Things To Do 2019

Jump 360 Newcastle Review

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Last week we were kindly invited along to Jump 360 at Longbenton.

Harry’s been to a friends party here before and when he said “mam, it’s the greatest place ever” I thought “sure it is”. I honestly didn’t expect it to be any different to the other trampoline parks we’ve visited in the area.

How wrong was I?! It’s a trampoline and inflatable park combined with loads of head to head activities. From the Geordie Ninja Warrior Course to the Rotating Battle Beam, Evie and Harry could’ve easily spent longer than their 1 hour time slot in the arena.

The mezzanine cafe offers full views over the park and is a perfect spot to enjoy a coffee while the kids burn off some energy.

There’s plenty of friendly staff on hand to keep an eye on things and offer help when needed. The entire venue is very clean and tidy with loads of off-street parking. There’s specialised sessions throughout the week including an “Adults Only” hour on Saturday night.

I often see Jump 360 pop up on Groupon and they do offer deals direct so it’s worth looking online if you fancy visit.

Jump 360 Trampoline Park Newcastle

I’ll leave the final words to Harry and confirm that Jump 360 is “the greatest place ever”

Have you been to Jump 360? What did you think of it?

Gutterball Alley, North Shields

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The old Star Bowl site (next to Wet ‘n’ Wild) has recently been taken over by the guys behind Lane7, they’ve given it a much needed refurb and opened Gutterball Alley.

Gutterball Alley promises to “Make Fun Great Again” and we had an absolute blast when we were invited along last week.

The bowling lanes have had a good tidy up and the sport showing TV’s are a very welcome addition.

Gutterball Alley isn’t just all about the bowling; there’s ping-pong, pool, arcades and the not-yet-opened-but-coming-very-soon bull pen, mini golf and curling.

The food currently on offer at Gutterball Alley is very similar to Lane7 but the menu isn’t as extensive. Gutterball Alley are playing it safe offering mainly burgers and hotdogs, no complaints from us as these are our go to options anyway. The food we tried was nice and I loved the cheese sauce on the nacho dog.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable time at Gutterball Alley. Harry’s already asked if we can come back in January for his birthday!

For full details, pricing and booking options visit https://www.gutterballalley.co.uk

DISCLAIMER: We were offered a free game of bowling, food and drinks but all thoughts are our own.

Festive Family Fun at Woodhorn Museum

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If you’re looking for a chilled family day out once the kids break up for Christmas, I highly recommend a visit to Woodhorn Museum!

We were invited along to check out the “Festive Family Fun” events currently running and had a brilliant day seeing Santa, skating and exploring the museum.

Tales with Father Christmas

You can meet the main man and enjoy a seasonal story featuring classics like ‘The Snowman’ and ‘The Polar Express’. The groups aren’t huge and the whole thing felt very personal. Santa takes his time to speak to each child and they all leave the experience with a lovely age appropriate gift.

For full details and booking availability go to https://museumsnorthumberland.org.uk/festive-tales-with-father-christmas/

Pit Yard Skating

Situated right in the centre of the museum grounds, the synthetic rink is a good size and has skating aides available which are free to use

For prices and booking options, visit https://museumsnorthumberland.org.uk/pit-yard-skating-at-woodhorn-museum/

The museum cafe is the perfect spot to refuel and warm up, it’s super spacious so the tables aren’t rammed in next to each other. The hot roast sandwich was absolutely delicious!

The outdoor playground at Woodhorn is a firm favourite with Evie and Harry, they’d spend hours there if I let them!

The exhibitions are always worth a wander round, we’ve walked through the museum so many times yet we still learn something new.

All in all, we found our Festive Family Fun Day excellent. Woodhorn’s event calendar is always busy so the yearly pass is super value for money. Follow the museum’s social media accounts to keep up to date with what they have on.

DISCLAIMER: We were offered free tickets to the festive events but all thoughts are our own.

Lumiere Durham

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From the 14th to the 17th November 2019 The Lumiere Festival returns to Durham City Centre for its tenth year.

In the most ambitious edition of the festival to date, there are 37 installations throughout the city; a mix of old favourites and new commissions.

The festival is open from 4:30pm until 11pm each evening. Between 4:30pm-7:30pm access to the Central Peninsula area of the city is by ticket only. If you don’t have a ticket, don’t panic, there’s plenty to explore outside of the ticketed area (including my favourite installation)

New for 2019, there is a Lumiere Durham app. It guides you around the festival and will help you make your most of your time in Durham.

If you’re thinking of attending the festival before it leaves (and hopefully returns in 2021) I’ve put together my top tips for visiting…

1. Plan your route

2. Use Park & Ride or public transport

3. The festival is busiest between 4:30pm-7:30pm, try visiting outside of these times

4. Download the app

5. Wrap up warm

6. Bring a torch

7. While in the city, pay a visit to one of the many amazing eateries. I highly recommend The Boat Club, Durham.

8. Get social and share your experience online using #LumiereDurham

As the festival draws to an end, I hope it’s been a huge success – This is Durham and Artichoke Trust have, in my opinion, put on an absolutely cracking event!

Have you been to Lumiere 2019? What did you think of it?

Old School Sprinkle Cake Recipe

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Everyone’s favourite! Do you have it with custard, ice cream or just on its own?

INGREDIENTS

  • Margarine
  • Caster Sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • Self Raising Flour
  • Icing Sugar
  • Sugar Strand Sprinkles

The amount of margarine, caster sugar and SR flour you need will depend on the weight of your eggs. Weigh the eggs (in their shell) and use this amount of margarine, caster sugar and SR flour in the mix.

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to Gas 4 or equivalent.

2. Weigh your eggs (in their shell) then measure out your margarine, caster sugar and flour.

3. Cream your margarine and caster sugar together. The longer you do this step, the lighter your sponge. I leave it mixing for about 5 mins. It’ll go almost white and really airy.

4. Add your flour and eggs.

5. Fold together until completely combined but don’t over mix.

6. Empty the mixture in to a lined baking tin.

7. Bake for 25-30 mins or until golden brown and pulling away from the edge.

8. Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

9. Once cooled, make your water icing. Spread the water icing on to the cooled sponge.

10. Add your sprinkles (the more the merrier!)

11. Allow a few minutes for the icing to set then tuck in and enjoy!

Caravan Holidays with Kids

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I love a caravan holiday! And luckily, Evie and Harry really enjoy them as well. We’ve recently stayed at Parkdean’s Cresswell Towers and Whitley Bay sites. After a quick browse around, I managed to book each of these weekend breaks for less than £100 so you can definitely bag a bargain, one of the many plus points of a caravan stay.

We usually book pretty local (Northumberland/Yorkshire/Cumbria). We’ve found when it comes to facilities, all of the Parkdean sites are much the same, so when we’re only away for a few days, hours of travelling doesn’t appeal to us. We’re lucky to have quite a few parks less than an hours drive away.

When booking, if an upgrade is offered, I recommend taking it. The caravans tend to be bigger and newer with central heating throughout and it’s normally only an additional £20-£30.

The caravan we stayed in most recently had these USB sockets which were great!

Parkdean have fantastic activity timetables and amazing entertainment staff. Most activities are included within your holiday price (some do have an additional charge) so be sure to make use of what’s offered on site.

After years of caravan holidays, I have my list of “Packing Essentials” hopefully you’ll find it useful

  • Bath and hand towels
  • Toiletries
  • Toilet roll
  • Pillows
  • Tea towels
  • Washing up liquid & sponge
  • Anti-bac wipes
  • Tea/coffee/sugar/milk

If, like me, you don’t fancy cooking while away, check out any offers running in the bar/restaurant. If they don’t take your fancy, there’s always JustEat 😜

Lastly, enjoy and embrace the chaos that comes with a staycation, you’re making memories that will last a lifetime!

YHA Stays With Kids

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My first experience of a Youth Hostel was at YHA York back in 2002. It was everything you’d expect from a Youth Hostel – big dorm rooms, sharing with strangers and very basic facilities. We were 18 at the time and, at £16pppn, it was absolutely ideal for us!

Since then, YHA have invested millions of pounds renovating and upgrading their sites throughout the UK, introducing private bedrooms and bar/restaurant areas to most of their properties.

During the Summer holidays, I wanted to set Evie and Harry the challenge of climbing a peak and, where better to complete that challenge, than in the Lake District.

As always, my plans were very last minute so when I tried to book accommodation in Keswick, places were either fully booked or ridiculously priced.

That’s when YHA popped up on my radar for the first time in 17 years. The more I looked in to it, the more perfect it became! So I booked a family room with shared toilet and, a few days later, we hit the road.

First impressions, we were amazed! The location was absolutely spot on, the staff were super friendly, it had facilities you’d find in any other hotel and the atmosphere was relaxed and inviting.

We found our stay at YHA Keswick really family friendly, they’ve put a lot of thought in to occupying children, from the huge stash of boardgames to the daily activities. Evie and Harry found it all brilliant.

We’d booked breakfast with our stay and, again, I couldn’t fault it. With hot and cold food options and unlimited drinks, it was fantastic value for money.

After breakfast and checkout, and with a little guidance from the super smiley Simon, we climbed Latrigg. I’m pleased to report we made it to the top without a single complaint from the ones with little legs!

Since our YHA Keswick visit, we’ve stayed at YHA Ambleside and we were equally impressed with that site.

If you’re looking for family accommodation with really good nightly rates, I can’t recommend YHA enough. The private rooms are ideal!! We have a list of YHA sites we’re planning on visiting over the next 12 months so I’ll keep you all updated with our travels

If you fancy booking a stay, the YHA website can be found at https://www.yha.org.uk

Elmer’s Great North Parade

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Elmer’s Great North Parade takes to the streets this Autumn.

Running for 11 weeks, until the 1st November, 50 big and 114 little painted elephant sculptures will be dotted throughout North East streets, parks and public buildings in the biggest and brightest art trail the region has ever seen. The parade has been organised by St Oswalds Children’s Hospice to help raise vital funds for the charity. Once the trial has finished, the elephants will be auctioned off to raise even more for St Oswalds.

Much like the Snow Dogs from a few years ago, there’s an app to accompany the trial. It costs 99p and is easy to use, showing the location of each herd member. There’s a 4 digit number linked to each sculpture which you can upload to the app. When you unlock certain elephants, you’ll be given a reward.

The best way to get around the trial is by Metro, plan your route and get a day ticket so you can jump on and off when you need to.

We concentrated on hunting down the Big Herd and last weekend we found number 50! We’ve loved completing the trial and we’ve each picked our favourite. We’ll hopefully get along to the Farewell event happening at Newcastle Racecourse on the 9th & 10th of November 2019 to see them all one last time.

So, do we start on the Little Herd now??

#ElmersGreatNorthParade #StOswalds #ProtectTheHerd #Newcastle #Northumberland #TyneAndWear #DaysOutWithTheKids