FAMILY WEEKLY UPDATE: 18th – 24th May | Bluey’s Big Play, Trafford Centre Shopping & Alice’s Sports Day
- May 26
- 6 min read
Family Weekly Update
This week was a lovely mix of family time, shopping, theatre trips and getting ready for half term.
We also had a really special family theatre trip to see Bluey’s Big Play at The Lowry.
Here is this week’s family weekly update, sharing everything we got up to throughout the week.
🧹 Housework & Video Editing
On Monday, I did what I almost always seem to do on a Monday — catching up on housework and editing YouTube videos.
It’s become a bit of a routine at this point, but it does help me feel more organised before the rest of the week gets busy.
🏃 Alice’s Sports Day
Tuesday was Alice’s sports day.
The school doesn’t actually hold sports day on the school grounds — it takes place at a nearby park and all the children walk there together.
However, because of Alice’s additional needs, the school decided to take her in the Headteacher’s car instead so she wouldn’t get too tired before the activities even started. I thought that was such a thoughtful thing to do and it was really lovely seeing them consider what would help her enjoy the day most.
The sports day started at 10am, but I didn’t go until the afternoon because I was waiting for my parents to drive there as my knee is still quite bad and I didn’t want to walk all that way.
We arrived at around 1:30pm and got there just in time for Alice’s running race on the track.
During her race, it suddenly started raining, but Alice did so well and still finished the race. It was really lovely hearing all her classmates cheering her on from the stand.
Not long afterwards, the rain became absolutely torrential, so the school decided to end sports day a little early and we took Alice home.
💻 Editing Theatre Vlogs
Wednesday and Thursday were mainly spent catching up on editing some theatre vlogs that I’d fallen behind on.
It always takes longer than I expect going through all the footage, especially after busy theatre weeks, but I managed to get quite a lot done.
🛍️ Trafford Centre, Primark & Holiday Shopping
On Friday, Lawrence was off work.
Originally, we were planning on heading into Manchester and looking around Primark there, but we changed our minds on the way and decided to head to the Trafford Centre instead so we could also go to ASDA afterwards.
We got off the bus at the Trafford Centre bus station and headed straight to the Haribo shop where I picked up some of our favourite sweets to share over the half term holidays.
Afterwards, we walked over the bridge to Primark where we picked up quite a few bits for the kids. For Alice, I bought a couple of pairs of trousers, a T-shirt and a swimming costume.
For Leo, we picked up swimming shorts, sunglasses and a Bluey T-shirt and shorts set
I also bought Alice a Toy Story alien bath fizzer because I’d accidentally only bought one last week and promised her I’d get her one next time we visited Primark.
We also picked up a pack of four Moana bath fizzers for the kids to share.
After that, we headed into Primark Home where we bought a new water bottle each for the kids, Stitch ice lolly moulds ready for the hot weather expected during half term and a new laundry basket for the kids.
We then walked across to the Krispy Kreme shop near ASDA because I had a voucher for buy 6 get 6 free doughnuts 🍩
Afterwards, we headed into ASDA where there was 20% off clothing, so I picked up a couple of dresses for Alice and also bought the children a Toy Story towel each.
Once we got home, Lawrence went to collect the children from school while I sorted everything out.
The kids were really excited seeing all the things we’d bought for them and enjoyed a doughnut each as their after-school snack.
🐶 Bluey’s Big Play at The Lowry
On Saturday 23rd May, my brother and I took Alice and Leo to see Bluey’s Big Play at The Lowry for the 2pm performance, and it turned into such a lovely family theatre trip from start to finish.
Lawrence was working, so my brother came along with us instead.
Before we left, I dressed the kids in the Bluey outfits we’d bought the day before. Leo wore his new Bluey T-shirt and shorts set while Alice wore a purple Bluey dress covered in different characters from the show.
As huge Bluey fans, the children had been so excited ever since spotting the poster at the train station a few months ago. We all loved the production when it visited in 2024, so they were thrilled it was returning to The Lowry again.
My dad dropped us off at our usual spot opposite the Imperial War Museum North before we made the familiar walk across the bridge towards the theatre.
We arrived at around 1:25pm which gave us plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere before the performance started.
One of the first things the children spotted was the huge merchandise stand, which already had a massive queue around it. There was so much Bluey merchandise available, and the children spent ages trying to decide what they liked best, but we decided to wait until after the show before buying anything.
The atmosphere around the theatre was lovely, with children everywhere wearing Bluey ears, carrying plush toys and excitedly chatting about their favourite characters.
We were seated in the circle on Row B and honestly had an excellent view of the stage. Because the seating is nicely raked at The Lowry, the children could comfortably see without any problems.
The show itself was absolutely brilliant and both children were completely engrossed from start to finish.
Alice absolutely loved seeing the grannies racing around in their little car, while Leo was so excited when Chattermax appeared on stage.
Both children were laughing throughout and Leo was even up dancing during parts of the performance.
After the show, we headed back downstairs once the merch queue had gone down slightly.
Their uncle treated Alice to a Bluey ears headband and bought Leo a Bluey plush wearing a little heart headband, while I bought them a Muffin plush to share after they both decided Muffin was their favourite character but there was only one left.
The children were absolutely thrilled with their new toys.
👉 You can read more about our visit and my shorter review HERE
👉 And you can find my full review on All About Theatre HERE
🍫 Cadbury Shop & A Quiet Evening at Home
After the show, we headed into the outlet mall and had a look around the Cadbury shop.
I ended up getting a Roses pick and mix filled almost entirely with strawberry and orange creams because they’re my favourites, while Alice and Leo each picked up a bag of mini eggs.
We also had a quick look around the little market stalls outside before walking back across the bridge where my dad picked us up from our usual spot opposite the Imperial War Museum North.
When we got home, Lawrence was back from work and the children excitedly showed him all the things they’d bought from the show.
We spent a little while playing with the children’s new toys before I started writing my review for Bluey’s Big Play.
🎥 Editing, Social Media & Filming Reviews
On Sunday, Lawrence spent time playing with the children while I worked on all the Bluey social media posts, filmed my review and edited the vlog and review video.
It ended up taking me most of the day, but I was really happy to finally get everything finished.
💜 Final Thoughts
Overall, it ended up being such a lovely week.
From Alice doing so well at sports day to our family trip to see Bluey’s Big Play, it was one of those weeks filled with lots of little moments together before half term started.
The children absolutely loved their Bluey theatre trip and were so excited with all their new toys and holiday clothes ready for the warmer weather.
After such a busy few weeks recently, it also felt nice having a slightly calmer week at home mixed in with the theatre trips and shopping days
🎥 Watch Our Weekly Vlog
If you’d like to see everything we got up to this week, including our trip to Bluey’s Big Play at The Lowry and our Trafford Centre shopping trip, you can watch this week’s family weekly update vlog over on YouTube.
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