Ladybird Books - A Gurgle Girls Review

Gurgle and Ladybird sent me and my fellow Gurgle Girls a customised bag of books. Top Ender and Baby Boy were delighted as books in our house are a big part of our life (and living room) as we love to read. There wasn't just books inside the bag however (which was really useful when we went Sweet shopping the other day), there was also a little camera, a ladybird cuddly toy, a DVD, a cookie cutter and a sticker. I think that is all that was in there, but when the wrapping was ripped off Top Ender and Baby Boy divided the goodies amongst themselves and ran off to read before I was aware of what was going on so I am not too sure!

Ladybird had customised the bag by sending out books that were suitable for Top Ender and Baby Boy by age range. Top Ender is a confident reader thanks to her school and home efforts and sat down with the two Read it Yourself books and was well, reading away to herself. I got her to read them to me at Bedtime on Sunday and I really enjoyed the stories! "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and "Sly Fox and Red Hen" are classic stories, but are written in a more simple way that allows young readers more ease with reading them.

The third book that Top Ender got was from "Puddle the naughtiest puppy" series and was the book "Magic Carpet Ride". Top Ender has a couple from this series already, as they were popular in Party bags in the last school year. They are large print, easy to read stories about a puppy (called Puddle!) and his adventures and they make great practice for reading and even better bedtime stories. Top Ender isn't actually keen on dogs, so I am hoping that by reading a few stories about a naughty, but lovable puppy she might get over this aversion.

Baby Boy got two books one which was a "Ladybird Big Noisy Book" and is called "Emergency!". As you can guess this book makes noises and is loved by Baby Boy. He loved it so much that he hid it in a special place and I couldn't find it for a couple of days even though he was reading it during the day. It was hidden under the cushions on the sofa! Baby Boy loves pretending to read the book and pressing the right buttons as indicated in the text to get the noise that enhances the story. Daddy and Baby Boy read this book on Sunday night at bed time and they really loved it judging from the giggles!

The other book that Baby Boy got was "Peek-a-Zoo!" a rhyming flap book and it is really sweet, he has been reading this book with me and making the noises that the hidden animals make and the obligatory "Peek-a-Zoo" phrase when ever he lifts the flap! Both books are quite sturdy, although Baby Boy has ripped the back cover of the "Emergency!" book as he could see a gap between the spine and the back page. A bit of sticky tape sorted this right out though!

The last part of the bag was a Spot DVD and Spot shaped cookie cutter! I don't really remember having any Spot the dog books when I was younger (I am a whole year older than Spot), but I do remember children that I babysat having them and loving the stories. I remember when it was turned into a cartoon as I think someone brought my sister and I a video to share of Spots adventures.

Baby Boy and I waited until we had Top Ender at school before we sat down to watch the DVD with new episodes of Spot and I baked some quick mixed spice biscuits (they were going to be gingerbread but I didn't have any ginger!). Baby Boy loved the DVD and the biscuits and we had an enjoyable afternoon snuggling on the sofa!

Take a look at the other Gurgle Girls and what they got in their bags and if you are really lucky I might even share my gingerbread mixed spice biscuits recipe with you!

Club Lego Lego Magazines

When I look back on this summer I think that my overall memory is going to be this was the summer of Lego for my family. Baby Boy discovered Duplo and has been busy making buildings, cars, rockets and what ever else his imagination comes up with and Top Ender and Daddy brought a tub of Lego from the Lego store that has grown since our visit to Legoland and has also been turned into so many different creations I wouldn't know where to start in naming them.

When Lego Club asked if they could send us some Lego magazines to review we said yes, especially as if you belong to the FREE Lego Club, you get the five magazines sent to you throughout the year. Seeing as most children enjoy Lego, I figured that a review of the two magazines (Lego Club for Top Ender and Lego Club Jr for Baby Boy) would be useful. After all you don't just sign up to something just because it is free.

So we got two magazines, Lego Club Jr which is actually aimed at ages 4-5 and Lego Club Magazine which is aimed at ages 7+. Both magazines are brought to you by a MiniFigure called Max, who if made real would be a children's Breakfast TV presenter.

Both Magazines have glossy covers, although the Lego Club Jr Magazine has matt pages on the inside. The Lego Club Jr magazine had lots of activities that kept Baby Boy amused and a how to build a Sports Car feature that kept us all amused trying to build the most perfect sports car. There were plenty of pages that kept Baby Boy amused, even if they weren't being used in the same way as the makers of the Lego Club Jr Magazine intended! The Lego Club magazine, let Top Ender have a good read and she found out a lot about different Lego sets and was most excited to find a LegoLand voucher giving her free entry if she takes an adult.

I haven't explored the Lego website too much, but I have been told that;

"On LEGOClub.com there is exclusive content like ‘Buildits’, ClubCodes, the LEGO Club Show and a chance to sign up for monthly email newsletters of the latest LEGO news"

Once I have had a good explore, if there is anything that I think about the above that is untrue I shall let you know! All in all I think that the Lego Club magazine is a great extra for any Lego mad children/adults and we will be signing up for the club as soon as I get five minutes!

A Magic Package, two bars of chocolate and nobody is pregnant

Over the last few days the doorbell has hardly stopped ringing with deliveries of one sort or another and yet even though the packages are addressed to me they were all for Baby Boy and Top Ender. I was starting to think that nobody loved me as I hadn't even had any junk mail or even the dreaded bills!

Then came the magic package with my name on it. A magic package that made me excited because it was for me and me only. So excited that after having opened it I tweeted;

I got a lot of guesses, 54 guesses (I miscounted when I said 53 on Twitter). And out of all of them only one hit the nail on the head.

Congratulations Kate, a bar of chocolate will be on its way to you this weekend! The best answer was from Laura who sent two very quick tweets, but I ended up deciding that the hash tag #pleasecanihavesomechocolate really did deserve a reward!

The reason I was so excited was because the magic package that I had opened contained my dress and new undies that I am going to wear to The MADs!

A few weeks back I started talking with Simply Yours, about underwear to wear to The MADs and they very kindly agreed to send me not only a fab bra for the event and some for everyday wear, but also a dress from sister site Simply Be.

I was looking at the fantastic pages and pages of dresses and underwear and started enlisting help in the form of family and friends and ended up choosing what I think is a beautiful dress. Now I know that you want to see the dress, but I want to keep it a bit of a surprise for a bit longer and so I have written a blog post and scheduled it to post just as the MADs awards starts... so come back on the evening of the 13th September to see a picture of me in my dress!

Family Fun Days Out on a Budget

The other Sunday I was talking about Family Fun on a Budget and I was talking about things that we do as a family on the cheap to make everyday a fun day. It got me thinking though because even when we go out as a family I still try and make it as cheap as possible and today I thought I would share some of my secrets with you.

Most of our days out involve us going somewhere in our car. I love our car, we have a Citroen Xsara Picasso and I have to say that I think it is fab as a family car (although my next car will without a doubt be a Toyota Prius) because of the great storage it offers. When we go on a long journey we always check the tyre pressure, the water and oil levels and make sure that we have petrol. We empty the car of anything that we won't need and normally give it a quick wash and use the Dyson on the inside. As I am sure you know these simple steps help improve the fuel efficiency and also means that the mouldy pears are taken care of!

The great storage in our car means that we have space (in the floor) to store snacks and drinks for the journeys we make. I put family and car friendly snacks such as cartoons of juice and crisps and raisins (and the odd biscuit) into the car before we set off, so that if we need to snack whilst we are on the move we don't need to stop at the services that we past. I also keep mints in the front of the car for Daddy and I

If we are going out for the entire day, I make sure that we take snacks, drinks and if possible Lunch and a light Supper. I am always shocked, although I don't know why, at the price of drinks and snacks at theme parks or anywhere that isn't my local shop. I have a large cool bag, which will hold enough sandwiches, fruit, yogurts (I freeze tube yogurts and use them as cool packs) drinks, biscuits, crisps and cakes for the four of us more than twice over. The pack can stay in the car if we are at an attraction that lets us return to our car during the day, and if not it can either go on/in the buggy or we adults take turns in carrying it.

I love the Internet (as you probably already know) and as such will search for vouchers for days out, two for one, half price days or anything else that will save me on admission price. You can also use your Tesco Clubcard points to convert to tickets for certain theme parks and days out, so this is like free days out! I am signed up with local tourist boards to get emails about upcoming attractions so that if there is a discount for booking early I can take advantage of this. I couldn't even make a guess at how much this has saved me in the past, but I am sure that it is worth the time and effort.

Daddy always scopes out parking for where we are going, and checks that it isn't cheaper to park in a local NCP car park rather than the car park at the event we are going to. His favourite was when we went to the O2, parking at a local NCP car park cost £10 and then there was a further £5 fee for our trip on the Docklands Light Railway to the O2 arena but parking at the O2 would of cost £20. I know its only a saving of £5 but that £5 brought us our programme for the evening and meant that we spent some more time together having an adventure!

So these are my top tips, but what are your top tips? Where else can I save money?

Family Fun on a Budget

Reading this blog you might think that we don't know about having Family Fun on a Budget as at the moment it seems that every other weekend we are at a show or at the cinema, or on a day trip as a family and it must seem like we have money to burn, but its not true. Its just that with a bit of careful planning we are able to budget for events like I have mentioned but we intersperse them with events and days out that cost nothing or next to nothing, such as the ones that I have talked about before in my post Eight things to do on a small Entertainment fund but are still packed full of fun! This weekend we don't have anything major planned, but you can be sure that we will be doing a few of the following!

We love to bake together as a family, and this is a great way of doing something fun on a small amount of money. Plus you get to eat it afterwards! Something that I love to do is to make cornflake cakes (melt chocolate and stir in cornflakes, put a generous spoonful into a cake case and leave to set) and then whip them out whilst we are waiting for our cup cakes to cook.

We love going for walks, we are lucky that we have a great local Parks Trust that maintains local parks and green areas. It could be though that you just walk to the local shop and buy everyone a small sweet, or take a walk to the local park. If you all have wellies why not even go if it has been raining and puddle jump at the same time?!

The local park is really great for burning off some energy and is a great way to have some fun. Top Ender and Baby Boy love when we get on the roundabout or the swings or slide with them and so do we! Plus according to that study that Brainiacs did (It was Scientific!) a half hour in the park on the equipment burns more calories than a half hour in the Gym.

Going round a Shop or a Supermarket might seem like an odd place for Family Fun, but most Supermarkets these days have aisles dedicated to toys and household goods. Its a great place to window shop for things that you might like... not that we do that in Ikea or anything!

Search the Internet for free things to do, there are lots of sites that list places such as Skillscape, and Silver Cross Days Out that list places that other parents have recommended. It might be that you get to go to an Outdoor Cinema, an Airshow, or pick some fruit but there is bound to be something to suit your budget!

I don't know many people who pay much attention to flyers and vouchers in the UK. It seems to me that our friends in the USA and Canada are much more savvy at this sort of thing, but there are savings to be had on most days out. There is a funfair at Willen Lake at the moment, and at £1.50 per person per ride it soon adds up but a flyer I found in a local pub gives vouchers for 50p off any ride. I picked up two flyers (one for Top Ender and one for Baby Boy) and now Top Ender and Baby Boy will be able to go on two more rides than we would of originally budgeted for!

Make use of cinema discounts (such as Orange Wednesday, half price Tuesday or movies for juniors) or have fun and make your living room into the cinema. Shutting the curtains, making movie tickets and having Cinema style snacks is a great laugh, and a good way to have a sneaky snooze or snog when the kids aren't looking...

And if you get really stuck for something to do why not try looking for ideas on Disney's What shall we do today. We love the ideas on the website and quite often have a quick visit to get a game or idea!

The London Dungeons

I was gripping Top Ender's hand as we stood next to a recently unearthed coffin listening to distant screams, and I was wishing I had eaten more carrots and tuna as a child so that I could see in the dark, when suddenly a man dressed in black ushered me into a room lit by torches and I started kicking myself for my own stupidity.

RIP William Hyatt Originally uploaded by the-dungeons

You see a few months back a kind man asked if we would like to go to The London Dungeons and that he would provide tickets for us to go and we could write about our experience on this here blog. I knew that The London Dungeons was an attraction in London, but that was about it. So I asked my friend Google for some details and I didn't like what I saw.

I decided that as I am really a huge wimp that I would get Daddy to take Top Ender and that I would claim that Baby Boy was too young to go to such an attraction and that he would much more enjoy going across the road to The Hays Galleria with me... It worked right up until the morning we were set to go and Daddy asked my traitorous friend Google for some details. Somehow he managed to convince me that Top Ender would enjoy the visit with me more than with him.

Enter At Your Peril Originally uploaded by the-dungeons

A little known fact about me is that I'm scared of the dark. A well known fact about The London Dungeons is that it is a tour through the scary and horrible bits of London's History in the near dark with special effects, live actors and a big dose of your own imagination. Standing in the second queue before we were admitted to the tour gave me enough time to say a quick prayer mainly asking for me to not drop dead of a heart-attack during the tour and for nobody to jump out on us; Top Ender echoed my prayer but added a request for a torch. She's sensible.

Top Ender was the youngest in the group and I think that swayed in our favour as we didn't get picked on once during the tour. Mind you we also were smart enough to not go in the front or the back of the group as we knew if the guides were looking for volunteers that is where they would find them. A few of the friends we made during the tour (when you are all as scared as each other you make friends quickly) did get picked on, but I can say that they enjoyed the experience as much as Top Ender and I did.

Everybody was wanting to be scared (why would you go on the tour if you didn't want to just for a little while?) and so with belief suspended the over acting actors and the sometimes very dusty displays were very spooky. Even though Top Ender and I kept muttering to each other "It isn't real, they are only actors" we were at times clinging to each other and at others we were screaming, cowering, giggling and getting wet.

I don't want to give too much away about what happens inside the Dungeon, as if you go I wouldn't want to spoil the surprises (and there are plenty of places that already do that), but the hour and a half that Top Ender and I spent in the semi-darkness gripping each others hands was actually a lot of fun and fairly educational with a lot of what I had learnt at school being covered.

The tickets that we had allowed us to skip the main queue (thank goodness as it was huge!) but a quick chat with one of the ladies outside said that if you come first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening that the queues tend to be smaller, and more so if you come between Late September and Early June. The tickets do cost quite a lot but if you buy in advance and online they are cheaper and there are plenty of offers around. If you can afford the priority tickets to avoid the queue it would be worth the extra money, but there are entertainers who keep the waiting masses amused with the painting on of cuts and selling of guidebooks.

Top Ender and I would recommend The London Dungeons to anyone who is brave enough to go and I would say that ten year olds and older may enjoy it more than six and a half year olds but your own discretion should be used.

MINI Countryman World Record Attempt

When we went to Westfields Shopping Centre to see Mickey Mouse (and didn't actually see him) we noticed a MINI Countryman in the corner of the main plaza and discovered that there is a record attempt at getting as many people into a MINI as possible. Top Ender and Daddy are never one to back down from a challenge and so they decided to jump on in!

And I don't want any comments that Daddy is a natural at being squished because of all the practice he gets living with me!

Making Bath Time MORE Fun!

As part of our 104 Days of Summer or Family Fun on a Phineas and Ferb Scale, we needed some ideas that only took a few minutes to arrange. We had already decided that not all our days needed to be on a grand scale, that it was the Fun that had to be on a grand scale. The one thing that I know that can turn anything from small to big is imagination and so I told Top Ender and Baby Boy that they were going to go Deep Sea Diving just before Bath time.

Of course my bathroom isn't built over an ocean and Top Ender and Baby Boy don't have any scuba gear or training, so this was going to be Deep Sea Diving with a difference. This was deep sea diving with food colouring...

When you add a few drops of food colouring to bathwater it changes colour. It is diluted enough that it doesn't stain the children (or the bath, but if you have a porcelain bath you might want to be careful) despite what my Nan might tell you. Everybody knows that the sea is blue and so blue food colouring was added to the running water and we got this;

Top Ender and Baby Boy loved the bath and it was a struggle to get them out that evening, but I was able to bribe them out with a promise of a new bath adventure the following evening. Coming up with an idea the following evening was as hard as opening my cake decorating gels and looking to see what colour took my fancy!

I decided that yellow would probably be the best bet, and added some yellow gel to the water. It required a bit more swishing around, but then that just serves me right for being fancy and having gels instead of the liquid kind that most people have.

The result was a sunshine bath and although I didn't think this looked as impressive as the Deep Sea Diving bath, Top Ender and Baby Boy loved it... as you can hear from our singing in the video!

So the next time you can't face having a boring old bath, or you want to add some excitement to your children's bath time why not go and raid the cake decorations for food colouring to add to the water!

The Winner of the Merlin Annual Pass

Last Wednesday I posted a photo and invited you to take a guess of where the photo was taken in order to be entered in to a draw for a Merlin Annual Pass. Well everyone who entered with a correct guess had their name put into a hat, there were over 200 names!

I am pleased to announce that Marg Farmer, who entered at A Place of my Own won the pass, but congratulations to everyone who got it right here too. In case you were wondering the photo that we had her at A Mothers Ramblings was taken at Chessington. And just to prove it here is the photo before the computer wizards cropped it and made it all blurry!

If you are still in the mood for trying your luck at winning, then don't forget to enter the competition on my blog to win a family ticket to see "The Go! Go! Go! Show" in London.

World Party - Croydon Summer Festival 2010

It isn't just me who comes up with places and ideas of where we should go as a family, Daddy comes up with ideas too and this past weekend when we went to the Croydon Summer Festival it was his suggestion.

We went to the World Party day (well evening) as we wanted to hear Martha Reeves and the Vandellas but due to some issues with traffic and roads being closed and a lot of police guarding crime scenes we arrived after they had left the stage.

As we came in we saw this sign, I am not sure who brings a kangaroo to a festival, but we were pleased that they were very clear about what sorts of Animals weren't allowed into the grounds! If anyone has ever taken any form of Marsupial to a Musical Festival, if they could let me know in the comments that would be great.

We had a quick look around the stalls and exhibitions (and of course the fun fair) and saw a fantastic sky dancer/air ballerina who was attached to a giant ball (and two men on the floor making sure she didn't fly away) and the movements that she made in the air were fantastic, and only a little scary as she would rush towards the crowds before suddenly swooping back into the air!

We managed to get back to the main stage in time to hear the other act that we wanted to hear... The Lightning Seeds! Honestly this photo does show Ian Broudie on stage...

We set up camp nearish the back of the crowd and both Top Ender and Baby Boy were having a great time having a dance to the songs (which I knew more than I thought I would) and even got me dancing although there is no video footage of this phenomena! It was a beautiful end to a beautiful day and I think that I could be tempted to go to every London borough Summer Festival!

The Magical Menagerie (Le Manege Carre Senart)

At the moment in Milton Keynes there is a fantastical carousel, which is quite unlike any carousel I have ever seen before. For a start the carousel is square and instead of horses to ride on, there are mechanical creatures such as buffalo, fish and insects that are operated by the people riding on them!

When Daddy first heard about the Manege Carre Senart coming to Milton Keynes as part of the Milton Keynes International Festival, he sent me the link so that I could see the carousel as he knew that I would have to see it to believe it. Since it opened for business on the 16th July, we have been up to see the Carousel a couple of times and finally we got our chance to go last night and to have a ride.

The carousel is huge, it is said in the information that it is as tall as a house and it is just as impressive. The whole structure is decorated, with the metal work on the roof in the shapes of Snails and Frogs and other creatures.

The outer ring of the Carousel are one seater creatures and they travel in a clockwise direction and as you can see are fairly large in size!

  

The inner ring are larger multiple rider creatures which travel in a anticlockwise direction. If you have a child under seven who wants to ride, then this is where you should head as children under seven have to be accompanied by an adult.

We were really lucky that we got to ride the entire Carousel by ourselves and Top Ender chose for us to go on a Buffalo in the centre. We climbed up wooden steps to sit upon the top of the mechanical creature, where five separate seats with seat belts were waiting for us.

We seated Top Ender and Baby Boy in the front and Daddy and I took two of the rear seats and started to look round at the various levers and handles that were around us (and between our legs!). Top Ender was in heaven and Baby Boy were in heaven with the noise and the movement and loved every second.

  

As soon as Top Ender got off the ride she asked if we could go back on, we explained that the Carousel will be in Milton Keynes (just outside The Point) until the 8th August and so we would have plenty of time to go back and have another ride and time to save up!

The Carousel is open from 12 noon until 8pm (but not at all on the 2nd August). If you book in advance Weekday tickets cost £10 for a family of four (£12 if you just turn up) and at weekends booked in advanced tickets cost £14 (or £16 if you just turn up). The ride itself lasts for around five minutes, but the happy feeling you get from riding will last for a lot longer!

Win a Merlin Annual Pass *Sponsored Post

We are big on Family fun at a Mothers Ramblings (we are a Finalist in The Mads for Best Family Fun, don't you know!) and so when The Sun asked if I would like to be part of a challenge for someone to win a Merlin Annual Pass we said YES! Before I go any further I want to point out that this is a sponsored post as my family are being given tickets for a day out and some spending money, but as the prize is a Merlin Annual Pass I thought you would all forgive me.

A Merlin Annual Pass can be brought for the following attractions,

· Thorpe Park
· Chessington World of Adventures
· Alton Towers
· Legoland
· Warwick Castle
· Madame Tussuads
· Lego Discovery Centre

and there are lots more perks and benefits to having a pass that you can find out about at the Merlin Annual Pass website... I wish I could win an Annual Pass, but I can't enter this competition!

You could be lucky though and win one as its a really simple challenge, see the picture below? In my comments section (on my blog please, not my Facebook comments) simply answer which of the above attractions it is from and then from across the various blogs and website running this challenge the correct answers will be entered into a prize draw, so if you want to increase your chances enter at other blogs too!

 
 
The deadline for entries is Friday 30th July so get guessing quickly and if you would like more information, take a look at www.thesun.co.uk/daysout.

Millets Farm Centre And the Maize Maze

On Saturday Top Ender, Baby Boy, Daddy and I were invited along with a few other bloggers to visit Millets Farm Centre in Oxfordshire to try out the new Maize Maze and to enjoy the other attractions on offer as well. As going in a Maize Maze was one of our 100 things we decided that we would be foolish not to accept, especially as they were providing lunch and free food will always get me out of bed in the morning.

As we made our way to the entrance tent to the Maize Maze area and the Courtyard activities we walked past a Victorian Steam Carousel which took both Top Ender and Baby Boy's eye, and at a cost of £1.50 per person was something we were quite happy to let them have a ride on, but agreed it should be at the end of the day, as it was next to our car!

Entrance to the Maize Maze and the courtyard activities is £5.95 per Adult and £4.95 per child (3-16 years), but there are discounts for family tickets and groups and I felt it accurately priced for the amount of activities in the courtyard area.

Within the Courtyard there are several garden games such as noughts and crosses (I won), draughts/checkers (Top Ender won), a football aim game (Baby Boy enjoyed this), connect four (Baby Boy declared himself to have won despite not playing) some mini tractors for those under ten to pedal round a small course (Daddy *enjoyed* pushing Baby Boy round) and there are trampolines, a bouncy castle and Straw bales to climb on and under. If you look closely at Top Enders video you might spot one of those other bloggers...

There were two further mazes one of which is a lost sheep trail and the other is a fort maze and both were great fun for Baby Boy and Top Ender to run around looking for the various signs they were to look out for. The courtyard activities were well aimed, with older children enjoying the activities as much as the younger children and the huge sandpit, which I think Baby Boy was trying to smuggle home in his shoes, even kept a few adults amused!

There are three Maize Mazes, the Giant Maize Maze which takes around an hour and a half to complete (but we decided that we really weren't cut out for that), a middle sized maze which takes around a half hour to complete (unless you forget to take the map in with you) and the Mini Maze which takes around fifteen minutes to complete (Unless you let Top Ender navigate).

Each Maze has a quiz element but the most fun is the one in the mini maze, where as you go round you have to look for small stands that have finger pastels in five different colours. When you find them you can choose which finger you colour and when you come out of the maize there is a giant board with all 120 possible different colour combinations which results in you having to do a dare. It did cause a lot of laughter with us all and Top Ender has new found respect for my pig impressions.

Millets Farm has 100 Acres of land where it grows fresh produce, a restaurant, a farm shop, a Garden Centre (part of the Frosts chain), a wood, a farm animal Zoo and plenty of areas to picnic in. The restaurant uses produce grown on site or ingredients sourced locally and the lunch we were treated to was put together by them and was fantastic. I have a feeling that the food is expensive, but I do think that it would be worth it.

The Farm has a large pick your own section and we had been given a voucher for a punnet of Strawberries so we made our way across the complex to the strawberry polytunnels. We started picking and our punnet was soon full and only a handful didn't make it to the punnet but were sneakily eaten by Top Ender and Baby Boy. They told me that they tasted as good as their first strawberries of the season, and the few that I have eaten so far would make me agree with that!

The whole day was lots of fun and Daddy and I agreed that we will be returning in the next few weeks with Top Ender and Baby Boy and we all agreed that it will become an annual tradition for a day out.

The Octopus who came to tea

Every so often Daddy and I like to try something different. It might be that we take a walk down the World Foods aisle in one of our local Supermarkets (We have one of all of them nearby!) or it might be that one of us finds a recipe that we decide to try out, without the other one of us knowing what it is that we are preparing.

It was whilst we were walking down an ordinary aisle that Daddy found a can of something that neither of us had actually eaten before and we decided to be brave and try... Octopus!

Now the package itself looks fairly harmless as you can see.

But when you open it up, this is what you are presented with. Yes, those are suckers on a tentacle in the bottom right of the can.

So I served it up, reserving two small parts for Top Ender and Baby Boy so they could at least pretend to try and a larger portion for Daddy and I. We served it with Red Peppers, Salad and New Potatoes (It said it was nice like that on the packaging) and all of us were ready to give it a go.

What was the verdict? Why not watch Daddy take his first mouthful?

Well as Daddy says it was fishy, I felt it was quite strong, Baby Boy decided that it was yuck and spat it out on to my leg and Top Ender took a sniff, a lick and then refused to sit anywhere near me in case I snuck some on to her plate!

I was surprised though because Daddy, not normally one to try new foods, not only suggested that we get this to try but then also liked it! Wonder if I can get him to suggest eating some new Vegetables...