Keeping The Kids Busy This Summer With Books2Door

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Disclosure - This is a collaborative post. Books2Door referral scheme gives us both £5 off our orders by buying through this link

We are midway through the Summer holidays and I am happy to say I haven't heard the dreaded phrase 'I'm Bored' yet from little J. We have been busy travelling and we have had a few days out too. Also we've enjoyed days in the garden and chilled afternoons. I like to keep busy when it's raining outside otherwise little J will reach for the screen. Having said that he is easily distracted and a few of his favourite things at the moment are colouring and reading so I ordered some supplies from Books2Door to keep him entertained. 

Books2Door offer a wide range of books including books from best selling authors. They have deals and discounts all year round some with up to 80% off.

The loyalty scheme is great as you can earn book points every time you shop and the Books2Door referral scheme gives us both £5 off our orders by buying through this link

I ordered little J some colouring books, activity books and also a book for him to read throughout the Summer. 

Horrid Henry: Fun in the Sun Popular 

Number One for Fiendish Fun! Get ready for a bumper edition of mayhem with this totally awesome collection of six favourite Horrid Henry stories! Spend your summer holidays with Horrid Henry! This book contains six favourite stories and tons of fun jokes and activity pages to keep Horrid Henry fans of all ages entertained for hours. An irresistible introduction to reading for pleasure - the perfect gift for Horrid Henry fans everywhere.

Like I said earlier little J loves Horrid Henry and he loved making his way through the book.

Usborne Minis: Doodling by Sam Smith 3 Books Collection Set

Doodling Dinosaurs

This little write-in activity book is full of dinosaurs to learn how to doodle, with space to copy them and colour them in.

Doodling People

This little book is crammed full of fun pictures that you can finish any way you like, with space to copy them and colour them in.

Doodling Things That Go

This little write-in activity book is full of trucks to learn how to doodle, with space to copy them and colour them in.

I was expecting these books to be a little bit bigger, they are pocket size however they have been perfect for when we have been out and about. They are a great way to keep the imagination flowing.

Where's Horrid Henry Colouring Book 

A fun-packed Horrid Henry colouring book, stuffed with tricky things to search for and find, and filled with pages of Horrid Henry chaos to colour in! Go mad with 32 pages of fiendish things to spot and colour in - join Henry and his friends (and evilest enemies!) on their awesome adventures - from birthday parties and camping trips to hiding out at a spooky haunted house. With pages of illustrated Horrid Henry scenes to colour in, this is the perfect boredom-busting book. Get creative with Horrid Henry. 

Little J loves Horrid Henry and this book gave him lots of opportunity to colour with so much detail. There is also a chance to spot Henry on every page andalso Dolores the Chicken who is also hiding.

Football School: The Ultimate Puzzle Book : 100 brilliant brain-teasers 

A football-themed puzzle book that will keep kids busy for hours with word, logic and number puzzles. Train your brilliant brain and enjoy hours of football-themed fun with Football School's The Ultimate Puzzle Book. Packed with over 100 brain-teasers, word searches, riddles, maths puzzles and logic games, this book is perfect for car journeys, planes and rainy days and makes the ideal gift for any young football fan.

The Amazing Anti-Boredom Colouring Book 

From the creators of the hugely successful Anti-Boredom Colouring Book, is the newest addition to the series and perfect travel activity companion: The Amazing Anti-Boredom Colouring Book. Packed with weird and wonderful pictures to colour in, this wacky book is sure to keep kids entertained for hours! Full of hilarious and extraordinary colouring scenes, from weird ocean scenes to prehistoric fishing trips and sunbathing pineapples, The Amazing Anti-Boredom Colouring Book will banish boredom for good.

This was definitely our favourite. So much to colour with great designs and we definitely didn't get bored. 

As you probably already know we loved Books2Door. Did you know they now offer a monthly subscription box? It's delivered every month and is filled with hand-selected titles to help encourage children to read but also features some surprise treats too. 

To find out more and to order your Box2Door Monthly Book Subscription head over the Books2Door. While you are there maybe treat yourself too as Books2Door have a huge range of books from best selling authors and offering bestselling titles. They tend to have deals and discounts all year round with up to 80% off.

I am also part of the Books2Door referral scheme which gives us both £5 off our orders when you buy through this link

READ THESE NEXT

SUMMER READING FROM BOOKS2DOOR

KEEPING BUSY THIS SUMMER WITH BOOKS2DOOR

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH BOOKS2DOOR

- If you enjoyed this post leave us a comment.

-  Like us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and follow us on our adventures.

- If you have visited any of the attractions mentioned in this post share photos with us on our socials. 

- If this post has helped you in anyway you can Buy Us A Virtual Coffee to say thanks.

- If you would like to work with us please visit on Work With Us page for more details

Michelle

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Escape Live Liverpool - Dr Watson's Office

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Disclosure - We were invited along to Escape Live to try out the Dr Watson's Escape Room. All thoughts and opinions are our own. 

We absolutely love Escape Rooms. It's one of our favourite things to do on 'date night'. We enjoy visiting a venue to do a real life Escape Room or we have completed quite a few Escape Rooms at home too. Now little J is at an age where he can join in we have completed quite a few together as a family too. We are lucky to have quite a few Escape Rooms in Liverpool to choose from and so far out of all the escape rooms we have done we have a 100% escape record. This week we tried a new venue  Escape Live. 

Escape Live Liverpool, Liverpool ONE, 3 College Ln, off Paradise St, Liverpool L1 3DS

Escape Live Liverpool offers 6 Escape Rooms all with a different theme and genre. Each room has been allocated a difficulty level starting at 3* up to 5* out of 5. Each room is suitable for between 2-6 players giving you the opportunity to work as a couple or a team. 

Depending on what you are looking for you can choose from the following

Peaky Blinders Double Cross - Minimum age 18+ with a difficulty rating of 3*

Peaky Blinders The Raid - Minimum age 16+ with a difficulty rating of 4*

Jack The Ripper - Minimum age 11+ with a difficulty rating of 5*

Dr Watson's Office -  Minimum age 8+ with a difficulty rating of 5*

Prison Break - Minimum age 8+ with a difficulty rating of 4*

Horrible Histories Mystery Museum - Minimum age 7+ with a difficulty rating of 4*

As you can see the rooms have a minimum age starting at 7+ up to 18+. 

Escape Live rooms vary in price depending on how many players. 

2 Person = £55 (£27.50pp)

3 Person = £70 (£23.30pp)

4 Person = £88 (£22.00pp)

5 Person = £100 (£20.00pp)

6 Person = £115 (£19.20pp)

You can book a room starting at 9:30am to 9:30pm.  If you would like to book you can head to their website and also check out the other locations in Birmingham, Chelmsford, Coventry, Southend and Stratford Upon Avon.

The Venue

Escape Live Liverpool is one of the nicest Escape Room venues we have visited. As well as a bar area there is also an outdoor terrace. As John and I usually do Escape Rooms for a date night, the venue would be perfect to extend our visit having a drink before, after or both. 

The bar was fully stocked and also Escape Live had their own lager on tap which John said was very nice. There is also a selection of chocolate bars and crisps available to if you fancy a snack. 

Checking In

When you arrive you are told to make your way to the 2nd floor (bar area). There is a lift straight ahead and stairs. Again Escape Live Liverpool was the best venue we have seen for accessibility as you do not need to use the stairs at all. The lift takes you to the Escape Rooms too. 

Once we arrived at the bar area we gave our name and the room we were completing. We were told our game hosts name and shortly after she came and introduced herself and told us our room was just being reset and she would be with us shortly. 

A few minutes before our room was ready our game host asked if she could put any of our bags in the lockers provided and asked if we needed to use the toilet before we headed to the room. 

You can take a mobile phone in to the room with you but only for light and not to take photos or videos. 

If you have bought a drink, it can also go in the room with you too. 

Dr Watson's Office 

Once we arrived at the room we were given a brief of what has happened and what the storyline was. 

Dr Watson is a master detective who has solved many crimes in his distinguished career, but this case could prove to be deadly for him. One of the suspects he is investigating is threatening his life. Dr Watson is now relying on you and your team to unveil the identity of the right suspect. He’s left clues around his office and it’s up to you to find them, solve the mystery and escape.

Our game host told us she would be watching and listening and if we needed help all we needed to do was ask. We then had 60 minutes to escape. 

Dr Watson's Office has a difficulty rating of 5 out of 5 so before we went inside we had a plan that we would all work together so we didn't become overwhelmed with too many clues. The room is suitable for those aged 8+ so with little J being 10 we were confident he would be a help. 

Without giving away any spoilers the room is made up of puzzles to solve, clues to find and a variety of locks. There are number combination locks, directional locks and a lock that you will need to spell out a word. 

Throughout the experience our game host asked us if we needed help especially if we were close to solving a clue but needed a little help. We could accept or decline the help. One of the puzzles, little J had told us the combination of 4 numbers however we thought it was wrong. Then we heard our game host saying we should listen to him. He was so happy and it was nice to know she had been listening to him. 

Our Thoughts

I would definitely say Escape Live Liverpool is our favourite venue. Like I said earlier having a bar and terrace just adds to the experience and we would definitely choose it for our date nights. The room was very similar to what we have experienced before however I like that these are themed such as Prison Break, Peaky Blinders and Horrible Histories. 

I cannot fault our game host, she was so engaged with us all and little J really liked her. She was chatty and made us feel very welcome. 

This Summer until 11th September kids go free at Escape Live with 2 paying adults. All you nee to do is visit Escape Live and enter Summer23 at checkout.  

So all you need to know now is did we escape? We did... with ten minutes to spare! Our 100% escape record is still intact.

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- If you enjoyed this post leave us a comment.

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- If you would like to work with us please visit on Work With Us page for more details

Michelle

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Elegear Cooling Blanket and Pillowcases

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Disclosure - We were sent the products below for the purpose of this post and compensated for our time. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own unless stated. This post contains affiliate links. 

I am the type of person who is always hot yet I like to snuggle under a blanket on the sofa if I am watching  TV or if I am in the garden in the evening. I would even take a blanket to the cinema if John would let me. As you can imagine finding the right blanket has always been tough. They are either too heavy, too fluffy or too hot so I usually end up with one or two legs out of the blanket or it just draped over my feet. 

When I heard about the Elegear Cooling blanket I was keen to give it a try as it sounds perfect for me. The idea behind the Elegear cooling blanket is it can absorb heat and sweat from your body, absorbing the heat helps to keep you cool. It does this by using special Japanese Q-Max 0.4 Cooling fibres. 

The Japanese Arc-Chill Cool Technology Fabric can quickly absorb human body heat. It does this when the human body touches the fabric. The body surface temperature immediately drops by about 2 to 5 degrees, so that the body feels cool.

The blanket is lightweight which surprised me at first as I thought it looked heavy when I took it out the packaging. There are different 'feels' on each side of the blanket and one side felt more clingy than the other. When I checked one side is made of 80% mica nylon and 20% polyethylene cool fabric which makes this side perfect for hot summers. The other side is 100% cotton so perfect for keeping cool on a Spring or Autumn evening. 

I have been using the cooling blanket on the sofa however it would be ideal as a throw over the bed as the range also features matching cooling pillowcases. The pillowcases work exactly like the cooling blanket, perfect to keep you cool during the hot evenings. 

Unfortunately I haven't been the only one using the blanket, I have had to share with the kids. This means that the cooling blanket has had to deal with sticky fingers and muddy hands. Luckily the Elegear Cooling blanket is machine washable. Wash on a gentle heat of up to 30° and then hang out in the shade. It's recommended that you do not iron, tumble dry, bleach or dry clean. 

We also found that the blanket felt warm after a few days so I would recommend popping the blanket near air conditioning or a fan if you have one. This will help to absorb the cooler temperature in to the blanket. If you don't have a/c or a fan then it can take a while for the cooling blanket to release the absorbed heat. 

However you choose to use the cooling blanket it will definitely keep you cool. It's perfect for the sofa, out on the patio, as a throw for the bed or even for travelling. 

The Elegear Cooling Blanket and Pillowcases are available to buy online at Amazon and come in a range of colours and sizes including blue, pink and grey. We chose 200x220cm in grey and it's a perfect size for the sofa or our bed. 

Michelle

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Top 9 Things To Do At Coral Island, Blackpool

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This post was last updated July 2023 by Michelle 

Visiting Blackpool is something we have been doing as a family for years. It's one of our favourite places to visit when we head to Blackpool. Parking is close by so our day usually starts and ends at Coral Island as there is so much to see and do and it's the perfect place to visit on a family day out in Blackpool. Unfortunately we don't always get the weather we would like in England so it's nice to know that no matter what the weather we can be entertained and keep the kids busy too.

Coral Island, Central Promenade, Blackpool, FY1 5DW

Coral Island is the largest free admission attraction in Blackpool featuring games, rides, restaurants, camel derby, Over 18 casino games and family prize bingo. They also offer Kids Eat Free - All Day Every Day in all of their restaurants. It's east to reach we usually just head towards the Blackpool Tower and you can't miss it. If you are planning a visit to Blackpool then here's are top things to do at Coral Island

2p Machines

There is a large range of machines at Coral Island but little J's favourites were the 2p machines. We gave him a tub full of 2p's and he really enjoyed watching his two pence make its way down the machine. He got so excited when his 2p knocked a load off the edge

Try To Win Tickets

Most of the machines at Coral Island offer you the chance to win tickets. If you are lucky enough to win tickets you can feed them all in to the ticket eater and collect your voucher for the amount of tickets you have won. Pop to the prize shop and swap your ticket voucher for some goodies.

Camel Derby

This game is called so many different names, Arabian Derby, Donkey Derby or Camel Derby as it is called in Coral Island. The game is simple you get 3 balls and you have to roll the balls into the holes to get points. Each hole is worth either 1, 2 or 3 points. Your camel will move the amount spaces depending on which hole your ball rolls in too. If you are the first to finish you win a prize. When we played all 19 spaces were full. We had 15 games between us but didn't manage a win. The staff member on the game let little J choose a prize for trying which was really lovely of him.

Prize Bingo

This is my favourite game. Pop in £1 and you will get 100 credits. Each board costs 10 credits and the screen has 6 boards to play. if you want to play all boards this will cost you 60p. It is really easy to play as the numbers will mark off automatically for you so perfect for all the family. The number of players taking part determine the size of the prize available. For the games we played the winner got 150 points. We won a few times and where able to redeem our points for a Toy Story Forky Teddy. Little J was thrilled.

Play On The Arcade Machines

There are so many arcade games to choose from at Coral Island. Both John and little J love playing on the games and this VR game caught their eye. 

Take A Ride

There are two rides to enjoy at Coral Island, the Ghost Train and The Pirate Flyer. Little J did not want to ride the Ghost train however he loved The Pirate Flyer. The ride takes you high in the air above Coral Island giving you great views of everything there is to do. If you sit in the front of the pirate flyer you get a pretend gun so you can shoot those down below. 

Let Zoltar Read Your Fortune

I was so excited when I saw the Zoltar machine and for those that have seen the Tom Hanks movie BIG you will know why. The Zoltar machine speaks your fortune and then will pop out a card so you can read it yourself. Our fortune told us to choose our friends carefully and happiness is in our future.

Enjoy A Choice Of Food and Kids Eat Free

There are a few dining options at Coral Island and all offer Kids Eat Free. We dined at The Buccaneer and the food was delicious. There was a large range of starters, mains and desserts with the children having their own menu.

Starters included garlic bread, nachos and garlic mushrooms. Mains included burgers, curry and chicken, and desserts included a choice of ice cream type desserts and cakes.

There is an option to dine inside or outside on decking overlooking the amusements. Inside there are large TV screens and a bar area.

Kids Eat Free All Day Every Day at Coral Island. There is no vouchers required all you need to do is order and adults meal and a child's meal will be given free of charge.

Have Fun

Make sure you plan lots of time to spend here as you will need it with the amount of things to see and do. I can promise you that you will have lots of fun at Coral Island.

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Michelle

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Box2Door Monthly Book Subscription Box

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Disclosure - This is a collaborative post. Books2Door referral scheme gives us both £5 off our orders by buying through this link

Over the last few years we have seen the market for subscription boxes rocket. You can pretty much get a monthly delivery of anything you want or need nowadays from beauty products to coffee, fruit to books. I have always like the idea of subscription boxes, it gives you something to look forward to. If you have followed me for a while you will know I enjoyed receiving my monthly book club books through the post with some treats. This month we have been testing out a new monthly book subscription perfect for kids from Books2Door. 

Box2Door 

Box2Door is a monthly book subscription box which is delivered every month and is filled with hand-selected titles to help encourage children to read but also features some surprise treats too. 

Each Box Contains 

A selection of 3-4 books

Activity and colouring sheets

and a mystery gift.

Books vary each month, it fits through your letterbox and delivery is included!

There are three boxes to choose from each depending on the age of your child. 

Baby and Toddler

Introducing books to your baby can start as soon as they are born, with the soothing sound of your voice as stories are read aloud. This monthly book subscription box is for ages 0-3. Packed with board books for little hands, stickers for sensory development and bright colours for them to recognise - this carefully selected box will see your babies and young children grow into budding little bookworms.

Recommended for children aged 0-3

Early Years 

As their imagination grows, this monthly book subscription box aimed for children aged 4 and 6 years old is the perfect way to answer inquisitive questions and meet their interests. Each month, your child will receive a carefully curated box of fiction and non-fiction books to develop their learning and continue a love for reading. Watch their personalities grow and vocabulary expand as they get stuck into their monthly book subscription box.

Recommended for children aged 4-6

Key Stage 2

The power of storytelling comes to life with this monthly book subscription box for children aged between 7 and 10 years old for those in Key Stage 2. With fiction and non-fiction titles to suit every age and interest, your child will find hours of reading and fun in every box they receive.

Recommended for children aged 7-10

Box2Door monthly book subscription boxes are a great way to introduce children to a range of books suitable for their age. At just £9.99 including delivery it was definitely worth the cost. Our Box2Door is recommended for those age 7-10, Key Stage 2. We received books worth over £20 and they were perfect for the age stated. We received an activity sheet which doubled as a poster and also a book mark too.

I love reading and I'm glad that the boys do too. It's so nice to be able to switch off the screens and become engrossed in a story. 

To order your Box2Door Monthly Book Subscription head over the Books2Door. While you are there maybe treat yourself too as Books2Door have a huge range of books from best selling authors and offering bestselling titles. They tend to have deals and discounts all year round with up to 80% off.

I am also part of the Books2Door referral scheme which gives us both £5 off our orders when you buy through this link

If you order a Box2Door Monthly Book Subscription please do let us know. What books did you receive?

READ THESE NEXT

SUMMER READING FROM BOOKS2DOOR

KEEPING BUSY THIS SUMMER WITH BOOKS2DOOR

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH BOOKS2DOOR

- If you enjoyed this post leave us a comment.

-  Like us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and follow us on our adventures.

- If you have visited any of the attractions mentioned in this post share photos with us on our socials. 

- If this post has helped you in anyway you can Buy Us A Virtual Coffee to say thanks.

- If you would like to work with us please visit on Work With Us page for more details

Michelle

Read More