My blog year in review: Part 2

Time to finish off what I started in Part 1 with the second part of the year from July to December 2011:


July


This was the month I spent an awful lot of time getting my benefits re-instated after they were incorrectly removed! I made good use of my MP Tim Farron to get a resolution - eventually... In contrast to this my children had some ideas for a future new husband for me. I also got a chance to showcase my grandparents in The Gallery.


This was the month of the first Cumbria Twitnic and I hope to repeat it again. There was a brief foray into a Saturday Recipe Swap and I ought to try that again. I also joined in the Love a Read Book Group a few times over the year. 

View from Loughrigg

Reasons to be Cheerful XVIII ( #R2BC )

It's the school holidays so normally I'd been tearing my hair out but instead I've got lots to smile about:
1) Bang Goes the Theory Live

Fab family day out! For more read Bang.

2) Cycling
After tantrums and tears my daughter has finally cracked riding her bike:

Shame a few days later her tyre perished and we are waiting for it to be replaced... Her little brother has been measured up for his first real bike for his 5th birthday - he needs a 7-9 year old bike already! I have been lent my dad's old bike so hopefully we will all be cycling around together soon....
3) Family Days Out in Cumbria

The weather hasn't been too awful so we have managed a few days out this week to explore the beautiful county of Cumbria. First of all we went up to near Allonby to meet my Blipfoto friends. 

Then yesterday my parents drove us over to Grizedale Forest for a family walk through this lovely forest. With lots of sculptures to spot on our 3.5 mile walk it kept us all entertained for the day.

For more play this Smilebox:

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Bang Goes the Theory Roadshow

The kids and I were very lucky and got tickets in the draw for the Bang Goes the Theory roadshow in Manchester today. My daughter and I are big fans of this science show so there was much excitement on nearing the venue:

There was quite a wait before the doors opened but once in there was so much hands on activity for children and adults:

The above selection included:

• painting with maggots
• using microscopes to look at water samples
• sniffing good and bad smells
• blowing bubbles into a box which contained dry ice
• using a green screen to forecast the weather
• balancing a beach ball on a jet of air

During the 3 hour session there were 3 stage demonstrations from the usual presenters: Dallas Campbell, Jem Stansfield and Liz Bowen:

Basically they recreated a few of the experiments they do on the series. There were a lot of bangs in the final session which went down well with all ages in the audience! Of course there was also a degree of audience participation and predictably my daughter managed to get herself chosen to test out Jem's pear drop glue:

She was presented with the 2 blocks still stuck together and autographed by a couple of the presenters!

Altogether a fantastic family fun and educational day out. We all had different favourite bits. My daughter was chuffed to have held the hand of presenter Liz on the way to taking part. My 4 year old wanted to go home and make explosions Mummy! As for me watching my children getting excited by science was just amazing.