Brand & Blog
This weeks weekend baby style is one of my faves so far. He looks so cool!
Of course, he’s wearing super snazzy, printed leggings from Zara.
But what I’m most excited about is his brand new ‘Mummy is a Blogger’ t-shirt from Gorgeous Little George.
I’ve heard these are sold out now so he’s lucky to have one!
Ax
With the weather warming up I thought it was time to get some summery bits for Lamb. I’ve always been a fan of TU clothing from Sainsburys, and when Lamb’s grandma bought a few nice bits I thought I’d take a look myself and do a little summer haul.
There was actually loads to choose from! I had to put a lot back as we’re on a tight budget and I can get pretty carried away with clothes.
Here’s what Lambs Grandma bought him…
The jungle print shirt is my favourite piece from what Grandma bought. We all know I love Lamb in printed clothing and the more colourful and quirky the better!
Grandma definitely picked well for him, these pieces look really good together.
And here’s what I bought…
I’m a little bit obsessed with the vintage car print. Even more so when the t-shirt and shorts are worn together! Clashing prints are my absolute fave.
The coloured triangle pieces will team well with lots of other items in Lambs wardrobe. The blue shorts will pair with anything red, navy, yellow or white to match the coloured triangle. The same goes for the t-shirt.
As you can see a couple of the items were in the sale. Sainsbury’s always seem to have a few bits on offer. It’s worth having a rummage through the rails as the sale items are often mixed in with the non-sale items and not advertised.
I hope you enjoyed this little Sainsbury’s summer haul. I can’t wait to share photos of Lamb wearing his new clothes with you (especially the jungle shirt!)
Ax
When Lamb turned 2 in March we were given the opportunity to review Cbeebies Land in Alton Towers. We were so excited as Lamb is at the age where he has favourite characters from the Cbeebies programmes, and recognises them. His favourite’s are the shapes from Mister Maker and Mr Tumble. He’s also recently started to love Postman Pat and Tree Fu Tom.
I don’t know who was more excited, Lamb or myself. I love days out like this. Watching his face light up when he’s excited and sees something he loves, there’s nothing better.
The journey for us was around 3 hours, quite a long way, but we decided to visit family in Yorkshire for the weekend afterwards, so it ended up being a weekend away.
When we arrived at Alton Towers I was instantly impressed. Alton is probably one of the prettiest places I have driven through! It’s quite surreal having a huge theme park in the middle of it! But Alton Towers is designed so tastefully it’s hardly noticeable.
Parking was fairly straightforward, however there’s at least a 10 minute walk to the park entrance from the car. Maybe even more if you’re further away than we were. If you have a child 3 and under I highly recommend taking a buggy. The walk to the park may be ok, but the walk back to the car may be difficult if your little one is exhausted from all of the fun!
You will also make use of a buggy for holding coats and bags that you won’t want to carry around with you all day. We only put Lamb in the buggy at nap time, the rest of the time he walked (he loves walking). Cbeebies Land is very close to the park entrance, so if you don’t want to take a buggy, then once you’re in Alton Towers there isn’t much further to walk.
Don’t worry, there are plenty of places to park the pram. Literally every ride or attraction has a designated buggy park. If it doesn’t, there’s still room to leave the buggy at the side next to a fence or wall.
Right, let’s crack on with the review…
What do you need when visiting Cbeebies Land?
I can’t praise Cbeebies Land enough. We absolutely loved it. I read a few reviews before going, and some were slightly negative, but I genuinely have no idea why.
Ok, so if it’s raining, you’re probably going to get wet and fed up, or if you go in the school holidays in the summer, you’re going to queue (a lot), but you should know this before going. No one should go to a theme park and complain about weather or queueing.
Cbeebies Land have tried to make queuing for rides as easy as possibly for families by adding games and activities to keep the little ones entertained. I was really impressed with this, however they need to double up (if not more) on the amount of games as the kids end up bickering over them, or refuse to move up in the queue because they don’t want to stop playing!
There are loads of rides and attractions based around some of the favourite Cbeebies characters. Lamb particularly liked Mr Tumbles Sensory Garden, Postman Pat’s Parcel Post ride, and Charlie and Lola’s House. Be warned, not all of the characters are there and I have been told they are looking to expand, so we will just have to visit again once they do! For example, we were pretty disappointed not to see Mister Maker’s Shapes there as these are Lambs absolute favourite. Also I thought we might see national treasure Peter Rabbit there. Even though, what is there is so much fun and hugely entertaining.
Lamb loved the In The Night Garden boat ride. He goes through phases of watching this, but as soon as he saw the Iggle Piggle he got excited.
Eating at Cbeebies Land was really easy. There’s a big cafe with plenty of high chairs. Not a huge choice of food, mainly sandwiches, but I found the prices to be pretty reasonable. You’re probably better off taking a packed lunch though as there’s plenty of benches to sit, or you could even go into the Big Fun Showtime and watch a show with a picnic (we did this). If you do eat in the cafe, there are Cbeebies colouring pages and crayons for the kids to play with while you’re eating. Lamb loved this.
Watching the Mike the Knight show. There was no way I was watching The Zing Zillas or Nina, they annoy the hell out of me! 😉
Both Daddy Lamb and I were really impressed with Tree Fu Tom’s Training Camp. What an amazing park for the kids to play in! The sun was shining and the park was pretty quiet, so we spent a good hour in here running around and climbing ramps and ladders. Lamb did not want to leave. Literally. He was carried out kicking and screaming.
I could go on and on about how much fun we had at Cbeebies Land. It was such a fun day, for the whole family, not just Lamb.
This was my first time at Alton Towers (yes, seriously) and I was hugely impressed with the whole park. It was tastefully designed; spread out and not at all cramped.
There’s a lot of walking involved so I would suggest planning on being there all day. Plan your day into sections. Expect to take breaks every couple of hours so you don’t get too tired and follow the map so you don’t miss anything.
There is lots more to Alton Towers than roller coasters. So much more that I ever expected. Play areas, aquarium, arcades. Literally so much to do.
I have to say this is one of my favourite days out so far. I can’t express how much fun we had. The addition of Cbeebies Land to Alton Towers is so good for young families and I think they have really catered well for toddlers and young children.
If you are thinking about going to Cbeebies Land soon make sure you take a look at their interactive map online and plan your day in advance. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or tweet me @Lambandbear.
We are already planning another trip with lots of friends and their kids, the only criticism I have and the only thing that puts us off is the price. You have to buy a ticket to the whole of Alton Towers, even if you are only intending on taking the little ones to Cbeebies Land.
I can’t see any other way around it, other than having some sort of wristband in place that tells staff what areas you have paid for, however, trust me when I say you will want to go to the whole park once you are there.
Oh and Lamb has one criticism too. He was too small to go into Justin’s House. This was rather upsetting for him.
Alex x
* We were sent tickets to Alton Towers free of charge in exchange for our honest opinion and review of Cbeebies Land.
Petits Filous are asking how we put the magic into play dates, and my answer is with imagination!
Lamb has a wonderful imagination, and a surprisingly good memory. He is a fan of many TV characters who play a huge part in our play dates. Tree Fu Tom comes along with us to the woods, the Mister Maker shapes always make an appearance during arts & crafts, and well, Mr Tumble is ever present (in the form of a spotty bag!)
Lamb loves role play and always wants to help mummy around the house; he loves doing ‘grown up’ stuff. He regularly makes me a cup of tea in his kitchen, and often cooks me a ‘bapple’ with his frying pan. Who doesn’t love a fried apple? Of course, he dresses for the occasion. No tea and fried ‘bapple’ should be served to his ‘guests’ without the correct attire…
I’m a working mum, but only part time. I get 2 days a week just me and Lamb; those days are my fave. Tuesdays are usually spent with our friends. AM at play group, PM at the zoo or our local soft play. Wednesdays are usually just the two of us; a day of quality time.
Depending on the weather (and my mood) we will either jump in the car to somewhere fun or spend the day indoors in our pjs. Whatever we do we like to be imaginative.
If we are walking to our local supermarket Lamb takes his shopping trolley and pennies. He is just so independent! Off he goes armed with everything he needs to pick up a few bits from the shop.
Even our lunch is imaginative. Lamb chooses the shape of his toast or sandwiches. At the moment he likes them to be in squares, but sometimes it’s triangles. If he’s been good I’ll treat him to a packet of hula hoops which are most likely to be eaten from the ends of his fingers!
Lamb loves yoghurt, so we were obviously very excited to try the new Petits Filous Magic Squares. The packaging is super fun and very attractive to kids. It’s also nice the pots are bigger, as I normally give Lamb 2 if not 3 yogurts after his dinner. He can’t get enough!
The flavours are really yummy (yes, I had a sneaky taste). Mixing the strawberry and raspberry with vanilla is a really great touch. It makes them more of a dessert and ‘treat’ for the little ones. Healthy and full of vitamin D and calcium, but super yummy!
In our house we even like to make the housework fun. I turn everyday household chores into games. Lamb carries the laundry outside and helps me peg it to the washing line. He puts away his clean and nicely folded clothes (which are no longer nicely folded once he’s done with them). He loves emptying the dishwasher too (no idea why) and is so good at putting his toys “back” once he’s done with them. I still don’t understand why my house is such a mess?
In our opinion ‘magic’ can be put into any play date with a pinch of creativity and a dash of imagination.
Ax
“This post is an entry for BritMums #MagicSquaresPlaydates Linky Challenge, sponsored by Petits Filous.”
