Now that we are allowed to venture a bit further, we have enjoyed exploring parts of Dorset that we've not been to for a while. One such place is Portland, the southernmost part of Dorset and we took a visit here over Easter weekend.
The Isle of Portland is connected to the mainland by Chesil Beach. Famous for it's stone, Portland Stone has been quarried for many years and can even be found in St Paul's Cathedral. Although the island is only 4 miles long and 1.7 miles wide, it has lots to offer and makes the perfect day out for a family.
We started our Portland visit by stopping at the viewpoint at the top which faces out towards Chesil Beach. On a clear day the views are amazing and you can see all along the Jurassic Coast.
Situated at the very tip of the island is Portland Bill and this was our next stop. In normal times, you can go in the visitors centre and even have tours up the lighthouse but due to Covid these have been put on hold. They are hopeful the Visitors Centre can open from 17th May but please check the PB website for more updates.
We decided to follow a circular walk (this is the route we followed) which began in the carpark - at 3.5miles long it was perfect for the children and very scenic along the way. We headed up towards the cliff with the lighthouse behind us and could see as far as Charmouth and Lyme Regis.
The walk then headed inland where we crossed straight across the Island and back down towards the South West Coast Path. As you can see we made some friends along the way!
The final section of the walk led us along the craggy coastline, past the quarries of long ago and again with stunning scenery of the Jurassic Coastline.
Along the path you can see the remains of the cranes - these would have been used to load Portland Stone onto the barges where it was then shipped to London.
Soon we were back at Portland Bill Lighthouse and it was time for a bite to eat. At our time of visiting, the Lobster Pot were serving takeaway food and drink. I did think the prices at the Lobster pot were quite high (£3.95 for a portion of chips) but this didn't deter visitors and there was a steady stream of people in the queue.
If you're heading to Portland, other places that are worth a visit are Fancy's Farm and the Sculpture Park at Tout Quarry. The South West Coast Path runs all the way around the Island and there are lots of walking trails available.
As a family we love going to the theatre to see family friendly shows and we are spoilt for choice in our local area. The Lighthouse Poole is our local theatre and they have a wide range of live shows including a fabulous line up of kid friendly performances.
Over the Easter holidays, the People's Theatre Company bought their fantastic live show to Poole - The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. This is a story I remember reading as a little girl and as always with these kind of shows, I was really intrigued to see how a short children's book could be turned into an hour long show!
As we took our seats, the stage was simply set with a sofa, fridge and a simple window backdrop. The story began and we were introduced to the old lady - who was a spritely old thing! We also met an alien and a space traveller called Nambang from the planet Toefluff.
Photo credit - PTC
As you may have guessed, the story is not quite as you expect! I won't give anything away but let's just say, the audience are very much encouraged to join in with the songs. The singing helps the old lady finish the story so we (and the aliens) can see what happens. How does she eat all those animals? Does she die?!
Photo Credit - PTC
At just over an hour, this was the perfect amount of time to keep my little ones entertained. I think the alien story line went over their heads a little but they found it hilarious watching the animation of when the old lady eats all the animals. The audience participation was fun and very suited for the age range in the audience - even Erin (2) knew most of the songs so it was fab for her to be able to join in.
Elliot's favourite part (and I knew it would be!) was getting to shout "PERHAPS SHE'LL DIE!!!!" at the end of every segment. He was a bit over enthusiastic at times haha!
The icing on the cake for the children was spotting the characters in the foyer after the show - Erin's a bit funny with people dressed up but even she had her photo with the alien!
Thank you PTC for a fun afternoon - we hope see more of your shows in the future :)
For more information and tour dates, check out the PTC website
**Disclaimer - We were provided with press tickets for the purpose of this review but our reviews are always honest!
If you are a regular reader of this blog then you might have guessed that Elliot likes dinosaurs a bit. Well, not just a bit - he is dinosaur crazy and has been since he was a toddler!
Suitable for all the family (3+), this interactive show introduces us to Miranda, who grew up on a remote island off the coast of South America where dinosaurs still roamed. Miranda was very bubbly and engaging and chatted to the audience about her parents who were palaeontologists and how she looks after the dinosaurs.
Throughout the show, the audience are introduced to 6 different dinosaurs, from little baby ones to big ginormous ones! You're probably wondering how on earth they got dinosaurs to go on tour but they are actually puppets. And very very clever puppets! Even though you can obviously see the cast controlling the puppets (complete with noises!), they are so realistic and by the end of the show you almost don't see them as puppets.
Children from the audience were invited to come up on stage and help look after the dinosaurs - feeding them, and even brushing them. Miranda did a great job at putting the kids to ease in what could have been an intimidating encounter!
Our favourite moment was when Titus the T-Rex came out on stage - the lights dimmed, there was smoke...and a deafening roar! Elliot did jump out of skin at this part so I think it could be a bit scary for little ones - although our friends were sat nearer to the front of the stage and their baby thought it was hilarious!
At the end of the show, the audience were invited to queue up along the stage for a special meet and greet with one of the dinosaurs. This could have been chaotic but actually everyone queued quite nicely and we didn't have to wait too long to get up close to the Segnosaurus! You could also meet the baby triceratops in the foyer which proved very popular.
Overall we really enjoyed the show. At just under an hour it was the perfect length to keep children entertained and the perfect mix of facts and fun!
Dinosaur World Live is currently touring the UK so check out the website for more info and tickets
*A big thank you to my friends Liska and Andy for letting me use their photos - my phone died 2 minutes before the show began!
There aren't many children's books that are still as popular today as they were back in the day. But Dear Zoo is one of those classics that everyone has read! First released in 1982, this book has been a massive hit with children over the years and has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.
Dear Zoo has now been transformed into a colourful stage show and we were lucky enough to see it when it came to the Lighthouse, Poole.
If you're not familiar with the book, it tells the story of Ben (played by Harrison Spiers in the show) who writes to the zoo requesting a pet. Lots of animals are sent..but not all of them are suitable! It is such a simple book and perfect for little ones and I was quite intrigued to see how it would work on the stage.
As we entered the theatre, the stage was set out as a brightly covered garden. With a brief introduction from Sam the Zookeeper (Aaron Spendelow), we were introduced to Ben and his friend Sally (Molly Waters). Bounding around with the stage with lots of enthusiasm, they were engaging and very believable as their characters!
Soon, the zoo animals started arriving with Sam the Zookeeper. Following the illustrations in the book, the props/animal crates were all immediately recognisable and the children were very keen to see what was inside. With some animal songs and lots of audience interaction, the children in the audience were entralled.
Most of the animals were puppets but the naughty monkey and the frog were hopping around the stage causing mayhem!
If you know the story then you'll know that eventually, Sam brings an animal which is a bit more suitable but I won't give away too much ;)
This is a lovely stage show and perfect for an introduction to theatre for children. The recommended age range is 2-6 but I think younger audiences would enjoy it too, Erin certainly did and she's only 15 months old. The show is 50 minutes long which is just the right length of time to hold their attention. It helps that audience participation is encouraged so you don't feel so bad if your child gets a bit fidgety!
The Dear Zoo Live show is currently touring the UK, for more information on dates and how to book tickets, take a look at their website http://www.dearzooandfriends.com/dear-zoo-live
*Disclaimer - We were provided these tickets in exchange for an honest review but I think the big smile in the photo above says alot about how much he enjoyed it! :)
I have mentioned this before on the blog but I belong to a local choir called Just Sing. We meet once a week to practice and we sing a wide range of music including pop, rock and musical theatre.
Back in January, one of our lovely ladies Beverley heard about a competition that was being run by vocal quartet G4. Cast your mind back to 2004, G4 were crowned runners up on series 1 of The X Factor and they went on to have 3 very successful albums. The group split up in 2007 but are now back together and about to embark on their "Back for Good" tour.
For the tour, G4 were looking for choirs to sing with them on stage and unbeknown to Just Sing, our name was put forward by Beverley. Fortunately for us, G4 liked what they heard and we were invited to sing with them on their opening night at the Lighthouse Arts Centre in Poole - how exciting!!
We were given the exciting news in February and the concert was April 3rd so this gave us just over 8 weeks to learn 5 new songs including complex harmonies. The set list was very different to our usual repertoire but everyone in the choir rose to the challenge and we set about learning our lines.
The next 8 weeks went by in a blur and I seemed to be singing "Barcelona" in my sleep. As well as our weekly rehearsal, I practiced in the car...in the kitchen...in the shower...anything to learn those harmonies! My 3 year old son even got in on the act, he'd join in if I sang in the car and on several occasions he belted out "One Day More!" in the supermarket!
In the week leading up to the concert, we had two rehearsals and then all of a sudden, the day of the concert arrived. There was a flurry of activity on social media from lots of the choir members and everyone was so excited!
Although the concert wasn't due to start until 7.30pm, we had to arrive early for a run through with G4. Nerves started kicking in a bit then, especially as we had to wait for our sound check. Nothing like playing the waiting game to get the butterflies going!!
At just after 5pm, 100 members of the Just Sing choir took our places on the Lighthouse stage and we were off. It was so interesting being there for the soundcheck and seeing what goes on behind the scenes. We ran through our songs with G4 and it was definitely a different experience to singing in a school hall! It was slightly tricky as we couldn't really hear what we sounded like so we just had to sing and hope for the best! I took a video whilst we were singing You Raise Me Up, all you can hear is me singing though, oops!
Once our rehearsal was over we had a little bit of time waiting for the 7.30pm curtain call so it was a chance to mingle with choir friends, take photos and generally get excited!
When it was finally time to go on stage again, I felt so nervous and had major butterflies. But as soon as we walked out onto the stage and saw the audience the adrenaline kicked in and I just couldn't wait to sing. And sing we did!
Credit - Mike Lancaster
G4 were incredible! I've seen them live before but this time around was something else. The vocals were crystal clear and the harmonies just gave me goosebumps, especially on songs such as Bring Him Home and Bridge Over Troubled Water.
As well as singing with G4, Just Sing got the chance to perform two songs by ourselves. Our choir leader Kelly chose Sing and Halleujah. Sing has always been special to Kelly, it inspired our choir name and we have always loved singing it. Halleujah is another favourite and it never fails to give me goosebumps when I hear it!
G4 did several medleys which meant they could cover more songs and this was a great idea, loved the Queen medley but the musical medley just blew me away!
Just Sing sang a total of 5 songs with G4 and the highlight for me was probably Nessun Dorma. I never thought in a million years that I'd be up on stage at The Lighthouse singing in Italian so it was very surreal but wow, what a song. There's a part of the song where the choir sings the chorus and what made it for me was when G4 all turned around to watch us sing, what a magical moment!! The song is very emotional anyway but I'm sure I wasn't the only choir member to be feeling a little choked up at that point!
Barcelona was another highlight, we had worked so hard to get the harmonies perfect and it was probably the one I was most worried about. There is a certain note that I always struggle to find but it went off without a hitch and sounded incredible from the video below:
The concert ended with a mass singalong to some classic rock songs and the atmosphere was just brilliant, we didn't want it to end.
G4 did a meet & greet after the concert and it was lovely for us to be able to meet them and say thank you for such a great opportunity. They were absolutely lovely and so friendly - and very happy to take selfies!
The choir ended the evening on a high with drinks in a local pub and everyone had enormous smiles on their faces...not just because of the drinks ;)
It was such a fantastic night and I really enjoyed myself. Singing with 99 other people, from all walks of life, young and old was a moment I will never forget.
Thank you to G4 for letting us sing with you and thank you to my fellow choir members for being amazing!
