Jake

It has been a sad week here, as last Monday we had to say goodbye to our gorgeous cat Jake.
He was 14, so getting on a bit, but it was only the last year that he started to show his age.
To be honest, I am really upset. Mr W and I had him from about the age of 2. We weren't 100% sure as he came from the cats protection where he had been a stray. That's 12 years that he lived with us, longer than the children and he was just as much a part of the family.
I thought he may of developed diabetes as he started drinking lots of water and had a couple of accidents in the house, which he never did. After a few blood tests we found out it wasn't that, but a problem where protein was leaking into his system and causing problems with his kidneys, bowel and liver. And the kindest thing to do for him was to let him go to sleep. And so we did. We all said goodbye to him last weekend and took him on Monday. It was incredibly sad, but the best thing for him.

Megs and Ben have coped so well. They were absolutely devastated when I told them, but made me so proud with the way they have accepted and took it on board.
The funny thing is this last week I have found myself catching thoughts of things I would of done, such as putting the chicken into the microwave so jake wouldn't jump up to have a nibble!

In some ways I wonder if fate hasn't stepped in. We are due to have quite a bit of building work done in the next couple of months, and Jake would of hated that. It would of really upset him.

We will get another pet in the near future.
Maybe, dare I even say it, a dog!!!! I have wanted a dog since I was small, so we will see. We are in no rush to decide, so until then HUSH! Not a word to Megan and Ben about the d word until we have made up our minds!

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of our lovely old man Jake.

Toys R Us Toyologist 2014 Review Play Doh Sweet Shoppe

Toys R Us Toyologist 2014 Review Play Doh Sweet Shoppe



We are over the moon that we have been chosen to be Toys R Us Toyologists!
M and B couldn't contain themselves when I told them.
This means we get sent toys to review and give our our pros and cons and our own personal opinions based on our findings.

Our first delivery arrived a couple of weeks ago. It was Play Doh's Sweet Shoppe.

 We are huge fans of play doh here and quite often make our own if we don't have any.

The kit comes with 5 small tubs of play doh and all the accessories to make ice creams, sprinkles and sweets.

Everything in the kit.

The day we opened it up, Grace was round for a play too, so she was very excited!
Once we had set it up, M started organising who was making what!

Within minutes we had ice creams and sprinkles which looked good enough to eat and Grace had a good try eating them, much to the delight of B!

Yum!

We had great fun with this play doh kit and it makes fab sweet things! We made ice creams, sweets and toppings and then had good fun, 'selling' them!

Strawberry ice cream anyone????

Our sweets.

This is aimed at 3 years+ and I would say this is the ideal age to enjoy this kit.

This is going to be a firm favourite with my two!

Delicious!

We were sent this product to review  as part of the 2014 Toyologist program. All opinions are our own honest views and all thoughts are written in my own words.

The Gruffalo at The Lowry

Last week we headed to the Lowry theatre again, this time to see The Gruffalo. 

This is one of our must reads as it is just so well written. 

We were very excited to see the show and we weren't disappointed.
The show is acted out brilliantly with the mouse leading the story and all of the animal characters being brought to life by two male actors in the show.

The show follows the plot of the book closely, which is good for young children as they knew which animal was going to appear next! 

Each animal is given am extra dimension which enlarges the character. 

The owl was quite Sargent majorish and the snake was very flamboyant! 

All of this just added to the fun!
And when the gruffalo made his debut there were massive roars of approval as he matched his description perfectly.
I unfortunately couldn't take a picture of him but would certainly recommend you see this show if you are fans of the book.
You will not disappointed!

The Owl!

The mouse and the fox!

Go Age Junior at Delamere Forest

On Easter Monday we headed to Delamere Forest as we had been invited along to try out Go Ape Junior.
Go Ape Junior has just opened at Delamere this week and runs alongside the Go Ape Adventure that is already there. 

Go Ape Junior is suitable for over 6 years or 1 metre tall. Ben is only 4 and a half but is 115cm tall so he was able to join in. 

We were lucky enough to be given three free tickets so Mr W was able to have a go too.

When we arrived we were given our rules to read and understand and to carefully explain not to fiddle with the harness.
We then got harnesses on and they were all checked over for safety.

 
The people who were monitoring the experience explained that there were two parts to the course. Part one was easier so it is recommended that you have a go at this first before attempting part two if you want to. 

You are allocated an hours slot so during that time you can go on parts one or two as many times as you want. Each section ends with a zip wire. This took a while for Megan to pluck up the courage to do, but once she had she couldn't wait to go on it again! Ben, however was having none of the zip wire and no amount of  persuading would make him have a go! The staff were brilliant though. Someone just came up to bring in down the steps and did so each time he reached the zip wire (three times in total!)

Zip wire aside, Ben was a natural. Practically running through the trees! Mr W was slightly less eager and I could hear him saying "wait for me Ben" quite a bit! Megs was a bit more cautious and decided to stay on part one whereas Mr W and Ben ventured onto part two as well which was a bit trickier

.
The whole experience was brilliant and we would highly recommend you get booking your own Go Ape very soon.

Hold tight!

Making it look easy!

All ready?????

Well done Megs!

Monkey boy!

Add caption

Easy peasy Dad!

Scooby Doo at the Lowry

Last night we headed off to watch Scooby Doo The Mystery of the Pyramid at the Lowry Theatre. 

We love Scooby Doo and I was really looking forward to seeing how it had been transferred onto the stage.

Well, I wasn't disappointed! It was brilliant! A fabulous mix of songs, dance and acting with enough interaction with the audience to keep the little ones engaged.

Ben was a little apprehensive before we went, as he was worried that the monsters would be too scary!
He didn't need to worry though, as the scary monster were just mummies, who didn't scare us too much! (Although the sound effects were a bit creepy!)

The story is based along the style of the TV show and the actors were just like the characters. My favourite was shaggy as his voice was brilliant!

The gang are trying to solve a mystery in a pyramid and eventually do, after a lot of the usual mishaps!

lowry

If your little ones are fans of Scooby Doo, you should definitely check this out whilst it is on.

Scooby

Turning 9

This week Megan turned 9 and I am in shock. 9!

Really??

Never mind megs growing up, when did I become grown up enough to have a 9 year old daughter?

This past year I feel she has really grown up. She has become very sensible and when in the right mood, will play so well with Ben. She really 'gets' him and knows how to handle him. On the flip side of this she also knows exactly which buttons to press that will send him into orbit too!

She has grown up in other ways too, ways in which I don't want her to.
When we are out, she doesn't want to hold my hand most of the time. Apparently it's not cool!

We have had a few girly chats about growing up, all signs of her getting older.

In some ways I love it. I love to fact that we are (fingers crossed) going to get closer and that I can be there for her through the coming years. Hopefully she will come to me with questions without any hesitation.

But in other ways I don't like it, this getting older business. My little girl, who used to snuggle on my knee, and beg for one more story, now likes to lie on her bed and read to herself.

But I am getting sidetracked.

The celebrations have lasted a good few day.

On Saturday we went for a day out at welly bobs with megs, Ben and 3 of megs friends for a pony experience. This was great fun. The kids had lots of turns of grooming the ponies, had pony rides, had a horse and cart ride and made some rosettes.
We then had the added bonus of spending the afternoon in welly bobs, having lunch, playing on the zip wire, feeding the animals, holding the smaller animals, playing in the hay tunnels and on the soft play and generally having a lovely day out.

On Sunday it was mothers day, so after my special presents we went to the crem with family, followed by lunch and a play at a local farm as the weather was so nice.

On Tuesday, megs actual birthday we went out for tea with Laura, Darren, nana and the kids which was a fab way to end the celebrations.

Megs was really pleased to get the monster high school as one of her presents and was delighted with the drawers full of crafty bits off nana too.

Happy 9th birthday gorgeous girl. I love you x

Scooby Doo The Musical Live at The Lowry Theatre!

We are very excited here in Emma's Little World as Scooby Doo The Musical is coming to The Lowry theatre this April.

If you, like us are fans, then this is a must see.

Just imagine seeing Scooby Doo right in front of you!

If you fancy a sneak preview have a little look here.