The Foodies Festival at Tatton Park

Last Sunday we were invited to attend the Foodies Festival at Tatton Park with Blogs Up North. Foodies Festivals are a series of events which take place in outdoor settings across the country during the Summer months. They combine a mixture of suppliers, chefs, exhibitions, masterclasses and pop up restaurant tents.

We took both sets of parents with us and had a wonderful day browsing the stalls and sampling all the delights on offer.From cheese to curry spices, to artisan ciders and kitchen ware. There was a huge programme of demonstrations and exhibitions available to book on to but, in the end, we decided to pass on them and just take our time wandering around the stalls, picking up a few interesting purchases here and there.

I had a VIP ticket which gave me fast track entry into the demonstrations, access to the VIP lounge, a goodie bag, a free glass of Champagne and a meal. This would ordinarily cost £38 which I felt was over priced for the value it represented although the opportunity to sit and chat to Jen from My Mummys Pennies and Jenny from The Brick Castle over a glass of Champagne was lovely.

There were lots of opportunities to sample some wonderful produce and it was great to see the wide range that was available. Many of the stall holders were really pleasant and happy to chat about the history and development of their products. We'd actually met a couple of the stall holders at previous events elsewhere and it was great to see them again and stock up!

I'd definitely return to the Foodies Festival at Tatton Park, I really loved the surroundings and the variety of stall holders was terrific, I think I would pass on the VIP ticket next time though. I was pleasantly surprised at how family friendly the festival is with lots of child-friendly food and workshops which got children cooking. I think if we were to visit again I'd definitely book Bud on to one of these sessions as he loves helping in the kitchen at the moment.

Foodies Festivals are taking place throughout the UK during the summer, check out their website for dates and times and the opportunity to win some VIP tickets of your own.

We finished our day by wandering down through Tatton Park where Bud had his first proper trip on a Carousel, he loved it!

Disclaimer: We received free tickets in exchange for an open and honest review of the event.

HABA My First World Fire Station Large Playset - A Review for Izziwizzi Kids Play Fest

We are big fans of Haba toys in this house and, as a result, were delighted to be asked to review a toy from their new for 2013 range. Bud is really starting to play imaginatively and using role play at the moment so, when we were sent the My First World Fire Station Large Playset I was fairly sure it would be a hit.

Firstly, this is our video of Bud playing with the set with some information from me too. Read on for a few close ups of the toy and a few more of my observations on it.

We've been playing with the fire playset for quite a while now and it has been played with daily, for a good length of time. Bud doesn't actually have a lot of 'real world' small play toys so I wasn't sure if this would be interesting to him as it doesn't feature pirate, knights  or animals. He understood instantly what the set was and what to do with it. When you see him shouting 'it's a fire station' that was the first time he had seen this toy.

The set is excellent quality. I worry about the box being how you store the toy as Bud has good form for destroying toys. This box is made out of really toughened cardboard and it has been fine so far. I do hope that by encouraging him to be careful with it, it should stand the test of time and a heavy handed three year old. The pieces are really well crafted, measuring about a centimetre in thickness with clear, colourful decoration. They fit into the box for storage well and then the handle comes through to secure the lid which folds over. The detailed illustrations on the outside and inside of the box really enhance the play and my son has used them to tell stories when he is playing in addition and alongside the play pieces.

As we have played with this toy I see more and more different ways to do so. The blue hose can be used as a threading game by feeding it into the fire engine, the fire fighters or the hydrant and the stories that Bud tells when playing are so funny to hear. I was surprised at how well he understands the processes that fire fighters use to tackle fires and rescue people and cats. I didn't even know that he knew about cats getting stuck up trees but he straight away put the cat in the tree and said that the fireman had to come and rescue it. Haba have thought of everything, I love that you can turn around the fire blocks when you have put the fire out to show just smoking sticks instead of a full blaze.

If I had any concerns about this toy it is for the box. It is perfectly fine now but I would hate it to get worn and, when you are using it as the background for play in this way this is likely to happen more quickly than if you were just getting it out and playing with the pieces. That said, the box is a crucial element in this set and I don't actually see how it would work as well if it was made from, say, wood.

I really feel that this toy is a great addition to our collection. I'm hoping that, once Bud is finished with it, Little Miss will love it too. Haba toys, generally, are built to last and be passed on and I am sure this is no exception.

Disclaimer: We are Izziwizzi Kids Toy Testers and this is a review for Playfest. The toy was received for the purpose of this review but all our thoughts are honest and unbiased.

Bury Family Life Magazine - A Review

We're lucky to have a really great local network of bloggers in the North West and, especially in Bury where they must put something in the water as there is loads of them! One of these Bury bloggers, Heather from Note from Lapland, has a new project and, alongside her partner, has launched a new free magazine for Bury families named Bury Family Life.

Excuse the condition of the bottom magazine, Little Miss took a shine to it too.

The magazine is now on the second issue and is a great resource for local parents. It mixes features, comment and local advertising to form a really good read which reaches over 10000 local families. The website backs up the magazine by adding new content all the time. I particularly like the website as, a lot of Bury content is relevant to us living over the border in Bolton and this is an easy way of accessing it as the magazine isn't distributed here. There's also lots of competitions, links for local bloggers and ideas for fun days out. Lots of these magazines seem to be an excuse to just publish pages and pages of advertising which, of course, is how publication is funded, but Bury Family Life strikes a good balance between advertising and content.

The only downside to Bury Family Life that I can see is that there isn't one for Bolton too. Maybe we'll move to Bury and add to the Bury blogger numbers!

Disclaimer: Despite Heather's attempts to bribe me with very welcome chocolate this is an open and honest review of the magazine.

Our Day at The Baby Show NEC Birmingham 2013

On Friday Little Miss and I got up early to get the train to Birmingham to visit the Baby Show at the NEC. I was quite excited as I knew I'd be meeting up with a few bloggers and brands 'in real life' rather than just catching up via Twitter or Facebook.

We had an uneventful train journey and arrived at the show just after 11am. I've only ever attended the Manchester version of the Baby Show in the past so I was really surprised by the sheer scale of this event. It is huge. If you're going wear comfy shoes, we walked miles!

My highlights were:

Meeting some gorgeous bloggers - including Emma from Mrs Shilts, her lovely mum and Baby Shilts, Bryony from Love Bryony and the beautiful Georgie, Jo from Slummy Single Mummy, Ryan from Transatlantic Blonde and Zoe from My Mummy's World with her handsome Jack. As we travelled down on our own I was delighted to meet up at the show with Dawn from Mummy's Little Peeps and, as she's a local blogger, it meant Little Miss and I had company on the train journey home too.

Seeing the fabulous stands from some of my favourite baby companies - I didn't actually manage to get around every stand - too busy chatting with people - but I loved seeing the fab Mia Tui bags and the Cosatto stand with grass carpet and a fantastic collection of their prams. Little Miss even got in on the act and modelled two of the fantastic Cosatto Giggles as they both matched her outfit on the day.

The people from Vital Baby and their great show prices which allowed me to stock up as my fussy daughter gets really grumpy when we use anything other than their spoons. The Fisher Price stand had a giant baby rocker which lots of people were having great fun trying out. Cuddledry had some fantastic show offers but I didn't take advantage as I have my eye on their gorgeous pink polka dot towels which will be out soon. At the Mamascarf stand I finally decided which colour snoodie we wanted and bought a purple one. I was really pleased to meet a couple of companies that I will be reviewing soon too, including BundleBean and Peter Rabbit Organics.

Show discounts - I picked up the show goodie bag, and one for my new niece and her Mummy too. For two pounds this was a terrific bargain including a Kiddicare toy, two copies of Prima Baby and Pregnancy magazine, Aldi Mamia nappies and wipes and a few other samples. I also picked up some beautiful soft leather shoes for Little Miss from DottyFish, the bangle I've been eyeing up from Gumigem, and two lovely dresses from Pumpkin Patch.

We had a fantastic, if tiring, day at the Baby Show. I'm just trying to decide on whether to go to the Olympia Kensington show in October, now, where are those train timetables?

Sunday 12/5/13 - Sunday 19/5/13 Days 193 - 200 of Project 365

Sunday #193 'A New Cousin' - We went to meet my new niece today. I couldn't resist comparing Little Miss with her new little cousin. She is so tiny that she makes my dainty dot of a girl look enormous! 

Monday #194 'Grumpy' - Little Miss is struggling a little wit her teeth. We often have hot cheeks and she struggles to sleep a little. We had a very quiet day today and I took this when she was down for a nap.

Tuesday #195 'Bread Sticks' - We are trying lots of different finger foods in weaning Little Miss. A recent discovery is bread sticks. She is remarkably adept with them and doesn't struggle to eat them at all.

Wednesday #196 'Sponge Painting' - Wednesday is toddlers for us. Bud often doesn't join in with the craft as he's quite independent and loves to do his own thing. He's so keen on painting at the moment and this was the first time he has used sponges to do so. He loved it.

Thursday #197 'Haircut' - A terrible self portrait but the incident of biggest note today was a snap decision to cut all my hair off. You can't really see it in this but I'm gradually getting used to it and I do like it. Now I have to decide whether or not to keep it short!

Friday #198 'Change at Crewe' - Little Miss and I went to the Baby Show at the NEC in Birmingham. We had a lovely day. I have a thing for train station platforms and stations. I think it's the abundance of horizontal and vertical lines converging and diverging all over the place.

Saturday #199 'Big Eyes' - We were quite tired today and the weather was miserable so we spent a lot of time snuggling on the sofa. Little Miss was struggling with the teeth again, there seems to be no sign of them yet. I love her eyes in this shot.

Sunday #200 'Bathroom Break' - We went to the Foodies Festival at Tatton Park today with both mine and Red Rose Daddy's parents. The lovely people from Ecover were there and had a fake bathroom set up ready for photo opportunities. Bud was happy to pose and this photo made me smile so much.