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 · June 9, 2020

Exploring the UK Harry Potter Filming Locations {Update}

Over a year ago we made a plan to visit all of the Harry Potter filming locations across the UK. Now, we haven’t done too well with this task – hence not writing an update until now. We had planned to tick another couple off over Easter and May half term this year but obviously our plans changed due to the pandemic. So I thought it best to give a little update on how we’re doing anyway.

One thing’s for sure, when life has returned to normal we need another day in London to tick a big chunk of these off!

St. Pancras and King’s Cross Stations, London (Platform 9¾)

Leadenhall Market, London (Diagon Alley and Leaky Cauldron)

Borough Market, London (Leaky Cauldron)

Piccadilly Circus, London

In February we had a trip to London for a movie screening and went for a wander through the city afterwards. We walked through Piccadilly Circus, where Harry, Hermione and Ron rush through in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and they nearly get hit by a bus!

Australia House, London 

Our walk took us past Australia House too which is almost unrecognisable as Gringotts Bank in the Harry Potter movies.

Scotland Place and Scotland Yard, London

The last stop on our walk was to the corner of Scotland Place and Scotland Yard where a telephone box once stood as the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. I wonder how they get inside now?!

Millennium Bridge, London

Reptile House, London Zoo, London

Claremont Square, London (Grimmauld Place)

St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London (Exterior of Kings Cross Station)

Seven Sisters Cliffs, East Sussex

12 Picket Post Close, Bracknell (4 Privet Drive)

We live so close to the house where the Dursleys lived in the Harry Potter movies but had never seen it for ourselves – until we drove past it one day! It was only used in the first movie and was then built as a set.

Swinley Forest, Bracknell

Swinley Forest is somewhere we visit quite often. It’s where the Look Out Discovery Centre is – and where Little Man had his birthday party last year. The children love knowing that parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed there too!

Black Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire

Virginia Water (Hogwarts Lake)

We went on a bike ride to Virginia Water and the children loved it. It’s somewhere I go to run quite often and although the lake is so familiar to me it was lovely to see it with fresh eyes – as the Hogwarts Lake and a filming location.

Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire (Snape’s potion classroom)

Gloucester Cathedral (Hogwarts interior)

Bodleian Library, Oxford (Hogwarts Library)

Christ Church College, Oxford (Hogwarts Infirmary)

Ashridge Wood, Hertfordshire (Quidditch World Cup and home of Whomping Willow)

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (Malfoy Manor)

At the start of 2019 we had a weekend at Darwin Forest and went to Hardwick Hall whilst we were there. It’s probably one of the most impressive National Trust properties we have been to and it was immediately obvious why it had been chosen to star as Malfoy Manor in the movies.

Forest of Dean

Lavenham, Suffolk (Godric’s Hollow)

Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, Wales (Shall Cottage Backdrop)

Durham Cathedral (Hogwarts 0exterior and Professor McGonagall’s classroom)

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland (Hogwarts exterior)

The Shambles, York (Diagon Alley)

Malham Cove, North Yorkshire

Goathland Station, North Yorkshire (Hogsmeade Station)

Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scotland

Loch Etive, Glen Coe, Loch Eilit and Loch Arkaig, Scotland (Backdrop to the Harry Potter movies)

So as you can see, we definitely need to venture further around the country to tick more Harry Potter sites off the list!

In: Days Out

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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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