Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N at London ExCel

Archie and I were invited to the preview event of a new exhibit outside London ExCel, the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N, an interactive Avengers experience for kids and adults that will be there until the end of March 2019.  Archie is a big superhero fan and was hoping to see more about Hulk and Thanos and was excited to see both were featured.

At 5 years old, he doesn't have the longest attention span and isn't keen on reading but there was plenty to keep him entertained and his favourite part was a virtual reality game where you become Iron Man and fight off the baddies.  We loved the photo opportunities and the life size models of the different Iron Man costumes.  The exhibit focuses mostly on the big players but there is something to see about all the characters that form the avengers team.

I loved spending some time with just Archie and I couldn't resist the games, especially a quick response one where you have to shoot only the baddies and not the Avengers.  As we went on a press night it wasn't as busy as normal so we spent about an hour in the experience.  You are able to do it all at your own speed and you can go back to the beginning at any point too.  Once you go into the final zone however for a big battle, you can't go back.  I liked that you can do it at your own pace as it meant that we could flit back and forth.

I would have liked to see more information and maybe more details on some of the lesser known characters.  Archie loved it though and would happily visit again! He enjoyed getting his ID card at the end and getting a photo with the avengers and both were taken into school the next day for show and tell! 

Tickets are from £25 per adult and £14 per child and if you have children that love superheroes, it is a great experience. You can find out more on the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N  website

Thanks to the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N team for inviting us along!

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Maxomorra 10 Years

I discovered the brand Maxomorra when I was pregnant with Archie and I still remember the first purchase I made, a yellow t-shirt for Dylan and matching summer suit for my tiny baby with excavators on.  They were unlike anything I could get on the high street and a refreshing change from the baby blue that seemed to be the only thing I could find in most stores.  The quality was fantastic and everything was made from organic cotton so I knew my babies were getting the best.

I bought the two boys Christmas tops back in 2014, Dylan's with penguins on and Archie's covered in snowmen and for the fourth year, those t-shirts are being worn by my babies, only it is the younger two now, two that weren't even born when these were purchased.  Maxomorra has been one of our favourite brands for many years and this year they are celebrating 10 years with a new range including a colouring book, memory cards and the most adorable trays and coasters, including a set in the penguin print that matches our Christmas top.

As soon as the trays arrived, Finn and Cora claimed their favourites and they have been using them for all manner of things ever since. They are perfect snack trays, dinner plates, and trays to claim random things as your own as toddlers like to do.  My plans for serving hot drinks on them seem to have gone out the window.  

Maxomorra is still making beautiful organic kids clothes, clothes that stand out, that get people talking and clothes that my children always want to wear.  If you want to buy anything from the new collection or any of their current clothing range then check out the last picture which has all the stockists!

Thank you to Maxomorra for sending us the goodies. The clothing I bought myself.

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Our Christmas Tree

Nothing makes my house feel cosier in the winter than a Christmas tree covered in fairy lights.  I love the idea of waiting until just before Christmas to put it up, keeping the magic just for the big day but I can't resist getting it up a bit early, even if I don't put up any other decorations as it warms the house, makes the dark evenings brighter and provides me with endless exercise, removing small children from the lower branches and returning the ornaments that they insist on pulling off.

We were sent a new tree this year from Christmas Tree World (the 6ft Ultra Mountain Pine) and I have to admit, it was up in the corner of our living room before the end of November.  The tree is so easy to assemble with just 4 pieces including the base and realistic pine tips that make it look much more natural than our previous trees.  Everytime I look at it I am reminded of the trees out in the mountains and so it seems the perfect place to have it next to our snow pictures.  I am hoping this tree will last us many years as it is the perfect size for our room and feels really well made.

This year I decorated with only one small 'helper' at my side and it was like a trip down memory lane as we brought out the box of baubles.  We started as a new couple with a box of baubles from a supermarket, all uniform and co-ordinated but we took our baby son out to the garden centre that first year and each chose (him with a little help) something to go on the tree. Every year that became a tradition, to all go out and choose a decoration and now our tree is a mismatch of styles and shapes with a few surviving simple baubles amongst them.

Not all of them have made it through the years.  Some got lost, some smashed, some squirrelled into a toy box to be played with throughout the year but I still love how unique our tree is, how I still remember who chose what, and that we still have the 'baby's first Christmas' baubles hanging proudly.  We haven't planned this year's bauble buying trip yet but I can't wait to add six new decorations over the coming weeks.

The rest of the house still needs to be made festive and I am in no rush but the moment I walk through the front door and see the tree glowing brightly, it makes the dark evenings warmer.

 This post is in collaboration with Christmas Tree World

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Me and Mine in November

November is coming to an end and in some ways it feels like December has already begun as our tree is shining bright in the living room and today is the day of the school Christmas fair.  November has been fun and busy with lots of time outside whilst it isn't too wet and windy and a couple of fun days out having some one on one time with my biggest boys.  My diary for December is looking incredibly hectic with fun festive plans and it begins with three parties on the 1st so we are diving straight in!

This month we were sent a pair of pjs each from the Original Factory Shop and they were perfect for taking our family photo.  £2 is donated from the sale of each pair (and the kids pairs are only £5 each!).  

This month I have loved having some special time with both Dylan and Archie, going to Harry Potter studios with my Mum and sister, afternoon tea in London with some blogging friends and representing TotsBots at the Mother and Baby awards and collecting the gold trophy

Ed has loved seeing Less than Jake in Birmingham, chocolate orange mochas, showing the kids some of his favourite childhood films and halloumi cheese.

Dylan loved sleeping over at the National History Museum, auditioning for parts in the school nativity, talking me into buying bright spinny things at the light switch on and pre-bedtime art sessions

Archie has loved training to be an Avenger at the Avengers Station, watching videos of other people playing Roblox, parent art sessions at school and having his friends over for after school playdates.

Finn has loved his new train set that he got got finally wearing his glasses, camping on his bedroom floor, walking Bella the dog at the weekend and the colour pink.

Cora has loved the feisty pets scary toys, dresses with pockets, going back to baby gymnastics and scooting through puddles when it has rained.

December, I think we are just about ready for you!

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Being in the Picture

The first photo of my family is less than 24 hours after Dylan was born.  My Aunty took a photo of the three of us and it is so special.  We look so young and in total shock that the hospital actually let us leave with this small baby.  The setting it our messy living room, not quite prepared for a baby as we were convinced that first babies are always late and not, as it happens, two weeks early.

The next one is exactly a year on, and that tiny baby was a giant one and we are celebrating his first birthday.  We still look a bit shocked, I look just as round thanks to a little brother for him taking up space in my womb but we had relaxed into it.  Fast forward another 6 months and Archie is born - another photo worthy moment.

It was coming up to Archie's first birthday when I decided to change things and start taking a photo every month of us all, documenting our changing family and making sure that whatever else happens that month, I am getting in the picture so that when these little children of mine look back, they will see our family as it was and remember how present we were.

Some months (more than I intended) it is a family selfie taking on my phone in the fading afternoon light on the last day of the month.  It isn't always easy to find the time and even harder to ensure everyone is happy enough to get in the picture.  Sometimes the camera is balanced on the edge of something and the children allow me two shots where they will remain in the picture before they need to move on to the next adventure.

Last month thanks to Splento, a photography app that allows you to book a photographer with as little as 24 hours notice for any occasion, we had wonderful family photos captured which we will treasure forever.  Not only are there are plenty of the six of us (and we all know that is a lot of people to cram into one frame) but there are some of just me and one of the children, candid shots which don't happen as I am always the one behind the camera. 

Our photographer stayed with us for an hour, snapping away whilst we ran and played.  She took things at our pace, understood how to work with children and captured so many special photos for us.  You might have seen some in last months' Me and Mine post but here are a few more that I need to print out for the wall.   

Splento are offering 10% off with the code 'mummyadventure10' so if you have an event coming up, or if you are just overdue some family photos to capture you as you are right now then check them out!

I was provided with an hour's shoot in exchange for a post on instagram 

but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

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Outdoor Fun with Little Green Radicals

Sometimes I have words with no pictures and sometimes I have pictures with no words.  These photos are from a day out recently at our favourite park and I love the way they show the children exploring the new season.  I have sat for ages staring at the pictures willing the words to come but I think I need to let the pictures tell the story. 

These children are so curious about the world.  They want to know why the leaves fall from the tree, how are they all different sizes, what do the bugs eat and where does the sun go at the end of the day.  They want to find the biggest leaf, run fastest down the hill and everything is a race, even if the other person isn't playing.  This part of childhood is fleeting, exhausting and utterly magical at times

Little Green Radicals let us choose a few items from their new collection and I couldn't resist this amazing checked dress, the stripy top for Finn with the star shaped elbow patches and the navy trousers which are so fun and still go with everything.  The clothes are super soft made of organic cotton and everything is fairtrade.  They are perfect for little children on big adventures and they are a brand we have been buying for years.

Of course I couldn't write literally no words, but really it is the pictures that make this blog post, pictures of their innocence and colour and the gorgeous outfits.

This photo is from another day but this is one of the Little Green Radicals reversible jackets which we absolutely adore as the inside is sherpa fleece! 

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We were sent some of these items for the purpose of this post 

but some of them I also paid full price for as we genuinely love the post!

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Dinosnores Sleepover at the Natural History Museum

I don't remember exactly when I first heard about Dinosnores, the sleepover at the Natural History Museum in London, but I thought it would be the perfect way to spend some time with my then six year old and I booked in to go in November once he was seven.  Dinosnores is a sleepover experience for children aged 7-11 years that takes part after the museum has shut for the night and involves sleeping under the great blue whale skeleton in the extraordinary Hintze Hall.

We arrived at the Natural History Museum at 6:45pm in the rain and were assigned our team (blue raptors) and shown an area of the main hall covered in sleeping mats so we could choose our beds.  There was an excited atmosphere as the children laid out their sleeping bags and browsed the animals and skeletons that line the main hall.  There was plenty of time to go and change into comfy clothes (most children were in either warm pyjamas or a onsie for the evening) and have a drink.

There were three evening activities and different groups did them in a different order.  I was worried that Dylan wasn't 'into' dinosaurs enough for Dinosnores but I loved the way the activities meant you didn't need to be (although a light interest is quite useful) as you could focus on the other aspects of the activity instead.  Our first one was a torchlight trail around the dinosaur area finding the clues to find out our Dino.  The children were all given torches and sheets and Dylan loved looking for the green dinosaurs to complete his sheet and learning some facts about the answer.

After this we could go to the Natural History Museum cafe for a snack. You need to bring in your own food which has to be kept in the cafe at all times and there was tea and coffee on hand too.  We had eaten dinner before we arrived so had some light snacks to get us through the rest of the evening.  After snack time was our second activity.

The event says children must be between 7 and 11 to participate and it was the science show that we watched next that really showed me why.  It started at 9.30 and was incredibly interesting and interactive but it was pushing the limits of Dylan's concentration to engage in a show at that time of night.  It was run by Scientists from the museum and was fantastic.  

Our final activity for the evening was creative and the children were taught how to become dinosaur artists, interpreting the fossils to discover how the dinosaurs would have actually looked and it ended in them creating their own t-shirts to take home.  I was so impressed with how this activity was run as there was plenty of space and materials and all the children looked really involved.  Dylan loves art so I think this was his favourite t-shirt and my job this evening is to iron the t-shirt to secure his art on it!.

We went back to the main hall afterwards to prepare for lights out at midnight and got cosy in our sleeping bags.  Thankfully it wasn't cold despite the pouring rain outside and once the lights went out it was very dark.  Sleeping on the floor isn't the comfiest though and whilst Dylan got a full seven hours I certainly didn't (and I hadn't expected to).  He is a child that needs a lot of sleep so the next day was quite challenging by the end of it despite his hour long nap on the way home! 

Lights came up at 7am ready for breakfast and there were small packs for each of us with a small muffin, a yoghurt and juice.  I would definitely recommend packing something more substantial like croissants/pain au chocolate of breakfast bars as we were still hungry and unprepared.

After breakfast there was a live animal show featuring a skunk and a meerkat amongst other things.  It was really well done with humour for the adults alongside interaction for the children.  Once the sleepover officially finished, we were left to either leave the museum or stay in it and some exhibits were open (and of course empty) so we could enjoy them in peace before the crowds arrived!

The event was organised amazingly and there were so many staff on hand at the Natural History Museum who could help return lost families to their group, guide the activities and chat to the children.  If I had a question there was always someone close by to ask it too and all the staff were enthusiastic and knowledgable.  I was really impressed with how well run it was.

We had an absolutely fantastic experience at the Dinosnores sleepover event and I would really recommend it to anyone with a curious junior school aged child.  Dylan was so happy and it was a great way for us to enjoy some one on one time together without his siblings.  It would be a brilliant birthday party idea for a small group and there were beaver/scout groups there as well when we visited.  I hope that in the future I can repeat the experience with the other children although I will definitely be waiting until they are at least seven as it was exhausting and I want them to get the most out of it.

You can find out more here about Dinosnores sleepovers at the Natural History Museum

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