We're big fans of children's festivals, and this year we'll be going to Arley Hall in Cheshire from 27th-29th May to review the 2017 Geronimo Festival. This is a brand new location for the festival, which hosts over 130 fun filled activities for families with children under 13, split over ten zones.


The Main Stage at Geronimo boasts shows from some of the biggest children's TV celebrities - including Andy Day, Katie Ashworth, Alex Winters, Luke And Emma, Sohan and more. 

Towards the end of November we were invited by Anki Overdrive to go down to London and have a bit of fun at their Christmas Party. We love the Anki Overdrive, it's great all-round entertainment here, so how could we refuse?


Anki had done some magic, because they'd managed to set up 4 different playable tracks on 3 floors of The Driver - an impressive feat when you remember the cars are robotic and controlled by bluetooth connections. We've reviewed the Anki Family Bundle previously, and regularly play 4-player, but I'm still really impressed they could maintain connection despite the building being so busy.

If you follow me on Social Media then hopefully you caught my #LEGO12DaysOfChristmas photos. I built each of the LEGO 24in1 Advent Calendar models during advent, and at the end a friend suggested I try the 12 Days Of Christmas. I could see it was a challenge that was ever increasing in work and possibly difficulty, but it was such a good challenge that I had to at least start...


Day 1 was easy enough. A Partridge In A Pear Tree. Believe me, by day 4, I knew a lot more about birds than I did to start with...

The way to get best enjoyment and best nutritional value from your fresh fruit and vegetables is to eat them as quickly as you can after picking. Vitamins and other nutrients start to break down, as do sugars, from the second the crop leaves the plant.


I learned a lot about fruit and vegetables by growing my own, which I could pick and eat sometimes within half an hour. The crisp sweetness of fresh picked carrots, lettuce, sweetcorn and apples really bears no relationship to the soggy, tired produce that has travelled the world and then been in your fridge drawer since last Thursday.

Harvester might not be able to manage an hour, but they have teamed up with suppliers Fresh Direct to ensure customers are 'never more than a day away from a lorryload of freshness'. Fresh deliveries of produce 3 times a week mean nothing has chance to become tired, and should reduce some of the waste from overstocking.

Another year over and sadly I won't really miss that one either.

2016 was the year the world turned inside out. We prematurely lost David Bowie to Cancer on January 10th and, as predicted, the fabric of the universe silently and steadily began to unravel.


While the over 25's were still in shock, Cancer came for Alan Rickman, Hogwart's Professor Snape, so that the under 25's could also wander around stunned and at a loss. Just in case any UK demographic felt left out, before January was ended, long-standing Radio DJ and presenter of Children in Need for 36 years, Sir Terry Wogan was also taken. And it all pretty much carried on that way all year...

It really wouldn't be Christmas in our house without Star Wars LEGO, and very kindly Santa and LEGO conspired together for my latest review. My 8 year old found the LEGO Star Wars Captain Rex's AT-TE in his stocking, and it was built by Boxing Day lunchtime....


There are 5 minifigures in this set, which is based on characters and the AT-TE from Star Wars Rebels. Captain Rex, Commander Gregor, Commander Wolffe, Imperial Inquisitor Fifth Brother and a Stormtrooper.

You can't choose a girl their hero. You can supply them with all kinds of politically correct and gender neutral toys and books, teach them about Mary Seacole, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks and Emmeline Pankhurst. You can tell them they can be anything that they want to be, but you can't decide which influences they'll find most important. You can only watch and hope they chose a sensible path.


Primary school for me was generally awful, but never during the Spring of 1978. I was in demand, because I was the only 1 of the 7 girls in my year who liked Star Wars. The boys couldn't play Star Wars properly without the female lead role, and none of them wanted to play a girl. For every breaktime that Spring, I was Princess Leia.

We have been selected to be part of  the Jakks Toys Spy Net Blogging Panel and our first mission is to try out their brand new Spy Net gadgets! We've been sent The Spy Net Touch Video Watch and the Spy Net Eyeclops to review.

Spy Net Touch Video Watch

The Spy Net Touch Video Watch appears to be a normal watch, but it has a hidden camera and microphone that will secretly capture up to 20 minutes of video, 2,000 photos and three hours of audio.


The full colour touch screen allows for easy playback of videos and photos, whilst also functioning as a normal watch to keep enemies fooled. Charge the watch and download all photos, videos and audio files via the USB cable included, just like a real spy...

Midnight Taboo is a very different sort of game review to my usual because it's not exactly a family game. Suitable for age 18+, it takes the original Taboo word guessing game to a whole new grown up level, and it's probably not great for the easily offended...


Inside the box are an egg timer, score pad, 4 packs of Midnight Taboo cards and a battery operated buzzer (2 x AA not included). We actually played mainly while the kids were in bed, and although the buzzer isn't horrendously loud, we didn't use it a lot.

You may feel you have a whole book full of clever things to say to your children, or you might be completely lost for words. Either way with the Wise Words From Mum And Dad book from The Book Of Everyone, you can create something that makes you sound intelligent and witty in abundance...and you don't even have to be 'Mum And Dad', these wise words will be gladly accepted from anyone...


There are a few basic choices at first - cover and style, personalising names and dedications, and then you are given a complete book template. You can choose to go with that, or you can spend however long you want personalising it. Most pages can be swapped or edited to your liking.


All of the books on The Book Of Everyone website are made in the same way, so this has 50 thick pages in a similar design to The Book Of Dad and The Book Of Everyone, which we have previously reviewed.