And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is up, the Santa hats are out and the first doors on our advent calendars are open.

I love this time of year. It is my favourite. And it’s one of the few times still full of magic even as an adult. I’m going to be soaking up every minute of joy the next few weeks bring and I hope December is full of moments of joy for you too.

Happy December! 🎄
AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell and there’s so much to entertain the whole family whilst you do your Christmas shopping! 

Visit The Lexicon Glow Room for a magical light experience that will dazzle you with 20,000 LEDs. It feels like the room goes on forever! Then, take a dip in the Light Pool, a magical ball pool with golden balls to be found and prizes to be won!

If that wasn’t all, have a photo in the giant Christmas bauble ‘sparkling selfie station’ and follow the Twinkle Trail, spotting baubles in shop windows to collect the clues and enter to win fabulous prizes this Christmas. Plus, share your sparkling selfie station pictures, tagging #thelexiconbracknell or email them to marketing@thelexiconbracknell.com and you will automatically be entered in a competition for the chance to win a restaurant gift card too. 

There are also special performances from local choirs, bands and singers and even the chance to meet Bluey, Hey Duggee and Chase from Paw Patrol! You can be sure that a trip to The Lexicon will have something for everyone over the festive season this year. We loved our visit to The Lexicon last weekend and know we’ll be back again before Christmas!

Find out more on @thelexiconbracknell website.

#TheLexiconBracknell #Merry&Bright
AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! We had our first Glow Marwell experience tonight - and we loved it. It may even be the best light trail we have been to.

We spent well over two hours at @marwellzoo, enjoying the light installations, indulging in the food stalls and cafe, toasting marshmallows and even meeting Father Christmas! 

Glow Marwell was such a nice way to kick off the festive season - and it’s on all the way through December! If you’re looking for a really nice festive activity the whole family can enjoy, this could definitely be it!
AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparent AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparents this year? @famileo_uk is a wonderful gift, giving the recipient a personalised gazette of family news regularly throughout the year - and it costs from just £5.99 a month. 

Multiple family members can use the same subscription, all posting messages to be added to one gazette - and sharing the cost of the subscription too! It’s great for parents, siblings and children to all share their news with grandparents each week, fortnight or month. 

We’ve been sending my dad Family gazettes for a while now and he absolutely loves them. It means we tell him all the little things that are happening and not just the big news you remember to mention in phone calls. The children get to upload their own messages to their grandad and it’s definitely made them feel closer, building a stronger relationship despite living far apart.

Find out more about Family over on the blog - link in bio - and buy a subscription for your nearest and dearest this Christmas. It’s a gift they will definitely love to receive.
Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing the Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing these updates every week but I like having somewhere to put all these photos!

They’re now three months old, super loving and happy, making biscuits and purring constantly.

They stay in ‘their’ room overnight but explore the house during the day, getting more confident as time passes. They even got to the point of relaxing on the sofa with us last night.

Fred & George are now very much part of our family and I can’t imagine them not being there now - even at 7am when they’re miaowing at the door for breakfast!
AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your kids will love? Claim your FREE Banjo Robinson activity pack today!
 
Reading for pleasure is a key indicator of a child’s future success, but if your child doesn’t love to read, what can you do? We know it’s not always easy keeping kids entertained and away from screens, so we’ve partnered with the award-winning @banjorobinson to gift you a FREE activity pack, worth £9.99.

Here’s a little look at the Banjo Robinson subscription - Troy loves it! Travelling to world with Banjo is so much fun! You can read our full review over on the blog and claim your free activity pack too - link in profile.
A whole week of Fred & George. We weren’t meant A whole week of Fred & George.

We weren’t meant to get more cats just yet but sometimes the universe sends you things when you don’t expect them.

These little guys needed a home and a family to love them. And we had a home and a lot of love to give. We still miss Leia but this pair are definitely helping make me feel whole again.

They are both used to us now, and love us. They’re less nervous, give us cuddles and let us pick them up. They’re still living in our spare room but starting to explore the rest of the house under supervision. 

They play fight constant. Love toys, especially a crinkly feather thing on a string attached to a stick, and love being up high. They are an awesome pair and we are so glad to have them.

Thank you @millbrook_rspca @rspca_official for trusting us with ‘Lonestar and Starfish’. We could not love them more. 

#catsofinstagram #catstagram #catsofig #catsofinsta #catlovers #adoptdontshop #rspcarescuecat #kittensofinstagram #kittens_of_instagram
[AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing abo [AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing about our half term break at @pottersresort and it’s over on the blog if you want to go have a read.

I wanted to put some of my favourite photos on the grid too as the kids did so many fun activities - they had THE best time. 

Giant swing, segways, climbing, archery, laser clays… there was so much to do that we couldn’t fit it all in - we need another trip!
And there ends our October half term - well, apart And there ends our October half term - well, apart from Troy who has a bonus week off!

This half term has been pretty lovely. Troy had his school residential the first weekend and then we had a really lovely few days in Norfolk before heading home and picking up two new members of our family - Fred and George. 11 week old rescue kittens who have pretty much stolen our hearts.

It’s been so nice to have a chunk of quality time with this pair and now I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays. These two are the best company and I really do live for the school holidays. 

How has your half term been?
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Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, Reviews · May 16, 2019

Exploring Greenwich Attractions as a Family

Over the summer last year, we found ourselves in London and decided to explore somewhere that neither Dave or I could remember ever going to before aside from school visits so many years ago. It’s always nice to explore somewhere new as a family so we planned our day out in Greenwich.

There are so many things to do in London as a family – and Greenwich specifically – that we decided to visit the world famous Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. We decided to visit all three as a discounted ticket is available if you visit the Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory, and entrance to the National Maritime Museum is free. You can buy these either online or at any of the sites.

Exploring Greenwich Attractions as a Family

We parked up close to Greenwich Park and found that the area was very well sign posted for all the major attractions in the area. You’re also able to visit Greenwich by public transport, walking through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, jumping on one of the MBNA Thames Clippers down the River Thames or even have a trip on the Emirates Cable Car.

We knew the general direction we wanted to head in to get towards the river, and soon picked up signs for the Cutty Sark.

The Cutty Sark Greenwich

The Cutty Sark

The Cutty Sark launched in November 1869 and was at one time the world’s fastest sailboat. It was most famously used for shipping great quantities of tea all over the globe at record speeds. She now resides in a drydock on the south side of the Thames and is part of a fantastic visitor centre.

The Cutty Sark Greenwich

We started our visit with a journey through the cargo section of the hull, with authentic crates of tea and other goods stacked up as they would have been when the ship was sailing the globe. There were plenty of interactive screens and videos to watch to enhance our experience and really delve into the history of the ship. The children loved seeing if there were any hiding spaces in the hold to jump out at each other, pretending to be sailors!

The Cutty Sark Greenwich

As we followed the exhibitions around we soon found ourselves in what was once a crew area and the Captains quarters. This was great fun to explore and we even got to meet authentically costumed members of the crew. We got to stroll out on the main deck in the sunshine for great views of the masts, rigging and sails and even move the ships wheel.

The children were loving the experience and were excited to see that below deck, there were even more interactive exhibits, such as an massive electronic map racing game, where the aim is to try and beat the ship’s time using trade winds and a bit of cunning navigation. There was also a bench that didn’t stop moving, simulating being at sea. We got to read some diaries of sailors on board and get a taste of life at sea.

The Cutty Sark Greenwich

When we were ready to move on, we made our way down a few flights of stairs and found ourselves actually underneath the ship with it’s copper hull literally within touching distance. At least 90% of it is original and It was amazing to think that 150 years ago, it was in the ocean, setting speed records!

We also found a huge collection of ships figureheads on display at one end of the area with a reasonably priced café at the other end. The toilet facilities were well kept and clean, and after a quick break for tea and cake, we perused the gift shop to pick up a souvenir magnet of our visit – a bit of a tradition on a day out.

The Cutty Sark Greenwich

National Maritime Museum

Situated on the edge of Greenwich park, and part of the University of Greenwich is the National Maritime Museum. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, free to enter and home to all manner of artefacts and incredible works of art from around the world. It is mainly dedicated to all things naval and seafaring.

A kids play area is on the ground floor amongst some of the exhibits but we decided to skip past it otherwise we would’ve been there all day! There are hands on exhibits to keep children occupied and the Augmented Reality map on the mezzanine level was really fun, with staff issuing tablets to families so that we could point it to certain points on a massive globe that was on the floor and watch it come to life on the screens. The aim was to collect treasure from around the world before returning to our home port with the loot. It was great fun and we all learned something along the way.

National Maritime Museum Greenwich
National Maritime Museum Greenwich

Each wing of the Greenwich museum is home to a different gallery. We were drawn to the Battle of Trafalgar gallery, where we were able to see the actual uniform that Lord Nelson was wearing on that day in 1805, complete with the gruesome bullet hole from the shot that sadly killed him. A Union Flag, flown by HMS Minotaur at the Battle of Trafalgar, is also on display. Artefacts from both sides involved are on display and make a fascinating insight into an event that had global consequences.

The Royal Observatory

The Royal Observatory is world famous as being the home of the Prime Meridian of the world, the London Planetarium and of course, Greenwich Mean Time. It is obviously very popular with tourists and gets busier as the day goes on. We decided to see a tour of the solar system in the Planetarium (at an extra cost) so we booked into a showing later in the day so we could explore the rest of the Royal Observatory first and grab some lunch. The children were looking forward to the show and were keen to see the rest of the site first.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich

We decided to start our visit to the Greenwich Observatory with the prime Meridian Line experience, which is marked by an actual metal line in the ground, where you can stand in both the eastern and western hemispheres. The kids loved this, and were thrilled to be ‘stood exactly where time begins!’ They had a great time ‘jumping’ around the world and read all about the significance of GMT. They loved visiting the Greenwich line and were fascinated by the different clocks and timepieces on display and learning how to navigate the seas using the stars.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich

After lunch in the café, it was time for our Planetarium show. We chose the ‘Meet the Neighbours’ which is all about the Solar System. This was an interactive experience hosted by one of the astronomers from the Royal Observatory. He was very knowledgeable and got the whole audience involved, encouraging younger visitors to speak up and really setting their imaginations on fire.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich

We spent the whole day exploring Greenwich and only really scratched the surface. There is so much more that we could have done in the Greenwich area if we’d had enough time. Things like visiting the Old Royal Naval College and the last of the Royal Museums Greenwich – the Queen’s House. There’s also the famous Greenwich Market and Eltham Palace not too far away as well.

On top of everything else, Greenwich Park is a massive, beautiful green space just moments from central London and with fantastic views of the London City skyline and Canary Wharf it is a great place to spend some quality time with family and friends.

We’ve actually been to Greenwich since this trip and wrote our two day Greenwich itinerary here if you’d like more inspiration.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich

In: Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, Reviews

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Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

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