FAMILY WEEKLY UPDATE: 29th June – 5th July | High School Musical Press Launch, The Gruffalo & Toy Story 5
- Jul 6
- 8 min read
Family Weekly Update
This week was a lovely mix of theatre, family time, shopping and cinema fun.
We started the week with something really exciting as Lawrence and I headed to The Lowry for the press launch of High School Musical, then later in the week I took Alice and Leo to see The Gruffalo, before finishing the week with a family cinema trip to see Toy Story 5.
Here is this week’s family weekly update, sharing everything we got up to throughout the week.
🎭 High School Musical Press Launch at The Lowry
On Monday morning, Lawrence and I spent some time catching up on housework before heading to The Lowry in the afternoon for the High School Musical press launch while my parents watched the children.
We arrived at around 3:45pm and headed to the Circle Bar, which had been decorated with red and white balloons. The High School Musical soundtrack was playing as we arrived, which instantly made the whole event feel fun and nostalgic.
There were refreshments available while everyone waited for the main event to begin. Lawrence tried a couple of teas, while I had to go for one of the red slushies because it felt very on theme. There was also popcorn and candy floss, so of course we had to try those too.
When it was time for the presentation, everyone was taken through to the Compass Room. The room looked fantastic with red and white decorations, balloon centrepieces and tables set up with East High themed items including notebooks, mini basketball keyrings and branded drinks bottles.
Lawrence and I chose a table near the front so I could get a good view for filming the interviews and performances for my vlog.
Before the presentation started, we had a look around at all the different themed areas. There were East High lockers filled with props and costume pieces, Sharpay Evans’ dressing table, and even a basketball arcade game where guests could have a go at shooting hoops.
It was such a fun way to bring the world of East High to life and Lawrence and I really enjoyed looking around and taking photos before everything began.
The presentation included an exclusive first look at the set design and costume concepts, plus performances from Tobias Turley and Leonor Correia, who will be playing Troy and Gabriella. They sang The Start of Something New and Breaking Free, which was such a lovely preview of what’s to come.
There were also interviews with the creative team, including Joseph Houston and William Whelton from Hope Mill Theatre, and we heard more about the casting of Caitlin Tipping as Sharpay, Luke Bayer as Ryan, KayCee Stroh as Ms Darbus and Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton.
Jason Donovan was also interviewed during the event, which was a really exciting moment.
After the presentation, food was served including nachos, mini burgers, hot dogs and fries. As I’m a fussy eater, I stuck with a hot dog after scraping the sauce off, but Lawrence enjoyed trying a bit of everything.
After chatting to a few people and taking everything in, we headed home on the tram and got back around 7:30pm. Once the children were home and in bed, I transferred all the footage onto my computer ready to start editing the next day.
👉 You can read more about the High School Musical press launch HERE.
🍝 Trafford Centre Lunch & Shopping
Lawrence had the day off on Tuesday, so we decided to get the bus to the Trafford Centre and go for a nice lunch at Pesto.
We arrived a little before Pesto opened, so we had a look around ASDA first. They had lots of lovely Toy Story home items in, including bedding, plates, bowls and glasses, as well as some nice children’s clothes, although we didn’t buy anything this time.
We then had a quick look around the toys in Selfridges and found the new Disney Store section, which was really nice to browse.
After that, we headed to Pesto for lunch. We chose from the £13.99 lunch menu where you can pick three dishes each. I went for my usual favourites, including the chicken wings, spicy sausage and pepperoni pizza, while Lawrence chose the spicy sausage, arancini and lasagne. We also shared garlic bread with cheese and had a Diet Coke each.
Lunch was delicious and it was really nice having some time together while the children were at school.
After lunch, we headed into Primark to pick up some leggings for Alice for school and pyjamas for Leo. We ended up getting Leo some Mario pyjamas, which I knew he would love.
While Lawrence queued to pay, I popped across to Primark Home to have a quick look. They had a new Minions range in, as well as some Ratatouille items like plates, cups and bowls. There were also quite a few older Disney ranges in the sale, including some of the Bambi items.
We then got the bus home in time to collect the children from school, and I spent the evening writing up my blog post about the High School Musical press launch.
💻 Editing the High School Musical Vlog
Wednesday and Thursday were mainly spent working on the High School Musical content.
On Wednesday, after taking the children to school, I finished off my blog post from the press launch and started editing the vlog from the event.
On Thursday, I finished editing the High School Musical press launch vlog, which took quite a bit of time because I had filmed so much during the event.
It always takes longer when there are interviews, performances and lots of different clips to go through, but I was really pleased to get it finished.
🐭 The Gruffalo at The Lowry
On Friday, the children were off school for an inset day, so we went to see the 4:30pm performance of The Gruffalo at The Lowry.
Lawrence had forgotten to book the day off work and my parents were away on holiday, so I had to take both children by myself. That might not sound like a big thing, but I realised I hadn’t taken both Alice and Leo out on my own like that since they were in a pram. I’ve taken them out one-to-one, but not both together for a theatre trip using public transport.
We left the house at around 3pm and got the tram to The Lowry. We had to get two trams to MediaCity and arrived at around 3:45pm.
Before heading into the theatre, we went into the Lowry Outlet Mall to visit the Cadbury shop. I bought the children a bag of Mini Eggs each, which were on offer at two bags for £3, and I got a pick and mix filled with my favourite Roses chocolates, the strawberry and orange creams.
We then headed into The Lowry and made our way round to the Quays Theatre. On the way, the children were handed free little programmes that folded out into a poster, which was a nice touch.
When we arrived at the press desk, the children were each given a Gruffalo activity book, a carton of juice and a little bag with activity sheets and crayons inside.
We sat down at one of the tables while they worked on their activities and drank their juice before the auditorium opened.
At around 4:15pm, we headed inside and found our seats in the stalls, Row G, seats 13–16. The view was excellent. Leo originally said he didn’t want a booster seat, but once someone sat in front of him he changed his mind, so I went and got one from near the stalls door.
The show itself was fantastic. It was fun, funny and such a lovely family theatre trip. Alice and Leo both really enjoyed it and it was a great show to take them to on their inset day.
Afterwards, we went to the main bar area because I had been given a drinks voucher, although the Quays bar wasn’t open. I got a lemonade while the children played with the little toy kitchen they have in the bar.
I had hoped we might be able to get some food there, but they stop serving food at 4pm when there aren’t any evening shows on, so we headed home instead.
We got the tram home at around 6:30pm and arrived back around 7:15pm. Once we were home, I made dinner and let the children play for a little while before bedtime.
👉 You can read more about our trip to see The Gruffalo HERE.
✍️ Reviews, Reels & Catching Up
On Saturday, I spent most of the day writing my review for The Gruffalo.
I also worked on creating reels for both The Gruffalo and the High School Musical press launch, so it ended up being another content-heavy day at home.
It always feels good once the posts and social media content are finished, especially after a busy week of theatre trips and filming.
🎬 Toy Story 5 Cinema Trip
On Sunday, Lawrence had the day off work, so we took the children to see Toy Story 5.
We went to the Odeon in Manchester because it’s the only cinema Alice will really go to. She doesn’t like the recliner chairs that most cinemas seem to have now and refuses to sit on them, so the city centre Odeon works much better for us.
It’s also much cheaper than the Trafford Centre Odeon, and it cost just £20.36 for all four of us for the 2pm showing, which I thought was really good value.
We got the tram into town at around 1pm and arrived at Deansgate-Castlefield at around 1:20pm. As we were early, we popped into Sainsbury’s across the road to buy some drinks before heading into the cinema.
Once we arrived, we bought popcorn because Alice absolutely loves getting popcorn at the cinema, then headed into Screen 4 to find our seats.
The film finished around 3:55pm and we all absolutely loved it.
Afterwards, we walked up to Market Street and went to the food court for dinner. I got KFC and everyone else chose McDonald’s before we walked to Piccadilly Gardens to get the tram home.
We got home just after 6pm and then finished the evening watching The Wild Robot before bathing the children and getting them ready for bed.
💜 Final Thoughts
Overall, this was such a lovely week with a really nice mix of theatre, family time and a little bit of work behind the scenes too.
The High School Musical press launch was definitely a highlight for me, especially getting to hear the performances and see the creative team bring East High to life at The Lowry.
I was also really proud of myself for taking both children to see The Gruffalo on my own. It felt like a big step, especially travelling by tram and managing everything without Lawrence or my parents there to help.
Finishing the week with Toy Story 5 felt like the perfect family day out, especially as the children have been so excited about the film.
It was one of those weeks that felt busy but full of really lovely memories.
🎥 Watch Our Weekly Vlog
This week’s vlog includes the High School Musical press launch at The Lowry, our lunch and shopping trip at the Trafford Centre, our family theatre trip to see The Gruffalo and our cinema trip to watch Toy Story 5.
You can watch the full vlog below and come along with us for another week of family adventures.
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