Walking around Brick Lane!

Who knew Brick Lane will offer sooo much, even for kids?

We went to Brick Lane to do a Graffiti workshop for my birthday! I found the workshop via Funzing website. It was on  the expensive side but it  was so much fun and in a relaxed community garden. The community garden itself has so much stuff to see. There was an unusual mini playground for the kids, a community cafe and lots and lots of colours through plants and art!

The graffiti instructor was very patient with all of us and great with kids! We were thought so much technique and as Mahish is the artist in the family, he loved learning and putting into practise the techniques he was taught. It was a 2 hour workshop and well worth it. We done our graffitis on canvas so it's great to have them put on our wall and admire our handiwork.

We then took a stroll around the streets of Brick Lane and stumbled on the Cereal Cafe. It is a cafe dedicated to cereals from the beginning of its time. It was like stepping back in time. The back of the cafe even had a bed which you could sit on (obviously!). It had a few video games and cereal boxes stacked on all walls bringing back my childhood memories. We ordered so goodies which was so warm and yum!

Once we came out, we then visited a bagel shop which did all kinds of bagels including the infamous rainbow bagels. The queues are long so beware. But it is worth the wait! My daughter loved her rainbow bagel!

We then visited lots of quirky shops along the road and before we knew it, the whole day was gone!

Leicester Square Festivities!

If you are planning to go to Leicester Square during the Christmas holiday then look no further for what to do!

There's the Christmas Market right in the centre of the Square. It is small but with plenty of eateries and arts/crafts stalls. Since it's quite small, it can get very crowded so patience is key!

There's also a Santa's Grotto which you can either book online or at the box office on the day. It costs us £20 for 2 kids and it lasts for 25mins. The grotto was small and Sanata was good however I thought it was a bit disorganised. With so many kids, it go t a bit messy with children walking aroundinstead of sitting down therefore we couldn't listen to what Santa was saying. I thought if they better communicated as to what was to follow then the experience would have been better. Nevertheless the grotto was well decorated and the kids were happy with the gifts they received.

We then headed to Prince Charles to have a wonderful time singing along to The Muppets Christmas Carol! We love a good song along and we’ve never seen this Muppet movie so off we went to get holly! A funny Santa came and presented the movies before the movie started, all the people wearing something Christmassy were called to the stage as a competing. My kids were obviously in their Christmas jumpers and hats so off they went to model on stage. The competition was fierce and although they didn’t win, they got a nice cash out of it! We warmed up our singing voices by practicing a song and off the movie started! All the songs have subtitles so don’t worry if you don’t know any songs. I would definitely recommend to go to a sing-along movie! The atmosphere is something else!

Of course, there’s the usual M&M world and Lego shop (expect queues during busy times). The Lego store is in 2 floors with again lots of places to free build. MM world is set on 3 floors and all fully dedicated to those round chocolate delights! Lots of photo opportunities in both stores!

Covent Garden, China Town and Piccadilly Circus are all walking distance of you want to walk around to look at the Christmas lights!

Christmas in Birmingham

We headed out to another short break over the Christmas holidays! This one much closer to London... Birmingham!!

We went after Christmas Day but although Santa was understandably nowhere to be seen, Christmas was still in the air!

We stayed in the City Centre do it was easier for us to get to our various places and there were a few! So here’s our list of what to do when in Birmingham!

1. Cadbury World (obviously!) - Bournville is such a cute little village and I didn’t know it was built by the Cadbury Family for their employees! How thoughtful! I only got to know about this when we were invited to the cinema to learn about the factory’s history! We booked tickets in advance and had to pick a slot! Before we even when I’m to our childcare te adventure, we were handed big handful of chocolates (reminder for next time: take a bag to carry all the chocolates that will be handed to you!). Once we entered, we traced the history of chocolate while doing a trail before we arrived at the cinema to learn about chocolate! We got to see different sides of the factory including where they decorate chocolates! You could get your own personalised chocolate which we did! There was also an  exhibit of all the Cadbury ads over the year including the drumming Gorilla! We didn’t go on the ride or the 4d cinema as the queue were so long so instead the kids let loose in the huge playgrounds! There was more to look around, the other side of the factory, but the kids wanted to play rather than do more looking around!  The shop had all sorts of  confectionary and was really hard to choose one thing each!

What’s another best place for kids in Birmingham?! The Lego discovery centre obviously! It was a good 30mins walk but with all the lights around to look at, it didn’t feel like it! The centre had a handful of rides,  4d cinema and of course lots of Lego’s and places to build! My Lego mad son was obviously in Lego heaven and the shop had a very good selection of toys!

As a family who loves history we had to fit in the Blists Hill Victorian Town which was just outside Birmingham, in Telford. It is an open air museum recreating the period between late 1800s to mid 1950s! First of all, we knew we were going to spend a few pounds so off we headed to the bank to convert our monies into older time monies. The kids stared at the coins in wonderment and trying to remember the values of each coins! Before we explored the village, we saw a little theatre show and make an own candles (at extra cost). We walked around the museum, sipping on and out of vintage shops and everyone was in character which added so much charm and authenticity to it! Everything was from back-in-the-days so the kids loved trying to figure out how to play some games, what some medicines were for and what confectionery there is! We even had some warm homemade bread! We also went inside a mine cave or a little train to hear mini stories (of kids included) which the kids were sad about! There was so much education and bff u not be had, before we knew it we spent a good 4/5hours there! The highlight was the cliff lift which we hopped on quite a few times!

The next and final day, we went to the Snowdome’s Winter Wonderland which was 30mins by car. Again this has to be prebooked and once we are done with that, you can have fun on the toboggan or sledging on the big snow slopes! So off we went to the indoor Winter Wonderland where we were greeted by the Snow King and entertained us while we waited for our time slot! Once, we were in, it was truly winter wonderland with snow everywhere! I took a sledge and pushed the kids everywhere which involved lots of falling and laughter! There were tiny slopes for us to go down and a ice sling ring (needs to be booked separately). We also saw a Christmas show which was funny and still keeping the Christmas spirit alive! Once we finished with all the toboggan and sledging, we went to visit the winter animals which included reindeers! Before we headed out, we wrote to Santa and left to go tobogganing on much bigger slopes! The kids looked so little carrying their toboggans up the big slope! They laughter was so infectious that I wanted to go and have fun too but unfortunately that was for kids only so I was watching them from the cafe with my warm food and hot chocolate! The kids didn’t want to leave so had to physically drag them out of the slopes!

With that, our trip to Birmingham has come to an end and we had a brilliant festive time!

Christmas in Torquay

Last year, for our 1st Christmas short break of the year, we packed our bags and headed down to Torquay in Devon. I was attracted to Torquay as I’m always in the hunt of finding dinosaur places for Mahish but as Laksha is growing up and doesn’t really believe in Santa, Torquay provides me with other more age appropriate activities.

We stayed in a Travelodge in Torquay for 4 days and travelled by train from London. We took a day bus pass to travel around the area. Everything was easy to reach and find. On our first day, we visited Dinosaur World which is right in the town centre near the harbour. It was small but perfect for my little palaeontologist. They did a Christmas trail which took us to all corners of the place. There were so many exhibits which we can could touch, feel and sit on making it great for photo opportunities. It had plenty of hands on exhibits and more information was fed to my dinosaur-mad son! It had a nice little shop where Mahish bought an unusual barn which he adores greatly. Mahish came out very ecstatic!


Up the hill we went to visit the Kent’s Cavern Prehistoric Caves. There was a Santa’s Grotto which we didn’t do. With our guide, we explored the caves. It felt like we stepped back in the Stone Ages as we traced their footsteps. Our guide was amazing and totally engrossed the children in the history of the cars. From seing beautiful stalactites, to seeing hiding places of prehistoric men, bears and hyenas. At one ooh t, we stood in complete darkness to imagine how it was to live in caves along with animals. There were narrow places but didn’t deter my kids from having fun and climbing through narrow spaces! After thanking our guide, we spent some time in the children’s area doing lots of activities such as digging, tracing and playing old games. We then spent quite a long time in the shop as the kids couldn’t decide what to pick amongst the extensive gifts on display. There was a cafe but didn’t go there. We instead headed out as there was a prehistoric trail which was quite interactive such as building our own dens with whatever we could find. There was quite a lot of up and downs which was great for the kids to let all their energy out!

The following day, we headed out to Bygones Museum, a family museum which represents the Victorian times with lots of artefacts collected and preserved across generations. We had a very important breakfast appointment before we explored the Museum. The breakfast appointment was none other than with Santa himself who spend sometime our on table engaging the kids in conversation while we had breakfast. It was very quiet and an intimiste meeting. Once we were done with breakfast and loaded with lots of presents and chocolates (chocolates in the morning doesn’t count when it’s Christmas), we explored the museum while doing a Christmas trail! We came across Victorian shops and could smell the streets and hear the noises of the past! There was a games arcade with games from Victorian time which was great fun! Once we done the trail, the kids had a prize of picking something from the toy shop and I myself collent help myself but buy some retro games!

Nearby was the Babbacombe Model Village! I love these model villages and no mater how many I’ve seen, I can’t stop my amazement at the intricate constructions and this one was also beautiful! The kids running up and down to see all the tiny villages and spotting places they’ve seen in real life wa a great to see. There was also a miniature golf and a little pantomime was also in show for us to enjoy! We spent a good 2 hours there as it was hard myself to tear ourselves from this pretty model village. We saw Santa again and he gifted us more presents. Babbacombe beach was right next to it but the chilly weather although sunny, stopped us from visiting it. Apparently there’s a cliff lift that takes us down to the beach.

On our final day, we just visited the town centre and harbour again. We also visited the pier at Paignton beach quickly before we headed back home! The kids loved running around the pier and playing in the arcade.

It didn’t cost us much as hotel and transport were booked 2 months in advance. The tickets for all attractions were booked online where in some attractions it was cheaper to book online. The weather was sunny despite it being chilly. I’ll recommend it for anyone to go throughout the year!

Elf Workshop at Camden Town

Who knew Camden Town did kid-friendly activities and that too over Christmas?!

To be honest, we didn't go with much expectations. I don't know why but we wanted to discover new places and new things to do so off we went to Camden Town.

You have to prebook the tickets with specific time slots on https://www.camdenmarket.com/events/christmas-grotto (the price looks a bit pricey but is it worth the price? Read further!)

When we got there, we were welcomed by very  animated elves. We were welcomed into this warm,  and cozy living room. The kids were sitting down and were entertained by elves by having a quiz and singing Christmas songs! Then the kids got to decorate some gingerbread biscuits and they tasted yummy too!

Then individually, we were called in to see the Big Man in his huge red library. Santa was so funny and took his time to give time and attention to the kids. We also had plenty of time to take photos and selfies.

The whole thing took about 1hr and the  kids liked it but I thought it was overpriced for what we got!

Preparing fro Christmas!

“Santa is coming!!!” And there is no stopping the Christmas train now.

With kids to entertain, work and preparing for Christmas itself, it’s hard to find time to get organised. So here’s a few tips to help you keep your sanity:

1) Events - start looking for events in September itself! You’ll be surprised to see how things get fully booked by December so if you want to have fun guaranteed, start looking in September! I use website such as little bird, time out or just google! I also use the Families Magazine which features local events. The magazine is available across the country and usually found in children's centres or libraries.

2) If your kids still believe in Santa, they can write to Santa. Check Royal Mail for the address to send the letter and watch out for the deadline. Santa's letters are also a good way to find out what your kids want. I'll say to leave the letter writing till November as kids can change their minds quite often.

3) Online shopping - God! Where would I be without online shopping! I can't stand shopping anymore especially with crowded spaces, distracted kids and slow people ! So i do everything online. Amazon is my Bible but I don't buy anything until it's Black Friday or Cyber Monday were some items could be on sale. Also compare prices across sites to you make sure you are not overpaying. I use Argos and Smyths to compare prices. Or if you are really unlucky, like me this year, you also run into the risk of none of your items being on sale. Boohoo! 

4) Decorations - One of our traditions is to decorate our front door and inside our home with home made decorations. Theres no fun in buying pre made decorations! We usually go to The Works to buy everything we need and they do a great range of home made Christmas decorations to do. We then put on Christmas songs while making our decorations and put them up! Its lovely to see our house with things that we make and its a great way to spend quality time with the whole family.

5) Working over Christmas- since I'm working full time and my husband isn't a great entertainer, I have to think of ways to keep them entertained while at my work over the school holidays. Usually, I go to Hobbycraft and buy a few kits to keep them busy. I also print things like colouring pages and baking recipes.

6) Enjoy - don't forget to relax and enjoy yourself over the holiday! Christmas is all about spending time with your family and so make a lot of memories!

Happy Holidays!

On board the Spooky Express!

We visited Epping Ongar Railway Station for Halloween. It was a bit risky for me to take them as the kids are not into steam trains so I didn't know if they will enjoy it. You can buy tickets in advice on their website https://www.eorailway.co.uk , purchase from the bus that takes you there or at the site itself.

It is quite easy to get to even when using public transport. If using public transport, the central line takes you to Epping. You can then wait for a vintage bus (free with your tickets to the Railway Station) that takes you straight there. It comes at specific times so please check the bus timetable on their website. The train goes from Epping Ongar to North Weald or you can board the train from North Weald to Epping Ongar. 

Once we arrived, there was a few things going on. We first checked what times the steam trains were leaving so we could plan our times around it. We were also offered to do a spooky trail which will make us explore both stations. Since we had some time, we went to the tent to watch a funny magic show. We then took part in a spooky silent disco along with some spooky faceprinting. The tent was well decorated with spooky photos which the kids were quite thrilled with as they love all these spooky things.

Then it was time to take the steam train to North Weald. We were handed our train tickets and took a seat in the steam train. The kids were pleasantly surprised by more spooky decorations. The whole train was decorated well to go with the Halloween mood. On the way to North Weald Station, we were able to see lots of fields and some more spooky stuff. We were also on the lookout for answers to our spooky trail. Once we got to North Weald Station, they were scary characters walking around and more spooky decorations. We not only finished the spooky trail but explored the history of the station. There was a cafe and a shop too.

We then got on the train back and  we had some spooky characters visiting us and chatting with the kids. The kids absolutely loved this part!

Once we were back on firm ground, there was an owl 'zoo' where we were also allowed to pet them and hold them which my 10year old was excited about. Before we finished, we collected ur treat from the shop and off we boarded off the vintage bus back to Epping!

It was a hit with the kids... kids who don't like steam trains!

Of note: Epping Ongar also runs Santa Specials Train, Dinosaur Days, Father's Day Special and lots of other special days!