A Little Lyrical

20Sep 2016

Blog On Link Up – My answers

by Lyric ⋅ 4 Comments

This Sunday I’m off to my second Blogon conference at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. I went to my first one earlier this year. It was a fantastic event, unfortunately I wasn’t feeling great on the day so don’t think I really made the most of it. This time I will try to be more social and will be feeling great on the day. Blog On take 2!

Heres my answers to the Blog On Ice breaker Linky:

1. Share a recent photo of you (or a doodle!)

This is me! I’m pretty tall (6ft1) some might say as tall as Buzz Lightyear!

2. Describe yourself in five words or less

Adventurous, ambitious, happy, grateful
3. How long have you been blogging, and why did you start?

Two years, and I was inspired to start by my good friend Jenny from Lets Talk Mommy
4. What are you hoping to get out of Blog On?

More skills to enhance my blog and my posts – meet new friends
5. Name a few of your favourite blogs.

So difficult to say as I like so many different kinds, I really like Attic 24 as I’ve followed it for a long time.
6. What’s your favourite social media platform(s)… and what’s your username?

I really like instagram and pinterest as I’m a very visual person and love seeing pictures and getting new ideas

Instagram – Lyrical_mum

Pinterest -Lyricalcraft (A Little Lyrical)
7. Share a fact about you no-one would guess.
8. What’s your favourite bit of tech?

I am very lucky to have the new iPhone 7 and I actually love it, I’ve never been so impressed with a new phone before but Apple have got it very right for me this time!
9. If you won the lottery, how would you spend your winnings?

I’d pay off my mortgage first and foremost for my children’s future, then I’d think about how to help others. There would be treats for us along the way but I really would like to thank a fair few people who have helped me and our family throughout the years.
10. If you could host a talk show, who would be your first guest?

I think I’d choose Michelle Obama, I’d love to hear more about her life in the Whitehouse and what it’s really like to be the first lady.
11. Share a funny (or favourite) memory from your life.

I do have lots of funny things happen to me but they are often hard to describe in words (you sort of have to be there moments) so my favourite memory from life so far has got to be the day I got married to my best friend – yes soppy I know!!
12. What is your favourite book (or film if you’re not a big reader) and why?

I really like factual books about things I love, so I’m currently enjoying a book about Walt Disney World and how it came to be from a concept.
13. What picture is on your phone/tablet lock screen?

My two boys, because when I’m at work it reminds me why I’m there, for them.
14. If you had an hour of time all to yourself, how would you spend it?

Swimming in a pool with a swim up cocktail bar, where I could sit and chat with new people. I love hearing people’s stories.
15. What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever been given

Don’t make any decisions in the nighttime, things ALWAYS seem better in the morning! (This has helped me through so much, I’ll always remember who told me this!)

Looking forward to a read through everyone else’s answers, I hope I can put names to faces on Sunday!

19Sep 2016

Walt Disney World – The most magical place in the world!

by Lyric ⋅ 2 Comments

Walt Disney World – just the sheer mention of this magical place makes my heart happy. My first trip to Walt Disney World was in 2004 (only 12 years ago) but since then I’ve become addicted!

Me back in 2004 on my first trip with my brother

As a child my mum and dad didn’t have the money to take us to Disney so it’s something I’d always dreamed of doing, and something that always reminds me how lucky I am to be able to go and take my own children. In 2005 the opportunity came up to go with a large group of people as part of a singing group. So I jumped at the chance, the person I was supposed to be going with unfortunately dropped out so my brother stepped in. On that trip we stayed at a Walt Disney World resort called Caribbean Beach, it was from there my love of Disney started. We only had 5 day tickets on that trip so we didn’t get to see much and we were complete novices, I didn’t know that it was best to plan your day. I thought you could just rock up and wing it! All first timers have been there!

Walt Disney World – What’s there?

For anyone who’s not been Walt Disney World consists of 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping and dining area called Disney Springs and 25 resort hotels on site. The land at Walt Disney World covers an area the size of Greater Manchester in the UK so it’s pretty vast!

If you haven’t been before it’s hard to explain why it’s so fantastic without actually experiencing it but I’m going to try! I’m sure there are lots of blog posts around that try to explain the magic of Disney and I realise this is yet another one but I feel like I need to put it in my own words too.

From the moment you get on the magical express (the free Disney coach service provided by Disney from Orlando international airport) you feel welcome and can truly relax.

The employees of Walt Disney World (or cast members as they are known) really are second to none. Disney expects a high standard for their employees and it really shows. I always feel welcome at Disney, the cast members are always friendly and helpful with a smile on their faces. The rooms, parks, resorts and even toilets are always spotless and this is something that is important to me. I only just realised how spotless the toilets are on this recent trip as we visited other attractions and shopping areas in the Orlando area and it really highlighted how much care Disney takes in attention to detail with cleanliness.

From the moment you enter any of the parks you are transported into a magical world of happiness and fun. Don’t get me wrong we do have our fallings out and grumpy moments as a family but on the whole it’s hard to be sad in a Disney park.

If you go with children you start seeing the magic through their eyes, we have been 3 times with children and it’s magical, it truly is. They believe the characters are real, they giggle and laugh on the rides, they have wide eyes at the shows and parades and marvel at the fireworks (while mummy cries with joy!)

If you go without children like we did many times it’s still magical, it’s as if you are instantly transported back to your own childhood. The worries of everyday life are gone. There’s no thinking about work, or bills or the usual home stresses, just magic, and it happens all around.

Honeymoon trip 2008 – Pre-children magic

The place itself is magical but the cast members really make it wonderful and create the memories. This past trip we met some many lovely cast members who made our trip magical, they spoke with the children, they gave them stickers, they had a smile and a wave and a well wish. It truly was wonderful and I miss it already.

I realise how lucky we are to be able to go. Yes Walt Disney World is expensive but you truly get what you pay for, an escape from reality for the time you are there, immersed in the magic. I would rather just go to Walt Disney World every 3 or 4 or 5 years and save up to pay for it than take a holiday every year to somewhere else.

I’m hoping to get time to write about more of our adventures in Walt Disney World so that the boys can read them back and remember the memories we created.

So next time someone says to me “You’re going there AGAIN?” I will just smile and say “Of course it’s the most magical place in the world” and it truly is.

18Sep 2016

My Sunday Photo – Skydiving at Airkix

by Lyric ⋅ 16 Comments

I haven’t joined in with my Sunday photo for a while now so thought I’d jump back on board this week with a photo taken yesterday. This is my 5 year old son at Airkix indoor skydiving. He’s been asking to do this since he was 3 years old! The minimum age is 4 years old but I still didn’t think he was ready so for his 5th birthday we bought him a voucher. We used the voucher yesterday and this was the result. He was excited yet nervous to go in but I’m so proud that he did it and loved it! Could this be the start of a new hobby!?

13Sep 2016

Another month has gone by!

by Lyric ⋅ Leave a Comment

It’s been a massively busy time for us over the past month, at the start of the summer holidays my cousin from the states came to stay with us for a while so we were busy showing her the sights including the big smoke (London). While she was here we celebrated my eldest 5th birthday but on the same day received some tragic news which I don’t want to discuss in such a public place. Then a few days later we were lucky enough to fly off on a three week holiday to Walt Disney World. Upon our return school started within a day and since then it’s bee a whirlwind of homework, school uniforms and getting back to work.

I hate that the blog has a huge gap in it but time just hasn’t allowed me to sit down and put fingers to keys. I have however promised myself I will try to blog more and continue with recording the boys growing up so they have something to look back on when they grow up.

For now though it’s teatime and the boys are hungry, off to do tea, bed, bath etc etc!

01Aug 2016

We’re going on a Bug Hunt! Summer Holiday Fun

by Lyric ⋅ Leave a Comment

Bug Hunt!

A bug hunt can be fun, or so I found out today! A couple of weeks ago we were contacted to see if we’d like to take part in the ‘Big Blogger Bug Hunt’.
Now if you’ve read anything of mine before you’ll probably already know I have two young boys (4 & 2) and there’s nothing we like more than getting out in the back garden and getting dirty and wet (especially the two year old!)

I’ve posted about gender specific toys/games and play before. With my boys I’ve never gone for traditional gender aimed toys, they have always been welcome to play with whatever they wish too. I am finding more and more though that they do gravitate to more traditional boy toys, cars, trains, dinosaurs….wrestling each other!! So a bug hunt was a no brainer (even though inside I’m screaming please don’t bring them in the house!!!!). I’m not scared of bugs, I’m just not super keen on sharing my space with them. If they are outside doing no harm that’s fine by me but cross over my threshold and prepare to face the consequences!
Given that the weather has been so nice of late (with a few exceptions!) and we are looking for summer holiday activities we seized our chance and set off on a bug hunt around the garden. I say set off, what I mean was raced off in opposite directions to find the dirtiest areas of the garden.
I’d already explained to the eldest that bugs tend to be found in dark usually damper conditions in the garden.

So he went to look under the trampoline. It had been raining earlier on so hopefully bugs could be found!

It’s hard with children to explain that some bugs may bite without putting a fear into them so I tackled it by getting the boys to imagine being a bug, imagining how big a human would look. We talked about bugs being scared of humans and sometimes that reaction is to bite, so we must always leave bugs alone and if we do need to move or handle them to do so carefully or with the catcher from the bug hunt kit.

The boy asked what happens when bugs bite and the best I could explain is that it might hurt him. I really don’t want to make him afraid of bugs or insects, but to respect their space and just leave them alone.

It wasn’t long before the boy had found some ants, that’s no surprise in our garden as they seem to be everywhere!

I’m not sure if these ants bite, we didn’t handle him to find out, we just scooped him up carefully with the catcher and put him in the magnifying pot to have a closer look. I remember as a child playing near some red ants and they definitely bite! I remember being bitten all over my legs, it was pretty itchy and painful. I know that the bodies reaction to bites is to release histamine which when released onto the skin’s surface by scratching makes the site of the bite even more painful and itchy. The recommend treatment to relieve the itch fast is to apply an antihistamine cream on the site of the bite, to reduce redness, inflammation and swelling. Anthisan is an antihistamine cream which can be used on bites, stings and irritation, throughout the summer and all year-long.

We looked at the ant for quite a while, trying to count the legs and body parts before letting him go again back where we found him, and moved onto to looking for other bugs.

The boys were quite excited to see this one, but knew it was too big for the pot and we didn’t want to damage its wings.

It stayed still enough though for us to look at and admire.

I’m not sure Flixster was clear on the brief of the bug hunt and ended up getting plant and flower samples to look at, but we just went along with it, he was enjoying himself.

The bug hunt and outdoor fun kept us amused for quite some time and that’s exactly what you want from a summer holiday week day entertainment. I can highly recommend getting out in the garden or a local park to look for insects and bug life, but be sure to keep the antihistamine cream handy in case of bites and stings!

With thanks to Anthisan for sending us the bug hunt kit, we had a great afternoon on the hunt!

01Aug 2016

Breakout Manchester – Did we Breakout of the room in 1 hour?

by Lyric ⋅ Leave a Comment

When I was in my 20’s pre-children and pre-mortgage I used to spend most weekend evenings out and about in Manchester. I loved it, theres so many different areas and vibes. However there was never anything like the night out I experienced on Friday! I can’t recommend it enough to make a change to your usual night out or with a group of friends, it really is fab!

Can you BREAKOUT…?

If you’ve never heard of it before Breakout is an escape room. For those of you who remember the crystal maze, its like that but with your friends and for a whole hour!

When I was first asked to go and experience a breakout room and write about it I did wonder how I would write about it if we didn’t get out……

But now I know, even if you don’t get out they let you out….phewwwww

On arrival we made sure to get there 10 minutes before as we had been instructed to for our briefing! We were going in the room called Facility X!

The secretion goes a little bit like this:

You arrive at an unknown location for a once in a lifetime opportunity; a conference held by the critically acclaimed, Dr. Andrews. His work is widely known throughout the research circles, but he has remained hidden in the shadows for years. What you don’t know, is that Dr. Andrews has gone mad, creating a string of tests that have gone disastrously wrong. He has brought you here for his final experiment. You have one hour to escape his maze of tricks and games, before a deadly virus kills you all.

Right ok we thought, what could we be facing?

If you thought that was a picture inside the room, sorry it’s not! This was just to entertain us while we waited for everyone to arrive!

The anticipation built and before long we were ready to go.

We were told bits and pieces about the room, mainly that we can touch and explore everything unless it had a do not touch sticker on. This was for things that were not part of the game i.e. live plugs!

I am not here to spoil it for anyone who wants to play Facility X so sorry if you came looking for clues!

Each room has a clock which counts down the hour for you from being locked in (and don’t worry there is always an escape button if you need to leave so you can if you have to, but obviously thats cheating!) There is someone from the behind the scenes team always watching you via the cameras but they can’t hear you. Every so often if they think you need help they will pop up a cryptic clue on the screen.

The room fits 5 so I took a snap of the team in action…sorry still no clues! But you can see we still had 30 minutes 44 seconds to go!

Do these look like happy faces?

Thats because they were happy faces that we escaped! With just 3 minutes to spare we actually cracked all the clues and escaped the room, we were on a massive high! We could not believe it! We did it! We will now call ourselves the A team!

To celebrate our brain power we headed off for cocktails.

We had an amazing time at Breakout, it really surpassed my expectations as a night out! I’d love to give you some clues but it would spoil the fun. We all brought different strengths to the game, had a laugh working together to get out and were elated that we made it out before the hour (just!)

Breakout prices vary but the more players you have the less it costs per person. Breakout now have two sites in Manchester so be sure to check which one you are playing at after you have booked. You don’t want to arrive late and feel flustered thats for sure. Bring your brains and find a great team to go with. We are already planning out next night out there, to a different room of course! Check out Breakout Manchester for more information.

Thanks to Breakout Manchester for inviting us to try the room!

25Jul 2016

Summer Holiday – Day 1 – So far we’ve survived

by Lyric ⋅ Leave a Comment

Summer holiday day 1 is over, well it’s over in so much as the boys are in bed…for now! I have housework and other things to do not to mention any other stuff that I’d like to do, or thats needed doing for a while!

When I was a child, I remember thinking that 6 weeks summer holiday was amazingly long and would last for ever. As an adult with my own children, I’m pretty much thinking the same about summer holiday but for a very different reason!

Childcare in the Summer Holiday

Nursery continues as normal on my work days, but with no school for the summer I’ve had to find a holiday club for the boy. Still only 4 and still so small and vulnerable. I hope he’s ok at the holiday club. He often takes a while to settle into a new setting. The staff don’t know him, they don’t know his little quirks, how he likes reassurance over things. I’m trying to prepare him for it but I’m not sure he knows what to expect. It’s somewhere that has been recommended by other mum I know so I just hope its right for him. He’s mentioned already that he’s a bit worried as he doesn’t know where the cloakroom will be. He doesn’t realise I’ll spend the whole day worrying and thinking about him, wondering if he’ll find someone to play with. Worrying that he won’t know where the toilets are, or who to ask if he needs something. What if time passes really slowly for him and he just spends ages wondering when I’ll be back. I hope he finds someone to talk to.

The best thing would be that he settles in quickly and has an amazing day. I really hope he does, but he’s still my baby. Still finding his feet in school let alone a new setting.

19Jul 2016

Children and Youtube – Why are somethings so popular?

by Lyric ⋅ Leave a Comment

What is it about some of the videos on Youtube? How are they so popular?

My children are 4 and 2, I make no apologies for letting them watch youtube videos. I am always close by to check what they are watching is safe and suitable and usually it buys me a few minutes to do some household tasks. They never sit there for hours on end, just a few short sessions. They certainly seem to enjoy it. But one thing still puzzles me, why are some seemingly odd videos so popular?

For example, the items wrapped in play-doh, whats that about? And the endless opening of ‘surprise eggs’. I just don’t get it. As the boy grows up he’s increasingly interested in both ‘How to’ and games videos. He likes to watch other people play computer games (age appropriate of course!) he’ll spend a while watching other people playing Mario or watching other people opening toys. I suppose it saves me having to buy the toy for him to open!

For a while he’s been asking to make his own youtube video, I’m not sure he’ll be very poplar but I think he just wanted to get on youtube. He chose the subject himself, again not something that people really want to watch but I’m sure I’ll appreciate capturing him in the moment and be able to look back with fondness at the video. I love how the technology of today means where ever I am in the world if there is internet I can watch my beautiful boy.

So here it is, his first intentional instructional video on youtube, he even says like and subscribe at the end….I wonder where he got that from!?!

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you……….”How to make toast with a 4 year old!”

Youtube Debut

13Jul 2016

Reception it’s almost over – Why I nearly cried at school

by Lyric ⋅ Leave a Comment

The End of Reception

My eldest is in his Reception year at school. I only get to do school drop off for two days each school week because I do long hours during my three work days. I would love to drop off everyday but I am very grateful that I at least get to do two each week. Yesterday started like any normal day, the early rise as usual. Me thinking I have hours to get ready (when in fact we do have about 3.5 hours (so why is there ALWAYS, I repeat ALWAYS) a last-minute dash to beat the bell at school? Does this just happen to me?

So after the 3 hour-long battle to get both boys, washed, dressed, fed and ready we were dashing off to school once again to beat the bell. We got there just in time for final goodbyes, a kiss, a quick hug and a little wave. Me stood with Flixster waving the boy off, watching him to the last-minute until he goes through the door and turns left into the cloakroom out of sight. It was then that it hit me.

Like I walked into a solid brick wall.

Thump
That was it, that moment, he only has a week left in reception. He is finishing reception, how did this happen? Why was I so sad?
Another milestone, another glaringly obvious reminder that time never stops.
It only seems like two minutes since I was dropping him off for his taster sessions with a tear in my eye. I was sad back then because he was growing up, school were stealing my baby away. I didn’t know when I dropped him off back then that he’d end the school year in a different school. Due to our house move and the opportunity to move schools he only spent one term at his original school and the other two terms at a different one. He has settled in so well at his new school, he still talks about the old one quite a bit but knows his new one is here to stay. I know I should feel happy but I didn’t. In that very moment I just wanted to hug him and cry quietly and not let go…ever. I felt even worse letting him go because I’d only just told him off for stamping on my foot and marking my new shoes, it seems so trivial, I should have just let it go and spent longer hugging him instead.
I’m not sure I like being reminded of time passing, I’m sure everyone feels the same. Some times I need the world to stop moving so I can take an extra few moments to appreciate it.

I need the boys to make sure they know I love them, I need to bottle their little smell, frame their tiny little hands and the trusting look they give you when they need reassurance. I need to appreciate every single moment in time.

24Jun 2016

Wagamama – New menu items, taste test!

by Lyric ⋅ 4 Comments

Wagamama – New items on the menu!

We were delighted last weekend to be invited to try out some of the new menu items at Wagamama in the Trafford Centre. Wagamama at the Intu Trafford Centre is the largest Wagamama site in the company and even has a mezzanine floor. This particular branch opened back in October 2015.

We decided that after a busy day helping at the school summer fair we’d all built up a healthy appetite for some yummy tea.
My 4-year-old is a Wagamama pro, given the choice when we eat out he would hands down chose Wagamama every time. He’s been eating out at Wagamama since he was very young. We love it because it’s so family friendly. The staff are always very accommodating of children and the children’s menu at Wagamama gets my stamp of approval as lovely, tasty healthy foods for children. He loves that he gets his own special children’s chopsticks and he certainly know how to use them.

We were sent the invitation to try the new menu items which included Duck Donburi, Steak Bulgogi, Tamari Chicken, two new juices and a new side of shredded duck wraps.

Hubby is a real foodie and so he didn’t need asking twice to get stuck in. If you haven’t been to Wagamama before they will always tell you that no matter what you order, the food will be brought out as its ready, this keeps it hot and fresh. Wagamama at the Intu Trafford Centre has a wonderfully long open kitchen that really shows off the chefs skills.

The smell wafting across the restaurant definitely sets the scene of the food to come. Being a large restaurant it was quick and easy to get seated. Each time I’ve been I’ve been seated straight away, as every parent knows hungry children don’t like waiting! So settled in our booth we quickly set about choosing the food.

The boy loves having his own children’s menu to choose from and Flixster just enjoyed the crayons and paper!

We quickly decided to try the Duck Donburi , shredded duck wraps and repair juice from the new menu. The boys chose mini chicken ramen as its his favourite and for Flixster we chose mini chicken cha han as I figured he’d like it. The food came out as it was ready smelling delicious and looking amazing. The children’s meals were still very hot (as you’d expect) so they spent quite a while tucking into the steamed chicken gyoza and shredded duck wraps I should have ordered more!

Hubby and I barely got any! What we did taste though was lovely. We often order the steamed chicken gyoza in Wagamama and it was lovely as always. The shredded duck wrap is new on the menu, the boy lovely it but wasn’t sure about the sauce at first, I think he was expect ketchup so the fruitiness really surprised him. He did ask for more though so it was a hit!

It was hubby who ordered the duck donburi it came in a bowl with the fried egg on top. You are supposed to break the yolk of the egg then fold in kimchee and stir up the rice with the donburi duck for the full experience.I tried some and it was delicious. I just couldn’t stray away from my absolute favourite thing on the menu (I’m pretty sure it’s a favourite with lots of people) number 42 the yaki udon!

Once everybody dishes had arrived and the sides had been hoovered up we set about eating our own as well as sharing round. I love the children’s chopsticks in Wagamama, so easy even my 2 year old can use them!

All the food was as always delicious! We loved the new Repair juice with Apple, Kale and Pear. Even the boys tried to share it with us. I was hesitant as I knew it had kale in it but all I could taste was the Apple and Pear, a really lovely drink.

Luckily the children’s menu has milk on it which Flixster loves so he was easy to distract with that!

We were so full after the yummy food we couldn’t fit in a dessert which was a shame as they all sounded so nice on the menu. The boys even had to have half of their meals in a takeaway box to eat later in the day. I love that Wagamama offer to pack it up so readily and always have the best boxes and containers on hand to safely keep the food from getting everywhere.

Many thanks to Wagamama for inviting us to try the new menu items. We love how family friendly it is and how the food is consistently yummy, delicious and fresh! We’ll be back soon I’m sure, especially considering the boy keeps asking to return!

« Previous 1 … 14 15 16 17 18 … 33 Next »

Walt Disney World – What’s there?

Bug Hunt!

Can you BREAKOUT…?

Childcare in the Summer Holiday

Youtube Debut

The End of Reception

Wagamama – New items on the menu!

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