Portable North Pole Magic Pass

Christmas is my favourite time of year and now that the boys are getting older the magic of Christmas is really coming alive!

Ever since James first Christmas back in 2012 we have done the videos from Santa on the Portable North Pole (PNP) Website for him and then once Freddie came along we started doing them for him as well.

When Portable North Pole asked if we would like to try out their Magic Pass for creating calls and videos for the boys we were thrilled!

The first screen you see when you open up the app is a screen saying Portable North Pole in four different languages with a picture of santa. What I like is that it is the same Santa on the picture that is in the videos you can create!

When the app opens it opens straight into a kids area where there is messages from Santa, a talking elf, an advent calendar and an elfie where you can turn yourself into an elf! The boys absolutely loved turning themselves and mummy into an elf!

One of the options was to created a birthday message. For us having a November baby in Freddie we thought this would be brilliant. Especially as he is now turning 3 and he is starting to get into the magic of Santa.We played the birthday message for Freddie on his birthday and he absolutely loved it! I think it helped that we had actually been to see Santa the day before his birthday!

Mummy has been having lots of fun creating messages for James and Freddie to watch over the next few weeks including a special one for Christmas Eve.

The first call we tried was the behavior saying the boys were almost good. Freddie got very excited and was shouting Santa! Santa!

The best thing that mummy has found is that to get into the parent area you need to have a pin code. This is a life saver as it means the boys can play on the kids area as much as they want but they can't get into the creating area so they can't see the videos and calls that mummy and daddy have got set up ready to go on Christmas eve!

The Magic Pass costs £10.99 and is valid for a full year and the Lifetime Magic Pass is £19.99 and is valid for ten years!


We are definitely going to keep on using the pass over the next year that it is valid and I have a feeling we will be investing in the ten year pass once this one expires!

**We were gifted the one year Magic Pass in exchange for this review. All words and photos are my own**

Meeting Santa at Wyevale Garden Centre

Now that Christmas is almost upon us and what better way to celebrate than taking the boys to see Santa.

When the email arrived in our inbox inviting us to meet Santa at our local Wyevale Garden Centre at Gosforth Park we were so excited!

This year Santa arrived at the centre on 17th November so we decided to visit on 24th November, the day before our little Freddie Bear turned three!

We were booked in to see Santa at 2pm and all morning before we left all we heard from James was how many minutes till we go to see Santa?

To get to the garden centre from our house it took two short bus rides. First one into Newcastle city centre and then the second out to the garden centre.

After taking a wrong turn getting off the bus and then getting lost in the actual garden centre we made it to the grotto. If fact we actually walked past it at first thinking it was part of the Christmas display! If it hadn't been for Santa's elf coming out of the hut I think we would have probably walked past it again!

 Santa's Elf came out and took the boys names and write them both a name sticker, then she went into see if Santa was ready to see the boys which he was! While she went into check with Santa, Daddy and the boys sat down on a bench.

When we got into the cabin James was full of chat about what he wanted for Christmas, Freddie however only went as far as the door before saying No and standing outside! This was a big improvement on last year when we went to see a free Santa in a shopping centre, with James refused to go in at the last minute and then Freddie burst into tears the second he got near Santa! 

Santa was really good with both boys asking James for a high five which he gladly did a couple of times. James told Santa exactly what he would like for Christmas ie an action camera and a crate creature! He even told Santa what Freddie would like aka a Ninky Nonk and a kids camera so he would stop stealing mummys camera!

Both boys then got a lovely Christmas related stuffed toy each, James chose a reindeer for Freddie and a snowman for himself! Then they both got certificates for being good! 

After getting a photo of Santa and his Elf we said goodbye. We then went and looked at all the Christmas decorations in the rest of the garden centre before we made our way back for the bus into town! This time we didn't get lost and made it back in good time.

We had a lovely time meeting Santa and would definitely recommend the Wyevale Garden Centre experiences!! The Grotto experience is £6 per child and can be booked up to 24 hours in advance online!!

**We were gifted the tickets for the boys in exchange for this review! All words and pictures are our own!**

Santa's Odd List!

So it's the time of year when parents everywhere are taking their children to see Santa. 

This got me thinking about Christmases past and visits we have made to see Santa and the odd things my darling oldest son has asked for! Christmas 2014 when James was just over two, we took him to see Santa in a local shopping centre and he asked for milk and yoghurt! Then last year 2015 when he was just over three and Freddie was newborn, James asked for a white fire engine!

I decided to ask some of my fellow bloggers if their children had ever asked for anything odd or if I was the only one to have a crazy child! 

Amy from www.thesmallestofthings.com said Scarlett asked for chocolate because I wouldn't let her have any. So she said she'll put it on her kissmass list!

Jade from  www.lateforreality.co.uk said Ted's list has some odd things on. Marshmallows are one and 'so many books' is another. Today he asked for Sausage and Mash from Santa!

Kate from www.countingtoten.co.uk said M has just written her letter to Santa and all it has on it is a slap band. So her stocking can contain just one of those right? I can provide a pic?

Amy from www.2boys1mum.com said My eldest wants a real bell from Santa's sleigh so he knows that Santa is real. (He likes the book Polar Express!) 

Kate from http://myfamilyfever.co.uk said Max (3) has asked for spaghetti, a yellow pencil and a real Stegosaurus. 

Lucy from Http://mrshsfavouritethings.com said Last year Little Miss H asked for a block of cheese. We asked her if she wanted any special cheese. And she said no, just cheese. "I like cheese". We bought her a scooter instead. Bad mummy!!! 

Sarah from http://www.runjumpscrap.com said hmm possibly odd for a 3 year old...a chocolate fountain... what??  She knows she is not getting it as Mummy told Santa!

So it's not just me that's child asks for odd things! So relieved this year he actually asked for a game!