Legoland Discovery Centre - Manchester

Yesterday Child #3 and I went on a day out on our own to Legoland. I didn't realise this place existed quite so close to home (Manchester is just under an hours drive away from us) - I thought there was only the Windsor one!. It was pitched at 3-10 year olds so I figured that the girls wouldn't really want to go and it gave me and my boy some quality time together (especially in the queues - both in Legoland and on the motorway!). We had an ace time and although bits were a bit young for him I think he enjoyed most of it.

This was him outside in the lego car...

Inside the lego lion...

You get a quick talk on how Lego is made and then you pop out from that into the model village which was my favourite part (I went around it a few times while he was on other things). They are all replicas of real places in the UK. There are working bits and sections that light up etc by pressing buttons - which you never have to do yourself as there are always little people around that can't resist pressing them for you!

There is another section for building cars with loads of different ramps for racing them on...

Sight modifications needed apparently...

There is also the vibrating tower table....you build as big as you can, press a button and see if it will stay upright when you vibrate the table...ours did but it wasn't too high to be fair.

There were other bits I didn't take pictures of. There was a pretty good 4D cinema too which he enjoyed immensely!

All in all, a good day out but I wish I had taken him about 2 or 3 years ago too...I reckon 5 or 6 is the perfect age.

Slummy Mummy - Fiona Neill

This is the third book I've read for the reading challenge. This one is the Romantic Comedy and is another that has been sat on the shelf for years (not quite as long as googlewhack though!) I think this one's been ignored because I used to read books like this all the time and then I made a conscious effort to not read 'Chick Lit', this one was obviously purchased around that time. Well there is no danger of me slipping back to old ways here. This took me 3 weeks to read (I usually read books in a week at most). It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it when I was reading it but I couldn't ever describe it as 'un-put-down-able'.

Its about the usual...women, friendship, love, affairs, marriage, attraction, kids, and sex. It was quite amusing in places. It seems to get compared to Bridget Jones quite a bit and I can see why. It did make me laugh out loud on occasion too. It was predictable, easy to read, and a nice story. Everything you would expect from a romantic comedy. If they made a film I might watch it whilst multi-tasking.

The best thing about this book was finishing it on the day that Amazon delivered 'Harvest' by Tess Gerritsen, the Medical Thriller selection for the challenge, which I cannot stop reading. Expect a review of that one quite soon!

The Front Room

Whilst I often plan what to do next at Vivod, in my head, my impulsiveness usually wins and the plans change. Having spent some time on my lovely new sofa that I bought for the front room, in late December, the state of the room began to annoy me. That's despite it being about the only decent space in Vivod on the day I bought the place, pictured below.

All I had done since that day was paint the bottom half of the room red and slowly filled it with more and more furniture. Feeling all inspired now that I had found the perfect sofa I decided that I should just go with the flow and attack the front room.

Now I knew that there were some damp issues so that was no surprise, and easily resolved, however, I had also been eyeing up that fireplace since moving in. I hated the tiles and I hated the hearth. I'd spent the day considering this and bouncing around the idea of looking underneath it all (not really feeling brave enough at the time). At this stage I was all for just stripping wall paper, checking for damp (and hoping not to find any, a quick skim and paint job).

Later that evening...

Even later that evening...

Enough said. 

Suffice to say that the damp did need doing (kit currently sat in the front room waiting for attention). Lots of plaster did need removing. That much loved window seat had to be removed (I have far better plans for that anyway), and now the front room looks something like this....

And my hall looks the this...

Luckily the nest are used to this state of living now and it doesn't seem to phase them in any way.

It is looking up though. Friday will be the day that the damp course is done. (I may also be digging up the front drainage pipe that day as we believe that's the cause of the excessive damp in the corner to the right of the chimney breast.) Friday is also the day that my new (well not new...reclaimed but much nicer than the one that was there) is being delivered and I can't wait. Obviously I am broke but as long as I keep the project moving then I am happy. Who needs to eat anyway?

February so far...

Hello! January and February have been busy months at work but I'm so pleased that its now half term and I have the whole week off to do what I like. In between work we have had some playtime at Vivod too though. 

At the end of January I went on a spending spree at Ikea - thankfully it takes over 30 minutes to get there otherwise I think I'd be broke. I went specifically to buy this desk lamp for my office...its just lovely and everyone that sees it loves it too...

Well, the lamp was one of many purchases that day...here are a few more...

I still love these weeks later

Every new sofa deserves a new lamp right?

There were many more purchases but I won't bore you too much.

I've done lots of the Emily Peacock kit (in fact I'm now over half way with this one...its a bit addictive)...

This is a bit of an exciting addition this month...

Can't remember if this is as old as me or maybe older but its ACE!

And now I get to rummage in random shops and record fairs for more like this.

February's day out was chosen by Child #1...Pottery painting!

Child #1 did the little things, and Child #2 did the mug for her dad's 40th birthday present.

I did this one (such as child at heart)

Child #3's

More recently Child #1 and 3 have been busy making birthday cakes for their dad. (I helped with the baking and icing making but I had nothing to do with the decoration.)

I've also spent quite a bit of time in the front room of Vivod. That sofa has a LOT to answer for. I shall show you in the next post!

Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure

Ok, so this is the second book I am reading for the Eclectic Reading Challenge 2014. One of the categories is a 'Travel (Non Fiction)' book. For several years I have had this book sat on the shelf and, to be honest, I think it would have sat there for years to come if it wasn't for this challenge. I bought it after watching Dave Gorman being interviewed on Morning TV when the book was published...around the beginning of 2004, so nearly ten years.

The book is based on Dave Gorman agreeing to a somewhat bizarre challenge of meeting 'Googlewhacks'. For those not in the know a Googlewhack is:

You enter 2 unrelated words into Google (which then finds every page on the www that contains those 2 words) and only one result is returned. The words must both be in dictionary.com and you must not enter them with speech marks around them both as this is cheating. 

Dave is informed by a stranger that he is a Googlewhack. He then asks what this is and, once he learns he then proceeds to find some of his own. A long story short...he ends up contacting one of the ones he finds, who then finds one that leads to somebody he already knows, he visits them and they set the challenge. He travels far and wide to meet more. (There is a bit more to it but that's the concept.)

Now, in a lot of ways I am glad that I read this ten years later. This book is not only a travel book now but is also well on it's way to being a history book. You see this was written in 2003. Personally, I was at college and then university then. I had the internet at home but it was dial up connection. We had the internet at college but it wasn't used anywhere near as much as is now for education. The internet was FAR smaller then than now too. It is virtually impossible to find a 'Googlewhack'...try it! I did, and virtually every combination of words I typed in brought back thousands of results upon results.

At one point in the book Dave explains (in a way that implies it would be normal not to know about this already) the concepts of Ebay and Wifi connections. He also includes a conversation where someone he met claims that due to their modem at work not working that afternoon, they were far less distracted and got loads of work done. If ever the internet isn't working when I'm at work I struggle to be able to do my job now! How the world changes.

As far as being a Travel book goes, well, the guy only spends enough time in each place to meet his Googlewhack and then has to move onto the next location as quickly as possible so I wouldn't recommend it if you want to learn much about the places he goes to. It is a comical and light hearted read though and I really liked it.

Blue Planet Aquarium

At the end of December Child #1 suggested that we should go on more family days out in 2014. She is right...2013 was pathetic. This was partly due to work commitments but, more honestly, due to laziness! Of course, I agreed and then gave each of them the task of suggesting three places that they would like to go in 2014. If we did one per month that would leave 3 spare for me to choose too.

Child #1 requested:

• A London show (this is part of her 16th Birthday gift)
• The Welsh Mountain Zoo (but she may change this)
• Pottery painting

Child #2:

• The Blue Planet Aquarium
• Chill Factor (Indoor ski/sledging etc)
• ...nothing else yet

Child #3

• A Castle (Conwy probably)
• Swimming (This will be the Alton Towers Water Park)
• Ice Cream making

Me:

So far I plan on taking them to Cadbury's world (but not just yet while I am trying to lose my Christmas calories!)

So, I asked them to give me their ideas asap so that I could get an idea of when to plan them in. There are quite a few more summery activities and also some more expensive things which the January budget doesn't stretch too. I decided, as the Blue Planet was local, it was Child #2's birthday today, and it was an indoor winter suitable choice that we would start with the Blue Planet. 

So this was it. I still think it is a bit over priced for what it is but none the less we had fun...

How exciting!

Child #3 the Tour Guide

How they normally are...

When they think they are about to be fed but really it's just Child #2 playing tricks.

Spot him?

The Otters!

Jaws!

The under tank tunnel.

...in the under tank tunnel.

The photographer.

The tunnel for the 2nd time.

The birthday girl!

It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon anyway. Child #1 is right...we should do it more often than we do.