The Snowman and The Dog Grotto at intu The Trafford Centre

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I recently saw an advert on TV that there was a Snowman and The Snowdog grotto in intu Trafford Centre. When I went online I was gutted that it was pretty much sold out, obviously very popular. We were going to the Trafford Centre last weekend but there was no times available. I double checked the night before to see if any times had become available and I was so please that one time slot was showing green instead of the sold out red. 
I quickly whizzed through the booking form and secured our placed in the grotto. There was an option to book and pay for your photographs and other souvenirs online but I decided to wait until we got there.
The Snowman and The Snowdog is situated in Barton Square amongst lots of festive stalls and a lovely Victorian Carousel.

We arrived 10 minutes earlier than are booking time and joined the queue. Only 45 people can go through at any one time so even though are timed slot had past by the time we got to the front of the queue we had to wait a further 15 minutes to go through as it had reached full capacity. 

We left our buggy by the entrance and when it was our time to go through we were taken into a room that was set out as Billys living room and we were greeted by Billy's Mum. We took a seat on the benches provided and the children were invited to sit on the floor at the front.
Billy's mum told us all about the Snowman and The Snowdog and what had happened on one Christmas Eve when Billy had made them both and at the magic hour 12:00am they both came alive.  There was a large TV screen and we got to watch snippets of The Snowman and The Snowdog. It really put us in the Christmassy mood both the Snowman and The Snowman and the Snowdog are our favourite christmas movies.

Once we had finished in Billy's living room (approx 15 minutes) we walked past all the snowmen until we cam to a place were we could write a letter to Santa.

We were actually first in the queue to walk through the magical walkway to see Santa but little J kept running back and forth and looking at all the snowman so we were actually last in the end.

Towards the end there is a huge display with the snowman and the snowdog. 

We managed to get little J to sit down for two minutes while big J wrote him out a list so we could post it in the big red postbox.
Once we had done that it was time to see Father Christmas. He was lovely and gave both big and little J a gift. 
The overall experience was lovely and it was well worth the wait and I can see just why it is so popular. We were inside for approx 30-40 minutes in total and it was truly magical.

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Daddy and Big J go to Play Expo

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Last weekend daddy and big J had a great time at their first games convention. We had been invited to review Play Expo at Event City, Manchester. 

I would class Big J and Daddy as 'gamers', big J loves FIFA and daddy likes lots of different games and has been playing since he had his first zx spectrum - a long time ago!  Although they both love games, they had never been to an event, and both where looking forward to it. 

Daddy's post
When we arrived, the queues looked huge! Luckily we had press passes and manger to squeeze through to the front of the queue to get in.  When we first walked in bumblebee and barricade - the actual cars from the transformers films, where on show protected by some guards with guns, that anyone could handle - hopefully replicas!    

The cars are very impressive, whether you like the films or not, and everyone was talking a photo or two. 

We had a look at the size of the event as we walked in. The place was enormous. It really was difficult to know where to go first as there really was so much on show.

The first thing little J saw that he wanted to look at was a stall full of all types of t-shirts, collectibles, toys and all kinds relating to games. He liked the look of some of the minecraft bits, but decided to wait before parting with his money. 

Next was a section with approximately 100 ps4 consoles showing new and older games for anyone to play. Driveclub is a new ps4 exclusive racing game and we enjoyed a few goes on this.  Big J is definitely a FIFA fan, whereas I grew up with PES being the only football game to play, back when FIFA was a game that allowed you to score easily from the halfway line! A match was due and PES 2015 was on show. After 3 games, I was the 2-1 victor overall. 

After this is was time for some pinball.  I have honestly never seen so many machines in one place, and all free to play.  We both had a good few games of some classic machines, the Addams family, lord of the rings and nba basketball to name a few.  

Next to the pinball was a large arcade with, again,  more machines than I have ever seen in one place.  All free to play, and we played the classics, outrun, afterburner, hard drivin' even virtual striker ( which little J comprehensively battered me on with a 3-1 score line).  SCI was next - for those who remember chase hq, this was chase hq2. I loved this game when I was younger but never managed to get past level 5. Now that I had lots of free credits, I managed to get to the end - and got the high score,

There was a large retro console area, which didn't really excite little J too much, although I was impressed and so many stalls selling all manner of gaming goodies.

The best parts of the show for me have to be getting my picture taken in the delorean from back to the future 

and on the iron throne from game of thrones. 
Although these needing paying for, well worth a fiver each in my opinion. 

We finished by visiting the same stall as we looked at when we first went in, little J sticking by his initial thoughts of minecraft stuff. One foam sword and cardboard box later - and he looks like he is from the game!

Then it was another look at barricade and bumblebee, and home, after a really good day.  We will definitely be attending another gaming convention!

To find out more about Play Expo you can visit the website HERE

*we were invited to review Play Expo all thought are our own*

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#WIN A PRIVATE TAPAS COOKERY CLASS FOR TWO WITH JOSE PIZARRO!

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Olive it! is a culinary concept that aims to bring a sparkle to traditional olives by incorporating them into your cooking in new and exciting ways! There’s no limit to your imagination and to help you bring this olive ‘explosion’ to life we are offering you the chance to win a once in a lifetime olive cooking course with celebrated Spanish chef, Jose Pizarro.   On Friday 3rd October at 12-3.30pm, you and one guest will experience hands-on tuition in an atmospheric and professional cook school in the heart of Clerkenwell, London, at the Food at 52 Cookery School.   In this exciting cooking course you will be inspired to get creative in the kitchen and learn how to make a selection of delicious tapas with the ‘master of tapas’ himself.   Jose Pizarro will take you on a culinary journey where you can explore the exciting flavours of the Mediterranean and learn how to make a selection of beautiful and mouth-watering dishes that will impress friends and family.   Take a look at the website for recipe inspiration.   Olives are an essential ingredient in the Mediterranean diet. Versatile and full of flavour, olives also have important nutritional properties and the black variety are rich in iron and vitamin E. What’s not to love? This tapas cookery class with Jose Pizarro is a perfect way to experiment with flavours of the Mediterranean and will leave you fully equipped to host your own tapas party! Each session ends with a mouth watering feast of all the food prepared, accompanied by some carefully selected wines.   To keep up to date with the Olive it! campaign visit Olive It or follow on Twitter @Oliveit_UK and like on Facebook OliveitUK.     #WIN A PRIVATE TAPAS COOKERY CLASS FOR TWO WITH JOSE PIZARRO!       TERMS Competition closes Sunday 28th September at 12am winners will be emailed before 12pm on Monday 29th September 2 lucky winners will both receive a pair of tickets for the private tapas cookery class for two with Jose Pizarro.  Due to the event being on 3rd October winners will need to respond as soon as possible to my winning email. I will pass on all details of winners to the company representing this event This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

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What To Expect On A Young Driver Lesson

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disclosure - we were gifted a free driving lesson for the purpose of this post. 

I had one very excited son on Sunday when he took his first ever driving lesson at just 12 years old. You might be wondering how he is having driving lessons so young, well its thanks to a company called Young Driver and Goodyear Driving Academy who have teamed up to teach children the importance of road safety. 

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