FAMILY WEEKLY UPDATE: 3RD - 9TH AUGUST 2026 | PAW PATROL, MISS SAIGON & MAKING MY FIRST MUGS
Family Weekly Update
This week included a very exciting trip to HOME Manchester for a preview screening of PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, a theatre trip to see Miss Saigon at the Palace Theatre Manchester and plenty of time at home drawing on my iPad. By the weekend, I finally decided to try turning some of my theatre drawings into actual products and made my first mugs and pens!
🐾 Monday – PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie Preview
On Monday, we were invited to HOME Manchester for a preview screening of the new PAW Patrol movie, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie. Our tickets were gifted and, with Lawrence working, my mum came along with me and the children.
Alice decided to bring her Marshall plush with her, while Leo brought his Chase plush. We headed to the bus stop at around 12pm and planned to meet my mum on the bus along the way.
Unfortunately, our journey didn't quite go to plan!
The bus driver was new and wasn't familiar with the route. He went the wrong way and completely missed my mum's stop, so she ended up having to wait for the next bus. The bus then went the wrong way again and didn't go past HOME as it was supposed to.
Thankfully, it did go past Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop, so the children and I got off there and walked to HOME, which only took about five minutes. We arrived at around 12.40pm.
I'd hoped to be there for 12.30pm, but considering our slightly chaotic bus journey, we hadn't done too badly!
When we arrived, there was a red carpet area set up with a huge PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie backdrop, where Chase and Skye were waiting to meet everyone.
Alice and Leo were extremely excited because Skye is Alice's favourite PAW Patrol pup and Chase is Leo's favourite. They couldn't wait to go over and have their photo taken with them.
After meeting Chase and Skye, we headed to the press desk to collect our tickets. The children were also able to choose a PAW Patrol mask each. Alice, chose Marshall, while Leo decided to choose Rex.
As we headed inside, they were each given a little PAW Patrol goodie bag too.
Inside, there were drinks available including Fruit Shoots, lemonade, Coke, Diet Coke, orange juice, apple juice and water. There was also a big craft table filled with everything the children needed to make their own dog sock puppets.
At first, we couldn't find a free table, so a lovely member of staff found some chairs for Alice and Leo. Then a lady sitting at one of the tables spotted us and said there was some space at her table if we wanted to sit down. That was really kind and meant the children could properly get stuck into the activities.
There was a PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie colouring and activity sheet on the table with a pot of coloured pens. We went over to the craft table, collected everything we needed for the sock puppets and then sat down to make them.
While we were making our puppets, my mum finally arrived after her bus adventure!
We also had a look inside the children's goodie bags. They had PAW Patrol bubbles, a dinosaur slap band, a tiny notebook, crayons and PAW Patrol stickers.
Not long after Alice and Leo had finished making their puppets, it was time to head upstairs to the cinema.
Outside the screen was a table where everyone could pick up some popcorn. There was a choice of sweet or salted, so we picked up some sweet popcorn before finding our seats.
We were sitting in the middle of Row F, although I can't remember our exact seat numbers.
This was also a dog-friendly screening, which felt very appropriate for PAW Patrol! There were lots of very well-behaved dogs in the cinema watching the movie with us.
We all thought PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie was fantastic and really enjoyed it.
One of the things I particularly like about the PAW Patrol screenings at HOME is that they are relaxed screenings. Leo doesn't usually enjoy going to the cinema, but at these screenings the lights don't go completely down, the sound isn't as loud and you are free to move around if you need to.
Usually, after we've been in the cinema for a while, Leo will start asking if we can go home. This time, he didn't ask once. He happily watched the whole film and really enjoyed his cinema experience, which was lovely.
On our way out, Alice and Leo were each given a HOME tote bag containing some sweets and a light-up foam baton, which they absolutely loved.
We got the bus home at around 4pm. Once we were back, I made dinner and then settled down on the sofa with my iPad to do some drawing while Alice and Leo had a little time on their tablets before bed.
PR/Gifted – Our tickets to the PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie preview screening were kindly gifted.
🛁 Tuesday – A Much-Needed Quiet Day
By Tuesday, I was definitely feeling a little run down.
We'd been out for three days in a row because we'd spent the weekend at the Little HOME Family Festival, which I talked about in last week's weekly update, and then we'd gone straight into our PAW Patrol trip on Monday.
I decided we all needed a quiet day at home.
I had a nice relaxing bath and then spent most of the day drawing on my iPad while Alice and Leo happily played with their toys and watched some TV.
It wasn't a particularly exciting day, but it was exactly what I needed after such a busy few days.
🎭 Wednesday – Miss Saigon at the Palace Theatre
On Wednesday, it was time for another trip into Manchester, this time to see the matinee performance of Miss Saigon at the Palace Theatre Manchester.
My parents also had tickets for the same performance, so we decided to meet at The Bishopsgate beforehand and have some lunch together.
I arrived before my mum and dad and went inside to get us a table. However, a member of staff told me that their chef had gone home ill and they were waiting for another chef to arrive.
As we had a show to get to, we couldn't really risk waiting around to see how long that would take. When my parents arrived, we decided to head over to The Paramount instead.
We all ordered burgers and I went for a chicken burger. Once we'd finished eating, we walked up to the Palace Theatre and arrived at around 1.50pm for the 2.30pm performance.
On the way in, I had a look at the merchandise stand, but I didn't buy anything this time. I'd already bought a magnet when I saw Miss Saigon last year and I didn't buy a programme because it was the same cast.
I then had a quick look at the cast board before heading upstairs to the Circle.
I was sitting in Row R, Seat 14 and my ticket had only cost £15. For that price, I thought the view was excellent.
My parents were sitting in Row P, Seats 3 and 4 and had also paid £15 each. They thought their view was really good for the price too.
The show was fantastic. We had the understudy playing The Engineer at the matinee and he was very good.
I'd already seen and reviewed this production of Miss Saigon when it was at the Palace Theatre last November, so if you'd like to know more about the production and what I thought of it, you can read my full review over on All About Theatre
As soon as the show finished, I had to rush off to get the tram home because Lawrence was going to the evening performance. I didn't even get a chance to properly say goodbye to my mum and dad!
Rather amusingly, Lawrence was sitting in exactly the same seat that I'd been sitting in for the matinee – Row R, Seat 14.
He had Seann Miley Moore playing The Engineer at his performance, so between us we got to see two different performers in the role on the same day.
Once I got home, I made some dinner and then the children and I watched Monsters, Inc. before it was time for bed.
🎨 Thursday – Another Drawing Day
Thursday was Lawrence's day off work, so he took Alice and Leo to the park for a while.
While they were out, I worked on my Reel from our trip to see PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie.
I was still feeling a little run down, so I didn't really feel like doing very much else. I find drawing really relaxing, so once I'd finished working on the Reel, I spent the rest of the day drawing on my iPad.
I've been really enjoying drawing recently and I'm slowly building up quite a collection of little designs and theatre-inspired icons.
🎲 Friday – Games, Movies & Family Time
Lawrence was off again on Friday, but none of us really felt like going anywhere, so we decided to have another day at home.
We spent some time playing games with Alice and Leo, including Matching Pairs, UNO, Hungry Hungry Hippos and Operation.
We also ended up having a bit of a Monsters, Inc. movie day and watched both films.
The children had a little time playing on their tablets too while I, unsurprisingly, got my iPad back out and did some more drawing.
It was another simple day at home, but after how busy the previous weekend and beginning of the week had been, I was quite happy with that.
🛍️ Saturday – A Little Shopping & Turning My Drawings Into Mugs!
On Saturday, the children and I decided to go for a little walk to the local shops.
While we were there, I ended up in Home Bargains and finally bought some Disney stationery that I'd been eyeing up for a while. I'd recently had some birthday money, so I decided to treat myself.
It was a really cute pastel-coloured Disney Sidekicks range featuring characters including Sebastian, Pascal, Gus and Chip.
I bought an A4 notebook, an A5 notebook, a set of sticky notes and a set of three pens. I also picked up a stationery pack containing an A4 notepad and A5 notepad, along with a ruler, pen, pencil, pencil sharpener and rubber.
It was all pretty cheap too, and I think everything came to less than £10.
Did I need more stationery? No.
Do I already have drawers full of unopened stationery sets? Yes.
But it was so cute and I'm a stationery addict, so obviously I had to have it!
Once we were back home, I decided it was finally time to see what some of my drawings would look like on actual products.
I'd drawn quite a few theatre-themed icons, so I used Procreate to arrange some of them into a seamless repeating pattern.
I then transferred all of my drawing files onto my computer and created a template to fit the sublimation mugs I already had.
Once I was happy with the design, I printed it onto sublimation paper using my sublimation printer. I cut the pattern out, wrapped it around the mug and secured it in place with heat-resistant tape.
I then put the mug inside a shrink-wrap pouch and used my heat gun to shrink the plastic tightly around it. After that, the mug went into the air fryer so the heat could transfer my design onto it.
It was really exciting taking it out and seeing my own drawings actually printed onto a mug!
I also tried the same process with one of my pen blanks and made a matching pen.
I'd planned to make a notebook too and had designed a cover for it, but I realised I'd missed out the laminating stage. Rather than potentially ruining it, I decided to leave the notebook for another day and try again properly.
There is definitely still plenty for me to learn, but I really enjoyed seeing my drawings go from something I'd created on my iPad to an actual physical product.
✨ Sunday – Improving My Mug Design
Lawrence was off again on Sunday and took Alice and Leo to the park for a little while.
While they were out, I decided to have another go at my mug design.
After looking at the first version, I decided I wanted the individual drawings to be a little bigger and the background colour to be lighter. I went back into the design, made the changes and then transferred the new version onto another mug.
I loved this version!
It's amazing how making a couple of fairly small changes can make such a big difference to the finished design, and I was much happier with how everything looked on the second mug.
I spent the rest of Sunday doing some housework and, of course, doing some more drawing. I've now got lots more ideas for drawings that I'd like to turn into mug designs, so I think there will be plenty more experimenting to come.
💕 Final Thoughts
This week was a real mixture of busy days out and much quieter days at home.
The PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie preview was definitely a highlight. Alice and Leo loved meeting Chase and Skye, but I was particularly pleased that Leo enjoyed the whole relaxed cinema screening without asking to leave.
It was also lovely seeing Miss Saigon again and having lunch with my parents beforehand, even if I did have to rush off at the end!
I've really enjoyed having so much time to draw this week too. Seeing my own artwork printed onto a mug and pen for the first time was really exciting, and I'm looking forward to experimenting with more of my designs.
📺 Watch This Week's Family Weekly Update Vlog
You can see everything we got up to this week in weekly vlog #463 , including our trip to the PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie preview at HOME Manchester, my trip to see Miss Saigon.
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