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Princess and the frog, a perfect first ballet

March 3, 2018

Eden’s first ballet

I have wanted to take Eden to a ballet for a while now. I saw tickets for The Princess and the Frog ballet come up on the Little Bird website during February half term. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to experience our first ballet together. If you haven’t discovered Little Bird yet they offer discounted tickets for all kinds of kids days out, it’s worth a look!

The Princess and the Frog ballet

The Princess and the Frog ballet was showing at Leicester Square Theatre in London. A 30 minute long show, narrated and made suitable for children of all ages but in particular children aged between 2-9.

We arrived 30 mins before our show time and found our seats within the theatre. Eden was very excited about seeing her first ballet, as was I.

The stage was simply dressed with a sparkly lit tree by a pond. As soon as the beautiful ballerina stepped onto the stage, Eden’s face lit up. The ballerina dressed in a gorgeous pink tutu with gold embroidery and tiara on her head looked very part the princess. She danced to the music so gracefully, it was so enchanting, almost hypnotic to watch. It’s safe to say Eden did not move an inch during the show.

The story of the princess and the frog was narrated and the princess ballerina and the joyful frog brought the story to life. The frog was fun and playful and wanted to be friends with the princess but the princess was not so keen. As the story progressed the pair became wonderful friends! The children loved watching the pair play hide and seek on stage and thought it hilarious when frog came down to the audience. To see the princess and the frog dance together at the end was truly beautiful and the children were transfixed. It lasted 30 minutes which was perfect timing for smaller ones, however I could of stayed for hours. Both myself and Eden found the show so enchanting and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Photo opportunity

After the show, all the children had the opportunity to meet the characters on stage for a photo. This was a really nice touch and the queue moved very quickly. Eden was thrilled to meet the characters from The Princess and the Frog ballet. The ballet was produced by a company called Lets All Dance. They specialise in shows for children and families. For more information on their next show visit their website.

We also went to see Alice in Wonderland ballet, it was amazing, see our review here.

Thank you for reading ‘The Princess and the Frog ballet, a perfect first ballet’.

Lifestyle, Unusual

Eden meets Buttons – Cadbury’s Adopt a Cow Campaign!

July 25, 2017

Cadbury’s Adopt a Cow Campaign

We were invited along to take part in a life drawing class with Illustrator Rose Blake and ‘Buttons’ the 8 foot animatronic Cadbury cow for Cadbury’s Adopt a Cow campaign.

The journey

Eden was super excited, she couldn’t remember the last time she went on a train as she was still small and in her buggy. We had taken her for a sightseeing tour around London to see all the sights. Even managing to get into Downing Street to stand outside number 10 that day! I think Eden slept through and missed most of it!

The journey was simple, we went straight into Liverpool Street. Followed by a short 15 minute walk to the Barbican Centre. I’ve never been there before and thought it was an amazing place. With exhibitions, a shop and cinema.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat in The Barbican Kitchen where kids eat free with an adult meal! Always a bonus! Then headed up to our life drawing class with Rose Blake.

Meeting Buttons

So Buttons the animatronic cow was created to mark Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons Adopt a Cow campaign. It was revealed that many city children had never seen a cow before and many children had no idea of their size or what they looked like. Buttons The Cadbury cow is giving city children an opportunity to get up close and see what they are like.

When we first walked into the room, at first glance you would think it was the real thing. Controlled by animatronics and puppeteers, Buttons stood 8 foot tall and was extremely impressive. Lifelike and mooing just like a regular cow.

Eden wasn’t intimidated and went straight in for a hug. She wasn’t quite so brave when it came to touching his tongue but she did it and then made a run for it!

The drawing class

The room was set up perfectly. Several easels spread around the room, each with its own equipment. All centred around for a great view of Buttons. Rose Blake had kindly prepared booklets giving easy step by step instructions on how to sketch your cow. Eden of course went free hand and drew a rainbow cow with multicoloured spots! My husband couldn’t resist having a go too, even I got in on the action.

The session was super relaxed, Rose Blake was very friendly and came and chatted to each of us about our pictures. Once finished the children got to show their pictures to Buttons. Eden was thrilled that Buttons liked her picture!

At the end of the class, Eden received a cow balloon and a Cadbury gift bag which of course included some Cadbury Buttons. She was so pleased! Especially with the balloon and chocolate buttons.

The Cadbury’s Adopt a Cow campaign gives families the opportunity to adopt a cow via an on-pack promotion and 20 lucky families the chance to win an overnight trip to meet their cow at its farm.

Special promotion packs can be found in stores now with the competition closing on 31st August 2017. For more information about the Cadbury’s Adopt a Cow campaign go to https://adoptacow.cadbury.co.uk/.

I think Eden will be talking about meeting Buttons for a very long time! What a great day out!

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Days Out, Family Life, Memories, My Sunday Photo, Outdoors

My Sunday Photo – Enjoying our beautiful city London!

June 4, 2017

Well it’s a sad ‘My Sunday Photo’ day today, waking up and realising it wasn’t all just a bad dream. It was real, our beautiful city London, that we love and enjoy has come under attack. Scarier still when we were there ourselves just yesterday.

What an amazing day we had in London, travelling on the tube to see 42nd Street. A dazzling show we enjoyed every second of it. We meandered around Covent Garden and strolled through the stalls at the Jubilee Market. We people watched, we drank in the sights, smells and tastes of London, truly indulging in and enjoying our city.

Those people that seek to attack us and bring us down are cowards. They cannot stop us from living, loving and appreciating our beautiful city London.

My Sunday Photo is of a gorgeous family day we spent enjoying London. We had walked for miles soaking in the sights, followed the trail of the Dream Jars last August, celebrating the launch of The BFG. We had walked along the Southbank that day. It was bustling with people young and old. It was exciting and new for Eden, we showed her the sights and we hunted for dream jars and what a glorious day that was.

Dream Jar – Ship of Dreams

You will never stop us from living our lives, there are those that will try and break us but we will overcome them, for they are the weak. The cowards that hide and plan in the shadows and then prey on our innocent and vulnerable. You are cowards, you are nothing.