Dippy the Diplodocus at Great North Museum

Dippy the Diplodocus has gone on tour! Having been a focal feature at the National History Museum in London for many years he is now on the road visiting museums all over the United Kingdom, he's already visited Dorset County Museum, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Ulster Museum and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow and he has recently taken up residence at Great North Museum in Newcastle!

When we first heard Dippy was going to be visiting Newcastle we got really excited as we had never managed to get to see him at his home of the National History Museum before and with two boys who are crazy about dinosaur's we knew we had to visit!

Great North Museum knew that Dippy coming would be a huge attraction for the museum, so for safety they decided to issue free tickets for time slots to prevent over crowding. Tickets were released at the end of January and we booked ours the day they were released! We managed to get tickets for the weekend after he arrived!!

In the days leading up to our visit, James was very excited! He was asking us some really funny questions such as "How did Dippy actually die?" and "Is Dippy a boy dinosaur or a girl dinosaur?"

Our time slot was booked for 1045, so we had to be up pretty early to get the bus into town to meet Nana and Gaga before walking up to the Museum. We actually ended up leaving for town much earlier than planned as both boys were up by six am and very excited!

When we got to the museum, the first place we went was to see the T-Rex, James always wants to go to see the T-Rex as soon as we get into the museum. Then it was off upstairs to have a quick look around before we went into see Dippy.

When we first walked into the room, it was amazing! Dippy was so much bigger than I thought he was going to be. James was totally entranced and couldn't believe how big Dippy was!! Mummy got very snap happy with the camera as you can see below!

Dippy is on show till Sunday 6th October 2019 and there are still many tickets available for the summer holidays! We already have our second set booked for the start of August and that was even before we had our first visit! 

After Dippy leaves Newcastle in October he will visit: National Museum Cardiff, 19 October 2019 - 26 January 2020, Number One Riverside, Rochdale, 10 February - 28 June 2020 and Norwich Cathedral, 11 July - 31 October 2020

**We were not asked to write this post, We just decided to document Dippy so the boys would always have the memories and photos**

Customized Canvas with CanvasChamp

Since photography all became digital over the last decade, I have very rarely printed out any photographs of the boys, So the only ones I really have on my wall are ones that were taken at James school last year. So when CanvasChamp got in touch and asked if we would like to review one of their 12x8 canvas prints we jumped at the chance.

We have a few canvas prints at home, but these have all been gifts from family. We have never actually sat down and ordered a canvas print ourselves.

The process of ordering was so easy, it literally only took me ten minutes to do the order. I chose to use a photograph I had taken a few weeks ago when we went from a walk into Newcastle from where we live on outskirts of the city. We were walking along the path on the Town Moor and Freddie was running chasing James. Even though it is from the back, you can tell just how much Freddie idolizes his big brother! I chose to use this picture as it was a beautiful photo of my boys as you can see below.

I ordered this on Saturday 28th July at 8pm and we received it at half past four on 3rd August 2018. I was so impressed with the speed of the delivery from the actual order going through to receiving the finished canvas!

The canvas is absolutely gorgeous! I love the size and the quality of the finished product! Now all I have to do is actually find somewhere in our house to hang it for everyone to see!

**Disclaimer: We received this canvas print free of charge in exchange for this review. All words and pictures are our own!**

Train Travel with Kids!

We are soon taking the first of our two big trips! We are traveling from Newcastle to London, then across London on the underground and then onto another train out to Walton on Thames where Andy's parents live.

Now that James is five we have a family railcard so we get 60% off James ticket and a third off mine and Andy's. Last time we travelled that distance James was only 4 so he didn't get a seat and it meant four of us squashed into two seats till the train quietened down and myself and Freddie could move into empty unbooked seats.

This time I want to be prepared and not just rely on the tablet to keep both boys occupied. For the last few weeks when ever I have been out I have been looking in Poundland, Tesco and Tiger for little toys and games to keep the boys amused.

First off I picked up these little blox sets for James at Tesco. I think these were £1 each. We have a digger and a police car. He will have one in his bag for going down and I will have the other in the suitcase for on the way home.

I also picked up a couple of match box cars at Tesco for 90p each. James has loads of these at home and both boys play with them so these will keep them both amused on the train and also at their grandparents house.

Next up I picked a bag of plastic animals. These are mainly for Freddie but I think James will end up playing with them as well.

I picked up a set of eight toy cars at poundland and split them between the boys so there would be no arguing over the cars like normal!

The last thing that I packed was some sticker books! I grabbed these from Aldi in the Baby and Toddler event for 99p each. We have one on colours and one on shapes, then we have one on diggers and one on trucks and cars. I have put two of these into the bag for on the train and the other two are in the case for on the way back! No doubt the boys will both get some new toys when we are away as James has been asking to go to the Lego store!

Fingers crossed that these keep the boys amused on the trains!

The Simply Small Co Bloggers Preview

 

 My favourite place to visit in Newcastle upon Tyne has to be the Grainger Market. Full of independent traders, butchers and green grocers. It's a place I have grown up visiting, so when we were invited to the preview of the new The Simply Small Co shop, we jumped at it!

The Simply Small Co was set up by mum of two Natalie Sullivan, originally as an online business in 2016. Natalie continued to work and run the online business as well as doing pop up shops.The  focus of The Simply Small Co is on letting children be children, and the Motto is Let them Be Little!

I absolutely love shopping for my two boys so taking Freddie to visit The Simply Small Co as few days before they opened to the public was brilliant! The shop looks absolutely brilliant! And I may have made a little purchase at the blogger preview of a Blade and Rose winter hat and gloves set for Freddie! The numbered top for children's birthdays that are stocked definitely caught my eye as we have a second birthday coming up in a couple of months for Freddie! Everything that is stocked is hand picked for the shop by Natalie. 

 

The first thing that caught my eye was actually a lovely dress with a mouse face on! Now I only have boys but I do have friends with little girls so I will be showing them it!! 

The winter hat and gloves set I bought for Freddie are absolutely gorgeous! Made by Blade and Rose. They are so cosy and I cannot wait for the weather to get that little bit colder so Freddie can start wearing them on the school run! The Shop caters from Newborn to age 6 and seeing as I also have James who has just turned 5, I can see myself getting the boys matching tops for Christmas or days out!  I can definitely see myself taking Andy to visit and also my parents in the run up to Christmas! In fact I have already been browsing the website! The fact you can buy personalised items is a big plus for me as I love buying personalised things for my boys! I have already seen a few things on the website that I know James will love!

Freddie starts playgroup in January, so a personalised bag for playgroup to keep all his things in could definitely be on my shopping list! I'm so looking forward to visiting again and hopefully start some Christmas shopping and birthday shopping!

Situated in Aisle Two of the historic Grainer Market the shop is easy to find as it is right next door to the market offices and weigh house! Check out the Website at https://www.thesimplysmallco.com

Pikku Hair Review

A couple of weeks ago a lovely email dropped into my inbox inviting James to come and get his hair cut at Pikku in Gosforth. We thought brilliant he needs his hair cut before he goes back to nursery after half term. I'm really ashamed to say he had his hair cut last July then we kind of didn't get round to getting it cut again till the new year oops bad mummy alert! 

Pikku is located on Gosforth high street, a short walk from regent centre metro & bus interchange, there is also parking at the near by shopping complex.

 The salon is located upstairs above the children's clothing boutique. As I had Freddie with me as well, I was able to leave the pram base downstairs and take him upstairs in his car seat where he slept the whole time we were there.

The salon is decorated in bright colours and is so welcoming to families. To keep the little ones amused while getting their hair cut they sit in brilliant chairs in the shape of convertible cars and watch cartoons on a tablet. Today James chose a pink car & to watch Peppa Pig. He could also see out the window onto Gosforth high street, so he could see all the buses and lorries going past. They also have salon chairs available for older children.

The stylist cutting his hair was called Laura and she was brilliant. She listened to how I wanted his hair cut and checked if it was ok. 

James was brilliant, he was so well behaved I was shocked! He is normally a proper wriggle bum as he has only had a proper hair cut twice, but he did sit so still and also did as he was told, even when Laura had to cut around his ears he stayed so still and for James that is a challenge as he does not like anyone going near his ears! 

I don't know if it was the watching of Peppa Pig that did it or the promise of a surprise egg after! After the cut was finished Laura put some wax in his hair which he loved and he also got a balloon which he took great pleasure in waving in my face the whole way home on the buggy board! 

On a whole we had a fantastic time and will definitely return with James and also Freddie when it comes to getting his haircut for the first time! 

Haircuts are priced at £12.50 for 1-5 year olds and £14.50 for over 5s. A full price list can be found at: www.pikku.co.uk/pikku-hair/price-list you can also book your haircuts online or phone on 0191 447 1300 

You can also shop the clothing collections online too at www.pikku.co.uk as all parents know how difficult it is to browse clothes with your children there! 

**Disclaimer: we got this haircut free of charge in exchange for this review, however all words and photographs are my own**