Brickosaurs – a fun family day out in Blackburn.

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Living in Lancashire with two children, I am always excited for new things to do as a family. My son, especially, loves making things! I can’t wait to take him and his sister to the Brickosaurs trail at Blackburn. They look fantastic!

After a very challenging time, activities like this is very much needed. We have spent way too long at home and it is time to go off on adventures again and I can’t think of a better way. This event is completely free and there is an opportunity to win prizes too, as some of you know I do love entering competitions!

This event is great for my boy especially. He is on the autistic spectrum and he sometimes finds it hard to keep still. Going on an adventure to find these fantastic models is something he will enjoy.

There are 15 brick model dinosaurs along the Brickosaurs trails and they will be there until 1st September.

The confirmed locations are:

Trespass, The Mall
Rhode Island Coffee, The Mall
Victoira Court, The Mall
New Look, The Mall
Blackburn Market – mini trail
Ainsworth Street (rear of Boots), The Mall
Primark, The Mall
Grays Outfitters, Northgate
Morrisons
Blackburn Cathedral, Darwen Street / Cathedral Square
Hobkirks Sewing Machines, Darwen Street
King George’s Hall, Northgate
Blackburn Library, Town Hall Street

To help you find all of the Brickosaurs, there will be a free paper copy of a trail map or you can download the Experience Blackburn app. I will be downloading the app as it looks like it has lots of useful information about Blackburn, definitely handy to have as I can see us visiting Blackburn more in the future. My daughter goes ice skating there so the app will be quite useful!

We are really looking forward to going to Blackburn and seeing all of the Brickosaurs. To find out more visit the Blackburn Bid Website.

Absolutely loving the hashtag that is being used of #Brickburn!

 

Peter Pan pantomime – Blackpool Grand Theatre review

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Peter Pan, the grand theatre blackpool, the grand theatre, blackpool, panto, pantomime

I love going to shows, especially a good panto at Christmas time. We were invited to the Blackpool Grand Theatre to see Peter Pan.

The Blackpool Grand theatre is amazing! So beautiful and well built. It is perfectly designed. No matter where you sit, I am sure you could see the stage really well! We have never been to the Blackpool Grand Theatre before. Really impressed!

The Peter Pan pantomime  was excellent. I was laughing so much during the performance, even the children were. It catered for all ages. I especially loved the fact there was a Queen theme going on. Love Queen! My son especially loved the acrobatic pirates. He was laughing so much, he was red!

Peter Pan, the grand theatre blackpool, the grand theatre, blackpool, panto, pantomime

The cast includes Tom Lister as Captain Hook, Steve Royle from BBC Radio Lancashire as Smee, Jack Heasman as Peter Pan, Christina Meehan as Mrs Darling, Rachel Grundy as Tinkerbell,  Natalie Hollingsworth as Tiger Lilly, Ruth Betteridge as Wendy, comedy acrobats The Nitwits as The Pirate Crew and the Barbara Jackson Theatre Arts dancers.

From the website:

Meet Peter and the lost boys, Tiger Lily and Tinker Bell and get ready for a family show full of fun, fairy dust and pirates galore. Set sail for Neverland and take on Captain Hook and prepare for out-of-this-world flying effects, galleons of laughter and the hungriest of crocodiles.

Peter Pan, the grand theatre blackpool, the grand theatre, blackpool, panto, pantomime

One thing I will say, the 2 hours and 50 minute running time is a little bit too long, we were not fed up in the slightest but it is kind of a little too long, for my son especially. However, it was a fantastic performance and we all want to go and see it again.

So what are you waiting for? Buy some tickets and enjoy the show!

To find out more about the panto visit https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/peter-pan-pantomime/

 

Thomas & Friends Smart Tablet and Flip and Learn Phone review

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Master A loves educational toys and he really likes Thomas & Friends. As some of you know, Master A has developmental delays and he is on the autistic spectrum. The Thomas & Friends Smart Tablet and the Flip and Learn phone has made him very happy and he spends a lot of time playing with them both, often both at once.

thomasfriendssmarttablet

The Thomas & Friends Smart Tablet is really good! It teaches the child quite a number of things. It teaches them about recognising letters, numbers, colours, characters and destinations. I do love educational toys like this. It is suitable for children ages 2 years and over. I know Master A is 6 but he is more interested in toys that usually for children younger than him. He does like toys suitable for his age but he loves the toys that make the noise and are interactive a lot more!

The Thomas & Friends Flip and Learn phone is brilliant to help children learn about numbers and colours. It also pretends to take selfies..very cute! Master A loves toy phones. He likes the real phones but he can get rather addicted to apps on real phones so anything else to keep him busy is perfect, and this phone along with the smart tablet has really helped keep him entertained.

Master A has speech problems and I have noticed him repeating the words that these toys say. This can only be a good thing!

You can find the tablet at places like Amazon and Argos and you can find the phone at places like Smyths Toys and John Lewis.

I have a Thomas & Friends Smart Tablet to give away. Follow the instructions below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Discovering Manchester – what to do as a family

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Manchester is amazing, there are lots of things to explore and do but we haven’t done much in the city to be honest. Usually it’s shopping at the Trafford Centre, sticking to the same shops too.  I would love to stay in serviced apartments Manchester for a few nights, giving a lot more time in this wonderful city! We did this with family a few years ago while exploring Birmingham and it made it a lot easier!

I wish we spent more time in Manchester but what with Miss A’s various hobbies, it isn’t easy. But given an opportunity to go exploring, how exciting!

It is always lovely to try something new and apart from having dinner at a favourite restaurant of ours (Frankie and Benny’s) and visiting the shop that is a must, the Disney Store! 

First stop was the Museum of Science and Industry. What a wonderful place! It was enjoyed by all. There is something for all ages here, more time was needed here to be honest but we wanted to do a few more things. Next time, we will spend a lot longer there. Master A especially enjoyed it. There were things for him to do and it was visually very good for him! He didn’t want to leave, nor did any of us!

Next stop, the Disney Store. A very Moana themed purchase. Both kids love the Disney store. 

Dinner was at Frankie and Bennys. This was enjoyable. One thing I will say though, the Frankie and Benny’s at the Printworks do not take any discount. We have a Tastecard, they didn’t accept it. Also the codes available on the Frankie and Benny’s app can’t be used there either. We have a very strict budget for dining out so this did make it a bit annoying but the food there was rather good! The new menu finally has something that I like, being vegetarian, the choices have been rather limited. The vegan burger is really good! However bring back Red French Pizza and the vegetarian Calzone and then we would probably visit our local restaurant more often.

The final part to our Manchester trip was at Treetop Adventures Golf. We have been to the crazy golf at the Trafford Centre before but not this one and it was fantastic! There was a bit of cheating going on with Master A but we let him, he was having such a good time! It wasn’t a competition but my other half would have been the winner. However, I managed to win the bonus round at the end, so I got given a free round to use later. 

We had such a lovely time in Manchester and this has given me the inspiration to find something new every visit, maybe without planning!

 

The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.

 

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