Tiddlytubbies

You can't have missed the Internet going crazy over tiddlytubbies. But if you did let me catch you up.....

The Teletubbies....

had....

BABIES

What what! How can this be? Who are the parents I hear you cry, how? When? HOW? 

I know I know there are many questions to be answered but first let's look how cute they are

I know right!

So in truth the Tiddlytubbies are adorable New characters introduced first in 2015 but now starring in more and more episodes.

So when Termite was asked to review these little things she was happy as can be.... As was Peanut,  and now we are back to watching Teletubbies on repeat.

These cute little plush toys make noises, giggle and are super soft  and you can see by the pure scruffiness of ours  that they've been well loved and taken everywhere

Tiddlytubbies are available from Character 

And The Cow Jumped Into The Woods

Today we watched and the cow jumped into the woods at The Customs House.

It's a summer panto and tickets were priced at just £7.50.

The story follows Arbuthnot, Peggy, Doddington the Cow and their pals on an adventure.

There's singing and dancing and lots of panto style fun crammed into this hour long show and the kids all loved it. You'll recognise some songs from Moana and there's lots of jokes for  kids and grown ups too.

I loved seeing young talent getting a voice to perform on stage and the cast were all very good. Enthusiastic, engaging and entertaining.

My favourite was ' You're Welcome' by Merlin and the kids loved it too although I do think the firm favourite with them was Foxy! Overall our party had fun, and judged the show 'brilliant'

You can even meet the cast after the show.

The show will be on at The Customs House until 2nd Septemeber and you can book tickets online or by calling 0191 4541234. I'd get in quick and get booked up because it's getting awesome feedback from everyone I know who has been to see it.

Ben 10 Toys

We've been testing out Ben 10 toys. Have you seen Ben 10? He's an awesome kid who finds a magic 'watch' the omnitrix which turns him into 10 different aliens to fight the forces of evil!

The toys are available from most toy stores and are priced from £9.99 we recieved a selection of action figures, Heat Blast, Cannonbolt, XLR8, Ben 10 and Grey Matter, Four Arms and Steam Smythe and we've already added the rest to our birthday lists! These are great for imaginative play and story telling

We also tested Heat blast transform n battle and an Omnitrix so we can role play being Ben 10. These went down a storm with all of the kids ages 4, 7 and 8 and it was great to see them acting out 'saving the world from meanies'

 

 

The Omnitrix shows all of the different transformations and has lots of phrases, it's been taken everywhere with and is our current favourite toy!

If you'd like a chance of winning some awesome Ben 10 Toys, join in with @UkMumsTV  twitter party on 31St August from 1-3pm using  #Ben10Toys


Have you a Ben 10 fan in your house? who are their favourite aliens? Me, I love Grey Matter!

Why We Love Egypt

13 years ago my (then) boyfriend and I were strolling along a promenade overlooking the beautiful Red Sea, when he plopped himself down on one knee and using my full Sunday name, asked me to marry him! Obviously I said yes and the rest is history.

That was our first holiday to Egypt, a country we fell in love with instantly, the hotel was beautiful the tour guides were awesome, passionate, proud and knowledgeable. We crammed so much into that week but we both knew we needed to go back!

Egypt is an easy place to love, it's steeped in history, the climate is amazing all year round so you really can jet off anytime.

When planning our wedding we knew that we would return to Egypt for our honeymoon and we found an amazing multi centre  trip with Hayes and Jarvis taking in the sights of Cairo, Luxor and then having a relaxed week in Sham el Sheikh. Our honeymoon was everything it should have been, we say breathtakingly sights, made friends, learned so much and were spoiled rotten everywher.

We've returned twice since, both times with children in tow and we've always found the hotels amazing, the service industry is treated like a vocation in Egypt unlike the UK and employees go out of their way to provide you with an unforgettable holiday, children are fussed over and there is so much to see and do, and more history than I could ever learn about in a million visits!

Plus cocktails in a swim up pool sway the balance !

We were sad to hear on our last trip that TUI were not running trips to the Pyramids. So we talked about how in our next visit we would take the kids to Cairo so they could see the things we did on our honeymoon.

Another area we have heard brilliant things about is Hurghada but sadly we've never managed to visit, after our last holiday in 2014 we decided that for our next visit we would definitely plan a Hurghada Holiday

Now is a great time to travel to Hurghada, its on the FCO safe to travel list and you can pick up some great bargains in some beautiful hotels, plus there's loads to do, we've already planned a trip to sand city so we can see the amazing  sculptures there.

and a day shopping in the old town to find some gorgeous leather goods.

It's even possible to get a low cost internal flight to Cairo so we can show the kids the pyramids and we would love to stay in the Hyatt there (to re live our honeymoon) of course a trip to The Hard Rock Cafe is now a family tradition and then.

We could fly back to Hurghada to chill out and teach the kids to snorkell and hopefully now they are all old enough to be trusted on a boat we can finally go on a dolphin spotting tour to see dolphins in their natural environment

I love planning new trips, and reliving past holiday faves!  Have you been to Hurghada before ? I'd love to hear your must see recommendations.







I have been compensated for this post

Muddy Fingers Teapot Making Workshop at The Customs House

Just recently I discovered that The Customs House Gallery in South Shields run a range of workshops and classes. There are drawing and craft classes to suit all tastes. With workshops like Fascinator making , Creative fabric accessories and Make Your Own Teapot.

I genuinely thought all my dreams had come true when I read that last workshop title! I mean its no secret that I'm a big fan of tea, and tea sets so this seemed like the perfect treat for my 40th Birthday , I know I know I look so young pahahhaha.

Roping in a pal we booked our tickets and as giddy as teenagers we tootled off to be creative (and left the monkeys with Daddy)

 

The workshop was run by Marv (Marvelous Marv) one half of the partnership who own Muddy Fingers Pottery. He did a quick demo of how the teapot was to be made and I'll be honest he made it look so easy.... then he informed us that teapots are actually the hardest things you can make!

All of our materials and tools had been set out and we quickly set to work following our instructions, there were masses of stamps, cutters, rollers and pattern makers to choose from and I think most of my time was spent planning a theme, my partner in pottery however wasted no time in choosing a zombie/skull theme for her.

With my late mother in laws tea set, inherited last year,  firmly in my mind I decided to make a pot to match and went for delicate florals.


Now then I have a confession, I decided to take my swanky new (to me) camera along and took some great snaps but didn't check to see if I had the cable to remove the pictures to my pc so I'm afraid that for now you have only a few mobile snaps. Although truthfully I was so consumed by the workshop I forgot to take many pictures.

Marv was an amazing workshop leader, positive, encouraging and helpful all the way through and I loved hearing about the work Muddy Fingers Pottery do, they've just returned from the craft village at Glastonbury and they also make crockery by hand for hotels around the world! They really are very diverse. They are a friendly bunch too, when I'd tagged then on facebook telling my pals I had booked onto the course for my birthday Muddy Fingrers had liked my status and I thought nothing more of it until I arrived at the workshop and they had provided cake to help me celebrate!!

At the end of the workshop the teapots were carefully taken back to the Hebburn pottery where they will be fired and glazed and fired again (I think) and they will be returned to us in a few weeks

I can't wait to show you the finished product.

If you'd like to know more about Muddy Fingers or book a workshop to make your own masterpiece you can check them out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and their website.

You should also definitely check out the amazing work of The Customs House and The Customs House Gallery