Them with frozen tales…Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham

I took my 6 year old son and his pal to see Them with frozen tails at Lakeside Arts  in Nottinghgam. Them with Frozen Tails' is Lakeside's Christmas show for 2010. It is a much cheaper alternative to a pantomime  less ‘daft’ and I think maybe more ‘delightful.’

                        

In the show three stories are told, 2 are versions of old folk tales that you will probably know in a way. The two actors bring them to life in a funny and engaging way and the whole audience sat spellbound as the tales unfolded. Wonderful old fashioned storytelling. Lot s of laughs, oohs and ahhs, people being eaten and happy ever afters. The last story to unfold uses the children’s suggestions and ours was a riot. It involved a giraffe who was kind and only ate one person a day and an underwater witch called Dr. Eel Porkpie who was the baddie who won. Our story involved over fishing and hypnotism, it was unique and the kids were amazingly imaginative. The actors bought it all to life beautifully.

We were sat near the bag and my son and his little pal didn’t get to add their contributions even though they raised their hands which they were a little sad about as some kids nearer the front got more than one go. But overall they absolutely loved it. The second it finished my son turned to me and said that was EXCELLENT mummy. High praise indeed. His little pal said he thought it was very funny.

The actors Sarah Goddard and Tom Warwick bounce off each other beautifully and are keeping a record of the fantastic stories the children create on their blog. Well worth popping over to read this blog it’s a celebration of children’s imagination.

.Becky Goddard-Hill

www.Bookreviewsformums.co.uk

www.Basbybudgeting.co.uk

Review - The Bug and the Butterfly by Peut-Etre Theatre

By Becky Goddard-Hill 

Federico Garcia Lorca’s The Butterfly’s Evil Spell - is the inspiration for this piece of children’s theatre for four to seven-year olds. 

I took my daughter Lisi (who is 3) to see The Bug and The Butterfly  at Lakeside Arts Centre at Nottingham University Park last weekend.

As she walked in she looked enchanted by the leaf shaped mats set out for the little ones and the rather odd bug (man) who was crawling around the stage pulling very funny faces!  There was a huge poetry book out on the front of the stage too which she quickly scuttled over too (but I quickly removed her from) It was a simple, pretty colourful set perfect for little eyes.

The content delighted me, love, romance, despair and entrapment but to be honest it was totally over Lisi’s head, My 6 year old wouldn’t have got these ‘poetic’ themes either (he had been enticed away by the snow)  but I don’t think it mattered. She was totally enchanted by the bugs and the beautiful butterfly.

There was lots of gorgeous dance and acrobatic moves and the tiny world of insects was made very human. The music was simply lovely.  As an adult I found the tale delightful but some bits I found quite hard to follow too, Spanish, poetry, heavily accented English, characters that changed without really changing costumes I did find a bit challenging, Kids let themselves flow with their experiences so much better than adults. I got a little caught up in my confusion.

The humour was brilliantly accesible and the children sat very well through this show as they were absorbed (though a few found the bugs a little scary).

Overall an unusual, beautiful, slightly confusing piece of theatre (for adults) the children seemed to adore it!

Lakeside Arts Centre is always a pleasure to visit. The seats are comfortable and the venue is the perfect size for little ones not to feel intimidated. You can have a drink and snacks in the lovely café in which it is situated beforehand and take a stroll around the gorgeous lake and feed the ducks or climb a tree after.

The next fabulous production we are off to see at Lakeside is their Christmas show Them with Frozen Tails  This looks very funny, is WAY cheaper than a pantomime and it is much easier to park here than in Town! Loads of dates over Christmas

Nottingham – child/budget friendly days out

by Becky Goddard-Hill 

Embrace your environment 

I live in Nottingham, a city full of contrast, and it is fabulously fun to have a child here. We have taken our children on walks round Sherwood Forest and tree climbing and boating at the stunning University Lake.

he has been for many rambles and picnics for  at the gorgeous Colwick Park and bike riding at Sherwood Pines. I took my son to the Warhol exhibition at Nottingham Castle when he was just 2 and he didn’t like the funny pictures as they were ‘all the same.’ He liked the ladies with no clothes on that he saw at another exhibition and he was loud and proud in asserting his artistic opinion.

He was terrified by the Gorilla at Wollaton Hall and had picnics whilst staring in awe at the canoes rolling on the slalom course at the National Watersports Centre. He climbed the play castles at Nottingham Castle and he has run through the water fountains in the Old Market Square. He has seen the kite festival at Rushcliffe Country Park and my daughter loves to teddy bears picnic in the willow dens there. 

He has made exciting things happen at Greens Mill Science Museum and he watched the planes take off for hours at East Midlands Airport.

                          

I could go on and on and on. Almost all these activities were free; and all involved no more than 20 minutes of travelling time.

Nottingham is a fantastic place to live and has TONS of free / budget friendly things to do with a little

 It’s a good idea to read your local newspapers ‘what’s on section’, ask at the library, look on local notice boards or check out your nearest tourist information. You’ll suddenly find your local environment has tons more to offer than you thought and you and your toddler can discover it together.  

Don't forget to visit Becky's blogs Baby Budgeting and Book Reviews For Mums 

Review - Drayton Manor

The lovely Liz from Living with Kids was looking for a family to review Drayton Manor, so as OH had the week off and my brother and sister lived in Tamworth where Drayton Manor is I jumped at the chance.

We went down on the Tuesday and spent the night in the nice hotel in town so we could get to Drayton Manor at a decent time in the morning; we packed a lunch and was ready to go. Now there wasn’t enough room for two children and four adults in the car so OH had to drop me, my sister and my 10 month old niece off, then go back and get my brother, thankfully they are only 10 minutes away. BG went back with daddy as she had just woken from a nap in a foul mood and I had just broken my only pair of sandals I had with me!  OH brought me back a pair with my brother.

I was a little worried how BG would be as this was her first trip to a theme park but she had a great time. The first place we headed to was Thomas Land, which she just loved (trains & cars are her new favourite). As she is small there wasn’t a lot she could go on but we went on the Sodor Classic Cars

And she had her pictures taken with the trains. She spent most of the time shouting “choo choo”.

I’m not as brave as I used to be so I went on the more meek rides like Excalibur which is boat ride with twist, The Pirate adventure which BG liked as well and the Roller Coaster.  My Brother and sister who are more adventurous went on the thrill rides such as Apocalypse - The world's first stand-up tower drop and G-Force  A white-knuckle journey through 385 meters of rolls, tight camelbacks, high backed curves and loops at over 70 kph! I also went on an old fashioned waltzer that me made me feel really sick afterwards.

We took turns watching the BG and B and going on the rides.

The highlight of the trip has to be the Zoo, it has over a 100 species and BG and my Niece B were just fascinated. BG’s favourite where the tigers and the monkeys.

There is a Thomas Playground and Picnic area in the Zoo, we had our lunch there it was a lovely place.

We were only there 5 hours but my god we were shattered by the end of the day, it might not be the biggest theme park but there is so much to do there. It has something for everyone. I spent a fortune in the Thomas gift shop, but BG is now the proud owner of Thomas the Tank Engine and Bertie the Bus which she fell asleep holding!

We went midweek so were really lucky that there were no queues, I imagine it can get quite busy at weekends and in the holidays. We will definitely go back again; hopefully BG will be able to go on a few more rides and maybe I will

NM X

To help celebrate Drayton Manors 60th Birthday all people visiting the park during the six week summer holidays (28^th July – 4^th September) will be able to enter a daily competition to win one of a selection of prizes. These include annual passes to the park, Mega Blocks Thomas & Friends™ toys, K’Nex roller coaster sets, and Thomas the Tank Engine DVD’s. A winner will be chosen each day and will be selected at random from a specially created tombola. 

As an extra bonus, everyone that enters the competitions will also receive a special voucher, enabling one kid to go free when accompanied by two full paying adults visiting the park during September or October 2010

Midlands Mums Meet Up

In the last few weeks I have been offered a Summer and Winter meet up. 


I will give details of the Winter meet up soon but save the 4th December in your diary.


So firstly I need to arrange the Summer one, I've put together a quick survey so I can get a sense of where and when you want to meet. 


Please fill in the survey below.
Click here to take survey

Thank you


Carol x 

Moving on up! By Fi Star-Stone

I lived in London for 10 years with my husband, and  loved every minute of the life, career and fun it provided us with.

However, after finding out I was pregnant with my (now 9 months) daughter Betsy, my Husband and I decided it was time to pack and move on up to Stafford.

It wasn't a random choice; Both me and my husband grew up in Stafford and most of our family and friends live here, so moving back home seemed the right thing to do.

You'd think it was an easy choice to make, but after a few years in London working as a professional Nanny, I made so many friends and can honestly say it was one of the hardest choices I've ever had to make!

We had a lovely house, job and friends, some of whom had become like family, so to up and at em' to Stafford was very hard indeed, not to mention heartbreaking.

Selling our house in a property dip was pretty hard, most of the viewings were when I was heavily pregnant and had to go out and walk the dog, but we eventually sold and the dream to move became reality.

A big reality.

I don't think I ever thought it was going to happen, that I was going to have to leave the place I'd got used to as home, the friends I loved and the life I was used to living.

I had to say goodbye to so many of my friends, and hardest of all, the family I had become a part of as a live-out, full time, sole charge nanny for Eight years, which I had started when Jack (The eldest) was only five months old.

A career as a nanny is so much more personal than other careers as you become such a huge part of their  lives. It's also very hard to leave a position you are happy in, and if it's been for a long time, it's very hard on the family too.

My charges who I love dearly (Jack & Ben) were very upset when I told them I was leaving, but after lots of chats and support from their parents, the leaving didn't seem so bad and we were soon making plans for them to visit as soon as we were settled.

I now get regular texts, calls and emails and it's lovely to hear what they've been up to!

Working in London as a professional nanny is fantastic. I know it inside-out and upside-down! There is so much to do and so much to see, I thought to myself 'how will sleepy Stafford ever compete for our little girl growing up?'

I started doubting (a little too late) the decision we had made.

All of my friends in London either had children of their own or were nannies, so socialising with a child and finding baby groups was second nature in London for me.

In Stafford, I only knew one friend who had a child of a similar age, and I had no idea where to look for activities for Betsy!

How wrong could I have been?

Stafford had so much to offer and at a fraction of the London prices! So impressed was I with its touristy attractions and freebie fun, I wrote an article about it which gained lots of attention from midlands based families on the social networking site Twitter! 

I'm now writing a Friendly Ford' for my website www.childcareisfun.co.uk to show other parents and newcomers to Stafford, the places they can visit with their children that are fun, sometimes free, but most of all, child-friendly!

There is so much to do here, and on top of all that its a place of natural beauty and fresh air, not loud car noises and smelly fumes.

I'm so happy we stuck to our decision to move from a thriving, busy, noisy city to a sleepy, friendly town- when I go out walking with Betsy and my dog, I'm constantly saying hello to friendly Ford' folk, who have time to stop and make a fuss of my little girl. It feels so safe here, and I'm glad we embraced our home town and came back for good.

London has it's glories, but Stafford has it's magic too, and I'm proud to say it’s my home. 

Review - My House at the Lakeside Art Centre Nottingham.

MY HOUSE – a review by Becky Goddard-Hill

Performing Arts Workshop at Lakeside Art Centre, Nottingham University June 5 2010 Suitable for ages 18 months - 3yrs and parents/carers.

Created and performed by Andy Manley in association with Starcatchers...

This is how it was advertised:

Come and visit a very special house - where all is not as it seems. 

Watch the rooms and chimneys grow, and see how many shapes and textures you can spot!

Well the show certainly sounded fun!

I took my little girl (aged 2) into a cosy room with pretty cushions in front of a semi circle of chairs. It was all very cosy. In front of us was a man just sitting next to a cardboard box. My daughter looked quite unimpressed. But then he began to play and to explore his cardboard house. He was utterly captivating. The children completely ‘got’ his play and he was as enchanting as a child to watch.  I think what appealed to me as an n adult the most was the absolute joy and fun that he had with a melon, a box and some woolly hats (who needs DS!)

The children were engaged and involved just enough and they watched with delight as the box enabled hide and seek…became a house…opened up to reveal pictures…hid things behind it…could be copied in miniature. It was an exploration of imagination or as Annalise succinctly put it

‘Mummy he’s playing’

At the end the children got to play with the house, eat watermelon and say hello to the performer. It was a gorgeous hour and not one child lost interest. DO go and see this if you get the chance Andy is subtle, engaging and completely in tune with a toddler’s way of being,