FAMILY WEEKLY UPDATE: 17TH - 23RD AUGUST 2026 | A MANCHESTER SHOPPING TRIP, POKÉMON DOUGHNUTS & LOTS OF DRAWING
Family Weekly Update
This week started with a shopping trip into Manchester so Alice and Leo could spend some money they'd been given by their great-grandparents. We also had an afternoon at the park, my replacement sublimation mugs finally arrived and I went on a little mission to find the new Pokémon Krispy Kreme doughnuts as a surprise for the children. The rest of the week was much quieter, with lots of UNO, Pikmin and, unsurprisingly, plenty more drawing on my iPad.
🛍️ Monday – Spending Their Money in Manchester
Lawrence had Monday off work, so after lunch we decided to take Alice and Leo into Manchester on the tram.
Their great-grandparents had given them some money to spend, so this was their chance to go shopping and choose what they wanted for themselves.
Our first stop was The Entertainer, where both children ended up choosing a Peppa Pig playset.
They've both suddenly become obsessed with Peppa Pig again, which is slightly unfortunate because we used to have loads of Peppa Pig toys.
The children stopped playing with them for a while and, without me knowing, Lawrence decided to sell them.
He sold the whole lot for less than the price of one of the new sets they've just bought!
As you can probably imagine, I wasn't particularly happy when I found out. Now, of course, they've decided they love Peppa Pig again and want all their toys back.
Typical!
Alice also spotted a Rubble and his vehicle set from PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie and decided she wanted to spend some of her money on that too.
Leo had something very specific in mind. He wanted UNO No Mercy, but unfortunately The Entertainer didn't have it in stock.
We decided to try Argos instead and luckily they had it, so Leo was able to get the game he'd been looking for.
After that, we had a look around a few more shops before heading into Primark.
We weren't really looking for anything in particular in there, but we had a look at some of the Disney and Halloween things that had started appearing in store.
Alice and Leo also found some PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie clothes they really liked. They'd already spent their own money on their toys, so we bought the clothes for them.
Once we'd finished shopping, we got back on the tram and headed home.
The children were very happy with everything they'd chosen, although I still can't quite get over the fact that we're now buying Peppa Pig toys again after having a huge collection of them in the first place!
🛝 Tuesday – An Afternoon at the Park & My Mugs Finally Arrived
Lawrence was off again on Tuesday, so we took Alice and Leo to the park.
We met up with my parents and some of their friends, who had brought their grandson along to play with Alice and Leo.
The children had lots of fun playing together and, as usual when their grandparents are around, there were treats involved too!
They were given some Smarties and a Pokémon PEZ each. Alice got Pikachu and Leo got Eevee, and my parents also bought them a Kinder Surprise each.
When we got home, I had a delivery I'd been waiting for – my new sublimation mugs!
If you read last week's Family Weekly Update, you might remember that I'd ordered some mugs so I could start experimenting with putting my artwork onto them. Unfortunately, they arrived smashed.
I'd ordered those from a different seller and they'd been delivered by Evri, so this time I decided to try another seller that uses Amazon for delivery instead.
Thankfully, these ones arrived safely!
I've been doing so much drawing on my iPad recently and creating lots of different designs, I can't wait to start experimenting and see what some of them will actually look like printed onto the mugs.
🎨 Wednesday – UNO, Drawing & Jobs Around the House
Wednesday was a much quieter day at home.
We played some UNO, Alice and Leo did some drawing and I spent more time drawing on my iPad.
I also managed to get a few jobs done around the house in between everything else.
We've definitely been playing a lot of UNO since Leo bought his new game!
🍟 Thursday – A New Air Fryer
Thursday brought another delivery, although this one was slightly bigger than my mugs!
We'd ordered a new air fryer from George at ASDA. It had originally been £79 but was reduced to £40, which I thought was a really good price.
Our old air fryer had definitely seen better days, so it was time for an upgrade.
The new one is so much better than our old one, and for £40 I'm really pleased with it.
Not the most exciting event of the week, perhaps, but I do love finding a bargain!
🍩 Friday – Hunting for Pokémon Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
On Friday, I went out with my dad and brother because I wanted to see if I could find the new Pokémon doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.
I thought they'd make a nice surprise for Alice and Leo.
My brother went all in and bought the limited-edition golden box, which was around £21, as well as the Pikachu cup filled with Golden Bites, which was around £10.
I was slightly more restrained!
I'd originally hoped to use my voucher for 12 doughnuts for £12, but the only Pokémon doughnut included in that offer was the Poké Ball one.
In the end, I bought a regular box of 12 as well as a box of four Pokémon doughnuts containing one of each design. Altogether, I think it came to around £21 alltogether.
When I got home, Leo chose the Jigglypuff doughnut and Alice chose Charmander.
Unfortunately, Alice didn't like the Charmander one, so she gave the rest of it to me. I gave her a Poké Ball doughnut instead... and she didn't like that one either!
Luckily, I'd bought the regular doughnuts as well, so in the end she had the chocolate sprinkle one she always has.
At least I tried!
I had the Pikachu doughnut, which was lemon flavoured, and I thought it was really nice. I also finished Alice's Charmander doughnut, which had a toffee flavour, and I liked that one too.
After all the excitement of the Pokémon doughnuts, the children spent the rest of the day playing their Pikmin game, playing UNO and playing with some of the new toys they'd bought earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, I got my iPad out and did some more drawing.
I don't think anyone will be surprised by that at this point!
🎮 Saturday – UNO, Pikmin & More Drawing
Lawrence was working on Saturday, so the children and I had another quiet day at home.
We spent some time playing UNO and Pikmin together, and Alice and Leo did some drawing before having a little time on their tablets.
I also spent some more time drawing on my iPad and working on my latest designs.
I've really been enjoying drawing recently, and whenever we've had a quiet day at home I've found myself automatically reaching for my iPad.
🏠 Sunday – A Quiet Day at Home
Lawrence was off work on Sunday, but we decided not to go anywhere.
Instead, we spent the day getting some jobs done around the house while Alice and Leo entertained themselves.
They played their Pikmin game and spent some time playing with their new Peppa Pig and PAW Patrol toys from our shopping trip earlier in the week.
Clearly the new Peppa Pig toys are already getting plenty of use, so at least that's something!
I also managed to fit in – you've guessed it – some more drawing on my iPad.
💕 Final Thoughts
This week was definitely quieter than some of our recent weeks, but it was still a nice mixture of getting out of the house and having time at home.
Alice and Leo really enjoyed being able to go into Manchester and choose how to spend their own money, even if their renewed Peppa Pig obsession has reminded me just how many Peppa toys we used to own!
The Pokémon Krispy Kreme doughnuts were fun to try too, although I think we've established that Alice would much rather stick to her usual chocolate sprinkle doughnut.
I've also really enjoyed having more time to draw. With my replacement sublimation mugs arriving safely this week, I'm looking forward to trying more of my designs on them and seeing which ones work best as actual products.
📺 Watch This Week's Family Weekly Update Vlog
You can see everything we got up to this week in weekly vlog #465 from our Manchester shopping trip, what Alice and Leo chose to buy, our Pokémon Krispy Kreme doughnut taste test and some of the artwork I've been working on.
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