Rosie Scribble

Dinosaur hunting in Manchester and other adventures

Our recent trip to Manchester proved a great success. We visited the city courtesy of Creative Tourist -- the Arts magazine which celebrates culture in and around Manchester and beyond -- to take in the sites, visit the Family Friendly Film Festival and see what Manchester has to offer for families. From our base at the very exclusive Lowry Hotel, a regular hang-out for premiership footballers, so I’m told (none of whom I would recognise unfortunately), we  explored the city over two days, and we really liked it.

The Manchester Museum proved the biggest hit. IJ was so impressed with it that we ended up visiting twice. On both occasions she walked round with a Charles Darwin information sheet handed to us at the entrance which gave us a list of exhibits to tick off as we wandered round the various floors. She loved the stuffed monkeys, lions and foxes and adored the Amazon Rainforest Exhibit with its live lizards, frogs and snakes.

Her favourite exhibit by far, however, was the giant T-Rex on the ground floor. She was also taken with the Asian elephant skeleton, and would have brought it home if the museum had allowed. Thankfully, it was not an option. It would not sit well in my front room.

Before we left we spent some time in the museum’s Discovery Centre where IJ made a tiger mask and a monkey mask which we brought home with us. I was also impressed with the Café Muse where the food was excellent and reasonably priced. There was a wide selection of hot and cold food and also a children’s menu. The whole museum is also buggy-friendly.

The Family Friendly Film Festival was coming to an end during our stay and IJ decided that the Harry Potter showing was a little too old for her. Previous showings included Tinkerbell and Madagascar, and activities themed around Fantastic Mr Fox and Alice in Wonderland. We would definitely visit them again in the future.

Although IJ’s current fascination is with all things dinosaur- and skeleton-related, she still liked the Museum of Science and Industry, particularly the Station Building with its railway exhibits, appropriately fragrant walk-through underground sewer and section on rubbish and recycling. The Air and Space Hall with its air and road transport collections was also very good and has its own planetarium show.

In the evenings we went to the Triangle, Exchange Square, which I particularly liked. It is full of restaurants and the higher end shops like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. The main attraction there for IJ was the Wheel of Manchester which, again, we thought was great and gave us a great view of the city. IJ was also rather taken with nearby Manchester Cathedral and also the Printworks entertainment complex.

There was not time to see everything Manchester has to offer. On our list of future places to visit are the Manchester Art Gallery and Tatton Park, and no doubt IJ will want to see Manchester Museum again and visit her new friend T-Rex.

The Toy Story 3 effect

Communication between myself and IJ is very time-consuming at the moment. We appear to have reached the 'communicating by paper aeroplanes' stage. I wasn't aware this stage existed, but experience has now told me it does.

It involves me asking a very straight-forward question and IJ disappearing upstairs to write her answer on a paper aeroplane, which she then flies down to me. This is a little frustrating at times, especially if I have simply asked her if she would like a drink.

It is also quite sweet, or at least it would be if she wasn't sneaking into my office, taking paper out of the printer and then leaving a trail of it across the floor.

Above she is saying: I need help and fast. I need some shoes and I can't decide which ones I can wear, which she sent when I asked her why she was taking so long to get ready.

All this has come about since watching Toy Story 3: she is now on some sort of 'Buzz Lightyear-themed intergalactic mission', whatever that means, which requires half of her toys being carried  a round with her at all times, and her dressing as a cow girl.

I have no idea what this has to do with paper aeroplanes but apparently a special form of communication is needed when on such missions. Normal talking just does not take place.

That's all absolutely fine of course. It's good to see her using her imagination and playing with some old toys again.

Although I think I need to introduce her to the world of full-stops.

Even more addictive than Twitter

This weekend a new and exciting avenue has been explored in our little household, and the result is a brand new addiction - an addiction that has even taken me away from the computer. It is slightly more addictive than Twitter and I am a little bit in love with it.

At least I would be if I had played with it, which I haven't of course, honestly, really, not even a tiny weeny bit.

It's Lego. I would imagine that if I had played with IJ's first ever set then I would be hooked on slowly but surely building something incredibly impressive. I would find the distraction it offered incredibly therapeutic and I would be impressed at my own ability to follow instruction to the letter and produce something that really looks like it does on the box, unlike my baking.

If I had played with it while IJ was in bed, over-excited at being able to construct the castle from the Kingdom's range in peace and quiet, and anxious to get in finished so I could marvel at the end result, I would imagine that I would have found it incredibly addictive. I would, no doubt be very keen for IJ to purchase even more products and I may even have my eye on an even bigger project next time.

And ultimately with pride and an overblown sense of achievement, I would be presenting this:

Which of course I have  not painstakingly built myself, nor have I spent half an hour photographing my work (given that Lego is difficult to photograph with the flash on), in an attempt to find the best picture to display with pride on my blog. Not at all.

This is all the work of a seven-year-old child, you understand.

April Roundup: The month that was ...

During the month of April, I have been mainly doing this:

Stealing: Blog post ideas. The idea for this post has been stolen directly from English Mum, which is okay because last month Becky's Monthly Roundup idea was stolen by Erica.

Writing: At Ready for Ten -- the new parenting website for the parents of 6-9 year olds. Do come over and take a look and meet the rest of the team. So far we have posted about a range of topics including the General Election, Girls' style: Too much too young?, Preparing the garden for summer, Pester Power and Child's Play.

Reading: The Rules of Work by Richard Templar. My favourite rules so far include: Be passionate but don't kill yourself, Carve put a niche for yourself, and Under promise and Over deliver.

Loving: Rose Eau De Parfum by Paul Smith -- a birthday parent from my parents, and also the pink heart-shaped cushion IJ bought me .

Studying: For my Chartered Institution of Marketing exam in June.

Subscribing: To Marie Claire having decided I am too old for Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Laughing: With (not at) Louis Spence on Pineapple Dance Studios because he is fabulous.

Looking forward to: A forthcoming weekend hotel break, a trip to Gullivers Kingdom, and a week at Center Parcs at the end of the month.

Drayton Manor Theme Park Diamond Jubilee

Last weekend we headed off the the Drayton Manor Press Day. As Tara touched on in her own post about the event, I now have a daughter who thinks that all theme parks are free, and all you have to do to avoid the queues at the entrance and get a free buffet lunch, is to wear a press pass around your neck and smile nicely at the friendly PR people.

We took my sister and her boyfriend along to the event as well so that they would think I was fabulous for getting them a free ticket could enjoy a day in the park too, and because they don't live too far from Tamworth. The pair of them hinted that they were going to try and gain free VIP access to several music festivals by flashing their newly acquired press passes, until I pointed out that the Thomas the Tank Engine logo which might actually blow their cover.

The event was held to celebrate the park's Diamond Jubilee. How times have changed since the park was first opened to the public in April 1950.

 

To commemorate its 60th anniversary year, Drayton Manor is launching a special Memories Campaign and inviting the public to email their photographs, videos and associated captions, along with stories and memories of Drayton Manor from yesteryear. These will then be shared publicly, via the special anniversary website, www.draytonmanor60th.co.uk

We all had a fabulous day. I particularly enjoyed the log flume, although the fact that I would not get on the ride until I had purchased a head-to-toe waterproof mac seemed a clear sign that my wild and reckless days are now over.

IJ loved Thomas Land (where she seemed to think the train called Rosie was hilarious), the singing Fat Controller, the zoo, the indoor soft play, and the picnic area. 

 

More than anything else, she enjoyed spending time with Tara and Jo's children. They had such a wonderful time together that we ended up leaving the park after it's official closing time, and they were all keen to do more.

As we left IJ spotted that the theme park is building a hotel. She looked at the building work then at her press pass, and I know what she was thinking because I was thinking it too.

We could get very used to this!