Wonderlab at The Science Museum

Our last outing before back to school was The Science Museum in South Kensington were they are holding a special paid exhibition called Wonderlab.

Lucky is learning about electricity and said she struggles with the concept of it so this was the perfect for her as one of the areas they concentrated on was electricity.

Located on the 3rd floor, the exhibition has several areas such as force, space, electricity, chemistry and a couple more. The whole area is super interactive and good for all ages! It was an excellent exhibition to put knowledge into action but would have been great if the staff could explain the science behind it. It was written down but somebody actually telling the kids what and why it was happening would have been extremely useful.

There were also regular shows on and we watched the one a bit electricity.

It was approximately £10/person and spent a good 3hrs in the exhibition itself so didn’t get the chance to see the rest of the museum as we arrived quite late. You can easily  make it a whole day at the museum. A perfect educational day out if on a budget!

Bananaman

Bananaman is a comic book character from Beano’s character and now coming live on stage!

It is performed at the very intimidate Southwark Playhouse, a 3-Mins walk from Elephant and Castle station. We got tickets to see preview at discounted prices thanks to Littlebird. Since Mahi has a big love for Superheroes , I thought this will be right up his street to see Superheroes in a different light! A comedic superhero!

I knew we would expect laughs but dear of dear, we were crying rivers! The songs, the acting, the ‘villains’ and Mr Bananaman himself were out of this world hilarious! The whole production was amazing and it’s always amazing to see how productions are made using the selves so efficiently.

Southwark playhouse is a nice venue. They have a cafe which offers food which is reasonably priced. It is also accessible.  

Basically, please go and watch it! You won’t regret it! It’s only here for a limited time too! 

Slava’s Snowshow

Another Christmas Eve treat for the kids! I’ve been wanting to go to this for the past 2 years so glad to get the money to do so 🙈 Anyways, we set off to the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank centre to see the show. Lucky was a bit anxious as she’s a tad scared of clowns but thankfully, they were very funny clowns!

The whole show was great. The clowns were amazing and funny. We loved when we were engulfed by spider web, played with humongous balls and finally being caught in a snow blizzard! It’s great for big and old and will definitely recommend it. Even during the break, they kept us entertain! 

My personal mental note is to again book tickets in advance so we get front row seats as front row people definitely had more fun!

Go and watch it next time! It’s on every year, I believe and one not to be missed!

Santa at Rainforest Cafe

On Christmas Eve, we and the kids set out to see our last Santa of the year. Located in Piccadilly Circus, we went to Rainforest Cafe which also had Santa’s Grotto. Now, if you’ve never been to Rainforest Cafe, what have you been doing all this time??? We discovered this jewel 2 years ago and not only did the kids love it, my husband (whose very picky) loved the whole atmosphere. The food is basic and overpriced, I won’t deny it, but do go for the whole atmosphere! There gorillas, elephants, leopards which move and a massive fish tank with special fishes including piranhas there! The staff are very friendly and if it’s your birthday, the whole restaurant sings for you!

For Santa’s grotto, you had to book and pay in advance and given a time. At the time of your booking, they also send you a questionnaire asking for your kids names, their teachers, what their favourite subjects are, what they hobbies are and what gifts have they asked for. I loved that as it will make the whole experience so personal. We’ve been to many grottos over the years and none have done this!

You get a good 15mins to spend with Santa. We were welcomed by elves and taken to Santa’s cabin. The cabin was nicely decorated with a very good Santa. He memorised the whole questionnaire (kudos to him) and ask them all the questions. He gave them a massive goody bag and adviced them to listen to their parents! When we came out, Laksha was so shocked that Santa knew so much about her! She kept asking me how he knew things about her! 

Once Santa was done, we went to our table and had our lunch amidst the animals and fishes!

Definitely the best Santa we’ve seen this year! Overall, since Laksha was born, the 2nd best Santa we’ve seen!

It’s panto time!!!

We have many traditions when it comes to Christmas and we never missed watching a panto. We always support local pantos so we headed to local arts centre, Harrow Arts Centre, to see Wizard of Oz. The kids have been obsessed with the story so it was the perfect panto for us.

As s family we love Harrow Arts Centre. It’s such a lovely family friendly venue and visit it at every school holidays. There are always great events available at reasonable prices.

The panto was performed by Immersion Theatre. It’s the first time we are seeing them so quite excited to see these professionals on stage! And they didn’t disappoint! We laughed, we got scared in some spaces, sang, danced and absolutely loved every minute of it! They was plenty of audience interactions but if you want to make your money worth, sit right at the front! They were sweets being thrown and some children were invited on stage too. So I’ve made a mental note to myself that next time, I’ll be more prepared.

The actors (their voices 😍😍), the songs and the special effects were on point! The whole production was wonderful and can’t wait to see Immersiom Theatre back at Harrow Arts Centre. What a talented bunch!

Bye 2017, hello 2018

Our 2017 has been good! This is the year my kids have grabbed all the opportunities they were offered to share their passion and showcase their talents.

Let’s start with Laksha! It al started with International Women’s Day when she received a book about some of the greatest women but didn’t have much representation! On the same day, we visited the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich where we saw a special exhibition on women and saw lots of women whose name were never mentioned in the books she has read. And that’s where her Great Women project started. This has led to many opportunities and pen pals. Laksha has now 2 pen pals where she exchanges letters/emails about the different women they have researched. We also found out some amazing gems in London to help her with her research from The Feminist Library to WoW (Women of the World) at Southbank Centre. She has been recognised for this special work at school and got 2 Headteacher’s Award.  Wherever possible, we have showed her work from WoW Thinkins we attended where they were impressed by her work and got an opportunity to work with them in their next festival. 2017 has also been were Laksha has started to raise her voice against things she didn’t agree with. She is now part of the National Children’s Bureau where she worked on their anti-bullying campaign. She voiced for their main animation video and was invited to parliament to talk about her experiences of being bullied. She shared her ideas with prominent figures who encouraged her to share them with the school. So she did! She wrote a letter to her headteacher about what can be changed which not only prompted a personal 1hr meeting with her and headteacher talking out the ideas but also a massive recognition at school for this. She has now found her voice and knows that complaining about things isn’t enough! That she needs to go on the ground and get dirty to make things happen. This doesn’t mean she has grown-up too quickly. Oh no! My firstborn is still a crazy and wonderful child. Our  arguments have gone up but my unicorn-and-history-loving baby girl is still a child and I will do anything for her to stay this way. 2017 made her discover new interests including violin and martial arts. She took part in concerts and competitions without any fear! 

Talking about babies, the baby of the house is now in school and his first milk tooth has started to wobble😭😭😭😭😭 . Mahi had a good year too with doing really good at school and gaining a headteacher award within the first month of starting which is apparently every rare! He entered his first competition using his passion, Lego, and was the youngest to enter that Lego competition! Mahi planned his first birthday party and loved to beer him grow and make his own decisions even if Mummy didn’t agree with some of it! Mahi has started to read and write earlier this year and really good with his numbers. His artistic skills have literally gone through the roof and sometimes am speechless as to what he draws. To encourage what he’s good at, we have started going to art classes and took part in our local food festival to showcase his work! He has found new interest such as martial arts! However, the down side is in his practise buddy and thus the punching bag. Oh motherhood is so rewarding... sometimes!!!

For me, I had to put my masters on hold as I couldn’t juggle all the balls. But that doesn’t mean I stopped studying and so whenever I could I picked up the books and became a student again. In terms of work, I am loving it! I love my patients who make me feel special! So special that they have nominated me and awarded me a special award for making their cancer journey a little bit more easier! On my campaigning side, it was great to see the Power to the Bump campaign taking shape and been applied! Using that campaign me , other young mums along with Pregnant then Screwed have formed our own little group called Young Mum Collective which deals with maternity discrimination amongst young mothers! It was great to see the workshops we have created help other young mums. I’ve also attended events with Young Women’s Trust and lended my voice wherever I could. I was also involved in a little ad for a prominent shop. I loved being a star for the day and the money was used to buy the kids all their Christmas presents! 

As a family, we took our first trip abroad which was a month of full bliss! We also experienced new things such as snorkelling, skateboarding and fishing. We discovered more hidden gems around London and made more amazing memories!

I hope 2018 will bring us more memories and wish the same to you! Happy New Year!!!