Loads of Fun at Lollibop 2013

Sunday was Lollibop day for Isla and I and we had a blast. We went with my best friend and her son just like last year. We set off early and headed to the Olympic Park, the new venue this year. I'm going to be honest and say that I much prefered the Regents Park location as for obvious reasons it's leafier and feels more tranquil. That said there were little parts of Lollibop that did feel like this, the area where the disco shed was grassy and felt a little bit removed from the madness of the rest of the festival. 

Prior to going to Lollibop I hadn't bigged up any of the events or acts with Isla as I felt it was important for her to not feel disappointment if she didn't get to see something or if I saw that a queue was too long to wait in. By taking this approach we could easily just mooch around and do things as we came across them, which made for a much happier experience. There was only one exception to this rule and that was when we walked past the Shaun the Sheep area and Isla desparately wanted to meet him, but they were closing the field, so I promised we would go back. 

Last year we hardly watched anything on the main stage and stuck to the Lollipalladium. This year was the opposite, we caught a bit of Sid and Andy (really funny!) but then spent a long while in front of the main stage having a picnic whilst Dick and Dom (bogies!) were on, followed by Hello Kitty and the man of the moment, Justin Fletcher! He was great, really got the audience going, singing and making the kids laugh. We left JF a bit before he finished so that we could get back to Shaun the Sheep and get in the queue, we were near the front and 10 minutes early for his appearance, so in total Isla only had to wait 15 minutes for this photo opportunity:

 

After that we went in search of the face painting - also included in the ticket price, and although it looked a long queue there were so many face painters it was moving fast and we could only have been waiting 10 minutes for that - result! They had a list of different options to choose from, I persuaded Isla that they weren't doing Shaun the Sheep and so she went for the Dalamation Dog instead:

 

Next up a trip to the ice cream man and a bit of a boogie at the disco shed! After a good dance to 'Superman' - remember that one from the early 80's (?!) there was tug of war which all the kids really loved (they kept queuing up for it)! Isla had never done it before and looked liked she really enjoyed the experience especially as she was on the winning team. 

 

We stopped off at one of the Imagination Stations and Isla did some printing on a cloth square. We also bumped into Postman Pat while we were there - no sign of Jess though. 

 

There was a bar for the adults at Lollibop, which at the end we treated ourselves to a Pimms, we felt like we'd earnt it  after all the running around we'd been doing all day after two excitable monkeys! Finally we ended the day at Lollibop by getting the kids (and their siblings at home) a Walking Pet Balloon, which they absolutely loved and played with all the way home.

Thanks Lollibop for a really great day - we can't wait to come back next year!

We were given free tickets as Lollbop Ambassadors. All views expressed in this post are my own.

Justin's Funny Faces Sticker Activity Book - Review

As you know we like Justin Fletcher A LOT! If Isla catches 'Something Special' on TV at any time then it's quite tricky to drag her away from it. She loves all Justin's silly characters and so this new book 'Justin's Funny Faces Sticker Activity Book' is perfect as she can make up silly characters of her own!

Isla was really excited when I showed it to her and I did have to stop her from filling in the whole book in one go. The idea is that there are lots of blank faces and lots of stickers to make the faces come alive. There's a face for a pirate, a snowman face, a princess and so on. The funny thing is though that Isla never wants to make the face as it should be, so we have a snowman that looks like a princess and a monster that looks like a snowman. That's the beauty of it though, you can peel off the stickers from the pages and use them on other faces. Here's some of Isla's funny faces!

The Queen had a bit of a temperature....

Isla is 3 and it's perfect for her pre-schooler age group. This book would make a great Christmas Stocking filler as it's quite inexpensive at around £3. While we're touching on the subject of Christmas (i know, i know, we haven't  even done Halloween yet!), there will be a Justin Fletcher Annual coming out soon too that would also be good for little ones stockings. 

If you'd like to keep tabs on Justin then you can follow him on twitter @_JustinFletcher and like him on Facebook

You can pick up Justin's Funny Faces Sticker Activity Book from all good bookshops and from Amazon from the 4th October.

We were sent this book free of charge to review all opinions are our own.

The Land of Sometimes - Review

Before we got the chance to review The Land of Sometimes I'd seen a lot of bloggers on twitter extolling it's virtues and I was totally intrigued! As soon as we got it I was a bit worried that we'd not be able to get Justin Fletcher out of the disk drive in the car but as soon as I put this CD on the kids seemed to go into a trance in the back seats and they fell off to sleep! Obviously this is beneficial to me but it's not really them listening to it. So I kept putting it on and I found that although it still kept sending Noah to sleep (it's so hypnotic and calming!), it didn't always do the same for Isla, she started to REALLY listen to the story and understand some of the magical nature of it.

The album is a musical on a CD, it has a wonderful story running through it and a brilliant narrator telling the story interspersed with songs. So what's it about?
The Land of Sometimes is about a magical journey that twins Elize & Alfie take together. Four seasons pass in one day and as they pass through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter they encounter many characters along the way who all have fantastic songs. Isla's favourites are the second song, 'Dare Make A Wish' - she calls this Alfie's Song and actually we have to listen to this one about 3 times before I have to butt in and say we're listening to the rest of the CD! After this she likes 'The Ditty of Little Twink' - a song about a naughty fairy who comes to your room and messes it up when you're asleep. My personal favourite is 'The Ballad of the River Slouch Sling' - when I listen to it I seem to have a picture of Keith Allen playing the part of this character - listen up all theatre directors if you make 'The Land of Sometimes' on the stage! The music is so diverse, some of it has a dreamy quality, other bits are disco and some bits are a bit spooky.
I love the fact that Isla is made to use her imagination with this CD, it's an audio book, something we hadn't tried with her before and it really works. She is gradually picking up the words to the songs as I hear her in the back singing along (so sweet!). I'm trying to get us through the whole CD in play list order but she does have a habit of requesting her favourites, so I try and persuade her that we should follow Alfie and Elize through the magical journey.

I love the CD sleeve, it's a book with gorgeous illustrations. I haven't actually let Isla loose with it yet though for a couple of reasons - I don't want it to get naffed up (!) and also I want her to make up her own pictures in her head of what the characters look like.

As a final positive, this CD does still send Noah into a deep sleep when we're in the car, so if you have a particularly niggly 8 month old baby who refuses a lunch time nap - get this beautiful CD, bung baby in the car and drive somewhere till baby sleeps, don't forget to take your flask of coffee and a magazine - actually scrap the last bit, just sit and listen to the story, it really is entertaining!

Go to www.thelandofsometimes.com for further information, bits and pieces for the kids and to purchase.

We were sent a copy of The Land of Sometimes free of charge in order to write this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Justin Fletcher - Hands Up - The Album Review

At the end of last year I blogged about Justin Fletcher's new single Hands Up We've been listening to his album in the car ever since and I can tell you that there is rarely a journey that goes by without a request to put it on. Isla's favourite song has to be 'The Hokey Cokey', she knows it word for word!! We actually have to bypass the first song and just go straight to that one because she loves it so much. If I'm ever in the car with Noah without Isla I often think I'll listen to some of my music, however he has other ideas. He's become so used to hearing it that he actually makes really grumpy noises until I put Justin on!! So there you have it, Justin appeals to 2 year old girls and 7 month old boys.

Apart from The Hokey Cokey, the album also lists the title song 'Hands Up' and a few other kids party faves including: Heads, Shoulders Knees and Toes (great for a bit of a work out!), Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside, If You're Happy & You Know It. My favourites have to be the 3 songs at the end of the album as they are nice and gentle and usually if we've been in the car listening to it  for that long, they've fallen asleep to Frere Jacques!
I mentioned getting a bit of work out while listening to the album, well celebrity personal trainer, Steven Teasedale has danced the entire album with his 3 year old girl and the news is that this could burn around 350 calories! So if you're having a tough day with the kids, stick this album on, have fun with them and once they're in bed you've definitely earned that small glass of wine and a few kettle chips!

Anyhow, get your copy NOW, available from all good stockists including Sainsbury's & Amazon

Justin Fletcher's New Single - Hands Up

I don't know many kids who don't know of Justin Fletcher in his many different guises in 'Something Special' and 'Gigglebiz'. In time for Christmas Justin is releasing a single 'Hands Up' from his forthcoming album of the same name.

I'll honestly say that this isn't my cuppa tea at all but seeing as the music in the car isn't allowed to be of my choosing anymore then what's it to me if we have to listen to this on repeat everywhere we go?! Isla loves it and Justin's voice is so distinguishable that Isla says put Mr Tumble on when I've dared to try and listen to something else. So there you go, 2 year olds love this stuff and who am I to argue. Justin if you're reading, no offence, I'm just more of an Indie girl  and I really do love you on the telly!

We'll be reviewing the album here at I Heart Motherhood in the spring but in the meantime if you want to connect with Justin you can on Twitter and on Facebook

Hands Up is released on 20th November.