had one that does quite as much or looks quite as realistic. She really does look and feel like a real baby. 

  

Ami and Son Son have loved Annabell and still do. They play with her all the time taking it in turns to feed her then put her on the potty. Ami now wants more Annabell toys for her birthday were getting quite the collection. 

Summer 2018 - Sorry its been to long

I have just spent the last hours reading through my first few blog posts and I am so glad I started this blog. For my self if not anything else. They capture the first few months of me becoming a mum to a larger family. When I look back now I struggle to remember the kids as babies? what were they like and even what they looked like. I sometimes really miss logging everything but really have used Instgram more so for that. I will give you a little update (not that your bothered reading this but I might click on it in the future and think what was i doing in the summer of 69 urm... i mean 2018).

Life is still rather busy as what it is with three children. We have had some rather large milestones in growing up across the board so I will mention each individually. The last few months have been a hard few months with behaviour and stress but we are ALL so glad its the summer holidays.

Asti

Asti has just finished year 6. We are all a bit relieved, to be honest. Ast was diagnosed with ADHD in April something we were all aware of and knew he needed more support. Sadly his school were completely the opposite and rather than putting coping strategies in place decided to put him in isolation. After a few incidents,s the school wouldn't even let him go to his leaver's party which was the final straw. I was in that office the next day to be told how the school hadn't failed my son, no he got fantastic SATS results. After a little while, Asti. They could not cope and rather than seek help just swept it under the carpet. Thankfully he moves on to a new school in September. I will be involved with the SENCO. So hopefully he can start to really enjoy school again and not feel so suppressed as he did in the other school.

AMI

Ami has had a good year at school. She has really tried and there was a stage where she was miles behind everyone else but has really attempted to catch up. I'm very proud of her. It's her 6th birthday at the weekend and shes almost feral. She's getting more and more excited each day. Tonight she was almost unbearable with endless questions. She wants to know everything and we even sometimes have to slyly turn the radio off if the news comes on otherwise we will get a million questions about what happened. She never misses a trick and is always on the go and on the ball. She always needs to know what we're doing next. Shes forever asking whats next, I am really hoping by the end of the holidays she can learn to chill out a little bit.

Son Son

Son Son is due to start school in September, seriously though how is my baby old enough for school. He is still in the nursery so that will be sad when he has his last day in September. He has been at the same nursery since he was 9months and has really loved going there. I have no issues with him going to school, lots of his friends are going and he is rather laid back. Son Son is really into football at the moment and has recently joined a football club that he loves. He is forever putting in a slide tackle which he gets told off about but he loves it.

Me and the Other Half



We are both in our jobs and have been there for a year. I am loving my job as a neonatal nurse it took a while but now I struggle on the adult wards and miss the babies. Its such an rewarding job I start a course at University in September not sure I am looking forward to all that studying again though. My husband is still enjoying his job and although struggles to get out of the self employed way and bring all your work home he is doing well. He now knows much more about digital media and is much more confidant in his role. Although life is busy we are often passing ships. He often comes through the door as I am leaving for work.

Shrek The Musical at the Marlowe Theatre - Review

As a teenager, I absolutely loved going to the theatre. I went on a coach trip to see We Will Rock You and I was gripped, I loved Drama at school and even played the Deamon Headmistress in one of our school plays. Fast forward a few years many children later I haven't been for years. We were asked to come along to see the award-winning show Shrek the Musical. I decided to take Asti as an end of Primary School treat and also a first time at the theatre.

The show is based on the hit DreamWorks film that believe it or not came out 17 years ago (seriously where has the time gone). Shrek the Musical is such a feel-good show for all the family. It's full of laughs and the underlying message that is that it is alright to be different.

So off we went Me and Asti to the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. I didn't know whether to take Ami and Sonny (aged 4 and 5) but thought with it being late they may not cope with the late night and also thought it would be a great chance for some one on one time with Asti. There were lots of families watching the show with small children and upon reflection they would have enjoyed it but we would have gone to a manatee performance.

Heres a little back story on Shrek if you have been living under a rock in the last few decades. Shrek the Musical is set in a magical land where lots of fairytale animals live. Sadly ruling the land is the evil Lord Farquaad who takes a dislike to any fairytale creatures. Some of the people banished include Pinocchio, the three little pigs, red riding hood and other popular fairytale stars. Lord Farquuard banishes the poor creatures to Shrek's swamp. Shrek being an Ogre is not happy because he likes to live alone in the swamp. He then goes to visit Lord Farquuard to get the creatures out of his swamp where he then strikes a deal to rescue Princess Fiona from the swamp in return of getting rid of the creatures from his swamp. Little do Lord Farquarrd or Shrek know that Princess Fiona is hiding her very own secret too.

The whole show is full of such wonder and magic and myself and Asti were so amazed at the set changes too. Apparently, it took two days for the set to be set up which when you see it in real life you can see why. Right from the very start, we are drawn into a fairytale book and straight into music and dancing. The show is similar to the film with some of the same dialogue but has a lot of fresh current parts to it too. Like references to Brexit and love Island much to Asti's delight (the Brexit not so much the Love Island). We see more into the characters than the film and learn more about there backstories. The music is upbeat and catchy along with some awesome choreography too.

Playing Shrek was Welshman Actor Steffan Harri he did a great job of being Shrek and looking very much like Shrek and even sounding like him too. Me and Asti were impressed with the Shrek costume and how heavy it looked. Sheffan did a fantastic job at belting out the songs and even dancing. Princess Fiona was played by Amelia Lily whos fame came from X-factor some years back. She was hilarious. In other areas, Princess Fiona is played by Call the Midwife star Laura Main. Donkey-like in the film was fabulous and gave us some really good laughs. The Donkey was performed by Marcus Ayton who gave the Donkey an almost Camp side to his character.

Saving the best till last was mine and Asti's Favourite character Lord Farquarrd, he was absolutely hilarious what with cheeky looks and audience participation. Also, some cheeky jokes that the adults would get all in all made the show so good. He is also if you have seen the film rather small and the actor Samuel Holmes plays the park on his knees providing the audience with funny moments with his little legs. One thing that really impressed us was the dragon. A beautiful set piece that is carried around by four people who all work different parts of the dragon. She fills the stage and moves around with such elegance.

The stage is colourful and so creative. The show provides some great dance numbers and like all fairy tales boasts a happy ending. It was the perfect introduction to musical theatre and one to rekindle my love of the theatre. Asti was over the moon it provided us with an evening of entertainment for something we wouldn't usually do. We would definitely recommend to anyone wanting a taste of the musical thertre.

Shrek is avalible at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury until the 22nd of June. Book here on the Marlowes website or look for more dates all around the country. The age guidance is 5 plus with no admittance to under 2's. Shrek the Musical is well worth the watch and a perfect family night out.