One time of year that we always try to get to Legoland Windsor (affiliate link) is during October Half Term Break so that we can be there for the Brick or Treat event and also the fireworks.  We've done this for the past few years now and always had a really fantastic time, so I thought that I would share a bit more info about it.





We buy our tickets to Legoland in advance, we live quite close by so we don't stay overnight in the hotels (although I think the kids would really love those fantastic themed rooms, so hopefully we can do it someday.) So we either buy our tickets online to get a slight discount or find a discount voucher to buy tickets at the park (I pick these up whenever I see them, often on the side of cereal boxes or other snacks).



I prepare for the day by packing our park bag full of the essentials:

• snacks (in a Lego shaped box of course)
• water bottles
• warm clothes (hats, gloves, scarves)
• spare gloves and socks (my top tip! Bring them in plastic bags in case the others get wet, then swap out for dry ones and have a place to keep the wet ones!)
• small first aid kit
• packs of tissues
• antibacterial hand gel
• phone charger
• glow sticks

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This month as part of the Blogger Board Game Club with Asmodee we have been playing the Harry Potter Dobble game!  It's a perfect one for October, a nice witchy theme to go with Halloween!



The Harry Potter Dobble game comes in a nice small tin, just like the other Dobble games, which makes them perfect for travel or taking on days out, ideal over this half term break from school.  


Inside the tin you will find the set of 55 cards, each with 8 Harry Potter themed symbols on it, as well as the instructions on how to play the game in 5 different ways.  The aim of the game in all cases is to find the matching symbols on more than one card and to be the first person to do so.


The first game option is called The Tower, in this game each player has one card and the rest are in the middle.  The object of this game is to collect the most cards.  So each player flips over their own card then looks to see what they have in common with the card in the middle.  The first person to do so then picks up the middle card and puts in on their pile, and play continues until the pile in the middle is gone.  The winner is the player with the most cards at the end.


The next mini game is called The Well.  This works in a very similar way to the first game, except this time each player has an equal stack of cards and is trying to lose their cards the fastest.  So again you try to match symbols with the middle card, then put your card in the middle if you do so first.  The winner is the first player to run out of cards.


The third game is called Hot Potato and in this game you each hold a card in your hand and try to find a matching symbol with someone else's card.  In this game you are trying to get rid of your cards again, so if you do find a match you give your card to that other player for their pile.


The fourth game is called The Poisoned Gift, this one can get a bit competitive!  Again each player gets just one card and the pile of cards is in the middle, but this time you are trying to find a match between the centre card and one of their opponents cards!  When you spot a match you then call it out and put that centre card on the other players pile.  This is the poisoned gift, because you actually don't want any cards, because the player with the fewest cards at the end wins.


The final game suggestion is called Triplet.  In this game you lay out nine cards in rows of three.  Each player then has to look at all of the cards and try to spot three that have a common symbol, they then call it out and pick up those three cards, which are then replaced.  This continues until you run out of cards, the player with the most cards collected wins.


The children absolutely loved playing all of these variations of the Harry Potter Dobble game.  There were certainly some that they each excelled in, which was really nice and gave them each their chance to shine.  It also means that they can chose different ways to play the game based on what they feel like or the space that we have.  The game is aimed at ages 6 and up, but Ivy is only 5 and did quite well the whole way through.  It's definitely going to be a game that we bring with us when we travel as well as playing at home, it's a keeper!



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* This is a review post, we were sent the Harry Potter Dobble game as part of the Blogger Board Game Club with Asmodee, all opinions are our own.*

We were invited to visit the Sea Life Aquarium in London over the weekend to experience their new Ascarium trail for Halloween!


We arrived at the aquarium and found our way over the glass floor shark tank and to the cauldron to pick up our Ascarium cards and pencils.  (Just a note of apology for the lighting of the photos, as it is quite low light in the aquarium to benefit to sea creatures it isn't great for photography, so it does look much better in person!)


We had a look at the card to read the instructions, then proceeded through the aquarium to find the letters which we would then need to unscramble to reveal a word, before heading over to collect our trick or treat.


The letters were not difficult to find as they were quite large and bright orange!  There was also a card to the side of the tank giving some weird and wonderful facts about the sea creatures which was a nice extra feature.


As we were searching for the letters to the puzzle we were also enjoying the rest of what the aquarium has to offer.  We are always big fans of the touch tanks and getting to stroke a starfish is definitely an experience not to be missed!


Back to our trail and we found another letter to write on our cards as we walked around exploring.


And another sight that we, as huge Disney fans, always love to see is the clown fish (Nemo!) the kids were mesmerised by them and could have watched for ages.


We also love the sharks in their big tank swimming gracefully around as we try not to sing Baby Shark and get it stuck in our heads (sorry!)


Onto more spooky creatures, we were almost done our trail when we found the piranhas, such fascinating fish!  The kids had all sorts of questions about them.


We also enjoyed that there were some Lego themed activity boards throughout the aquarium that the children could stop at to have a little play before getting back to the sea creatures.


Our favourite part of the aquarium has to be seeing the penguins!  We happened to arrive just as they were being fed, so they were quite active and really interested in watching the kids through the glass!


Maybe he thought Ivy's finger was a little fish?  Either way the children absolutely loved this close encounter and will remember it for ages.


After the penguin area you are then able to pick up your trick or treat for completing the Ascarium trail!


Ethan chose a trick (blue slushie) and Ivy chose a treat (red slushie) which was actually perfect as they were both really thirsty by this point, so we sat down and had some drinks and a little rest.  They also love the cups which they get to keep as a souvenir.


We then turned the corner and discovered the new Polar Adventure zone (not sure how new but we haven't been to the aquarium in about a year) and it's so much fun!  There are animated and augmented reality seals, whales and polar bears, there are hurricane machines and the Beluga whale dome where you can learn more about the work that SeaLife is doing in their Beluga whale sanctuary.


Then onto another one of our favourite areas which is the jellyfish!  This whole section sort of glows and has a very special feeling to it, the children love to watch the colourful tanks full of jellyfish.


There is also a jellyfish game that they love, where they create their own jellyfish and then see it up on the big screen.  They then have to feed it and adjust it's environment to try to help them survive.  It's really fun and interesting to play.


And that's it, we had a fantastic time doing the Ascarium trail at the Sea Life Aquarium in London.  We highly recommend it for children of all ages, Ethan and Ivy have both loved it there since they were babies.


There is also a competition, so if you do go make sure you upload a photo to social media and use #AscariumLondonWin for a chance to win free tickets.

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* This is a review post, we were gifted tickets in order to visit the aquarium, all views are our own.*

We have been playing with these new Goo Goo Galaxy toys and having so much fun with them!  They've got a very sweet story behind them, they've crashed onto earth from another galaxy and each little Goo Drop is hoping to be taken care of by a kind earthling, which my children were more than happy to do!




The surprises include a special passport for your Goo Drop as well as some slime crystals.



Ivy was really happy with her Astra Nommy doll, even though she isn't a cuddly doll she does really like her squishy body and seeing all the stars inside of her belly.



So the full contents of the box are the doll, the cup and straw, the passport, the slime crystals packet, cosmic cloud packet and star shine packet.



Next up it was Ethan's turn to open up his Goo Goo Galaxy toy, he got Stella Skygems!




She is blue with a gem on her head, and Ethan loved the packaging especially and wanted to keep it as her space ship to play with.



Again he was excited to open up the secret hatch and find his hidden surprises of the passport and slime crystals.



Inside the passport you can learn all about your Goo Drop and their personality, likes and dislikes.  Stella Skygems is from Crystellar her birthday day is 21st Goouary and she is 2 geodes tall.  Ivy's friend Astra Nommy is from Pludough, her birthday is 17th of Goopril and she is 2 doughnuts tall!



Their passports also say that Stella Skygems loves to invent things and to help people.  Astra Nommy loves to eat and share her food with her friends.



Next it was time to get everything set up to make the slime!  We put down a wipe clean mat in case we made any mess (which we most certainly did!)



And we laid out everything that we would need to make the slime, including the cup, slime crystals, cosmic cloud powder and star shine glitter.



The first step is to pour the slime crystals into the cup:



Next you pour in some water just to the line marked on the cup, then use the straw to stir up your slime.  You then have to wait 15 minutes for the slime to set (perfect time to play with our Goo Drops and read more about them in their passports, you can read and sign the friendship pledge and write a little post card too).



After the slime is set you can pour in the cosmic cloud powder.



You then add water just a few drops at a time and watch the cosmic cloud grow (this part was very cool and the kids loved watching it grow!)



Finally you get to sprinkle the star shine on the top of your slime creation!



You can then look in your passport to see which slime you have created and what your secret message is, the message with this one was 'Shoot For the Moon!'


Once the slime is made you put the lid on the cup and the straw in, then you can hang it up using the string.  So it isn't really slime to play with, which wasn't exactly what we expected.  It's more of a putty texture and is just meant to stay in the cup as a decoration.  Unfortunately ours both got a bit leaky, even after leaving overnight to set, so I haven't let the children keep the slime as I don't want that spilling everywhere.  They do enjoy just playing with the empty cups and feeding their Goo Drops though.


Ethan and Ivy really enjoyed opening up their Goo Goo Galaxy dolls and making the slime.  It was a fun process and got them talking lots about the personalities of their Goo Drops.  The Goo Goo Galaxy dolls can be bought from The Entertainer, Smyths or Amazon and retail at around £15 which is probably quite good for a smaller gift for Christmas.
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* This is a review post and also contains affiliate links, we were sent two Goo Goo Galaxy toys to play with and write our honest opinions.*