Family Weekly Update This week's family weekly update covers 10th–16th August 2026, and it was a mixture of family days out and some much quieter days at home. We started the week with a trip to the Trafford Centre for bowling and shopping, then headed to The Lowry on Tuesday to see Dear Zoo Live. The rest of the week was much more relaxed, with lots of drawing, Pikmin and what felt like endless games of UNO! There was also a slightly disastrous delivery involving 12 sublimation mugs that didn't actually make it as far as our front door in one piece. Here's what we got up to this week. 🎳 Monday – Bowling At The Trafford Centre On Monday, we got the bus to the Trafford Centre for a family day out. We started by having a look around Kenji, where we found some really cute cuddly toys for just £5 each. Alice chose a penguin and Leo picked a lobster. After that, we headed to King Pins for a game of bowling. I'd booked in advance because they had an offer on where children could bowl for free, which was really good value during the school holidays. Of course, I also needed a slush because apparently I have my own bowling tradition now! Whenever we go bowling, I always get a blue slush, except they didn't have blue this time. I had to settle for red instead! It was really busy inside King Pins because of the school holidays and the offer, so it was quite loud for Leo. We'd brought his ear defenders with us though, and once he had those on he was absolutely fine. Somehow, I actually won the bowling! Leo and Lawrence came joint second. After bowling, we headed to the food court for lunch. Alice and Leo chose McDonald's Happy Meals, while Lawrence and I had KFC. We'd also saved up enough points on the Krispy Kreme app to get a free Choose Your Own Dozen, so obviously we couldn't leave without collecting those! Before heading home, we had a look around Selfridges, including the Disney section, the Jellycat shop and the toys. It ended up being a really nice family day out. 🦁 Tuesday – Dear Zoo Live At The Lowry Tuesday was a theatre day as we'd been invited to the 11am press performance of Dear Zoo Live at The Lowry. Alice and Leo have both loved Dear Zoo over the years. They're probably a little older than the main preschool audience now, but they were still really excited to see all the animals they knew from Rod Campbell's book brought to life on stage. We caught the tram at around 9.50am and changed at Cornbrook for MediaCity, arriving at around 10.10am. As we were early, we popped into the Lowry Outlet Mall and bought some chocolate from the Cadbury shop before heading across to The Lowry. When we arrived at the Lowry Alice and Leo were given Dear Zoo activity sheets and crayons. We also had a look at the merchandise, where Leo chose an "I've Seen Dear Zoo" badge and Alice picked one featuring the puppy. We were sitting in Stalls Row G, Seats 13–16 in the Quays Theatre and had a really good view. The show itself was lovely. There was lots for the children to join in with, including roaring like lions, jumping like frogs, stretching like giraffes and, of course, shouting "I sent him back!" Leo particularly loved the frog and monkey, while Alice liked the snake and puppy puppets. The performance lasted around 50 minutes with no interval, which I thought was just right for the younger children it is aimed at. Afterwards, we headed over to the Quayside Beefeater for some lunch before going back to The Lowry for another look around the Wild Things exhibition. Dear Zoo is actually one of the children's books featured in the exhibition, so it worked really nicely seeing the story on stage and then finding it again inside Wild Things. 👉 You can read my Dear Zoo Live family review for more about our theatre trip, or head over to All About Theatre for my full theatre-focused review of the production. 🎨 Wednesday – A Quiet Drawing Day At Home After two days out, Wednesday was a much quieter day at home. I spent most of the day drawing on my iPad, while Alice and Leo did some drawing of their own. They then spent the rest of the day playing with their toys and had a few hours on their tablets, so there really wasn't a huge amount to report from Wednesday! Sometimes a quiet day at home is exactly what we need though, especially after a couple of busy days. 🌱 Thursday – Speech Therapy & Inventing Our Own Pikmin Alice had speech therapy at around 11.30am on Thursday. While she was there, Leo went to my parents' house for a little while because he really wanted to go round and play UNO with them. After Alice's speech therapy, we'd originally planned to head to The Lowry for their Relaxed Day, but Alice had worked really hard during her session and was tired afterwards. She didn't want to go back out again, so we decided not to go. Leo was a little upset because he'd really wanted to go, but the Relaxed Day finished at 3pm and by the time we'd travelled over there it would probably have been around 2pm anyway. Instead, I played UNO with him for a while, which soon cheered him up. Then Alice decided that she wanted to invent her own Pikmin. If you've never come across Pikmin before, they're little plant-like creatures from the Nintendo game series. There are different types with their own colours and abilities, and Alice is very interested in them at the moment. So we all sat around the table and decided to create our own. Alice invented an orange Pikmin that was resistant to lasers, Leo created a root Pikmin that looked like the root of a plant, and I made a rainbow Pikmin. The children were very proud of their new Pikmin designs and decided that I needed to send their drawings to Nintendo so they could make them for the next Pikmin game! I'm not quite sure Nintendo takes requests for new Pikmin from Alice and Leo, but they were completely convinced that their creations needed to be included. It was such a simple thing to do together, but we had lots of fun coming up with our different ideas. At the moment, our house seems to be divided into two very definite interests: Pikmin for Alice and UNO for Leo! 🎮 Friday – A Very Exciting Surprise On Friday, my parents came round with a surprise for Alice and Leo as a treat for doing really well at school. For Alice, they'd bought Pikmin 4 for the Nintendo Switch. She has wanted Pikmin 4 for ages and had actually asked for it for her birthday, but her birthday isn't until December. She doesn't really understand how far away December is yet, so she's been asking us almost every day whether it's her birthday and whether she's getting Pikmin 4! You can probably imagine how excited she was when my parents gave it to her early. For Leo, they'd bought UNO Flip Extreme and UNO Super Mario, which couldn't really have been more perfect for him at the moment. Unsurprisingly, the rest of Friday involved a lot of Pikmin and a lot of UNO. 📦 Saturday – Pikmin, UNO & The Case Of The Smashed Mugs Saturday was another fairly quiet day at home. Alice and Leo spent lots of time playing Pikmin 4 on the Switch, we played some more UNO and I managed to get some more drawing done on my iPad. I also had an Amazon delivery arrive with some things I'd ordered for sublimation. I'd bought some mug wraps, sublimation pens and frosted tumblers, as I've been experimenting with ideas for things I could potentially make. I'd also ordered a box of 12 sublimation mugs for £12, which I thought was a really good price. Unfortunately, I hadn't noticed when I ordered them that they weren't actually being delivered by Amazon. They were coming with Evri. When the delivery driver handed me the parcel, I could immediately hear what sounded like lots of broken pieces moving around inside. I told him, "These are completely smashed. They're supposed to be mugs!" He took the parcel back and told me he'd mark it as undelivered because it was damaged. That sounded simple enough... until I checked Amazon and discovered that the parcel had been marked as delivered. The driver had taken the box away with him, so I didn't even have the broken mugs to photograph as proof that they'd arrived damaged. I then had to go through Amazon's online customer service and work out how to get past the automated responses and actually speak to a person. When I finally managed to speak to someone, they initially asked me to provide photographs of the damaged mugs. Which was slightly difficult considering I didn't have the mugs! I explained what had happened and that the driver had taken the parcel away. Thankfully, because I've been a Prime customer for a long time and order quite a lot through Amazon, they agreed to refund me rather than making me go through the third-party seller. So at least it was eventually sorted. I've now ordered some replacement sublimation mugs and made absolutely sure that this time they're being delivered by Amazon. I've had mugs delivered by Amazon before without any problems, so hopefully the second attempt will arrive with all the mugs still looking like mugs! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Sunday – A Family Day At My Parents' House On Sunday, we spent the day at my parents' house because my grandparents were visiting from North Wales. We didn't really do anything particularly exciting. We just spent the day chatting and catching up while Alice and Leo played, which was lovely. My grandparents also gave the children some money. Lawrence is off on Monday, so I think the plan is to take Alice and Leo to the shops and let them choose what they'd like to spend it on. I'm sure they'll have absolutely no trouble deciding! Final Thoughts That was our week! We had a couple of lovely days out at the beginning of the week with bowling at the Trafford Centre and Dear Zoo Live at The Lowry, followed by a much quieter few days at home. Pikmin and UNO have definitely taken over our house at the moment, and I have a feeling we'll be playing plenty more of both over the next few weeks. I've also been doing lots more drawing on my iPad and slowly collecting some sublimation supplies – although hopefully my next box of mugs will actually arrive in one piece! It was a nice mixture of days out and quieter family days at home, which is pretty much what the summer holidays have looked like for us this year. 🎥 Watch Weekly Vlog #464 You can see everything we got up to in this week's weekly vlog, including our Trafford Centre day out, bowling at King Pins & our trip to see Dear Zoo Live at The Lowry.

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. The view from my parents seats 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.

Little HOME Family Festival Finding things to do with children throughout the school holidays can quickly become expensive, so we were really looking forward to returning to Little HOME Family Festival at HOME Manchester. Little HOME is an annual family festival held during the school summer holidays, and this was actually our third year attending. In previous years we'd only visited for one day, but this year we decided to make a full weekend of it and attend on both Saturday and Sunday. Taking place on 1 and 2 August 2026, the festival offered a completely free programme of theatre, crafts, films, live performances and family activities across HOME. Some of the shows and activities required advance booking, but these were still completely free. With two full days to explore the festival, we were hoping we'd manage to fit in much more than we had in previous years. As it turned out, even two days weren't enough! 🎭 So Much More Than We Could Fit In There was so much happening across Little HOME that despite visiting on both days, there were still plenty of activities we didn't get chance to try. Alongside everything we experienced, Saturday's programme included Family Crafts and Storytelling with Phoebe Foxtrot, Manchester Libraries: Read to the Beat, Make Your Own Story Dice by People's History Museum, Celebration Pin Dolls Make and Take by National Football Museum, Afrocats Family Dance Workshop and Amazing Animations on the big screen outside. Sunday also included Outdoor Games with Tabs, Bhangra Dance and Dhol Drumming and Amazing Animations were on the big screen outside again. Some activities ran for much of the day, while theatre shows and performances took place at specific times, with several offering more than one performance. This made it quite easy to choose the shows we particularly wanted to see and then fit the drop-in activities around them. And that's just what we didn't manage to do. Over the next two days, we still packed in four theatre shows, a film, crafts, live music, outdoor activities and circus skills. 🎨 Starting Our Day in Creativity Corner On Saturday morning, the children, my brother and I caught the bus into Manchester at around 9:35am and arrived at HOME just before 10am. Getting there by bus was really easy for us because our bus stopped almost directly opposite the venue. As children were also able to travel free on the bus throughout August, Alice and Leo didn't cost anything to get there either. As soon as we arrived, they headed straight for Creativity Corner. Alice settled down to do some drawing while Leo became much more interested in a giant rocket that was being created from cardboard boxes. He happily got involved and really enjoyed helping to build it. Creativity Corner ended up being somewhere we returned to several times throughout the weekend. Later on Saturday, the children decorated little cardboard tubs to turn them into drums, and when we returned on Sunday they did even more crafts. Having somewhere they could simply drop into between performances worked really well and meant there was always something to do while we waited for our next show. 🌊 Tales From The Lighthouse Our first theatre show of the weekend was the 10:30am performance of Tales From The Lighthouse. We had booked tickets in advance, but seating was unreserved, so you could choose where you wanted to sit. Most of the seats nearer the front had already been taken when we arrived, but there was a better rake towards the back anyway, so that's where we decided to sit. Theatre 2 is quite an intimate space, and we still had a great clear view. The 55-minute show combined storytelling, live folk music and puppetry to tell stories inspired by the sea. One particularly lovely touch came after the performance when the children were invited to come down and meet the water horse puppet. They could also have a closer look at the concertina used during the show and even have a little go while the musician held it. 👉 You can read more about my Tales From The Lighthouse visit and shorter review. 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review of Tales From The Lighthouse. 🧺 Lunch With a Puppet Show After leaving the theatre, we headed outside and found one of the picnic tables to eat the packed lunch we'd brought with us. We'd actually picked a very good time to stop for lunch because Kismat Wala by Thingumajig Theatre was being performed outside. The visual street-theatre puppet show was centred around a wonderfully colourful cart inspired by South Asian street markets and followed a young man's journey in search of his destiny. Being able to sit outside eating our sandwiches while watching a live puppet performance definitely made our packed lunch a little more interesting than usual! Afterwards, Alice and Leo played with a giant outdoor Connect 4 before discovering a huge sheet of paper that had been taped down outside for children to draw on. Sometimes the simplest activities are the ones they enjoy most, and they were perfectly happy sitting on the floor adding their drawings to everyone else's. Then it was time to head back inside for our next show. 🐭 All In A Mouse's Night Our second theatre show on Saturday nearly didn't happen. We were supposed to have tickets for the 1pm performance of All In A Mouse's Night by Goofus Theatre, but somehow our tickets had come through for the 11am performance instead. Obviously, we couldn't have attended that one because we were still watching Tales From The Lighthouse! We explained what had happened and joined the standby queue. Thankfully, there was enough space and we managed to get in. Seating was once again unreserved, with children encouraged to sit on blankets on the floor at the front. Alice and Leo immediately decided that was where they wanted to sit. All In A Mouse's Night was a non-verbal show using puppetry and play to follow the adventures of a curious mouse who dreams of heading into space. After the performance, the children could meet the moonlight puppet and have their photograph taken with it, which Alice particularly loved. 🎬 A Relaxed Cinema Screening After the show, Alice and Leo went back to Creativity Corner and decorated little cardboard tubs to turn them into drums before we headed to HOME's cinema. At 2pm, we watched a relaxed screening of Puffin Rock and the New Friends, which had a runtime of around 80 minutes. The film follows Oona, Baba, May and Mossy as they welcome some new friends to Puffin Rock. When the last Little Egg of the season mysteriously disappears, they have to work together to find it and bring it home before a big storm reaches the island. The children really enjoyed the film, and I bought them both a tub of ice cream to eat while they watched, which I think cost around £3.50 each. Having a relaxed cinema screening included in the festival programme was something I particularly appreciated, especially as it provided a very different experience from all the busy outdoor activities and live performances we'd been enjoying throughout the day Having a relaxed cinema screening included in the festival programme was something I particularly appreciated, especially as it provided a very different experience from all the busy outdoor activities and live performances we'd been enjoying throughout the day. 🍕 Pizza Before Heading Home By the time the film finished, we were all hungry again, so we decided to get some food at HOME's bar before travelling back. We headed to the bar and ordered pizza and chips. The pizzas were cut into eight slices, so Alice, Leo and I shared one while my brother had one to himself. We initially ordered one portion of sharing chips but quickly realised we'd underestimated how hungry everyone was and ended up ordering another. For two pizzas, two sharing portions of chips, a pot of gravy and a pint of Diet Coke, our total came to £49.15. After such a busy first day, we caught the bus home at around 4:30pm. You might think we'd have been ready for a quiet Sunday after that. Instead, we went back and did it all again! 🥁 Back for Day Two Lawrence was off work on Sunday, so this time all four of us headed into Manchester for our second day at Little HOME Family Festival. We caught the bus at around 11:25am and arrived at HOME at approximately 11:45am. Unsurprisingly, Alice and Leo's first stop was Creativity Corner again, where they spent some time decorating paper cups. We then headed outside to watch Batala Manchester. The drumming created a fantastic atmosphere, and Alice was soon dancing along to the music. Leo found the volume a bit too much, though, and decided he'd rather go back inside to Creativity Corner with Lawrence. Alice and I stayed outside to watch the drumming before heading back in to meet them afterwards. I actually think this was a good example of one of the things that worked particularly well about the festival for us. There was so much happening in different parts of HOME that if one activity wasn't right for one of the children, there was usually something completely different they could do instead. 🍪 Biscuit Decorating & A Surprise Goody Bag Once we were all back together, we headed over to do some biscuit decorating. Alice and Leo decorated their own biscuits, and while we were there they were also each given a HOME goody bag. The goody bags came in HOME-branded tote bags and contained some sweets, leaflets about upcoming shows and a light-up foam baton. It was a lovely unexpected extra, and obviously the children were very pleased with their new bags! With biscuits decorated and goody bags in hand, it was time for our first theatre show of the day. 🎲 Over To You: The Storytelling Gameshow At 1pm, we headed into Theatre 1 for Over To You: The Storytelling Gameshow. This ended up being one of the most interactive shows we saw all weekend. Seating was unreserved, with children encouraged to sit on blankets and cushions at the front. On the way in, Alice and Leo were given paddles with red on one side and green on the other, which they could use to vote and help decide what happened during the story. We were also given slips of paper with questions asking us to invent things such as a character, their name and their superpower. The answers were collected and some were selected during the performance to help create that day's completely unique story. Alice was even chosen to go up and play a game of Higher or Lower. She didn't win, but she really didn't care. She was just incredibly excited to have been picked. And she didn't leave completely empty-handed because she received a consolation prize. A zip. Yes, an actual zip! 😂 The winner received three zips, so clearly the stakes were very high! Alice thought the whole thing was brilliant. Leo, on the other hand, was much more upset about Alice not winning than Alice was herself. He became quite emotional and decided he wanted to go home. Unfortunately for him, we were heading almost immediately into another theatre! 📚 The Magic Bookmark We went straight from Theatre 1 into Theatre 2 for the 2pm performance of The Magic Bookmark. Leo was still upset and initially decided that he didn't want to watch it, so Lawrence took him back outside before the show started. Then he changed his mind because he wanted to come back and sit with me. They made it back inside just before the performance began. And I'm very glad he changed his mind because The Magic Bookmark ended up being his favourite show of the entire weekend! Starring Mama G, the show followed Book Worm's plan to steal all the books from Mama G's library, with Mama G needing to prove why books can help make the world a better place. There was plenty of pantomime fun, storytelling, songs and audience interaction, and Leo's mood had completely changed by the end. Watching him go from not wanting to enter the theatre at all to deciding it was his favourite show was probably one of my favourite moments of the weekend. 👉 You can read more about our Magic Bookmark visit and shorter review Here. 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review of The Magic Bookmark Here 🎪 Apparently We're Not Joining the Circus After The Magic Bookmark, Alice and Leo wanted to head outside and have a go at the family circus skills with Skylight Circus. Naturally, I joined in. We tried plate spinning. We were terrible. We tried juggling. Also terrible. 😂 Thankfully, Leo then discovered a diabolo, and we finally found something we weren't completely hopeless at! I actually had one when I was younger, so I could still remember how to get it spinning and even managed a couple of very simple tricks. Leo wasn't too bad at it either and spent quite a while having a go. Afterwards, Alice and Leo did a little more outdoor drawing before we finally admitted that we'd run out of energy. We caught the bus at around 3:30pm and were home by approximately 4pm. After two days at Little HOME, all four of us were completely exhausted! ♿ How Accessible Did We Find Little HOME? One of the things I particularly appreciated about Little HOME Family Festival was the amount of choice. Family events can sometimes feel as though children are expected to join in with everything in exactly the same way, but that wasn't our experience here. When the Batala Manchester drumming became too loud for Leo, he could simply head back inside with Lawrence and carry on crafting while Alice stayed outside dancing. The theatre performances we attended had unreserved seating, and at some of them children were encouraged to sit on blankets or cushions at the front rather than having to remain in a conventional theatre seat. We also really appreciated the relaxed screening of Puffin Rock and the New Friends. When Leo initially didn't want to watch The Magic Bookmark, there was no pressure for him to go in. Lawrence could take him outside, and when he changed his mind, they came back before the performance started. Having so many different types of activities happening throughout the building made it much easier for us to adapt our day depending on how everyone was feeling. 💷 How Much Does Little HOME Cost? One of the best things about Little HOME Family Festival is that the festival itself is completely free. All of the theatre shows, crafts, live performances and family activities we took part in across the weekend were free, so we were able to pack an incredible amount into our two days without paying for any of the entertainment. Some shows and activities did require tickets to be booked in advance, but these were still completely free. There were also plenty of drop-in activities that we could simply join throughout the day. Our only spending during the festival was on optional extras such as food and treats, including the children's ice creams during Puffin Rock and the New Friends and our meal at HOME on Saturday. For families looking for affordable things to do during the school summer holidays, I think this is one of Little HOME's biggest strengths. We managed to enjoy two days filled with theatre, crafts, puppetry, live performances, cinema and circus skills without paying for any of the activities themselves Final Thoughts We had a fantastic two days at Little HOME Family Festival. What impressed me most wasn't necessarily one particular show or activity, but just how much variety HOME managed to fit into one weekend. In two days, Alice and Leo experienced theatre, puppetry, storytelling, crafts, drawing, live music, cinema and circus skills – and there were still things on the programme that we never managed to get to. They also experienced the festival in completely different ways. Alice loved being right in the middle of things, whether that meant dancing to the drummers or being picked to take part in Over To You. Leo particularly enjoyed the creative activities and circus skills, and after initially deciding that he didn't want to see The Magic Bookmark, it unexpectedly became his favourite show of the weekend. There were moments when something didn't work for one of them, but because there was so much choice, that never meant the whole day had to stop. For me, that's one of the biggest strengths of a family festival like this. After three years of attending Little HOME Family Festival, it's become one of those summer events we really look forward to. This was our first time attending on both days, and although we were completely exhausted by Sunday afternoon, I'd definitely do the full weekend again. At a Glance 📍 Venue: HOME Manchester 📅 Festival Dates: Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 August 2026 ☀️ When: Little HOME is an annual family festival held during the school summer holidays 🎟️ Admission: Free entry. The official programme advised that some activities may require booking. ⏰ Festival Programme: Activities took place throughout both days, with many drop-in activities running between 10am and 4pm alongside scheduled shows and performances. 🎭 Shows We Saw: Tales From The Lighthouse, All In A Mouse's Night, Over To You: The Storytelling Gameshow and The Magic Bookmark 🎨 Activities We Tried: Creativity Corner, outdoor drawing, giant Connect 4, biscuit decorating and family circus skills with Skylight Circus 🎬 Cinema: We attended the 2pm relaxed screening of Puffin Rock and the New Friends 🎶 Live Performances: We watched Kismat Wala by Thingumajig Theatre and Batala Manchester 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Suitable For: Families looking for a mixture of theatre, crafts, storytelling, film, live performances and creative activities ♿ Accessibility: We found the variety of activities particularly helpful because it allowed us to change plans when one of the children needed something quieter. The festival programme also included a relaxed cinema screening. 🍕 Food: Food and drinks were available at HOME. On Saturday, we paid £49.15 for two pizzas, two sharing portions of chips, a pot of gravy and a pint of Diet Coke. 🚌 Getting There: We travelled by bus, which stopped almost directly opposite HOME. ⏱️ How Long Did We Spend There? Approximately 6½ hours on Saturday and just over four hours on Sunday. Watch Our Little HOME Family Festival Weekend You can see both days of our Little HOME Family Festival experience in Weekly Vlog #462, including the theatre shows, crafts, live performances, relaxed cinema screening and our attempts at circus skills. Our Little HOME weekend starts at 13:12 in the vlog, so you can jump straight to that part if you just want to see our visit to the festival.

Family Weekly Update After all the excitement of my birthday week, this week's family weekly update started at a much slower pace as we headed into the first full week of the school holidays. It didn't stay quiet for long, though, and by the weekend we'd somehow gone from relaxing at home to spending two very busy days at Little HOME Family Festival! 😴 Monday – A Much-Needed Quiet Day After such a busy birthday week, I was absolutely exhausted on Monday and really didn't feel like doing very much. Luckily, Lawrence had the day off and it was also the first day of the school holidays, so he took Alice and Leo to the park for a little while. I spent most of the day on my new iPad, practising drawing in Procreate and getting used to all the different tools. I'm still very much learning, but I'm really enjoying being able to draw again. It's been a long time since I've properly sat down and created my own artwork, so at the moment I'm mostly experimenting and trying to find a drawing style that I like. It was exactly the quiet day I needed after the previous week. 🎭 Tuesday – Games, Nando's & Oh Zeus! at Lowry Tuesday morning started with some family games. We played Leo's favourite, UNO, followed by Hungry Hungry Hippos, before I started getting ready for another theatre trip. I was heading to Lowry to review Oh Zeus!, but getting there was slightly more complicated than usual because of the work taking place on the tram lines. With no trams running and my usual bus missing out MediaCity, I decided there was absolutely no point risking being late. I set off at around 4pm, caught a bus to the Trafford Centre and then changed onto the number 30. I got off opposite the Imperial War Museum North at around 4:45pm and walked across the bridge towards Lowry. Considering the performance didn't start until 7pm, I'd definitely succeeded in my mission not to be late – I had more than two hours to spare! My first stop was actually the Cadbury shop, where I treated myself to one of the Roses pick-and-mix boxes. I say pick and mix, but there wasn't actually much mixing involved because I filled the whole box with strawberry and orange creams! With chocolate sorted, I headed to Nando's at around 5:05pm to get something to eat. One advantage of arriving ridiculously early was that I could actually sit down, eat and relax without constantly checking the time. Afterwards, I headed over to Lowry, collected my programme and two drinks vouchers from the box office and found somewhere to sit while I waited for my brother. Unfortunately, his journey wasn't going quite as smoothly as mine. As it got closer and closer to 7pm, there was still no sign of him. Eventually, at around 6:50pm, I decided I couldn't wait any longer and headed into the Quays Theatre. Thankfully, at approximately 6:55pm, with just five minutes to spare, my brother finally appeared! Nothing like making a dramatic entrance. We were sitting in Stalls Row M, Seats 1 and 2, which is the second row from the back. Despite being towards the back, we had a really good clear view. The Quays Theatre is much smaller and more intimate than the Lyric Theatre, so you still feel quite close to the stage. The show started at 7pm, almost immediately after my brother had sat down. Act One lasted around 70 minutes, followed by a 20-minute interval, which finally gave us a chance to properly catch up. We also used our drinks vouchers – I had a lemonade while my brother went for a cider. The performance finished at around 9:30pm, and afterwards we walked back across the bridge and caught the bus to the Trafford Centre before going our separate ways for the final part of the journey home. I finally got home at around 10:30pm and, instead of sensibly going straight to bed, started writing my review. I didn't finish it and eventually gave up at around 1am! 👉 You can read my more personal Oh Zeus! review and theatre trip on Sarah Monaghan HERE. 👉 Read my full Oh Zeus! review on All About Theatre HERE. ✏️ Wednesday – More Procreate Practice On Wednesday, I finished writing my Oh Zeus! review and shared it on Instagram. Once that was done, I went straight back to practising my drawing on the iPad. Alice and Leo were obviously interested in what I was doing, so I showed them how Procreate worked and let them both have a little go at drawing on the iPad too. Afterwards, I got out some paper and felt-tip pens so they could carry on drawing at the table while I continued practising. It ended up being a very creative afternoon for all three of us. 🎨 Thursday – Designing My Own Theatre Artwork By Thursday, I decided it was time to stop simply practising and actually try creating something. I started drawing a collection of simple theatre-themed icons that I'm hoping I might eventually be able to turn into a repeat pattern for things like mugs and notebooks. I've got lots of ideas, but at the moment I'm concentrating on learning and trying to make everything look consistent. I spent quite a lot of the day drawing, although there was still housework to do and Alice and Leo made sure I didn't spend the entire day attached to my iPad! We played some more UNO and a few games of Matching Pairs too. 🛒 Friday – My First Theatre Pattern & Craft Room Organisation On Friday, I finished drawing my first set of theatre icons and started experimenting with arranging them into a repeat pattern. I'm still learning, but I'm really enjoying seeing the individual drawings start to come together as a collection. I also decided to tackle my craft room. I'd ordered a four-shelf trolley from Amazon for around £26 because I desperately needed somewhere better to store some of my craft machines. Thankfully, it was really easy to put together, and once it was finished I managed to fit my air fryer, Cricut, Minc machine, Cinch and badge maker onto it. I absolutely love it! It's made such a difference having everything together rather than taking up space in different parts of the room. 🎭 Saturday – Our First Day at Little HOME Saturday was the start of a very busy weekend as the children, my brother and I headed to Little HOME, HOME Manchester's free family festival. We caught the bus at around 9:35am and arrived just before 10am. One nice bonus was that the children could travel for free because children are able to travel free on buses throughout August. When we arrived Alice and Leo headed straight for Creativity Corner. Alice did some drawing while Leo got involved in helping to build a giant cardboard rocket, which he really enjoyed. At 10:30am, we headed into Theatre 2 to see Tales From The Lighthouse, a family show combining storytelling, live folk music and puppetry in a collection of stories inspired by the sea. We had tickets but seating was unreserved, so you could choose where you wanted to sit. We decided to sit towards the back, where there was a better rake, and still had a great view because it's such an intimate theatre. At the end of the show, the children were invited to meet the water horse puppet and could even have a closer look and a little go on the concertina while the musician held it. 👉 You can read more about my Tales From The Lighthouse visit and shorter review. 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review of Tales From The Lighthouse. We then headed outside to eat our packed lunch at one of the picnic tables while watching Kismat Wala, an outdoor puppet show set around a magical cart inspired by South Asian street markets, following a young man's journey to discover his destiny. After lunch, Alice and Leo played giant Connect 4 before joining in with some outdoor drawing on a huge piece of paper that had been taped down to the floor. Then it was time to head back inside for All In A Mouse's Night, a non-verbal puppetry show following a curious little mouse who dreams of travelling into space – although we nearly didn't get in! Somehow our tickets had been issued for the 11am performance instead of the 1pm show, so we had to join the standby queue. Thankfully, there was space and we managed to get in. Alice and Leo chose to sit on the blankets on the floor at the front, and after the performance they could meet the moonlight puppet, which Alice particularly loved. There was just enough time for another visit to Creativity Corner, where they decorated little cardboard tubs to make drums, before we headed into HOME's cinema for the 2pm relaxed screening of Puffin Rock and the New Friends. I bought Alice and Leo a tub of ice cream each to eat during the film, which definitely went down well! Afterwards, we finished our first day with pizza and chips in HOME's bar. We ordered two pizzas, two sharing portions of chips, a pot of gravy and a pint of Diet Coke, which came to £49.15. We eventually caught the bus home at around 4:30pm. And somehow we were going back to do it all again the next day! 🥁 Sunday – Back to Little HOME! On Sunday, Lawrence was off work, so this time all four of us headed back to HOME. We caught the bus at around 11:25am and arrived at approximately 11:45am. Once again, Creativity Corner was our first stop, where Alice and Leo did some crafts and decorated paper cups. We then headed outside to watch Batala Manchester, the drumming was fantastic, and Alice loved dancing along to the music. Leo found it a bit too loud, though, so he went back inside to Creativity Corner with Lawrence while Alice and I stayed outside. We listened for a while then headed back inside to find Lawrence and Leo, and we all went to do some biscuit decorating. While we were there, Alice and Leo were also each given a little HOME goody bag. These came in HOME-branded tote bags and contained some sweets, leaflets about upcoming shows and a light-up foam baton. They were very pleased with their unexpected treats! With biscuits decorated and goody bags in hand, it was time to head into Theatre 1 for Over To You: The Storytelling Gameshow. This was a really fun interactive show where the audience helped decide what happened in the story. Alice was even picked to go up and play Higher or Lower! She didn't win, but she was just excited to have been chosen and was perfectly happy with her consolation prize – a zip. 😂 The winner got three zips, so obviously the stakes were incredibly high! Leo, however, was much more upset that Alice hadn't won than Alice was and decided he wanted to go home. We were heading straight into another show, The Magic Bookmark, a panto-style storytelling adventure where the evil Book Worm makes all the books in Mama G's library disappear because he believes reading gives people too much knowledge. Mama G must then find three books that can help make the world a better place, with the mysterious Magic Bookmark helping her along the way. Leo initially decided he didn't want to watch it. Lawrence took him outside, but at the last minute he changed his mind and came back in because he wanted to sit with me. I'm very glad he did because it ended up being his favourite show of the entire weekend! 👉 You can read more about our The Magic Bookmark visit and shorter review Here. 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review of The Magic Bookmark Here 🎪 Apparently We're Not Joining the Circus After The Magic Bookmark, Alice and Leo wanted to try some circus skills with Skylight Circus. We tried plate spinning. Terrible. Juggling? Also terrible. 😂 Thankfully, Leo then found a diabolo. I actually had one when I was younger, so I could remember how to get it spinning and even managed a couple of simple tricks. Leo wasn't too bad at it either and really enjoyed having a go. After a little more drawing outside, we finally admitted defeat and headed for the bus. We got home at around 4pm and were all completely exhausted after two very busy days. Our Sunday evening therefore involved doing as little as possible and watching The Wild Robot together. Perfect. 👉 Read more about our two days at Little HOME Family Festival, including all the shows, activities and family fun we experienced. Final Thoughts This week's family weekly update definitely started more peacefully than it ended! I've really enjoyed having some time to learn Procreate and start creating my own theatre-themed designs. I'm still very much a beginner, but it's been lovely getting back into drawing and seeing some of my ideas gradually come together. My trip to Oh Zeus! was another fun theatre night too, even if the lack of trams turned getting to Lowry into slightly more of an adventure than usual. The biggest part of the week, though, was definitely Little HOME. I loved how much variety there was across the weekend and how Alice and Leo could enjoy the festival in completely different ways. Alice happily danced along to the drumming while Leo preferred somewhere quieter, and after initially deciding he didn't want to see The Magic Bookmark, it ended up being his favourite show. By Sunday afternoon we were completely exhausted, but we'd managed to pack so much into our weekend. I think an evening on the sofa watching The Wild Robot was very well deserved! Watch This Week's Family Weekly Vlog You can see much more from this week's family weekly update vlog in Weekly Vlog #462, including my trip to Lowry for Oh Zeus!, putting together my new craft trolley and both of our days at Little HOME.

The Magic Bookmark at HOME Manchester 📚✨ On Sunday 2nd August, we saw The Magic Bookmark at HOME Manchester as part of the Little HOME Family Festival – and it ended up giving us one of the biggest surprises of our weekend. Just before the performance, Leo had become upset and decided he didn't want to watch another show. Lawrence initially took him out of Theatre 2, but Leo changed his mind at the last minute and came back in just before it started. I'm very glad he did, because by the end The Magic Bookmark was his favourite show of our entire Little HOME weekend! Theatre 2 At HOME Manchester 🎭 The Magic Bookmark was performed in Theatre 2, one of HOME's smaller and more intimate theatre spaces. Seating was unreserved for our performance, so we chose to sit towards the back. Despite being further away from the stage, we still had a really good view and the smaller size of the theatre meant we never felt particularly far from the action. With Leo settled back in his seat just before the show began, it was time to meet Mama G and discover exactly what The Magic Bookmark was all about. The Magic Bookmark 📚🌈 The show begins with a colourful animated introduction featuring a collection of cartoon characters, including a dragon, accompanied by a catchy song about looking inside books and discovering the stories waiting to be explored. Then we meet Mama G, played by Robert Pearce, the wonderfully larger-than-life librarian of the Panto Land Library. Unfortunately, there's trouble in the library. Book Worm, the show's panto baddie, once loved books but has become rather annoyed that worms appear so far towards the end of the alphabet. He decides that if things can't be done his way, everyone else's books are going to disappear. Mama G isn't going to let that happen without a fight. Believing that books can help make the world a better place and that everyone deserves to see themselves represented in stories, she sets off on an adventure with the Magic Bookmark to find the books she needs to prove Book Worm wrong. What follows is a lovely mixture of children's storytelling and traditional pantomime, with plenty of silliness, songs, colourful visuals and opportunities for the audience to join in. A Journey Through Stories 🏰📖 Mama G's adventure takes her to three different locations: a castle, an island and a fairground. Every time she needs to travel somewhere new, Mama G gets the audience to join her in the travel song. Because it returns throughout the show, the children quickly learn when it's time to sing along. At the castle, Mama G finds a book, only to discover that its pages are empty. This is where the children have to help. Everyone shouts "Abracadabra!" to make the contents appear, but naturally it doesn't work properly the first time. Apparently, we weren't loud enough! So everyone has to try again. Mama G later travels to an island, where she discovers The Lipstick, written by Laura Dockrill and illustrated by Maria Karipidou, which she reads to the audience. Her final journey takes her to a fairground, where she finds Oh Yes I Am!, written by Mama G herself and illustrated by Totò. I really liked the way the books were incorporated into the production. It never felt as though the main show suddenly stopped for a separate storytime. Instead, each book became part of Mama G's adventure and helped move the wider story forward. Songs, Puppetry & Lots Of Audience Participation 🎶 One of the biggest strengths of The Magic Bookmark is just how much there is for children to get involved with. There are plenty of traditional panto moments, including "Oh yes I am!" and "Oh no you're not!", as well as lots of opportunities to warn Mama G when something is happening behind her. The travel song gives everyone another chance to join in, and the original songs are incredibly catchy. Several were still stuck in my head long after we'd left HOME! There is also a song that mentions lots of different books, with their covers appearing on screen as Mama G sings about them. I thought this worked really well and fitted perfectly with the show's celebration of reading. The Magic Bookmark itself is brought to life as a colourful puppet with large expressive eyes and a moving mouth. It gives Mama G another character to interact with and adds another fun visual element for younger children. The participation isn't limited to shouting and singing from your seat either. At our performance, some children were invited onto the stage to help Mama G, which naturally created plenty of excitement. These interactive moments worked really well, as the children weren't simply watching Mama G's adventure – they were regularly being encouraged to become part of it. Mama G & That Brilliant Costume Change 🌈 Mama G was definitely a hit with Alice and Leo. She is warm, energetic, very silly and wonderfully over the top, with exactly the larger-than-life personality you'd expect from a pantomime dame. Both children found her really funny, and I particularly liked how naturally she responded to things the children shouted from the audience. With a family show like this, you never quite know what a child is going to say, but Mama G made those spontaneous moments feel like part of the fun. Her costumes are equally larger than life. Mama G initially appears in a huge purple and white gingham dress with enormous lilac sleeves, pink details, pearls and an impressive sculpted hairstyle. Then comes one of my favourite moments of the show. Mama G spins around and the gingham dress suddenly transforms to reveal a bright rainbow dress underneath. It was such a fun reveal and exactly the kind of colourful theatrical moment that gets a reaction from a young audience. A Lovely Message Behind The Panto Fun 💛 Although The Magic Bookmark is packed with silliness, songs and panto fun, there is a lovely message underneath it all. At its heart, the show celebrates books and the importance of children being able to discover stories about different people, different families and different ways of being themselves. What I particularly liked was that this never felt too heavy for the children. The message is simply woven into the adventure. Alice and Leo were busy laughing at Mama G, singing the travel song and joining in with the panto, while those ideas were being introduced naturally through the books and story. It makes the production entertaining first and foremost, while still giving families something meaningful to take away from it. Final Thoughts ⭐ We all really enjoyed The Magic Bookmark at HOME Manchester. It is a colourful and funny family show that brings together children's books, pantomime, original songs, animation and puppetry in a way that works really well for a young audience. I particularly liked how the books became part of the adventure rather than feeling like separate storytime sections, and there was always something happening to keep the children interested. But I think the biggest recommendation has to come from Leo. He went from not wanting to watch the show at all to choosing The Magic Bookmark as his favourite show of our entire Little HOME weekend. I don't think I could ask for a better review than that! More Information About The Magic Bookmark 📍 The Magic Bookmark was performed at HOME Manchester as part of the Little HOME Family Festival on Sunday 2nd August 2026. The show runs for approximately 55 minutes with no interval and is aimed at audiences aged 4+. Our performance at Little HOME was free, although tickets needed to be booked in advance, with a small number also available on the day. This was specific to the Little HOME Family Festival, and performances at other venues may have a ticket charge. The Magic Bookmark is a touring production. You can visit the official The Magic Bookmark website to find tour dates, venues and further information about the show. If you'd like to read my more detailed theatre-focused review of the production, you can also head over to our sister site, All About Theatre. 🎥 Watch Our Visit In Weekly Vlog #462 If you'd like to see more from our weekend at Little HOME Family Festival, including our visit to see The Magic Bookmark, you can watch it in Weekly Vlog #462. Our Little HOME Family Festival visit begins at 13:12 in the vlog. At A Glance 📍 Venue: HOME Manchester 🎭 Theatre: Theatre 2 – one of HOME's smaller, more intimate theatre spaces 📅 Performance Attended: Sunday 2nd August 2026 at 2pm 🎪 Event: Little HOME Family Festival 🎟️ Our Tickets: Free with advance booking as part of Little HOME Family Festival. Performances at other venues are normally ticketed, so check individual venues for prices. 💺 Seating: Unreserved for our performance 👑 Starring: Robert Pearce as Mama G 📚 What To Expect: Children's storytelling, pantomime, original songs, puppetry, animation and lots of audience participation 📖 Books Featured: The Lipstick by Laura Dockrill, illustrated by Maria Karipidou, and Oh Yes I Am! by Mama G, illustrated by Totò 🙋 Audience Participation: Lots of opportunities to sing and shout along, with three children invited onto the stage at our performance 🌈 Our Highlights: Mama G's humour, the catchy songs, Magic Bookmark puppet and rainbow costume transformation 🚋 Getting There: HOME is easily accessible by tram, bus and train 🚊 Closest Tram Stop: Deansgate-Castlefield 🚆 Closest Train Station: Deansgate Watch The Trailer

Tales From The Lighthouse at HOME Manchester ✨ On Saturday 1st August, my brother, Alice, Leo and I headed into Manchester for the Little HOME Family Festival at HOME Manchester, where we had tickets for the 10.30am performance of Tales From The Lighthouse. We got the bus at around 9.35am and it was such an easy journey because the bus stopped almost directly opposite HOME. As an added bonus, bus travel for children was free throughout August, so we only needed to pay for the adults. We arrived at HOME at around 9.55am, giving us plenty of time before the performance started. Pre-Show Fun at Little HOME 🎨🚀 As soon as we arrived, Alice and Leo headed straight to Creativity Corner. Alice settled down to do some drawing while Leo got involved with making a rocket ship out of cardboard boxes, which he absolutely loved. It was such a nice way for the children to start the morning and gave them something creative to do before we headed into the theatre. Creativity Corner isn't just part of the Little HOME Family Festival either. It's a permanent family-friendly space at HOME where children can enjoy books, dressing up, puppets, toys and colouring activities when visiting the venue. During Little HOME there were additional activities taking place too, including the cardboard rocket-making activity Leo joined in with. I always think little extras like this make family theatre visits feel more relaxed, especially when there is time to fill before a performance starts. Our Seats & View 🎭 When it was time for the performance, we headed into Theatre 2, one of the smaller theatre spaces at HOME, for Tales From The Lighthouse. The seating was unreserved, so you could sit wherever you wanted. A lot of the seats at the front had already been taken by the time we went in, so we decided to sit towards the back where the rake was also slightly better. We ended up on the second row from the back and actually had a really good view. Theatre 2 is a small and intimate space, so even sitting towards the back we never felt far away from the stage and the children could see everything clearly. The Show 🌊 Tales From The Lighthouse is a family theatre production combining storytelling, live folk music, original songs and puppetry, all inspired by myths and stories connected to the sea. The story follows a Lighthouse Keeper who once loved the ocean and everything surrounding it. After tragedy strikes during a storm, his feelings towards the sea completely change and he becomes frightened of something that once brought him so much happiness. As the years pass, he becomes increasingly withdrawn until a mysterious Stranger arrives with his concertina. Through music and stories, the Stranger begins helping the older Lighthouse Keeper reconnect with his past and slowly rediscover the magic of the sea. There is actually quite a thoughtful story underneath all the music and puppetry, exploring things like fear, loss and becoming isolated from the things you once enjoyed. These are quite big subjects for a children's show, but they are handled gently and balanced with humour, music, audience interaction and plenty of magical creatures. The puppetry was definitely the highlight for us. One of the most impressive puppets was the older Lighthouse Keeper. He was almost life-sized and incredibly detailed, with glasses, a moustache and his own yellow waterproofs. I really liked the way the puppet immediately showed that many years had passed. The Selkie was another lovely moment. It begins as a seal before transforming into a woman right in front of the audience, which really fascinated the children. But our favourite was definitely the Water Horse. Rather than staying on the stage, the Water Horse came right out into the audience, allowing the children to reach out and touch it as it passed. It created so much excitement because suddenly this huge mythical creature from the story was right beside them rather than something they were simply watching from their seats. The live music was another big part of the show. Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne performs the music on an Anglo concertina, and I really enjoyed the folk sound throughout. It fitted the lighthouse, sea and folklore themes really well and gave the show a very distinctive atmosphere. There were a few quieter sections where the show became more focused on the music, and I did notice some of the younger children starting to lose concentration a little, although they were soon drawn back in when the puppets and more interactive moments returned. Towards the end, everyone was encouraged to join in with a singalong, which was lots of fun and a lovely way to finish the story. Meeting the Water Horse Afterwards 🐴✨ One of the nicest parts of the experience was that it didn't quite finish when the performance ended. The children were invited to come down and meet the Water Horse puppet properly, which Alice absolutely loved because she loves puppets. After watching it move around the theatre during the show, it was lovely that they could get a closer look at it afterwards and see just how detailed it was. The children were also able to take a closer look at the concertina and even have a little go themselves while the musician held it. I really liked this part of the experience because they had just spent the whole show listening to such an unusual instrument and then got the chance to see how it worked up close. It was a really lovely way to round off the performance. Final Thoughts ✨ We really enjoyed Tales From The Lighthouse at HOME Manchester. It is quite a gentle show, but there is plenty packed into its 55-minute running time, from storytelling and live folk music to audience participation and some fantastic puppetry. There were a few moments during the more music-focused sections where I felt the pace slowed a little for the younger audience, but the production always had something visual or interactive to draw them back in. For us, the puppetry was what made the show particularly memorable. The Selkie transformation was really clever, but the Water Horse coming right into the audience was easily our favourite moment. Getting to meet the Water Horse afterwards and having the chance to look at and try the concertina was also a lovely extra and made the experience feel even more interactive for the children. If your children enjoy puppets, music, magical creatures and stories about the sea, Tales From The Lighthouse offers something a little different from a traditional children's theatre show. A magical family theatre trip filled with live music, mythical creatures and some fantastic puppetry. More Information About Tales From The Lighthouse 🌊 Tales From The Lighthouse was performed at HOME Manchester as part of the Little HOME Family Festival. The show runs for approximately 55 minutes with no interval and is aimed at audiences aged 5 to 105. Our performance at Little HOME was free, although tickets needed to be booked in advance, with a small number also available on the day. This was specific to the Little HOME Family Festival, and performances at other venues may have a ticket charge. Tales From The Lighthouse is a touring production. You can visit the official Tales From The Lighthouse website to find tour dates, venues and further information about the show. If you'd like to read my more detailed theatre-focused review of the production, you can also head over to our sister site, All About Theatre. 🎥 Watch Our Visit in Weekly Vlog If you'd like to see what we got up to during our trip to Little HOME and our visit to see Tales From The Lighthouse, you can watch it in this week's family weekly update vlog. Our Little HOME Family Festival visit begins at 13:12 in the video, although the vlog also includes lots of other family moments from our week. 🎭 At A Glance 📍 Venue: HOME Manchester 🎭 Theatre: Theatre 2 – one of HOME's smaller, more intimate theatre spaces 📅 Performance Attended: Saturday 1st August 2026 at 10.30am ⏱️ Runtime: Approx. 55 minutes ☕ Interval: No interval 👤 Age Guidance: Ages 5+ 🎟️ Tickets: Our Little HOME Family Festival performance was free with advance booking, with a small number of tickets also available on the day. This was specific to the festival, and performances at other venues may have a ticket charge. 💺 Seating: Unreserved for our performance 🎶 Features: Live folk music, original songs, storytelling, audience interaction and puppetry 🐴 Post-Show Experience: Children were invited to meet the Water Horse puppet and could see and have a little go on the concertina 🎨 Creativity Corner: HOME has a permanent family-friendly Creativity Corner with books, dressing-up clothes, puppets, toys and colouring activities for children to enjoy when visiting the venue. During our visit, there were also additional Little HOME festival activities, including the cardboard rocket-making activity Leo joined in with. 🚋 Travel: HOME is easily accessible by tram, bus and train 🚊 Closest Tram Stop: Deansgate-Castlefield 🚆 Closest Train Station: Deansgate 🚌 By Bus: Several bus services stop close to HOME; the bus we used stopped almost directly opposite the venue 📍 Address: HOME Manchester, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester, M15 4FN 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family Events at HOME: Visit HOME Manchester's family page to find out more about visiting HOME with children and see what family-friendly shows, activities and events are coming up at the venue. 🌍 Tales From The Lighthouse Tour Dates: Visit the official Tales From The Lighthouse website for tour dates, venues and further show information.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold at The Lowry On Wednesday 22nd July, Mum and I headed to The Lowry to see The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I went into this one knowing very little about the story. I'd never read John le Carré's famous novel or seen any of the previous film or television adaptations, so I was experiencing the story completely fresh. Dad dropped us off opposite the Imperial War Museum North at around 7pm and from there we made the short walk across the bridge towards The Lowry. We arrived with around half an hour to spare before the 7:30pm performance. Once inside, one of the first things I did was head over to the Box Office to collect my programme. Programmes & Merchandise 🛍️ After collecting my programme, Mum and I headed over to have a look at the merchandise available for the production. There was actually quite a large selection compared with some plays I've seen recently. The merchandise included: 👕 T-Shirt, sizes S-L – £30 👜 Tote Bag – £25 📓 Notebook – £20 ☕ Travel Mug – £16 📖 Script – £12 📚 Clothbound Book – £22 I didn't buy anything this time, although I always enjoy having a look at what is available before heading into the auditorium. After looking at the merchandise, it was almost time for the performance to begin, so Mum and I headed into the Lyric Theatre to find our seats. Our Seats At The Lowry 🎟️ For this performance we were seated in Stalls Row N, Seats 25 and 26. I was really pleased with the seats. They were centrally positioned and gave us a clear, uninterrupted view of the actors and everything happening across the stage. There was, however, one part of the set that we couldn't fully appreciate from this position. A detailed map had been built into the stage floor, but from our seats in the stalls very little of it was visible. I didn't realise just how detailed the design was until I saw the official production photographs afterwards. I imagine anyone sitting higher up in the Circle or Upper Circle would have a much better overall view of the floor design, although for watching the actual performance I thought our view from Row N was excellent. The play began promptly at 7:30pm. Act One lasted approximately 60 minutes before a 20-minute interval, followed by another 60-minute second act. The performance finished at around 9:50pm. The Story & My Thoughts 🕵️ Set during the Cold War, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold follows British intelligence officer Alec Leamas. After witnessing one of his agents being killed while attempting to cross the border in Berlin, Leamas believes he is finally ready to leave the dangerous world of espionage behind. Instead, he is persuaded to take on one final mission. Back in London, he begins living under a new identity and takes a job in a library, where he meets Liz Gold. From there, the story becomes increasingly complicated as Leamas finds himself surrounded by secrets, betrayal and people whose true loyalties aren't always clear. Without giving too much away, there are a lot of twists. As someone coming to the story completely fresh, I found the first half quite challenging to follow at times. There are lots of characters to meet and plenty of information to take in, and there were moments where I thought I had worked something out only for another twist to completely change what I thought was happening. The second half worked much better for me. Once the bigger picture started to come together, I found myself much more invested in the story and genuinely wanted to know how everything was going to end. This also isn't the type of spy story filled with car chases, gadgets and huge action sequences. Most of the tension comes from the conversations between the characters and never being completely sure who can actually be trusted. Staging, Lighting & Performances 🎭 The staging itself is quite simple, but it works well for the story. The Berlin Wall dominates the back of the stage for much of the production, while smaller pieces of furniture are brought on and off to create the different locations. As I mentioned earlier, there is also a large map built into the floor. It's a really clever part of the design, although unfortunately much of it is lost if you're sitting at stalls level. I really liked the lighting throughout the show. Searchlights, dark shadows and small pools of light helped create a tense atmosphere, while the sound and music added to that feeling without overpowering the dialogue. Ralf Little is rarely off stage as Alec Leamas and gives a really strong performance. He manages to show someone who has spent years surrounded by lies and secrets and has reached a point where trusting anybody has become almost impossible. Gráinne Dromgoole is equally impressive as Liz Gold and brings a much warmer side to the story. I enjoyed her scenes with Ralf Little, particularly because they give the production a chance to slow down amongst all the twists and information. Tony Turner also gives a calm and measured performance as George Smiley, while Nicholas Murchie commands attention as Control. Peter Losasso is suitably intimidating as Hans-Dieter Mundt and Eddie Toll also impresses as Fiedler. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but I thought the cast did a really good job of making each one feel different and helping the story stay clear. The Journey Home 🚗 Once the performance had finished at around 9:50pm, Mum and I made our way back out of The Lowry. Dad had come back to pick us up, so thankfully we didn't have to worry about catching a late tram home. We chatted about the show on the journey back, particularly how complicated we had both found parts of the story and what we thought of the performances. Final Thoughts ⭐ Overall, I'm glad I got the chance to see The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, even though it probably wasn't the easiest story to go into knowing absolutely nothing beforehand. I struggled with parts of the first half and spent quite a bit of time trying to work out who was really working for whom, but I enjoyed the second half much more once everything started to make sense. The performances are strong throughout and I particularly enjoyed Ralf Little and Gráinne Dromgoole, while the simple staging, lighting and sound all help create the tense Cold War atmosphere. It wasn't one of my favourite plays I've seen this year, but there was still plenty I appreciated about the production and I'm glad I had the chance to see it. Mum felt quite similarly. She said this one wasn't really for her and, like me, she found parts of the story quite difficult to follow. She wouldn't choose to see it again, although she did think Ralf Little was really good as Alec Leamas. Even though the production wasn't completely for either of us, it was still another lovely theatre evening to share with Mum. More Information About The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 📍 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is at The Lowry until Saturday 25th July 2026, tickets are available from the Lowry wedsite. For more information about the production, including future tour dates and show information, visit the official The Spy Who Came in from the Cold website. If you'd like to read my more theatre-focused review, you can also head over to All About Theatre. 🎥 Watch Our Theatre Trip In My Weekly Vlog If you'd like to see what Mum and I got up to during our trip to see The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, our theatre visit will also feature in Weekly Vlog #461. Our trip to the show begins at 01:08 in the video, although the vlog also includes some other family moments from our week. At a Glance 📍 Venue: The Lowry, Salford 📅 Date Attended: Wednesday 22nd July 2026 ⏱️ Runtime: Approx. 2 hours 20 minutes including interval ☕ Interval: Approx. 20 minutes 🎭 Genre: Cold War Spy Drama 💺 Our Seats: Stalls Row N, Seats 25 & 26 👀 Seat View: Excellent clear and central view of the stage, although the floor design is difficult to appreciate from stalls level 📖 Programme Available: Yes 🛍️ Merchandise Available: T-Shirts, Tote Bags, Notebooks, Travel Mugs, Scripts and Clothbound Books 👕 T-Shirt: £30, sizes S-L 👜 Tote Bag: £25 📓 Notebook: £20 ☕ Travel Mug: £16 📖 Script: £12 📚 Clothbound Book: £22 🚗 Travel: We were dropped off opposite the Imperial War Museum North and walked across the bridge to The Lowry 🚋 Public Transport: The Lowry is accessible by tram and bus 🌍 Further Tour Dates: Visit the official production website for future dates and show information Our tickets for this performance were kindly gifted for review purposes. All opinions are my own. Watch The Trailer

Family Weekly Update This week's family weekly update covers 20th–26th July, and it was a very busy one! Between a theatre trip, an early birthday date with Lawrence, the children's last days at school and getting everything ready for my birthday, I seemed to spend most of the week making, designing or organising something.# There was also a very exciting early birthday present, plenty of musical theatre-themed crafting and, by Sunday evening, we'd finished the week with cake, friends and a very nostalgic game of Lips on the Xbox 360. 💻 Monday – Editing Day Monday was a fairly normal start to the week. I spent most of the day doing what I usually do on a Monday – editing our weekly vlog and writing the previous week's family weekly update for the blog. It might not be the most exciting way to start the week, but both jobs always seem to take much longer than I expect! 🎂 Tuesday – Designing My Birthday Cake My birthday was at the end of the week and we were having a few friends round on Sunday to celebrate. I didn't really want to make my own birthday cake, but I couldn't find anything I particularly liked in the shops either. In the end, I decided to order a plain cake from Costco and decorate it myself using my edible printer and lots of sprinkles. Obviously, I couldn't just make a simple cake topper! I decided to give the cake a musical theatre theme, and because I didn't have much time to design everything from scratch, I used AI to help me come up with some of the artwork. One idea quickly turned into another, and before I knew it I was also designing musical theatre-themed crisp packets and KitKat wrappers to match. That pretty much took up my entire day! 🎭 Wednesday – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold at The Lowry During the day I caught up on some housework before heading to The Lowry with Mum in the evening to review The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Dad dropped us off opposite the Imperial War Museum North at around 7pm and we walked across the bridge to The Lowry. Once we arrived, I collected my programme from the Box Office, had a quick look at the merchandise and then we headed into the Lyric Theatre to find our seats. We were sitting in Stalls Row N, Seats 25 and 26, which gave us a great clear and central view of the stage. The play started at 7:30pm and finished at around 9:50pm. Dad came to pick us up afterwards and, when I got home, I decided to make a start on my review while everything was still fresh in my mind. Apparently I was more tired than I realised because I ended up falling asleep while writing it, so I had to finish it the following day! 👉 You can read more about our trip to see The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and my shorter review [HERE – ADD SARAH MONAGHAN LINK WHEN LIVE] 👉 Read my full The Spy Who Came in from the Cold review on All About Theatre HERE. 🎳 Thursday – Bowling, TGI Fridays & My New iPad Thursday was the only day Lawrence was off while the children were still at school, so we decided to have an early birthday day out together. We caught the bus to the Trafford Centre and started with a game of bowling at King Pins. Of course, I had to get a raspberry blue slushie. I don't think I can go bowling without one anymore – it's basically tradition! Neither of us played particularly well, and somehow it turned into an incredibly close game that came down to the final go. Unfortunately for me, Lawrence won. After bowling, we walked across from Trafford Palazzo to the Trafford Centre for lunch at TGI Fridays. I'd been looking forward to this for ages because I love their steak with the whisky glaze. We went for the lunchtime menu, which was £12.49 for a starter, main and drink, although the steak was an additional £8. I chose garlic ciabatta bread with cheese for my starter and a medium-rare steak with chips for my main, while Lawrence went for chicken bites followed by the whisky-glazed sesame chicken burger. We also ordered some whisky-glazed sesame chicken strips to share. Lawrence accidentally ordered a Fanta that wasn't included in the offer, so he somehow ended up with two drinks! For dessert, we ordered a chocolate fudge cake with ice cream to share, which was a lovely way to finish our early birthday lunch. The food was delicious, and we've already decided that once the children are back at school we'll have to go again. Before leaving the Trafford Centre, I checked my Krispy Kreme app and spotted a 12 doughnuts for £12 offer, so obviously we couldn't ignore that. We also popped into the Haribo shop, where I treated myself to some birthday sweets – Red Crush and Strawberry Softies. We then walked over to ASDA for a quick look around and picked up some onion ring crisps for Alice, as they're one of her favourites at the moment, before catching the bus home. Once we got back, I finally finished my review of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then my birthday present from Lawrence arrived! Technically, I'd found it and ordered it myself and he'd paid for it, but that still counts as a birthday present, right? I'd chosen a refurbished 9th generation Apple iPad and Apple Pencil. I was slightly concerned when the iPad arrived in nothing more than a padded envelope, but thankfully it looked fine. Once I'd charged it and checked everything was working properly, I got it all set up and bought Procreate. The main reason I wanted an iPad was so I could start drawing my own artwork and eventually use my designs on things like mugs and notebooks. It's something I've wanted to try for a while, so I'm really excited to start learning how to use Procreate properly and get back into drawing again. 🎶 Friday – Last Day of School & A Musical Theatre Game Apparently designing a cake topper, crisp packets and KitKat wrappers wasn't enough musical theatre birthday preparation for me because on Friday I decided to create an entire musical theatre card game! I designed the game, worked out all the rules and started planning the different cards. I thought it would be something fun we could play when my friends came round on Sunday. Mum and Dad also dropped off my Costco cake, which they'd kindly collected for me. I didn't get chance to start making the game cards straight away because I needed to collect Alice from school a little earlier than usual as it was the last day of term. Once I'd collected Alice, we headed over to Leo's school, where they were holding a special parade around the playground to celebrate his final day there. It felt quite strange knowing this was his last day at the school, especially after it had been such a big part of our routine. Once we were back home, it was straight back into party-preparation mode and I started designing toppers for the cupcakes and biscuits. 🍰 Saturday – Cake Decorating & Party Preparations Saturday was basically one enormous birthday-preparation day. The children and I walked to the local shops to pick up a few things I still needed for Sunday, including crisps and biscuits. Alice had received a £5 Amazon voucher from school for her hard work and improvement with her maths. I added the voucher to our Amazon account and gave her £5 in cash so she could choose something from the shop instead. She chose a cute cherries plush for £1.99 and a Dora the Explorer playset for £2.99. I also spotted a Disney Princess stationery set and couldn't resist buying it. I'm a stationery addict and I love Disney Princesses, so there was really no chance I was leaving that behind! When we got home, it was finally time to decorate my Costco cake. I added the musical theatre cake topper I'd printed using my edible printer and finished it with the sprinkles that had conveniently arrived while we were out. I was really pleased with how it turned out, especially considering I'd started with such a simple plain cake. I then quickly made a batch of cupcakes before moving on to the crisp packets I'd designed earlier in the week. Now that I'd bought the actual crisps, I could finally put everything together. Then I went back to working on my musical theatre card game. I'd decided that the song cards would use QR codes linking to the correct songs, so every card needed its own code. After completing around 50 cards, I realised I was planning to make approximately 300 altogether. There was absolutely no chance I was finishing that before Sunday! I decided to put the game on the back burner and finish it properly at a later date rather than rushing it. Instead, I moved on to making some treats. I melted white chocolate and coloured half pink and half green before covering mini pretzels in each colour. I also dipped some wafer biscuits in pink chocolate and added sprinkles. Finally, I used the remaining pink chocolate to make little pretzel nests. I broke up some pretzel sticks, mixed them into the chocolate, spooned the mixture into muffin cases and popped them into the fridge to set. By that point, I'd definitely done enough baking and crafting for one day! 🎈 Sunday – It's My Birthday! Sunday was finally my birthday! I spent the morning finishing the last few things before everyone arrived. I iced the cupcakes I'd made the day before, as well as some biscuits we'd bought from the shop, and added the edible toppers I'd printed to both. I was really pleased with how everything came together. While I prepared the party food, Lawrence blew up some balloons and put up a few decorations. Our friends arrived at around 6pm, and we spent the first part of the evening eating all the food I'd prepared and having a good catch-up. Then we decided to get my old Xbox 360 out and play Lips. I hadn't played it in ages, but it was so much fun. Leo really enjoyed joining in too, and of course there was one song that absolutely had to be performed. Whenever my friend Ste and I play Lips, it's tradition for us to sing The Phantom of the Opera together, so naturally we had to bring that tradition back! Eventually everyone sang Happy Birthday, I blew out the candles on my musical theatre cake and cut it up for everyone. I then opened my presents before everyone headed home. Once we'd got the children into bed, Lawrence and I did a quick tidy-up, watched a little TV and, naturally, finished my birthday with another piece of cake. It had been a very busy week, but it was such a lovely way to spend my birthday. Final Thoughts Looking back at this week's family weekly update, I seem to have spent most of my time either designing, making or decorating something! What started with the simple idea of buying a plain Costco cake somehow turned into designing a musical theatre cake topper, crisp packets, KitKat wrappers, cupcake toppers, biscuit toppers and an entire card game that will eventually contain around 300 cards. Getting my iPad and Apple Pencil has also made me really excited to start drawing again. I haven't properly drawn for quite a while, and I'm looking forward to learning Procreate and experimenting with creating my own artwork. It was also a big week for the children with the end of the school year and Leo saying goodbye to his school, before we finished everything off by celebrating my birthday with friends and family. There was lots of food, far too much cake and plenty of terrible singing on Lips – which sounds like a pretty good birthday to me! Now I just need to finish those other 250 cards... Watch Weekly Vlog #461 You can watch everything from this week's family weekly update, including my birthday preparations, our bowling trip, my new iPad and Apple Pencil and my birthday celebrations, in Weekly Vlog #461 below.

Wild Things at Lowry On Saturday morning, we were invited along to a special launch event for Wild Things at Lowry, a brand-new free family exhibition celebrating animals from some of our favourite children's books. Dad came along with me, Alice and Leo, and because the trams weren't running to Lowry, Mum dropped us off opposite the Imperial War Museum North and we walked across the bridge. We arrived at Lowry at around 10:10am and headed upstairs to the Circle Bar, where lots of special activities had been organised to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. 🎨 Wild Things Launch Event Before we'd even made it into the exhibition, Alice and Leo had already found plenty to do. As part of the special launch event, there was face painting, temporary tattoos and artists creating pictures of the children with their favourite animals. There was also a table with little chocolate muffins, fruit sticks and cartons of juice for the children, as well as tea and coffee for the adults. These activities were specifically part of the Wild Things launch event and aren't part of a normal visit to the exhibition, so don't worry if you don't see them when you visit – there's still loads to see and do once you head into Wild Things itself. Alice and Leo both chose a juice and a chocolate muffin, while Dad got himself a cup of tea, and then we joined the queue for the face painting. Alice decided she wanted to be a lion, while Leo doesn't like having his face painted, so he chose to have a rainbow and butterflies painted on his arm instead. I really liked that he could still join in without having to have anything painted on his face. After Leo had finished, it was time for a welcome speech from Michael Simpson, Lowry's Director of Visual Arts, who told us a little more about Wild Things before inviting through to explore the galleries. We decided to hang back for a few minutes and let the initial crowd go through first. While we waited, we visited one of the artists, who created a picture of Alice with a lion and a snake and another of Leo with a giant butterfly. I think I might have enjoyed watching the artist work just as much as the children enjoyed getting their pictures! I've always loved drawing and painting, although I haven't properly drawn for quite a while. It's something I'm hoping to start getting back into, so I found it fascinating watching the pictures come together. 📚 Stepping Inside Wild Things On the way into the exhibition, every child is given a free notebook where they can write and draw their own animal stories inspired by what they discover inside. Alice and Leo were both handed one as we entered, which was a lovely way to encourage them to get creative during and after their visit. The exhibition itself was fantastic. Wild Things is an A–Z of animals from beloved children's stories, combining original illustrations with animal facts, colourful displays and lots of activities for children to get involved with. It was bright, colourful and immediately felt like somewhere designed for families rather than a gallery where I'd spend the whole time worrying about the children touching something they shouldn't! I really enjoyed reading all the facts about the featured animals as we made our way around. There were even a few things I didn't know myself, which meant I was learning alongside the children. 🐯 A Tiger Is on the Loose! Alice absolutely loved the Furry Wardrobe, which was filled with different animal costumes for children to dress up in. Her favourite was the tiger. She put the costume on and very quickly decided that simply looking like a tiger wasn't enough. She then proceeded to chase Grandad around the exhibition pretending she was going to eat him! She was having a brilliant time, and I loved seeing how something as simple as dressing up encouraged her to use her imagination and create her own little game. ✏️ Leo Gets Creative Leo was much more interested in the drawing areas. There were little desks with postcards and colouring pencils where children could draw their own animals, with boards nearby where they could display their finished pictures. There were separate boards for animals including frogs, giraffes, koalas and X-ray fish. Leo chose to draw a giraffe and an X-ray fish and then proudly pinned both of his pictures onto the boards. He loves sitting down and concentrating on activities like this, so it was lovely that there were quieter creative things alongside the more energetic imaginative play. 🍊 Playing at Vera's Veggie Delights Both children also had lots of fun at Vera's Veggie Delights, a colourful little fruit and vegetable stall. This seemed to be incredibly popular because there were children playing around it almost every time we passed. Alice and Leo enjoyed exploring all the different fruit and vegetables, but Leo was particularly fascinated when he discovered that the oranges could actually be peeled apart. He spent ages taking them apart and putting them back together again! Sometimes it's the simplest things that keep children entertained for the longest. 🦔 Testing Our Animal Knowledge Leo and I also had great fun with one of the interactive animal games. You had to try to match the unusual name for a group of animals with the correct animal. Was it a mess, a prickle or a dazzle? Some of the answers were definitely easier than others, and I discovered that my knowledge of animal collective nouns wasn't quite as good as I thought! It was a fun way of learning something new together without it feeling like a lesson. 🐘 Our Favourite Elmer Display One of our favourite parts of Wild Things was the E is for Elephant section celebrating Elmer. Alice and Leo have loved Elmer ever since we saw the stage production at Lowry in 2024, and we've gradually built up quite a collection of Elmer books and toys at home. They were both excited when they spotted the familiar patchwork elephant, while I particularly enjoyed looking at David McKee's original artwork. Original illustrations are featured throughout Wild Things, and this was probably my favourite part as an adult. There's something very different about seeing the actual artwork up close rather than simply looking at the finished illustrations on the pages of a book. Alongside the Elmer artwork were facts about elephants, and we even discovered a few things we hadn't known before our visit. 🛍️ The Wild Things Shop There was also a little shop inside the exhibition selling some of the books featured in Wild Things alongside other animal-themed items and lots of plushies. We managed to leave without buying anything this time, although Alice and Leo had already created quite a list of things they'd like on our next visit. Apparently this includes a giant inflatable Elmer! I have a feeling we're not going to get away quite so easily next time. 🔎 The Animal Safari Leaving the exhibition didn't mean the end of the activities. On our way in, we'd picked up a Wild Things leaflet from a member of staff, which included an Animal Safari around Lowry. Children are challenged to search the building for five pairs of hidden animals, ticking them off on the leaflet as they find them. Once you've found all five pairs, you can head to the Lowry Shop to collect a special sticker as a reward. Leo absolutely loves this kind of thing and was completely focused on finding them all. It was such a simple activity, but it turned walking around the building into another little adventure. 🐝 Queen Bee's Hive Drama Next, we headed to the Lowry Bar for Queen Bee's Hive Drama, a 25-minute drama adventure inspired by Queen Bee's Day Off. The children buzzed around pretending to be bees and played games including Queen Bee Says, which works a bit like Simon Says. Alice absolutely threw herself into it and had a brilliant time. Leo found it a little overwhelming and stayed for around five minutes before deciding he'd had enough and coming to sit with me and Grandad instead. That's one of the reasons having lots of different activities available worked particularly well for us. There was no pressure for both children to enjoy exactly the same things or participate in the same way. Queen Bee's Hive Drama takes place Tuesday–Sunday at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. 🌈 We Found Elmer! After Queen Bee's Hive Drama had finished, we spotted someone very colourful walking past. Elmer! He was making his way towards the entrance, so Alice and Leo followed him and got the chance to meet him and have their photograph taken together. Considering how much they love Elmer, this was definitely a special moment for them – particularly after we'd just been looking at all the Elmer artwork inside the exhibition. 📖 We're Going on a Bear Hunt We then headed over to the Storytelling Corner for one of the 20-minute storytelling sessions. The story during our visit was We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Leo found himself a quiet spot at the side where he could sit, watch and listen, while Alice wanted to be right in the middle of everything. The storyteller encouraged the children to follow instructions and act out different parts of the story, including packing an imaginary backpack before setting off on their adventure. Alice had great fun joining in with all the actions, while Leo was perfectly happy experiencing the story in his own quieter way. Storytelling sessions take place Tuesday–Sunday at 12pm, 12:30pm, 1pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm, 3:30pm and 4pm. ⭐ One Last Stop After the storytelling session, we suddenly remembered that we'd completed the Animal Safari but hadn't actually collected our reward! So we headed over to the Lowry Shop, where the children collected their special sticker for finding all five pairs of animals. By this point it was around 1pm and we were all starting to get hungry. We could have stayed at Lowry for lunch, but after such a busy morning we decided it was time to head home, so Mum came back to pick us up. We'd arrived at around 10:10am and left at approximately 1pm, which meant we'd managed to spend almost three hours there without the children running out of things to do. And we still hadn't done everything! 🎨 More Family Activities at Lowry Although we didn't have time to fit everything into this particular visit, there are plenty of other family experiences available across Lowry throughout the summer. Families can browse books together in The Book Nook, a welcoming reading space complete with a miniature dolls' house version of Lowry, get creative with drop-in craft activities in The Lookout, or enjoy imaginative role play in the Little Lowry Kitchen. Having experienced these areas on previous visits, we know they're always a popular addition and offer even more reasons to make a day of your visit. If you're planning to stay for lunch, the summer family offer is another welcome bonus. Throughout the school holidays, children can eat free in the Lowry Bar & Kitchen with every adult main meal purchased, making it even easier to enjoy a full day at Lowry without needing to leave the building. The Coffee Shop also has Wild Things lunchboxes for £5.50, which include a sandwich, drink and snack. We didn't eat there on this particular visit because we decided to head home for lunch, but they're useful options to know about if you're planning to stay for longer. ♿ Accessibility at Wild Things Accessibility is something I always pay attention to when we're planning family days out, and one thing I particularly like about Lowry is that there are options for visitors who may find a quieter environment easier. Lowry regularly hosts Relaxed and Quiet Sessions, allowing visitors to experience the galleries in a calmer and less busy atmosphere. Upcoming sessions include: Thursday 13 August, 10am–3pm – Lowry Relaxed Day for Families Sunday 6 September Sunday 25 October Sunday 22 November Capacity is reduced for these sessions, so booking your free timed ticket in advance is recommended. I also appreciated during our own visit that the children didn't have to participate in activities in exactly the same way. When Queen Bee's Hive Drama became too much for Leo, he could simply come and sit with us, while at the storytelling session he was able to watch quietly from the side as Alice joined in. For our family, having that flexibility makes a big difference. Final Thoughts We had a brilliant morning exploring Wild Things at Lowry, and I think what I loved most was how much variety there was. Alice was happiest dressing up, pretending to be a tiger and throwing herself into the drama and storytelling activities, while Leo loved drawing, completing the Animal Safari and taking his time exploring the hands-on displays. For me, the original children's book illustrations were probably the biggest highlight. I particularly loved seeing David McKee's Elmer artwork, and watching the artist create Alice and Leo's pictures at the launch also made me want to get my own pencils out again. Wild Things itself is colourful, playful and packed with things for children to discover, while all the additional activities happening around Lowry can turn a visit into a much bigger family day out. Best of all, Wild Things is completely free. You do need to book a free timed ticket for the Andrew Law Galleries, and I'd recommend booking in advance, particularly during the school holidays. We will definitely be going back before it closes – although next time I might have to prepare myself for the children remembering that giant inflatable Elmer in the shop! At a Glance 📍 Venue: Lowry, Salford Quays 📅 Exhibition Dates: 1 January–30 November 2026 🕙 Opening Times: 10:15am–4:30pm. Check Lowry's latest opening information before travelling. 🎟️ Admission: Free, but advance booking is recommended. Entry to Wild Things is included with a free timed ticket for the Andrew Law Galleries. A limited number of walk-up tickets may be available. 📓 Free Notebook: Every child receives a free notebook on entry where they can write and draw their own animal stories inspired by the exhibition. ⏰ Time Needed: We spent just under an hour exploring Wild Things itself and almost three hours at Lowry altogether, including the special launch activities and the additional family activities around the building. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Suitable For: Families with children of all ages, particularly anyone who loves children's books, animals, drawing and imaginative play. ♿ Accessibility: Relaxed and Quiet Sessions are available on selected dates. Upcoming sessions take place on 13 August, 6 September, 25 October and 22 November. 🍽️ Food: Lowry Bar & Kitchen and the Coffee Shop. Wild Things lunchboxes containing a sandwich, drink and snack are available from the Coffee Shop for £5.50. During the school holidays, children can eat free in the Lowry Bar & Kitchen with every adult main meal purchased. 🚋 Getting There: Lowry is accessible by tram, bus and car. Tram services are affected by temporary disruption from 13 July–3 August, so check your route before travelling. During our visit, Mum dropped us off opposite the Imperial War Museum North and we walked across the bridge to Lowry. 🚗 Parking: Nearby parking is available at Quayside MediaCityUK. 🎫 Book your free Wild Things tickets 📖 Download the official Wild Things family handout Watch Our Visit to Wild Things Our visit to Wild Things at Lowry features in Weekly Vlog #460, where you can see us exploring the exhibition and taking part in some of the family activities around Lowry. The Wild Things part of the vlog starts at 14:47, so you can skip straight to our visit if you'd like to see what it was like.

Family Weekly Update This week felt like a lovely mix of family milestones, creative projects and days out. We attended Leo's leaving assembly at school, enjoyed another trip to the Trafford Centre, finally got my Cutting Stacker set up, spent a fantastic morning exploring the new Wild Things exhibition at The Lowry and rounded off the week by making personalised teacher gifts together. Here is this week's Family Weekly Update, sharing everything we got up to during the week. 🏡 Monday – Editing & Weekly Catch Up Monday was one of those quieter days that gave me the chance to catch up on work behind the scenes. As usual, I spent most of the day editing last week's weekly vlog before writing my previous Family Weekly Update blog post. Although these are probably my most time-consuming posts to write, they've become one of my favourite parts of the week as it's nice looking back over everything we've been up to as a family. By the time I'd finished editing the vlog, written the blog post and sorted a few jobs around the house, the day had flown by. 🎓 Tuesday – Leo's Leaving Assembly, Trafford Centre & Family Games Tuesday was a really special day as Lawrence and I attended Leo's leaving assembly at school. For anyone who has followed our family for a while, you'll know that Leo often finds assemblies overwhelming and doesn't usually attend them, so seeing him confidently taking part and joining in with all of his classmates made us incredibly proud. Watching him stand up with the rest of his class and take part in the celebration was one of those moments that reminds you just how far he's come over the past year. After the assembly, Lawrence and I decided to make the most of having a little time together before collecting the children from school, so we caught the bus to the Trafford Centre. Our first stop was the Disney Store inside Selfridges. I always enjoy having a look around whenever we visit because the stock changes so regularly, but although there were lots of lovely things to see, nothing quite tempted me enough to make a purchase this time. Afterwards, we headed to one of our favourite lunch spots, Pesto. We've become quite regular visitors recently and once again decided to go for the excellent £13.99 lunch menu, where you can choose three dishes each. I ordered my usual favourites — chicken wings, spicy sausage and a pepperoni pizza — while Lawrence chose the spicy sausage, arancini and lasagne. We also shared some garlic bread with cheese and enjoyed a Diet Coke each. Everything was absolutely delicious and it was a lovely little midweek treat. Once we'd finished lunch, I popped into the Haribo shop to pick up a couple of bags of sweets that you don't normally find anywhere else. This time I chose a bag of the red and white sweets along with a bag of the Strawberry Softies, both of which are favourites of mine. We then walked across the bridge into Trafford Palazzo to have a look around Primark and Primark Home. There were so many new Disney items in both stores that I couldn't resist filming another Disney Come Shop With Me video while I was there. It's always fun seeing what new Disney products have arrived. Before long it was time to catch the bus home to collect Alice and Leo from school. Once everyone had changed out of their uniforms, we all sat down together and played several rounds of Uno followed by Matching Pairs. It's become a bit of a new tradition after school and we've all been enjoying it so much. It's such a simple thing, but spending half an hour playing games together has quickly become one of my favourite parts of the day. After dinner, I finished editing my Disney shopping video ready to upload. ✂️ Wednesday – Finally Setting Up My Cutting Stacker Wednesday was one of those really satisfying days where I finally got around to doing something that had been sitting on my to-do list for months. I finally unboxed and set up my Cutting Stacker, which I'd bought quite a while ago but had never actually found the time to use. Thankfully, everything worked perfectly straight away and after doing a few test cuts I knew it was going to make future crafting projects much easier. I've been wanting to create my own range of theatre-themed stationery for quite some time, so I spent the rest of the morning designing my first collection of notebooks. By lunchtime I'd created five different theatre-inspired notebook designs and I'm really excited to start turning them into finished products over the coming weeks. After school, Alice and Leo immediately asked if we could play more games together, so once again we had several rounds of Uno and Matching Pairs before dinner. Later that evening, I made a start on editing the first of our three London vlogs, which brought back lots of lovely memories from our trip. 🎶 Thursday – Speech Therapy & Alice's Ukulele Concert Thursday was definitely one of the busiest days of the week. After dropping Alice off at school, I took Leo to school before heading home for a quick breakfast. Not long afterwards, it was time to head back to Alice's school to pick her up as she had a speech therapy appointment. Originally I wasn't planning on sending her into school beforehand because she was only going to be there for around fifty minutes, but the school asked if she could attend first, so that's what we did. After her appointment, I took her back to school before heading home for a quick lunch. Then, before I knew it, I was back at school once again for Alice's ukulele concert. She did such a fantastic job. She joined in with everything, played beautifully alongside the rest of her class and looked so confident throughout the performance. Lawrence and I were incredibly proud of her. Once the concert had finished, Alice was allowed to come home with us a little early, so we collected Leo from school before heading home together. The children were desperate to carry on our new tradition of after-school games, so this time we played Hungry Hippos followed by a game called Windy Knickers, which had everyone laughing. It's been such a lovely way to spend time together and it's something we're definitely hoping to continue over the summer holidays. Later that evening, once the children were in bed, I carried on editing Day 2 of our London vlog series. 🌊 Friday – Leo's School Trip to the Beach Friday was a really exciting day for Leo as his class headed off on their school trip to the beach. While he was busy collecting shells and enjoying the seaside with his friends, I spent the day finishing the final edit of Day 3 of our London Vlogs before making a start designing some of the pages for my theatre journal. School pick-up turned into a little bit of an adventure. Leo's coach unfortunately got caught in traffic on the way home and ended up arriving around an hour later than planned. I collected Alice from school as usual before heading back to wait for Leo, who eventually arrived home at around 4pm looking very happy despite the long journey. He proudly showed us everything he had collected during the day, including shells, interesting stones and several sticks that he'd decided were too good to leave behind. After hearing all about his adventures, we finished the afternoon with another game of Matching Pairs before I settled back down to edit a few more videos. 🦁 Saturday – Wild Things at The Lowry Saturday morning was one we had all been looking forward to as we were invited to the launch event for Wild Things, the brand new family exhibition at The Lowry. My dad came with us and, because the trams aren't running to The Lowry at the moment, my mum kindly dropped us off opposite the Imperial War Museum North before we made the familiar walk across the bridge. We arrived just after 10am and headed upstairs to the Circle Bar where there was already a lovely atmosphere. Families were being welcomed with face painting, temporary tattoos, live illustration sessions, colouring and activity sheets for the children, along with refreshments while everyone waited for the exhibition to open. Alice and Leo each chose a juice carton and a chocolate muffin while Grandad enjoyed a cup of tea. We then joined the queue for face painting. Alice decided to become a magnificent lion, while Leo, who has never been keen on having his face painted, opted instead for a colourful rainbow and butterflies painted onto his arm. Soon afterwards, Michael Simpson, The Lowry's Director of Visual Arts, welcomed everyone, told us a little about the exhibition and what visitors could expect before inviting us through to experience it for the very first time. Rather than rushing straight in with the crowd, we stayed behind for a few minutes while an artist created beautiful personalised animal illustrations for both children. Alice chose a lion and a snake, while Leo requested a giant butterfly. Watching the artist work was probably one of my favourite parts of the morning. I've always loved drawing and painting myself, and seeing someone create such wonderful illustrations from a blank sheet of paper reminded me that it's something I'd really like to start doing again. As we entered the exhibition, the children were each given a free notebook where they could write and draw their own animal stories inspired by everything they discovered inside. The exhibition itself was absolutely fantastic. Based around an A to Z of animals from beloved children's stories, every area was bright, colourful and packed with things for families to discover together. One thing I particularly enjoyed was learning lots of fascinating facts about the different animals featured throughout the exhibition. Even I came away knowing things I hadn't known before. Alice's favourite area was definitely the furry wardrobe filled with animal costumes. She spent ages dressing up before deciding that the tiger costume was her favourite and immediately began chasing Grandad around the gallery pretending to be a tiger. Leo was completely drawn to the creative drawing spaces. Small desks had been set up with colouring pencils and postcards where children could draw different animals before pinning their finished pictures onto large display boards. He proudly created both a giraffe and an X-ray fish before carefully pinning them onto the display boards. We also spent ages playing at Vera's Veggie Delights market stall, while Leo and I particularly enjoyed a matching game where you had to pair the correct collective noun with different groups of animals. Before leaving the gallery, we had a look around the small exhibition shop, which was full of books, animal-themed gifts and some very tempting soft toys. Although we didn't buy anything this time, both children had already started making lists of what they'd like to get when we visit again — including a giant inflatable Elmer the Elephant! 🐝 More Family Fun Around The Lowry The first thing we did after exploring the exhibition was take part in the Wild Things Animal Safari. After picking up one of the activity leaflets, we set off around the building looking for ten pairs of hidden animals. As we spotted each pair, the children excitedly ticked them off in their booklet. Leo absolutely loved this activity. He enjoys anything that involves searching for clues and was determined to find every single animal before we left. Our next activity was Queen Bee's Hive Drama, a 25-minute interactive drama session inspired by Queen Bee's Day Off, which takes place in The Lowry Bar and Kitchen. The children buzzed around pretending to be busy bees before joining in with a game of Queen Bee Says, which is very similar to Simon Says. Alice absolutely threw herself into the session and joined in with every activity, while Leo found it a little overwhelming. After about five minutes he decided he'd rather come and sit quietly with Grandad and me, which was absolutely fine. One of the things I really like about The Lowry is that there's never any pressure for children to join in if they don't want to. As we left the drama session, we spotted Elmer the Elephant making his way through the building. Of course, Alice and Leo immediately wanted to follow him and were delighted when they got the chance to meet him and have their photograph taken together. Our final activity of the morning was one of the storytelling sessions in the Storytelling Corner. This time the story was We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Once again, Alice loved joining in, acting out the different parts of the story and following all of the storyteller's instructions, while Leo was happy to sit quietly nearby, listening and watching everything unfold. Before we left, we remembered to pop into The Lowry Shop to collect the children's special Wild Things stickers after successfully completing the Animal Safari. They were both really pleased with their reward. By this point it was around 1pm and we were all starting to feel hungry, so we decided it was time to head home for some lunch. Mum came to pick us up and, once we got home, we had something to eat before spending the afternoon relaxing together on the sofa watching Monsters, Inc. followed by Monsters University on Disney+, which was the perfect way to wind down after such a busy morning. Overall, we all had a fantastic time at Wild Things. There was so much more to experience than just the exhibition itself and it really felt like a full family day out with plenty to keep children of different ages entertained. We'll definitely be back for another visit during the summer holidays. ☕ Sunday – Making Leo's Teacher Gifts Sunday turned into a full day of crafting as Leo and I worked together to make some personalised teacher gifts ready for the end of term. Leo had the lovely idea of making each of his teachers their own personalised mug, so he started by drawing lots of pictures before carefully writing each teacher's name. Once he'd finished, I scanned all of his drawings into the computer and separated each character into its own individual image so I could arrange them into a mug design. After showing Leo a few different layouts and making a couple of little changes together, we were both happy with the final design. I printed everything onto sublimation paper before carefully cutting each design out and taping them tightly around the mugs. Each mug was then placed into a shrink wrap sleeve before I used my heat gun to shrink the plastic tightly around it. This creates the pressure needed for the sublimation process to work properly. The mugs then went into my dedicated crafting air fryer, which is only ever used for sublimation projects. Once an air fryer has been used for sublimation, it can't be used for cooking food, so I always keep this one just for crafting. After eight minutes at 200°C, it was time for the moment of truth. Thankfully they all came out perfectly. Using the same drawings, I also created matching personalised pens for each teacher. These were sublimated using the same process, although they only needed five minutes at 190°C. The whole project took us most of the day, but it was lovely working on something together and seeing Leo so excited to give his teachers something he'd helped to create himself. Hopefully they'll love them just as much as we do. 💭 Final Thoughts Looking back, this week was full of moments that made us smile. From attending Leo's leaving assembly and watching Alice perform so confidently at her ukulele concert, to family games after school, creative crafting projects at home and a brilliant morning exploring Wild Things at The Lowry, it was one of those weeks that reminded me how much joy can be found in spending time together. I'm also really pleased to have finished editing all three of our London vlogs and finally got my Cutting Stacker set up, so I'm looking forward to getting started on some new stationery projects very soon. With the summer holidays now just around the corner, I'm excited to see what adventures next week brings. 🎥 Watch This Week's Family Weekly Vlog You can watch everything we got up to in this week's Family Weekly Update over on my YouTube channel. This week's vlog includes our trip to the Trafford Centre, setting up my Cutting Stacker, our visit to Wild Things at The Lowry and making Leo's personalised teacher gifts. I hope you enjoy watching it!

Family Weekly Update This week felt like one of those weeks where there was a little bit of everything — missing teeth, visits from the Tooth Fairy, theatre trips, school fairs and plenty of time spent working away on blog posts and videos behind the scenes. There were also two press nights this week, with trips to see Thespians at HOME Manchester and Fun Home at the Royal Exchange Theatre, while the weekend was all about family time, donuts and Leo's school fair. 🦷 Monday - A Visit From The Tooth Fairy Monday morning started with a little bit of drama before school when Alice discovered that one of her teeth had fallen out — but nobody could find it anywhere. She was convinced she had lost it while sitting on the sofa, so after dropping the children off at school I had a proper hunt for it and eventually found it wedged down the side of the cushions exactly where she thought it would be. Thankfully disaster was avoided and the Tooth Fairy would still be able to visit later that evening. A little later that morning, Lawrence and I headed into school for Alice's EHCP update meeting. After the meeting I came home and spent the rest of the day doing what has become my usual Monday routine — editing the weekly vlog and writing last week's Family Weekly Update blog post. For dinner we decided to treat the children and order Domino's as they had one of their Monday offers running on the app. We ordered two large pizzas — a Meatfielder with a thin and crispy base which is my favourite and also Alice and Leo's favourite because of the meatballs, and a Mighty Meaty which is always Lawrence's first choice. There was plenty left over, which turned out to be useful later in the week. Before bed, Alice carefully placed her tooth under her pillow ready for the Tooth Fairy's visit overnight. 🧚 Tuesday - Spending Tooth Fairy Money Tuesday morning started with an excited Alice discovering a shiny £1 coin waiting under her pillow from the Tooth Fairy. After dropping the children off at school, I spent the day writing up my High School Musical press launch feature from the previous week and catching up on a few bits of housework around the house. Once Alice got home from school, we headed to the local shops so she could spend her Tooth Fairy money. She still had another pound left over from the last tooth she had lost, so she had a grand total of £2 to spend. Originally, she had her heart set on buying an axolotl plush toy, but unfortunately they had sold out. After much deliberation, she eventually decided on a Minecraft Ender Dragon plush instead. The only slight problem was that the toy cost £10, which was rather more than the £2 she had in Tooth Fairy money. In the end, I paid the remaining £8 on my card and Alice happily used her Tooth Fairy money towards it. She was absolutely delighted with her new Ender Dragon and spent the rest of the evening showing it to everyone and deciding where it should live in her bedroom. It was another incredibly warm day and by the evening I couldn't face cooking, so I happily finished off the leftover Domino's pizza from the night before. 🎭 Wednesday - Thespians at HOME Manchester Wednesday morning was spent writing my blog post about our trip to see The Gruffalo at The Lowry the previous week before heading into Manchester in the evening with my dad for the press night of Thespians at HOME Manchester. This was a show I had been looking forward to for quite a while. I had previously seen Peter Pan Goes Wrong, but this was my dad's first experience of a Mischief Theatre production and I was interested to see what he would make of their first full musical. After collecting our tickets we stopped for photos on the red carpet before heading upstairs for the pre-show drinks reception. My dad enjoyed a lager while I stuck to apple juice, and we spent some time looking through the cast information sheet and chatting while more guests arrived. The reception itself felt really special, with white and gold balloons, photo opportunities and cast members mingling with guests before the performance began. The show itself was exactly the sort of theatrical chaos you would expect from Mischief Theatre, with plenty of laughs throughout the evening. More than anything though, it was just lovely sharing another theatre trip with my dad. 👉 You can read more about my Thespians visit and shorter review HERE 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review HERE. 🎶 Thursday - Fun Home at the Royal Exchange Thursday was largely spent writing up my review for Thespians before it was time to head back into Manchester for another press night, this time for Fun Home at the Royal Exchange Theatre with Lawrence. We arrived with plenty of time before the performance started, collected our tickets and picked up a programme before spending some time exploring the building. One of the things I love most about visiting the Royal Exchange is that every production seems to spill out beyond the auditorium itself, with props and pieces of the set often displayed around the theatre building for audiences to discover before taking their seats. The production itself was beautiful, emotional and incredibly moving. Unlike the big spectacle musicals I often review, Fun Home felt much smaller and more intimate, which suited the Royal Exchange's in-the-round staging perfectly. There were moments where the audience were laughing together and others where the entire theatre felt completely silent. After the performance, guests were invited to stay behind for food and drinks with the cast and creatives. Mini burgers and sweet potato fries were served in the Great Hall while everyone chatted about the production. Lawrence and I stayed for a while before reluctantly heading home to relieve my parents who had been looking after the children for us. 👉 You can read more about my Fun Home visit and shorter review HERE 👉 Read my full All About Theatre review HERE. 🎬 Friday - Reviews, Reels & Family Games Friday was another work-from-home day spent writing my Fun Home review and editing the reel from Thespians. By the time the children got home from school, I was more than ready for a break from the computer. We ended up spending the evening playing several games of Uno together followed by a few rounds of matching pairs before it was time for bed. Sometimes those quieter evenings at home end up being some of my favourites. 🍩 Saturday - Krispy Kreme Treats On Saturday morning my dad kindly drove the children and me over to the Krispy Kreme shop in Trafford Park because we had a 12 donuts for £12 voucher that expired that day. After what felt like a very important family discussion about which flavours to choose, we finally settled on our dozen donuts before making a quick stop in ASDA so I could buy Alice some onion ring crisps, which are one of her favourite snacks. Once we got home, I made the children some lunch and afterwards they enjoyed choosing a donut each as their treat. While the children played upstairs, I spent the afternoon editing my Fun Home reel and writing up my blog post about my theatre trip to see Thespians with my dad, which ended up taking up most of the rest of the day. 🎪 Sunday - Leo's School Fair Sunday was all about Leo's school fair, which he had been looking forward to for weeks. My parents and my brother came along too and we arrived shortly after midday ready for the fun to begin. The first thing the children wanted to do was head straight for the bouncy castles. Wristbands cost £3 each for unlimited use throughout the day and my brother very kindly paid for both of them. After that they tried hook-a-duck, picked out cuddly toys from the toy stall and had a go on the tombola where they both managed to win prizes. Alice was particularly pleased with her rainbow dinosaur pop-it while Leo was excited about his bubble wand. One of their favourite stalls was the mystery book stall where all the books were wrapped up so you had no idea what you were choosing until you opened them. Inside the school they also made little teddy cars using mini Mars bars and Smarties before choosing cakes from the cake stall. Unfortunately both children picked cakes they didn't actually like, which meant buying a second round of cakes that they would actually eat! Sometimes parenting really is trial and error. Unfortunately Leo started feeling unwell during the afternoon, so Lawrence took him home while the rest of us stayed a little longer. I treated Alice to a hot dog, some face glitter, and a temporary tattoo and her nana treated her to a rather spectacular mermaid ice cream complete with sprinkles and a flying saucer on top. By the time we eventually got home, Leo was already feeling much better and happily eating a cheese toastie for lunch. 💜 Final Thoughts Looking back, this week felt like a lovely mix of family life and theatre life. From helping the Tooth Fairy find Alice's missing tooth and taking her shopping to spend her pound, to press nights in Manchester and Leo finally getting to enjoy the school fair he had been looking forward to for so long, there were lots of little moments that made the week feel special. Theatre-wise, both Thespians and Fun Home offered completely different experiences but I really enjoyed both of them, while spending time with my dad at HOME and with Lawrence at the Royal Exchange made those evenings feel even more memorable. And honestly, I think any week that includes theatre trips, donuts and a mermaid ice cream is probably a pretty good week. 🎥 Watch Our Weekly Vlog If you'd like to see everything we got up to this week, including our trips to see Thespians and Fun Home, our Krispy Kreme donut run and all the fun of Leo's school fair, You can watch the full vlog below and come along with us for another week of family adventures. .

The Gruffalo Returns to The Lowry for Another Family Adventure ✨ With Alice and Leo off school for an inset day on Friday, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a family theatre trip. We were kindly invited to see the 4.30pm performance of The Gruffalo at The Lowry, and after loving the production when we first saw it here four years ago, we couldn't wait to return. There was just one slight difference this time! Lawrence had forgotten to book the day off work and my parents were away on holiday, so for the first time in years I was taking Alice and Leo on a theatre trip completely by myself. I've taken them out individually lots of times, but not the two of them together since they were little enough to fit in a double pram! Thankfully, everything went brilliantly. We left the house at around 3pm to begin our journey to Salford Quays. Getting to The Lowry means catching two trams, but the children always enjoy travelling by tram, so it's all part of the adventure. We arrived at MediaCity at around 3.45pm and, with a little time before heading into the theatre, made a quick stop at the Cadbury Outlet in The Lowry Outlet Mall. The children each chose a bag of Mini Eggs, which were on offer at two bags for £3, while I treated myself to a pick 'n' mix of my favourite Roses chocolates — the strawberry and orange creams! I don't think I can ever walk past a pick 'n' mix without filling a bag. With our chocolate safely packed away, we headed into The Lowry at around 3.50pm and made our way around to the Quays Theatre, ready for our woodland adventure. 🛍️ Merchandise & Pre-Show Fun As we walked towards the Quays Theatre, Alice and Leo were each handed a free fold-out programme which doubled up as a colourful Gruffalo poster — a lovely little keepsake before the show had even begun. At the press desk the children were each given a Gruffalo activity book, a carton of juice and a little activity pack containing colouring sheets and crayons, which was such a thoughtful touch and kept them happily entertained while we waited for the auditorium to open. While Alice and Leo worked through their activity sheets and enjoyed their juice, I took the opportunity to have a quick look at the merchandise stand. Merchandise available included: 📖 The Gruffalo Story Book – £7.50 🎨 The Gruffalo Activity Book – £5 🧸 The Gruffalo Toy – £10 🎭 The Gruffalo Pop-out Playset – £10 As the children had already been given activity books, we decided not to buy anything this time, but it was nice to see a few affordable souvenirs available for younger fans. The atmosphere before the performance was lovely, with excited children proudly carrying their Gruffalo books and cuddly toys while chatting about their favourite characters. It really felt like everyone was looking forward to stepping into the deep, dark wood. 🎭 Our Seats & View At around 4.15pm the auditorium opened and we headed inside to find our seats. We were sitting in the stalls, Row G, seats 13–16, with seat 16 being the aisle seat. These turned out to be fantastic seats for a family show. We had a brilliant, clear view of the stage and felt close enough to really appreciate all the action without being too near for younger children who might find some moments a little overwhelming. Leo initially insisted he didn't need a booster seat, but as soon as someone sat down in front of him he quickly changed his mind! Thankfully, booster seats are conveniently stored just inside the stalls entrance, so it only took a moment to grab one before the performance began. Once he was sitting a little higher, he had a perfect view for the rest of the show. As the audience began to fill up, there was a lovely buzz around the theatre. Everywhere you looked there were children clutching copies of The Gruffalo, cuddly Mouse and Gruffalo toys, and eagerly chatting about their favourite characters. It was clear there were lots of excited little theatre-goers ready for their journey into the deep, dark wood. 🐭 The Show Running for approximately 55 minutes with no interval, The Gruffalo is perfectly paced for younger audiences and makes a brilliant introduction to live theatre. Based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's much-loved picture book, the story follows a clever little Mouse as he wanders through the deep, dark wood in search of hazelnuts. Along the way he encounters a hungry Fox, Owl and Snake, each hoping Mouse might become their next meal. Thinking quickly, Mouse invents a terrifying creature called the Gruffalo in an attempt to scare them away... only to discover that the mysterious beast might not be quite as imaginary as he first thought. Although we'd seen the production before, Alice and Leo were completely captivated all over again. Alice couldn't stop laughing at Owl's rather clumsy attempts at flying, while Leo spent the whole show cheering Mouse on as he cleverly outsmarted each of the woodland animals. One of their favourite moments came during Snake's lively disco number, with its catchy song and colourful lighting effects. Before long they were both up dancing along with lots of the other children around the auditorium. Later in the show they loved joining everyone else in roaring as loudly as they could to help Mouse scare away Fox, Owl and Snake. It was lovely seeing so many children confidently joining in and becoming part of the adventure. The arrival of the Gruffalo himself was another huge highlight. He looked exactly as children imagine from the book and, although certainly impressive, never felt too frightening for the younger audience members. Towards the end of the show he also made his way into the auditorium, which created lots of excitement among the children as they watched him getting closer. By the time the cast took their final bows at around 5.35pm, both Alice and Leo had huge smiles on their faces. It was every bit as fun, funny and engaging as we remembered, and seeing the children enjoy it just as much four years later made the afternoon feel even more special. 🥤 After the Show After the performance, we made our way back to the main foyer. I'd been given a drinks voucher as part of our visit, but the Quays Bar was closed, so I exchanged it for a refreshing glass of lemonade from the main bar instead. While I enjoyed my drink, Alice and Leo made a beeline for the little wooden play kitchen they have in the bar. It's something they've spotted on previous visits to The Lowry and they always seem to enjoy spending a few minutes playing there before we head home. It was a lovely way for them to wind down after all the excitement of the show. I'd originally been hoping to grab something to eat before setting off home, but I discovered the kitchen had stopped serving food at 4pm because there wasn't an evening performance that day. It's something worth bearing in mind if you're planning an afternoon visit and fancy eating at The Lowry afterwards. After a little while, we made our way back to the tram stop and caught our tram home at around 6.30pm, arriving back home just after 7.15pm after a really lovely afternoon together. ✨ Final Thoughts Looking back, I'm so glad the three of us had this little adventure together. I was slightly nervous beforehand about taking Alice and Leo into Manchester on my own, simply because it had been such a long time since I'd taken both of them out together without another adult. In the end, though, I needn't have worried. We had a fantastic afternoon from start to finish. From the thoughtful pre-show activities and family-friendly atmosphere to the brilliant performance itself, everything about our visit felt relaxed, welcoming and well organised. Four years after our first visit, The Gruffalo is still every bit as magical. Alice and Leo loved revisiting the story, and it was wonderful watching them laugh, dance and roar their way through the adventure all over again. Sometimes the simplest days out really are the best. 🌲 More Information About The Gruffalo Although The Gruffalo has now finished its run at The Lowry, the good news is that Tall Stories' much-loved production is touring theatres across the UK throughout 2026, giving plenty more families the chance to enjoy this magical stage adaptation. If you're thinking of booking tickets, I'd highly recommend it for anyone with young children. Running for around 55 minutes with no interval, it's a fantastic introduction to live theatre and a brilliant family day out. If you'd like to read my more detailed theatre review, you can also head over to our sister site, All About Theatre, where I've shared my full five-star review of the production. 🎥 Watch Our Visit in Weekly Vlog #458 If you'd like to come along with us on our family trip to see The Gruffalo at The Lowry, you can watch our visit in Weekly Vlog #458 below. Our trip to see The Gruffalo begins at 18:51 in the vlog, although the video also includes some other family moments from our week. 🎭 At A Glance 📍 Venue: The Lowry – Quays Theatre, Salford ⌛ Running Time: Approximately 55 minutes (No Interval) 👶 Recommended Age: 3+ 🪑 Booster Seats: Available inside the auditorium for younger children who need a better view. 🛍️ Merchandise: Available from £5–£10, including books, activity books, toys and a pop-out playset. 🎁 Family-Friendly Extras: At our performance, children received a free fold-out poster programme 🚋 Getting There: The Lowry is easy to reach by tram, bus or car. The nearest Metrolink stop is MediaCityUK. 🎟️ Tickets: For current performances and ticket availability, visit the Lowry website. 🌍 UK Tour: The Gruffalo is touring theatres across the UK throughout 2026. For the latest tour dates and venues, visit the official Tall Stories website. 🐭 Best For: Families with young children, Julia Donaldson fans and anyone looking for a fun first theatre experience