• Danced around with a cape and gloves that blow off in the wind (like in 'Let it Go')
• Made Queen Elsa's 'icy castle' and 'icy steps' out of Lego
• Used a mat as a shovel to break up the snow (like the beginning of the movie, 'Frozen Heart')
• Played with magic snow, and built a snowman ('Do You Want to Build a Snowman?')

Ethan has loved each and every activity, often initiating them himself or adding his own ideas to our play.  He seriously loves this movie, so he is very inspired!  He had so much fun playing with the magic snow, straight away he said that he wanted to build a snowman.  We made a pile of snow (it's not that easy to build a snowman with magic snow, white play dough might be a better idea!) and when it was done he went to the fridge unprompted, to get a carrot for his nose!  Then he decided that he needed eyes (raisins) and sticks for arms.  He said that was Olaf, and we were done!  

Anyone else doing any Frozen related play?  We would love more ideas!  Please link up your blog posts here:

For their little boy I found a cute drawstring backpack and filled it with:

• a reading book
• a sticker book
• a colouring book
• a toy plane to put together
• a toy car
• a snack
• a smoothie

I have thought of a few things since then that I could have included, a ball for their little boy, a squeaky toy for their baby girl...maybe an iPad if I were a very wealthy friend!  (Ethan was kept busy all day on our moving day by giving him the iPad, a bit of a cheat but it really worked!) 

It would have been nice to make a survival kit for the parents as well, that could have included tea, nurophen, chocolate and wine...what else would they need?

We'd never been to Wendover Woods before, and it's absolutely lovely. Ethan is such an outdoor loving little boy, we weren't surprised to find that he also loves a forest. He was so excited to get started on the trail, so with toy mouse in hand we set off to find the Gruffalo.  Our day was filmed for a TV program about The Gruffalo Trail, so that meant a lot of stopping and waiting for everyone else to catch up, but Ethan was really patient and happily explored the woods while we waited. 

Along the trail there were signs with suggested activities and things to look for in the woods.  I particularly liked this one about the different ways that animals move, so Ethan and I moved in all of the different ways, but he definitely liked stomping like a Gruffalo the best!



Amongst the trees you could find the various characters from the book.  Ethan was very excited when we spotted the mouse (his favourite!) high up in a tree.  He was jumping up and down and wanted to go right up to the tree to find him.  He even tried to climb up the branches to touch the mouse, it was so much fun to watch him running amongst the trees so excitedly.  Because it was a special event, we had a very special visitor...



It was just after we had found the mouse that we spotted the Gruffalo walking through the woods!  We followed him to where all of the other children were, and Ethan got to meet him.  He gave the Gruffalo a high five, and asked him if he wanted to go and play in the playground.  It was so cute!  He was a little bit shy to approach the Gruffalo directly (I think just because he was so big) but eventually became brave enough to stand beside him for a photo.



The final activity of the day for us was to make some crafts with people who work in the forest.  We made a bug hotel and a Gruffalo pine cone.  Of course Ethan loves making crafts, so he was very excited to get stuck in and make things.  He made the cutest little Gruffalo using a pine cone, some googly eyes and pipe cleaners as arms, feet, horns, a smile and purple prickles on his back.

We had a fantastic day, and loved meeting some other bloggers and their families, some of whom have written much more detailed posts about our day!

• Mummy Is A Gadget Geek
• Over 40 and a Mum to One
• A New Addition

I set it all up and let Ethan explore first, he sailed his boats around the sea (I wasn't surprised at all that he went straight for the water!) But it didn't take long for him to dive into the "sand" and get messy. He definitely loves his sensory play! He was squishing it around through his fingers, scooping it up with the sand toys and burying his rocks in it. 

Then I put Ivy in the Bumbo chair and put her right into the Tuff Spot in the "sand".  She was too high up to be able to touch it with her hands, so I took her socks off so that she could have her toes in it. Then Ethan and I scooped up some of the oats and poured them over her toes (obviously he also poured some on her leggings, hands, and nearly on her head before I stopped him!) she seemed really intrigued by it, just watching and wiggling her toes. Of course she was also just happy watching Ethan play, being up close while he messed about and made up little stories with his play people going on the boats and into the beach hut. It was such a fun activity, and I'm loving that they can enjoy it together.

The book has a hole through it that works as a sort if handle, and as Ivy is very much in the grabbing phase she loved it.  It's also a great one to read with Ethan and Ivy, as it's a simple pattern which he easily caught onto. Then he was able to read to his little sister, so sweet!

* This is a review post, Parragon sent us a copy of Cow Says Moo to read and review with our honest opinion. For more information about our review process, please click here *

About Mummy K:

It's been a very busy year for me, we moved in January and Ivy was born in February, so I haven't been blogging as much as I would like to, but that makes this nomination even more special. If I can be short listed for a BiB award this year (as well as being a finalist in the UK Blog Awards), imagine what could happen when I'm able to put more time and energy into the blog! 

Writing this blog has been something that I have worked hard at for the past 2 years, I do it because I love sharing all the fun things that we do everyday. Of course it's not about the awards, I didn't even know that blogging awards existed when I started, but it is nice to be recognised.

The other blogs in the crafts category are truly inspirational, they are full of fantastic crafts and activities. I aspire to be even half as good as them someday. I know that my chances of winning this year are very slim, but making the finals would be like winning for me. If you would like to see me get to the next stage, please vote for me here. Thank you!

We bought Daddy a few presents, and Ethan made him some family portraits. I found 4 cute little magnetic photo frames and Ethan drew a picture of each of us and we put it in the frame together.  As he drew I prompted him by naming things he could draw (eyes, nose, hands, etc) They make look just like squiggles to some, but I know he put his heart into drawing each of us perfectly. We had a lovely day celebrating today, Ethan certainly had fun, hopefully his Daddy did too! 

Today we went to Newquay and walked along Fistral Beach. It's not particularly warm, so we thought that flip flops and rolled up trousers would be suitable attire for the beach...oh how wrong we were! I swear we make this mistake on every holiday that we go on with Ethan, we take him somewhere with water and forget that he is such a water baby, that there's no chance that he won't go in and get soaked! 

We walked on the beach for about 2 minutes when he fell into a puddle that was a lot deeper than it looked! At first he was upset (the cold and the shock of it) but after the next time (of course) he was getting used to it and started jumping in on purpose! Then he started dragging me closer and closer to the sea to get caught by the waves, so of course I got soaked as well!

He had so much fun jumping in the deep puddles "there's a deep one Mummy!", chasing the waves "it's coming to get us!", collecting treasures for our sand castle and sinking our feet into the sand then magically making them pop back out "iggity ziggity zaggety zoom!" He was running around and squealing with delight, it is no exaggeration to say that I had to drag him away kicking and screaming! His hands and feet were red from the cold and he was completely soaked through, but he had the best time ever!