A Belated Happy New Year!

A Belated Happy New Year!

I haven't blogged for ages partly because I have been really busy with school in the run up to Christmas and partly because my Dad has been quite poorly so my Mum hasn't had much time to help me. 

I wanted to write again this weekend though and try and get back into updating more often because I really like looking back and remembering things I have enjoyed.

Despite my Dad being ill over the last few months we still enjoyed a nice Christmas, although it was a bit quieter than we would have liked but still fun and I would like to wish everyone who reads this a very Happy New Year.

I haven't really done any resolutions this year- more like things I would like to try and do, including blogging more often and learning a new sport.

I thought this would be a good chance to review my 16 aims for 2016 and see how we got on, so here goes...

1. Help teach Sam to walk and talk...
Sam now walks and talks and is very nearly a terrible 2! His favourite word is 'No' but he does say it with a cheeky smile!

2. Play with Lottie more at school.
Hmmm, sometimes. She does still drive me mad by chasing me though.

3. Learn a new sport.
I thought volleyball would be fun but didn't do that- I did start doing basketball on Tuesday mornings though which I have really enjoyed and have taken part in a tournament and a holiday camp. I was very happy to win best team player of the camp and got a medal and basketball to keep.

4. Learn a new skill.
I have been learning lots of DIY skills this last year and have really enjoyed this- I have built furniture by myself and fixed a cupboard door among other things.

5. Learn a language
Sort of- my french is a little better and I can now sign Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in BSL- I am sure that will come in very useful!

6. Use my telescope.
We have been rubbish with this- we probably only got it out once or twice last year. I will try and use it a bit more this year.

7. Use my metal detector.
I have not used this at all last year, I will never find buried treasure at this rate!

8. Go Camping
We did manage this one- we went camping at Sportfest and had a great time, although our new tent wasn't very cosy and we were a bit cold!

9. Grow something.
We still didn't do brilliantly with our vegetables but did manage to get a couple of tomatoes, a few strawberries and a ton of rhubarb so we will definitely try again this year!

10. Get on my bike.
I did manage to get out on my bike a bit more until my Dad became ill- we went around our local lakes quite a few times which I hope to do more once he starts to get better.

11. Go on a plane.
Sadly this still remains on my wish list. Something to keep hoping for this year perhaps!

12. Read the rest of the Harry Potter books
I have done this and was quite sad when I finished. It's probably time to start again soon! I also enjoyed reading Fantastic Beasts and The Cursed Child but preferred the books to screenplay, although I would still love to see it at the theatre.

13. Watch all the Star Wars Films
Definitely did this! LOVE the new one- I went with 8 friends for my birthday and it was awesome!

14. Save my pocket money for something specific
I was very happy to do this and have now got some fab Star Wars LEGO and also the Base Ace set I got at BRICK 2016 which I had wanted for ages.

15. Do something for charity.
We did plenty of fundraising things with school and Dad and I also were volunteers at the local Race For Life- this was very hard work as one of the first ladies who came through broke her ankle and needed help. I would like to do something like this again though, it was a really good atmosphere and I enjoyed being involved and cheering everyone.

16. Try something new.
My sister and I went to a cookery class in the Summer which was completely new for both of us, it was great. It was held in an Italian restaurant and we learned how to make a lasagne- my parents were very impressed with it... it was even better than my Mums- did you know the secret ingredient is nutmeg?!

Not to bad overall then but still a few things to cross of my list! Let's hope 2017 brings lots of chances to do plenty of fun things for everyone.

Brick 2016 Review

Brick 2016 Review

If you have been reading for a while you might remember that last year we had a really good day out at Brick Live. As you can imagine I was very excited to be invited back to attend the 2016 show and is was great knowing a bit more about what to expect this time.

We arrived a little while after the show had started and got in very quickly. We were immediately greeted by some amazing LEGO- there was Halloween LEGO set, a huge Scooby Doo, loads of train tracks, villages and Lottie's favourite- a huge Beauty and The Beast set. We spent ages looking at the amazing things the master builders had made and then went off and started joining in the fun  ourselves.

We made LEGO houses to put on the map of the UK,  designed cars to test on the speed ramps, joined in with making a Giant pumpkin and a huge mosaic picture, all before diving into the huge LEGO pits to build whatever we wanted.

That painful moment when you stand on a LEGO brick!

We then moved to the back of the show were all the stalls were and where we discovered the most amazing LEGO model ever- a massive copy of a DFDS ship-it was awesome! I asked the lady if they were going to make small versions to buy but she thought they wouldn't be able to - I really hope the do though. They could sell them in the ships restaurants and reception and it would make our journey to France go much quicker.

Once we had admired the ship and done some colouring we went to have a look at what the retailers were selling.

There was literally everything a LEGO fan could ever want to buy- t-shirts, jewellery, limited edition LEGO sets and even LEGO bedroom furniture!

There were some really amazing things there though- we really liked the 3D Funky Faces people who can make you a LEGO version of yourself- these were awesome. They looked like they should feel squidgy but were actually hard and are proper LEGO people. We are definitely saving up for these!

I also loved the Base Ace 3D Play Platforms which we mentioned last year- I had been saving my pocket money so I was finally able to get a set. This is such a great way to play with LEGO figures and vehicles and lets you create allsorts of games- I have had some amazing battles with mine! I am hoping to convince my sister to spend her pocket money that she has saved on a different set and then we can get an extension kit to connect the two... but I don't know how her LEGO friends characters will survive against an invasion from my Stormtroopers!

My awesome Base Ace 3D Play Platform

It was nearly time to go home but there was just enough time for Lottie to go and learn a dance routine with the LEGO friends, which she loved doing.

Being 'photobombed' by the LEGO Friends!

Once again BRICK was an awesome day out- we all had fun, played lots, built loads and came home with some fab stuff too! If you get chance to go to the next one it is a great day out for LEGO fans of any age.

Ready, Steady, Dough Swirly Whirly Sweets Review

Ready, Steady, Dough Swirly Whirly Sweets Review

We had quite a busy half term but at the end we were all struck down with coughs and colds and decided to have a quiet day at home doing Arts and Crafts. This can sometimes be a bit tricky as it can be difficult finding something we can all do together with me being 8, Lottie 5 and Sam being a toddler who is keen on wrecking things.

The Entertainer must have known though because at lunchtime there was a knock on the door and a large parcel arrived- the lovely people there had kindly sent us a big Ready, Steady Dough Swirly, Whirly Sweets set to review.

I hadn't played with this sort of thing for quite a while but Lottie was keen we got started straight away so while Mum put Sam up for his nap I got the instructions out and started putting it together. It was really straightforward to set up and I had it ready in no time so we were soon able to get started using the set.

The main sweet machine allowed you go push the dough through and it turned a thick tube of dough into a neat balls, you can do it as plain or we preferred to mix it togethed make them multi coloured. You can then leave these as ball shaped sweets or use the presser to make them into sweets that are like a box of chocolates.

After this we used the icing piece which made a long straight very thin piece of dough- we like this because if you kept putting dough in before you pulled it off you could make it really long! We used these long pieces to wrap together and stick on the sticks to make lollies. There was also plates and knives in the set so you can make your own design and set them up.

 

I think the set would make great Christmas present for children slightly younger than me- I enjoyed it far more than I expected to and found it quite fun to roll out dough and make shapes, but my sister absolutely loved it. When Sam woke up he joined in too- he was too heavy handed for the sweet machine as we were worried he might break it but he loved rolling the dough and using the icing bit so I think this set is perfect for 3 to 6 year olds but will also be enjoyed by children who are both younger and older.

Thanks The Entertainer, we had a lovely afternoon trying the Ready Steady Dough Swirly Whirly Sweets set and actually all managed to play together without arguing!