Reasons to be Cheerful: Week 16 end of the holidays #R2BC

My life may not be as exciting as Michelle's at the minute but I have lots of reasons to be cheerful this week! Here are the things that are making me smile:
1) Last of the Easter fun
Boy did we pack in the fun this Easter! We rounded off our holidays with a couple more fabulous family days out. The first was the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss:

And then on Sunday we went to a bloggers' day at Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester.  Not only did we have fun but I enjoyed meeting bloggers I had met before or who I had only talked to online. Interesting being described as the blogger with the lovely view from her kitchen window!
2) Praise for my children
I had some lovely things said about my children this week. Some from bloggers such as Chaos and Calm who enjoyed my children at Legoland. Also from other people telling me what polite and well brought up children I have! I will have to remember that when they are driving me mental! Also check over on my daughter's blog for her amazing Gollum impressions.
3) Diet and Fitness
After the previous 2 bad weeks there was a loss on the scales this week! I will be writing more about my plans for doing better when I join in with Fitness Fanatics Fridays from tomorrow. Having lots of support on and off line is oh so helpful. Going out for a total of 40 minutes running on Tuesday really put me in a great frame of mind too. Come back tomorrow if you want to know more..
4) Operation House
An impending visit by a surveyor for the landlady forced me into ramping up the house sorting this weekend. This wasn't a happy experience in itself as I'd rather have been doing something fun with the kids but it has left me smiling in the end! The previous moving of furniture from my bedroom to the living room had left my room in even more chaos than normal. Now I can access my bed from both sides again and the room seems twice the size. The landing is also cleared of all the boxes of stuff looking for a home - I did stash these on the bottom bunk so I know what I'm doing this weekend! The front room is a lot clearer too. I did have empty space all the way across the room at one point this week:

5) Spring?
We briefly got teased into thinking it was properly Spring on Monday and Tuesday again! The blossoms were out and we got to spend 2 evenings having picnic teas outside:

Blogs Up North at Legoland Discovery Centre and Cadwaladers

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We were lucky last Sunday to be invited to join 14 other blogging families for a Blogs Up North trip to the Legoland Discovery Centre in the Trafford Centre, Manchester. We were given free entry into the centre which I have visited before when we won a trip.

This time it was a lot less crowded and the only longish queue was for the first ride:

After shooting trolls with lasers we went into the Miniland to see the famous landmarks:

There were also some Lakes landmarks which we recognised too:

Next stop was the 4D cinema. We were able to sit on the front row for the original lego movie and got a little bit wet. Then we queued up for the new Chimera movie and got even wetter! Amazing 3D effects though the noise of the fan was louder than some parts of the soundtrack.

We then had a bite to eat in the cafe. I was rather disappointed with the range of food for children. There were loads of chicken mayo and few cheese sandwiches but no ham. My son ended up with cake and crisps for lunch! My grown up panini was pretty tasty though.

My son had a play in the soft play whilst I chatted to the other bloggers. Then my daughter went to watch the 4D with some other families whilst my son had a go driving a police car to catch the robbers:

I wanted to go on the Merlin's Apprentice ride. Whilst waiting my son had a chance to get up close to some of his favourite movie characters:

Then it was time to check out the next ride:

Finally the part my son had been waiting for Star Wars Miniland which is on until June:

There were 3 scenes created all of which had some form of interactivity though the clone wars missiles weren't shooting properly.

We had one last fun photo opportunity before we left. These are my 2 with their new blog buddies:

I think at 9.5 my daughter is about at the limit for the discovery centre as the rides are more aimed at younger children. We did all have a lovely few hours in there and we will probably return again.

The last treat of the day was a trip to Cadwaladers ice cream cafe next door. They had kindly allowed us to sample their ice creams and coffees. It was hard to choose from all their flavours:

My children chose chocolate and mint Choc chip:

The meanies wouldn't let me taste it but it must have been delicious judging by the way they were demolished:

The coffee was a pretty good one too. I would definitely go back there as a paying customer.