2013 in Review

I was planning a post to reflect on the highs and lows of 2013 when the lovely Kate, who blogs at www.kateonthinice.com, tagged me in one of her posts and asked me to answer the following questions as a round up to 2013. Thank you Kate; here are my highs and lows of 2013.

1. What was your happiest event?

There hasn't been one event that massively sticks out in my head, as there have been so many, these include:

• Starting the blog
• Lottie's 1st birthday
• Phil and I celebrated 5 years of married life
• Ruby started school and became pupil of the week in the first week; she also played the part of Mary in the school nativity

2. What was the saddest thing to happen?

This year has been filled with some really sad events and especially in the month of December when we lost my great uncle, a close family friend and just a few days ago, one of Ruby's classmates lost his mother who very sadly passed away following a battle with cancer.


3. What was the most unlikely thing to happen that actually went ahead and did?

I really can't think of anything!


4. Who let you down?

I am very fortunate that I have a very close family and some great friends, some newer than others, and very few people have let me down this year; yes people have said things that I have had to bite my tongue over, but I've learnt to let go and move on. I am not going to mention specifics as those few people that let me down do not deserve a place on my blog.


5. Who supported you?

As I said in my answer to question 4, I have an amazing family and in particular my husband who believes in me 100% and always helps me to strive to achieve my best. He does a great job although I don't acknowledge him anywhere near enough.


6. Tell us what you learned

I've learnt this year that its important for me to rediscover who I am and have some me time, as I feel I lost a part of me when I became a mother; I now have regular evenings out with my mum and quiet days every other month at the lovely Launde Abbey.


7. Tell us what made you laugh

My children always make me laugh with the little gems they speak.


8. Tell us the things that made you cry

Hmm where do I start, I can be quite an emotional person and many tears have been shed both happy and also sad. I cried when Ruby started school, when Lottie turned one and have had way too many tears for my liking when it comes to being in pain with my knees.


9. Tell us three things your child or children did to make you feel proud.

• Lottie learned to walk, although much anticipated!
• Ruby settled into school so well and playing the part of Mary in her school nativity.
• I am proud of my girls for how they are both so loving, and how well they enjoy playing with one another - especially when it comes to tea parties!

10. Tell us the things that made you proud of yourself.

Mmm, I am my own worst enemy and always incredibly hard on myself but I am proud of myself that I was able to be fully awake and even manage to watch my knee operation, it was by far an amazing experience and I shall have to go through it all again in the Summer although I am not looking forward to the recovery and pain.


11. Tell the challenges you overcame

Having my knee operation was a challenge; also, I am still breastfeeding Lottie when I never even thought I would last a day, let alone nearly 18 months!


12. Tell us the things you would like to change about your life in 2014

I would really love to gain some weight in 2014, whatever I do to put weight on, it doesn't seem to make any difference at all - any suggestions would be gratefully received.

I would also love to be pain free, but I realise this is unlikely; as long as its better managed and doesnt get worse I would be greatful.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year and hope that 2014 is a year that brings you much happiness in each and every area of your life.

Silent Sunday!

 

Christmas Round Up

It's hard to believe that just a few short days ago we were preparing to celebrate Christmas, and now the big day has come and gone. This year was a very different Christmas to years gone by; previously we would have Christmas dinner at my mums and then head off to visit my in-laws and then my father, but this year we visited Phil's family on Christmas Eve, spending the afternoon with them before coming home to bath the girls, get the snacks for Santa and Rudolph and heading off to bed.

Christmas Day was a lovely chilled out day; it started at around 7:30 in the morning with me having to wake up the girls as they were showing no signs of waking up! Ruby was so very excited to see that her stocking was full up of pressies; Lottie on the other hand was not really too interested apart from the wrapping paper and boxes. 

After all getting into our bed to open the presents in the stockings, we headed downstairs to see if Santa had left some presents under the Christmas tree. Ruby checked to see if Santa had eaten the mice pie and drank the milk that had been left out for him, which he had all bar a few crumbs of mince pie. Last year Santa had been left a biscuit but only managed to eat half, Upon noticing this, Ruby ate the remaining half of the biscuit!

This year was the first year I have ever cooked a Christmas dinner and it was also the first time I have ever cooked a joint of meat! Two years ago hubbie bought me a beautiful rangemaster cooker in the hope that I would cook more, but to be honest it does not get the use it should. I tend not to cook a lot of meat, as I prefer vegetarian food. Hubbie was adamant he wanted a traditional Christmas dinner, so I cooked a turkey! I was worried in case I under or over cooked the meat, or generally just burnt everything, but I wrote down when things needed to go into the oven and I am incredibly pleased to say that it all came out so much better than I thought it would.

Christmas afternoon was spent being very lazy and chilled out, playing and enjoying our new pressies. It's hard to pick out what our favourite pressies were, but for Ruby it was her princess Sofia dress, Lottie loved her tea set that Ruby had decided to wrap up (it used to be hers).

There isn't really one pressie that sticks out as being my favourite as I've had so many lovely and thoughtful gifts, including a DAB radio, books, clothes and many more things.  I think Phil's favourites would have to be his new book or bottle of whisky! 

I hope everyone has had a very blessed and enjoyable Christmas and I want to wish everyone a very happy new year. 

School Nativity Play

Last week I once again found myself being an incredibly proud mummy. Out of the whole of Ruby's school, Ruby was asked to play the part of Mary in her school nativity. I can't tell you how proud I am, especially as I never expected Ruby to have a nativity at her age let alone for her to be selected out of the whole school. I really don't think Ruby knew how big an achievement this was and she took it all within her stride.

Ruby looked so angelic in her outfit and I very nearly cried as I got my first glance of her dressed up.

Silent Sunday

Pudding Evening

Sometimes a treat is needed, and recently my mum and I were treated like royalty as we attended a pudding evening at the wonderful Launde Abbey. I have previously written about Launde Abbey here, as I like to go regularly to escape the world and enjoy the quiet and beautiful grounds.

Neither my mum or I had ever attended a pudding evening before, so we were not too sure what to expect. We were served a light main course before we made a start on the puddings!

Each pudding was brought out one at a time, it was great to be able to take our time to eat through each one before we moved onto the next, in total we had 6 puddings!

We started off with:

Christmas Dinner with a Twist

Followed by:

 

Vanilla Panna Cotta with a Mulled Wine Syrup and Caramelised Oranges

Black Forrest Gateaux

Banana Creme Brulee

Refreshing Mango Sorbet

Profiterole with a Dark Chocolate and Bailey's Sauce

Christmas Pudding and Brandy Sauce

After eating every single pudding I think it's safe to say I would not have been able to eat a mouthful more! My favourite pudding had to be the Vanilla Panna Cotta with a Mulled Wine Syrup and Caramelised Oranges, it was delicious!

If you had to pick one, which do you think would be your favourite?

Pudding evening at Launde Abbey costs £20 which I think is an absolute bargain; they have a pudding evening most months and more details can be found on their website www.laundeabbey.org.uk.

A Very Important Letter

This week a very important letter arrived addressed to Ruby; I can't recall the last time I received a letter through the post, but it certainly has been a really long time. I really do love to read a letter, it means so much more to me than an email; more thought goes into a letter, and people have to take the time to write it and take it to the postbox. I still remember the lovely feeling of receiving a postcard that I was not expecting from a dear friend back in the summer.
 

Click Image to Enlarge

A few weeks ago my mum gave me a leaflet for a personalised letter from Santa, I thought this was a great idea and the best bit about it all was that the money raised from sending letter went towards helping the NSPCC. You can donate as much or as little as you like for the letter, but the recommended donation is £5. To create the letter you enter several details onto their website and chose which letter you want your child to receive, as well changing certain bits to make it more personal.

When the letter arrived through the post Ruby was so incredibly excited; she isn't old enough to read all of the letter herself so I had to read it to her, but her face was a picture, she couldn't believe that Santa had taken the time to write her a letter and he even knew that she had recently learnt to write her name and that he had already wrapped her pressie and was moving onto Lotties!
 

We will definitely be looking at doing another one of this letters next year. You can find the details here.

Silent Sunday!

Disney on Ice

I really don't know where the time has gone recently, we have just been so busy that I haven't even had a chance to tell you about going to see Disney on Ice a couple of weeks ago.

A few months ago I saw that Disney on Ice was touring, and thought it would be a great idea for an early Christmas present for Ruby. Ruby is absolutely mad about anything to do with Disney princesses, so I was sure she would like it.

Phil took a half days holiday from work and arrived home in time to pick ruby up from school. As soon as we got home from the school run, we quickly got changed and jumped into the car to head off to Sheffield for the show.

Ruby had dressed up in her favorite princess costume... Rapunzel from Tangled! Ruby was incredibly excited, and to be honest I was too, however I was a bit worried about how restless Lottie might become; I was assured by some friends that there would be so much to see and do, that there would be no way Lottie would be bored.

When we arrived at the arena, it was lovely to see that almost all of the young girls attending the show had dressed up as their favorite Disney princess. There were even some adults dressed up too.

Before the show we spent some time looking at the merchandise that was available to purchase; I was disappointed that there was not much choice, but we ended up buying an official program which came with a pink sparkly hat that Ruby loved, it was pricey though, at £10. I feel its important to buy a program as its nice for Ruby and I to look back on; it can also go into her memory box too.

The was opened by the classic Disney characters, including Mickey, Minnie and Pluto, who were joined by the rest of the cast to perform an intricate routine that concluded with a scene from the Princess and the Frog.

The rest of the first half of the show consisted of fairly short renditions of Snow White and Cinderella, which Ruby loved; it definitely warmed up the crowd for the main event. Even though she knows the stories inside and out, Ruby was a bit scared during Snow White, when the trees in the enchanted forest started to “get her”, but apart from that Ruby was enjoying every minute of it; it was lovely to see her getting involved by joining all of the other children in shouting at Snow White not to eat the apple, and various other crowd participation opportunities throughout the show.

Cinderella wrapped up shortly after the mid show interval, and Mickey and the gang came out once more to introduce the main event.... Disney's Tangled! I think it is fair to say that Tangled is Ruby's all time favourite film, and Ruby could not have been more excited when Rapunzel skated out onto the ice.

The rendition of Tangled was absolutely fantastic; I won't go into too much detail in case anyone is planning to see it soon, but there was one part of the performance in particular that had everyone on the edge of their seats; The skaters who were portraying Rapunzel and Flynn, performed an aerial routine (without harnesses), that had had them swinging through the air, at what must have been at least twenty feet from the floor, using Rapunzel's hair! It was amazing to see. The show was funny and enchanted, even Phil really enjoyed it.

Lottie behaved really well and was fascinated about everything that was taking place in front of her. I think it's fair to say that we all had a fantastic time at Disney on Ice, and I am sure we will be going to see them again on their next nationwide tour.

Silent Sunday!

 

Silent Sunday

Review: PLYT Game

A little while ago, we were kindly sent a brand new board game to review. The game is called PLYT and is based around the idea of successfully using mental arithmetic to multiply two or more dice together in order to move a counter around the board. The first person to the centre of the board is the winner. The game comes with an optional sand timer to put opponents under pressure to complete the calculation quickly. In addition to this, certain squares on the board require you to turn over a chance card, which will require you to move either your, or one of your opponent's, counter backwards or forwards along the board.

The game is designed for ages four and above, and has a flexible rule set to allow people of different ages to complete fairly with each other. The number of dice used for any given person depends on their ability, which opens the game up to mixed ability and age players.

We were excited to receive the game, and began playing it immediately. Ruby is four years old, which is within the game's target audience; after unpacking the game and reading the rules, we soon realised that the minimum age rating stated on the box was set too low, and Ruby, who is only just starting to cover very basic mathmatics at school, was unable to play with us using the rules provided. We ended up making up our own rules and had Ruby add up the results of two dice, instead of multiplying them.

We really liked the concept of trying to make learning and practising mental arithmetic fun, and I think this game will certainly appeal to adults and children who are interested in maths; however the game failed to hold my interest and is not really suitable for young children as indicated on the box. I think it is fair to say that my husband, who is quite mathematically minded (he is a software developer),  got the most enjoyment out of the game. Perhaps we will try playing it again in a few years when Ruby is a little older and is at the stage where she is learning multiplication in her maths lessons at school. We would however recommend that the manufacturer revises the age rating of the game.

The following rating is based on our experience playing the game with our four year old daughter.


Ruby + Lottie Rating: 4 / 10


Disclaimer: We were sent the board game for free to review, however all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Silent Sunday

Two Daughters and One Heart!

I've been wanting and trying to write this post for some time, but I was also a bit worried about how it would come across; During a recent Twitter session, I got chatting with someone who felt similar to me and it gave me a bit more confidence to open up about how I feel towards my girls. Don't get me wrong, I love both of my daughters to bits, but there is something different in the relationships I have with them individually.

After I had given birth to Ruby, I remember looking at her and thinking "I should be really totally in love with her", but if I am honest I didn't feel this straight away; my love for her grew and grew. I'd had a good labour and delivery, so I can't say that this hindered my bonding with her. Ruby had her name from 16 weeks into my pregnancy, and I used to enjoy feeling her kick. I don't think I was fully prepared for motherhood when expecting Ruby, nobody had pre-warned me about how I would be emotionally and even on a physical level, nobody had told me that you bleed after birth; I thought that once the placenta was delivered that was it! I was obviously very naive and I was disappointed that the unconditional love didn't happen in an instant. I'm writing this is to offer reassurance to other mums and mums to be that this is normal. As a first time parent it's a very steep learning curve; how to change a nappy, bath a baby, wind a baby etc, the list goes on and on! I also find I parent Ruby differently to Lottie. Ruby has such a lovely laid back personality but at times she needs me to be quite firm and tell her to do things, otherwise she would happily go into her own little world!

When expecting Lottie I didn't think there would be anymore room in my heart to love another baby but my heart grew and grew!

Well what can I say about my second born daughter Lottie, she is completely different to her sister. Lottie is a very sensitive little girl and you just have to raise your voice or look at her in a certain way and she bursts into tears. From the moment she was born, Lottie and I have had a very special bond and I instantly fell in love with her. Her birth, much like Ruby's, was a positive experience; I even had a homebirth. I remember looking at her and admiring how beautiful she looked and not all squished and wrinkled like Ruby did!

The bond between Lottie and I has built up and it's so incredibly strong that if she's not with me I feel completely lost and end up in tears, but what's the difference and why do I feel differently? I am not sure, but I also wonder if breastfeeding has played a part. I was a reluctant breastfeeder, it wasn't something I had planned to do, I won't go into it all but you can read my breastfeeding journey here. I also wonder if I have bonded quicker with Lottie was because she is my second daughter so I am a lot more experienced and calmer, and know what to do; the learning curve is not as steep.

The relationships I have with both my daughters are different, but I love them both equally. I'm conscience that Lottie can at times be demanding being the younger sister, so Ruby and I often spend an afternoon at the weekend in the kitchen doing some baking whilst hubbie entertains Lottie. I feel it's so important to have quality one to one time with my daughters so that our bond grows and grows. I feel so blessed to have two amazing daughters who each have their own personality and qualities.

I would love to know your experience, did you bond quicker with your second child, did you worry your heart wouldn't grow and love another child or did you have that instant fall in love moment that you read about in so many parenting books?

Silent Sunday!

 

World Prematurity Day

This Sunday marks world prematurity day. I am very fortunate that both Ruby and Lottie only arrived two and three weeks early, so they were not considered to be premature; however this was not the case for my amazing friend Kylie Hodges and her son Joseph. Kylie and I go back nearly five years, in fact this time five years ago, we were both just about to find out that we were expecting; We were both really excited and got together on an online forum, to chat to other mums and share our pregnancy journeys; we became bump buddies as our due dates were within days of one another.

If I am honest, I had never really thought about the prospect of either girls arriving early, it is a topic that is all too often avoided by people. I remember being very shocked when I heard that Kylie had delivered her baby at just twenty seven weeks! Joseph weighed just 1lb 7oz, You can read more details on Kylies blog.

Fast forward to a few years after Joseph's birth, and my auntie went into premature labour with her second child; she lives over in Dubai and I had no idea at all what to do or say, so I turned to Kylie for advice. As luck would have it, (I call it god given), Kylie was visiting family in Australia and had a connecting flight in Dubai on the way home. She took it upon herself to meet up with my auntie, which I'm sure was such a blessing to my auntie as I know my she found it very difficult because she was not able to hold her son when he was born; he spent his first few precious days and weeks in an incubator.

This year, Bliss are raising awareness of world prematurity day by getting people to think about hugs. How would you feel if your baby was in a plastic box and you couldn't hold him or her? I know I would feel so heartbroken.

Bliss have put this short film together and I suggest you grab some tissues as it made me cry.

If you would like further information on Bliss and the amazing work they are doing, you can find it here.

On a personal note, I am so incredibly proud of Kylie (and Joseph). she is a true inspiration to all of us for speaking up and raising so much awareness. She does so much already, but this crazy person who I am so proud to call my friend has dyed her hair purple! Yes bright purple, I would never in a million years have the confidence to do this but, she has and I would like to encourage everyone to sponsor her.

Swimming Lessons

Learning to swim was something that my parents made sure I could do from a very young age; they took me to swimming lessons on a weekly basis. I don't remember a time when I could not swim; it was instilled in me at a young age. I was very fortunate that my parents encouraged me; I achieved pretty much every grade of swimming that could be taken, including all the life saver awards. I still remember having to undertake swimming lessons whilst fully clothed and learning how to make a float out of a pair of trousers!

Phil and I both agreed that it was important for our girls to learn to swim, however with money being tight we have been very fortunate that Phil's parents have greatly contributed towards the cost; this has enabled us to give both Ruby and Lottie weekly swimming lessons.

Ruby started swimming lessons just after her third birthday; I wish she had started sooner, as its has taken a year for her to be able to swim unaided without any floats. She's had the confidence from word go, but the technique of kicking her legs and moving her arms correctly has taken a while to come. This week though she has finally cracked it and I feel so incredibly proud of her! I almost cried when she managed to do a whole width of the pool and back all by herself. Ruby was so pleased of herself after the lesson and told everyone she came into contact with. It was so lovely to see.

Lottie started swimming lessons at just six weeks of age and she absolutely loves her time in the pool with Phil each week; she gets very excited about the prospect of getting into the water. She is full of confidence, much like her sister and has recently learnt how to climb out of the pool at by herself!

Taken before Lottie's very 1st swimming lesson!

Bath time in our house is very funny as Ruby practices blowing her bubbles and Lottie is now starting to copy and blow her own bubbles. Lottie is a bit of a live wire in the bath and because she is so confident, she throws herself around in the bath and even goes right under the water (we really have to keep a keen eye on her!); there is not much water left when it is time for them to get out.

Silent Sunday

HOPE - James - Hand Foot and Mouth Experience

Saturday 5th of October 2013

We woke up all smiling and went to the library as we normally do and in the evening we went to my sisters birthday party. James started coughing a lot and we put this down to the cats in the house and a possible allergy. When we got home we gave him some paracetamol as he was feeling quite warm.

Sunday 6th of October

At 2am I woke up to the sound of a choking cough from James I immediately rang into his room and picked him up to comfort him and gave him a drink of milk to settle him down. I asked hubby to raise his cot as we normally have to do with any coughs or colds and put a calpol vapour plug in his room whilst I settled him to sleep. Throughout the day his nose was running and coughing fits were occurring plus his cheeks were red and my first thought was this is a teething cold as for every tooth we have had a cold has occurred.

Monday 7th of October

James was coughing most of the night so I called our GP surgery to get an appointment we were seen almost within the hour. The doctor ruled out a chest infection as his chest was clear but prescribed an inhaler for the cough and to give paracetamol when necessary.

Tuesday 8th of October.

The coughing seemed to have subsided after using the inhaler so I decided we would go to our usual playgroup so James could see his friends. On returning from playgroup I was changing his nappy and noticed a rash on his bottom and legs. I immediately did the meningitis check and called the GP surgery who insisted he got seen as an emergency by the nurse practitioner. On arrival at the surgery the nurse who I don't particularly get on with due to the lack of patient social skills said he was fine it's just a virus and was quite dismissive of my concerns. Bath time was full of tears which is unlike him.

Wednesday 9th of October

Throughout the night it was like having a newborn all over again we were up every hour and as soon as James settled to sleep he would wake up again sobbing which is totally out of character for him as he loves his bed. I decided I wasn't going to take him to playgroups and keep him in although I ended up having to strap him in the car and go for a drive as he wasn't settling with calpol, milk or Mr Tumble and I knew he needed sleep. It was only when I parked up at my hubby's place of work for a toilet visit as I had got him to sleep and dare not move him out of the car, that I noticed spots appearing on his hands and the coughing had turned worse again. I took the motherly instinct and went straight to the surgery and demanded to see my GP who kindly fitted us in and diagnosed James with having Hand Foot and Mouth and recommended using calpol and ibuprofen until the weekend to provide some comfort to the symptoms.

Thursday 10th of October

Another sleepless night all round lucky if it was 30 mins at a time. Wasn't interested in eating very much so just kept him hydrated with milk and yoghurts. James tried walking and was screaming with every step it was like watching someone doing fire walking. I checked his feet to find huge blisters covering his toes and ankles. I spent most of the morning having to carry him around to console him and I knew he was so tired but every time he laid in his cot he would start coughing and crying. The doctor did inform me that because he was teething at the same time he would produce more saliva as the body produces more with mouth ulcers and this was causing the coughing to occur. I had no other option but to put him in the car and I drove for almost 2 hours thankfully he had some sleep I wasn't too bothered out sleeping myself as I think as a parent you have some kind of energy reserve that kicks in when your child is ill.

Friday 11th of October

Another night of no sleep we took it in turns to sit up with James we even played Mickey Mouse on the iPad at 2am just to keep his mind off any discomfort he was having. On Friday afternoon I decided to go to the supermarket just for a change of scenery for him as he had seen no one for days and he doesn't like being cooped up in the house for too long. Is spoke to the pharmacist about him not eating and she recommended I bought some stage 1 weaning food as his throat would be sore and he would be unable to chew with the ulcers without being in pain. I also had the chance to speak to my cousin who is a nurse and delved into the experience so far of him not eating or sleeping very well. The suggestion that my cousin had was to use calamine lotion in the bath and calamine cream after his bath and no sleeping bag in his cot. I decided to give this a go even though that pharmacist thought I was nuts asking for calamine lotion to go in the bath. Bath time came and calamine lotion was used the crying in the bath stopped and he was happy splashing away. I applied calamine cream liberally all over his feet but not his hands as he has a habit of putting everything in his mouth. Bedtime came and I placed him in his cot with a light blanket and read a story and went to bed myself at 7pm not knowing what the night would hold, the next thing I knew it was 6am and my baby had slept through without the need for calpol or ibuprofen. We also had another tooth.

I decided to wait until Wednesday 16th October before taking James to any playgroups as I was informed once the blisters start to scab over he would no longer be contagious.

I must say that the Hand Foot and Mouth virus is horrid and painful to watch your child suffer, however if your child does catch it I recommend the following.

• Plenty of cuddles
• Calpol
• Ibuprofen
• Calpol plug in vaporiser
• Calamine lotion
• Calamine cream
• No sleeping bags or socks
• Cooling head strips
• Dentinox
• Stage 1 purees
• Ice cream

Plenty of coffee for the parents as well as chocolate boosts too.

 

If you have a story you would like to share; that could help others please do get in touch. I welcome any subject and if required I am happy to post anonymous.

A World Wide Film Premier at the National Space Centre!

Hello, Phil here; Kimberley has asked me to write this post as apparently it is a "boy" topic, and as I am "Geek", I am the best person for the job!

No we have that out of the way, this weekend, we were very kindly invited to a blogger event at the National Space Centre here in Leicester, for the World Wide Premier of "Back to the Moon for Good", a brand new planetarium film that, over the next year or so, will be shown in planetariums all over the world.

The national space centre was opened in 2001 and welcomes around a quarter of a million visitors per year from all over the world. It is only a few miles from our home, but although I drive by it most days, we have never visited. It has been something that I have wanted to do for years, so I was very excited when Kimberley told me about the invite.

 

We arrived at around 11:30am, having missed the blogger breakfast because Ruby had a ballet exam in the morning (I'm sure Kimberley will blog about this soon). On arrival we were presented with some VIP badges to wear, and the girls were given a cuddly space toy each, which was a really nice touch and immediately sparked Ruby's interest in all things space.

In the main entrance is a space rocket that spans practically the whole height of the huge building that dominates the Leicester skyline, it really is a sight to behold!

The centre hosts a large number of exhibits, some of which are relics from our planet's history of space travel, and others are interactive games and experiments which are a fantastic way of helping children and adults to understand space travel and the science that has made it happen.

I found all of the exhibits fascinating, especially a replica of the Columbus Module from the International Space Station.

 

We spent a couple of hours exploring the space centre before heading to one of the conference rooms for a bloggers lunch. The lunch was spectacular, and catered perfectly to both adults and children! It was great fun chatting with all of the other bloggers, and Ruby loved playing with all of the children. After lunch, and in preparation for the film premier, we were invited to sample a large range of  "Gourmet Popcorn", including flavors such as Strawberry Cheesecake and Curry, amongst others. I thought this was a really nice touch and prepared us well for the film.

By this time, a fairly large queue had formed for the planetarium. Much to the annoyance of most of the people in the queue, the side doors to the planetarium were opened and our "VIP" status for the day meant that we were ushered in ahead of the general public.

We were there to see the world wide premier of a specially designed planetarium film called "Back to the Moon for Good!". As I discovered, the planetarium, which is effectively a big dome shaped room, differs from a regular cinema in that the film projection spans across all of the walls and ceiling, making you feel that you are part of the action. The sheer scale of the film was nothing less than impressive, and the excellent sound quality added to the atmosphere. I cannot imagine how difficult it is to develop a film that spans an entire dome shaped room in perfect proportions, with a seamless mix of computer generated imagary and real life documentary. I would have to say that this is by far the best and most technically impressive cinematic experience that I have ever encountered.

The film which is narrated by Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear) is a 24 minute documentary that briefly looks at the first era of space exploration, before introducing teams from around the world who are taking part in the Google Lunar X Prize competition. Finally, the film explores how advances in technology and knowledge may shape the future of the moon.

The goal behind the Google Lunar X Prize is to encourage private teams to compete in a race to successfully land a vehicle on the moon, have it travel 500 meters, and send two "moon casts" back to earth. The winner will not only scoop up the $30 million prize, but will be the first people to successfully land a craft on the moon since 1973.

After the planetarium film, we were invited back to the conference room for a Q & A with the film makers and some representatives from X Prize Foundation, who are in charge of running and judging the competition. It is quite apparent that this challenge is a labor of love for the teams, as the $30 million is unlikely to cover the costs. Many of the teams will not make it, but come quarter 3 2015, we should be witnessing the first lunar broadcast in over forty years!

Once the Q & A had concluded, it was time to leave. Ruby really did not want to go home as she was having a such a fun time. I think it is fair to say that we all had a fantastic day out. I would not hesitate to recommend the space centre to anyone.

For a family two adults and two children, entry and parking costs between £28 and £50, depending on the age of the children, which is a little expensive for my liking; the ticket is however is valid for 318 days. For more information, checkout the National Space Centre's website.


Ruby + Lottie Rating:  8/10


Disclaimer: we were kindly invited to attend the blogger event at the expense of the National Space Centre, however all opinions are our own.