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.

Postman Pat turns 30!

Postman Pat, Postman Pat, Postman Pat and his black and white cat..... who doesn't know the words to that song!?

On the 16th September it will be 30 years since Postman Pat was created and to celebrate his birthday he is asking is fans to send him birthday cards and drawings and in return they will receive a personal message from him!

It's hard to believe that Postman Pat has been entertaining children all over the world for 30 years and together with his black and white cat Jess he has become one of the most loved pre-school characters ever created. As well as watching Pat on TV children can also now play with the toy range from Character Options.

In order to get a personal message from Postman Pat children should send their birthday wishes and drawings to the following address giving a valid email address and the child's full name:

Postman Pat
Evolution PR
The Abbey Centre
Daventry
NN11 4XG

I feel sure that this will make any Postman Pat fans day!