Tea Dance For Little People

There has been much excitement in our neck of the woods about the opening of TDLP, a fantastic new creative play space for the under fives. The brainchild of local mum Sally-Anne Donaldson, who has brought together artists, dancers and musicians to engage your children in a variety of activities based around a changing monthly theme.

Painting fish

Add to this the fab little cafe where you can grab a very good cup of Monmouth coffee and you have a hit on your hands in my book! Great quality snacks are available for hungry little ones, Dodo is rather partial to the avocado on toast. You can really tell that a mum is involved with the menu and overall planning of the place, even down to the kid friendly seating.

 The theme this month has been the beach and all things nautical. With a pirate ship made from cardboard boxes and cushions and a sandpit perfect for digging up treasure. The creativity and thought that has gone into decorating the space is impressive, certainly loads of ideas for rainy day fun you can do at home. We have visited 3 times so far during this month and with a different artist each week to inspire Dodo there is no sign of her getting bored with this theme! Given half a chance she would be there everyday.

 

 

 

 

 

Pirate ship perfect for walking the plank

There is a program of twilight activities planned from September including kid's yoga and French through dance. For more information on these do check out the lovely website http://www.tdlp.co.uk/
We are very lucky to live just down the road and will be making full use of all the fun on offer, but with the easy access on the East London line to Brockley station there is no reason for us South East Londoners to keep this all to ourselves. I highly recommend you make a visit soon.

Playing with a mermaid

 

 

Sandy fun..and a deckchair for mum!

 I will give the last word to a very tired and laid back Dodo..You can find the TDLP at The Tea Factory, 106 Endwell Road, London SE4 2LX

Silent Sunday

The Gallery: Water

In it, under it, next to it, on it..that is where I am at my best. Happy times for me have always been associated with water. I have worked on yachts, I dive, I love to swim and whenever I get the chance I choose to live close to the sea or at the very least a river. Being back in South East London is pretty tough as it's still a bit far from the Thames for my liking! I am hoping Dodo will feel the same and have had her in the sea at every possible opportunity.

Start em' young

Play time with the sharks

Thailand is so connected with water and that is probably one of the reasons I like it so much. Bangkok with it's great muddy brown Chao Phraya river and the coast line and islands with fantastic beaches and world class dive sites. Not forgetting the most important festival in Thai culture, Songkran. The best excuse for a huge 3 day long water fight. Very handy that it falls around the time of my birthday in April, so I never have to plan a party for myself again! Just step out the door armed with the biggest water pistol I can get my hands on and prepare to get soaked. The heat has really started to pick up by April so a good drenching is just what everyone needs..add crazy music, beer and loads of white slimy chalk that the friendly locals love to smear all over everyone (not at all pervy if you were wondering!) and you end up feeling totally childish and having brilliant fun. Yeah I guess you can tell how much I love it! I could go on but I will spare you..This year I tried to introduce Dodo to the whole Songkran festival experience..didn't quiet go as planned..Will let the pictures do the talking!

LolliBop 2011..Dodo's *ever so slightly* ranty verdict!

Given the late change of plans to stay and have the twins in London I had done nada in the way of booking fun stuff for poor Dodo. So spotting LolliBop tweets and a quick look at the weather outside I thought it might be an ideal chance to get out in the fresh air and have some festival action minus mud and camping.
In my condition the prospect of a whole day trooping about London with Dodo was a bit daunting so I was very glad that Nana was free and able to come along to help me out. This was to be the best decision of the day given the amount of queuing that LolliBop requires!
We thought we would be clever and get of the tube at Baker Street, which would have been fine if we had then walked the right way..we didn't. What followed was a lot of walking round looking for signs (there was none!) picking up other lost families saying the same thing. We all got there in the end and after parting with our on the door ticket fee of £30 (cursing myself for not being savvy and booking online..in advance!) we made it through the gates..and then we saw the queues.

Almost there! The long walk through Regents Park

One of the great things about Lollibop is that most of the activities are included in the ticket price. When you stop and work out how much the face painting, craft workshops, inflatables and full length stage shows would cost if you had paid for them all separately then the £30 starts to sound pretty good value. Now if you are an organised grown up (I try..and fail) you would have a picnic and a blanket and all that   sorted..if not then you will have to join the mega queue for expensive food! This is where having the other adult helper comes in. If you take it in turns to stand in the line while one of you takes the kids to a nearby activity you can avoid the meltdowns that would ensue, mine most likely. We employed this system in all the queues and it worked pretty well. 

Face painting included..worth the wait!

Dodo got to take part in pretty much everything that she wanted, and for me the biggest joy was having a day where I could say YES to almost everything! I realised how often I have to say no. The look of pure glee on the kids faces with all the fun they were having made all the waiting worthwhile.

There has been talk of the festival being to character heavy, with all the usual Cbeebies favourites in the line up. This didn't bother me at all as there was plenty of great arts and crafts and physical play on offer. Rastamouse was a highlight (for me!) and he seemed to crop up all over the place so no worries about missing him! You could spend the whole day without the t.v characters. I would suggest checking out the line up and when you arrive do a quick dash round and book workshops/pick up tickets for shows that might fill up later.

Mask making..glitter fest!

Tada!

So to sum up..Yes we would do it again..Book in advance (for the Friday if you can, avoid the scrum at the weekend) Take a picnic..Take another adult...Be prepared for queues..and have loads of FUN! We did. Last word goes to a camera shy (it won't last!) Dodo.

Silent Sunday

Reasons for being a rubbish blogger..my excuses list!

Well despite having the good intentions of blogging about my move to Bangkok and the adventures Dodo and I were planning to have I have posted zilch..Wait..Wait..hear me out before you all kick my ass! I got the shock of my life when I discovered that I had gotten on the plane unknowingly up the duff!

What followed was 3 months of madness and major morning sickness. Trust me on this Bangkok is not a kind city for a woman trying to get a collection ready in time for a trade show. Stupidly high temperatures, pollution and smells coming at you from everywhere, not great when you can barely keep water in your stomach. The tuk-tuk rides and traffic jams really took it out of me and I was delighted to be back in the drizzle of South London!
So as you can all imagine I had my hands/brain kind of full..and they are set to be fuller..during the madness I found out that I am expecting twins. Not sure I have my head around this yet, but I better get on with it as I'm now 21 weeks pregnant and the babies are growing at a scary rate. My belly is getting pummeled with kicks and punches and I often wonder how my body can possibly contain 2 other humans?! It's exciting and scary all at the same time. So my Bangkok adventures have been put on hold and I am staying put until I have my new additions here safe and sound.

Now you can all feel free to kick my ass from here on in as I do need it every now and then. I have missed my blog and really want to get back on track with it, so please please if you see me going off the blogging straight and narrow have a loud word in my ear!