Oh, OK then. It’s not like I gave birth to you or owt love.

We’ve been a few times since Freyja came along and our meals have either been lovely or not so great. I think it must correlate with how busy it is, or how many hands there are on deck in the kitchens. It’s never been so bad that I wouldn’t return though, so when we were offered a £50 voucher to go and sample some of the new menu, we kindly accepted. We’re good like that, y’know.

One Saturday last month, during one of my not-often-enough days off, the three of us toddled down to our local F&B’s in Portsmouth to try and spend our voucher. Despite the restaurant being busy, we didn’t have to wait for a table and were shown to a booth. Freyja was given some colouring materials and a little puzzle book (a little old for her, but fine for her scrawl) and we were asked what drinks we would like, which were served fairly quickly.

For starters, we chose to have calamari and the button mushrooms. Both were served piping hot and extremely yummy. We chose, from the children’s menu, a pizza for freyja, which came at the same time as our starters. Considering she’s only 3, she managed to eat almost all of the pizza that was bigger than her head, so she must have enjoyed it.

For our main courses, we chose a full rack of BBQ ribs (regardless of what else is on the menu, James will ALWAYS opt for ribs) and a warm chicken salad. James’ only complaint about his ribs were if they were a full rack, they must have come from a pretty small pig (he’d eat is way through the BBQ ribs of a horse if he had the choice). Other than that, the meals were lovely. Our waiter checked on us once, so didn’t overdo it by asking us how things were every chance he had. Drinks were replenished as soon as they began to run low and the puddings were amazing.

Three course meals for both myself and James, plus a kids menu for Freyja, plus drinks and it still came to less than £50 – ruddy good value if you ask me.

Frankie & Bennys can be found all over the country and are well worth a visit. The only thing that ever annoys me about the place is when they dim the lights and sing Happy Birthday to whatever guest is celebrating it. Slightly annoying, but then that’s just grumpy me.

***Frankie & Bennys gave a complimentary £50 voucher for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own. James really could eat the ribs of a horse. Or possible an elephant, even.***

Metal Mummy has a new competition for all of you lucky readers! High Street retailer Argos is generously giving away a Lego Friends Heartlake Vet Playset, worth £39.99.

Heartlake Vets has all the time in the world to dedicate to its animals – with a little help from Mia. All of the Heartlake City animals can be examined, have their temperatures checked, have ice packs applied and have their heartbeats checked, as well as getting x-rayed and weighed.

This is the chance to play vet – and most children, at some point, dream of becoming a vet when they grow up. Well, this is the perfect way to practice through the world of lego games – they can also treat the animals with medicine to get them back to perfect health – a happy ending for everyone!

Want more animal toys? Argos also stock Fisher Price Little People toys including the ‘Farm Playset’ and the ‘Noah’s Ark’ (with extra animals)

The winner will be selected at random from all correct entries received. The winner will be notified within 28 days of the closing date. The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available. This competition is open to UK entrants only.

To enter, all you have to do is comment below with what your favourite LEGO toy was (or is!). Please leave some form of contact detail as well, so that we know how to notify you if you are the winner!

Competition ends 23rd May 2012. Good luck!

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

This is what you get when your daughter insists she’s a princess and has wobblers if she is anything but dresses and skirts.

I have NO idea where she gets it from, because it most definitely isn’t me.

Ok, so the T shirt is a boy’s T shirt but I don’t care. And yeah, the Converse are black but they DO have glittery butterflies on them. And the tutu is blue. She looks awesome.

However, with an almost psychic mist, the postman knocked on the door just as I was getting over my non existent trip, with a box full of goodies sent for review.

It seems that, having read some of the other bloggers’ posts, mine was missing a Yogi Bear DVD but it’s OK, the mini eggs, the Bugs Bunny and the two versions of Willy Wonka made up for that.

I have a mutual understanding with Johnny Depp. Everything he is in is pretty much gold dust. Everything Tim Burton directs is also as wonderful. However, in this, Johnny isn’t as hot as I’d like him to be. It doesn’t take away from how fab Charlie & the Chocolate Factory is though – OK, so it’s not the original, but it is weird and wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable. I don’t think I’ll show it to Freyja for a few months though – having only just reached her 3rd birthday, her dreams may get a bit weird if I show her this. It can be a little dark in parts, although I’m sorely tempted to introduce her to the wonders of Tim Burton (I have Nightmare Before Christmas on the shelf, waiting for a rainy day too!)

The original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder is truly amazing. I remember growing up with this gem of a film and I’m chuffed to be able to show it to Freyja now. Full of magic, fantasy and everlasting gobstoppers – it’s what people’s dreams are made of. I love it, and Freyja seemed to love it too dancing around the living room and doing her little wiggle every time the Oompa Loompas came out of their homes. Now she will be able to look back on this photo and see WHY her father photoshopped it the way he did:

We haven’t gotten round to watching the Bugs Bunny DVD yet but if it’s anything like the others we have got in our collection, it’ll go down a storm…

…Just like the Mini Eggs did with us*

*correction: me. I’m not that daft. Freyja had none.

We were given this basket of goodies for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own. I really didn’t give Freyja any mini eggs. I’m greedy like that, a bit like Veruca Salt, except I’m not a bad egg.

However, when we had the chance of reviewing one, I couldn’t say no. Seeing as Freyja is the world’s cutest princess and adores all things girly ( I don’t know where she gets it from, cuz it certainly isn’t me), I opted for the unicorn huggle buddy. Fluffy, lilac and complete with horn, it turned up on our doorstep and has been loved ever since.

Doubling up as a toy and pillow, the unicorn huggle buddie has taken pride of place on Freyja’s princess bed and she goes to sleep with it every evening.

We tested its’ worth as a travel pillow too – taking it with us when we went to visit her Nanna t’up North. Complete with a blow up ready bed, and her jim-jams velcro’d safely in the unicorn, we turned up on my mum’s doorstep ready to test it.

The ready bed didn’t last, seeing as she rolled out of it and wailed for me, with half a leg hanging out the sleeping bag and her head firmly on the floorboards. But the unicorn held tight. Even after moving her back into the travel cot as a make do bedspace, the unicorn continued to be her pillow.

We love it and are highly tempted to build on her collection – next up will no doubt be the ladybird, seeing as she is obsessed with Gaston from Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom.

You can buy Huggle Buddies direct from their website with a RRP of £19.99

Anyone who is anyone, in toddler land, will know who Peppa Pig is. Whether it’s from the cartoon that is on every other minute on Nick Jr and Channel 5, or the copious amount of DVDs that are positioned within toddler view in supermarkets, or the enormous range of toys that occupy the shelves of every shop (and our toy box).

What Peppa Pig and friends also take part in every now and again are the live shows and this tour sees Peppa Pig et. al. participating in a treasure hunt – one that takes place nationwide. That’s a ruddy big treasure hunt.

Join Peppa, George and Danny Dog as they embark on a fabulous adventure whilst out on Grandad Dog’s boat. Help them follow the clues, join in the fun and games and find their treasure. With wonderous singalong songs, true to life puppets and a charming storyline, Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt looks like lots of fun. So much fun that my other half has taken a day off work to go and see it (well that and it’s his birthday…)

It’s run time is about an hour and 20 minutes including the interval, which is more than likely possible with even the most hyper of toddlers.

The show is on all over the UK – some people  may have already had the chance to see it. I know it’s in Portsmouth in June, but you can use the Peppa Pig Live website to find the closest theatre to you that is showing it, and when you should be buying the tickets for. You’ll find tickets are around £13.50, less for children and you can get a family ticket for approx. £50. Well worth it for a fabulous afternoon of Peppa Pig, int it?

Full sail ahead! Arrrrrrrrrr! (Now, where’s the grog…)

Trying to explain to my gorgeous friend Becca’s little boy that you pronounce bear “Bare”, not “Burr”…(he can’t help it, he’s Northern. They shurr and curr up there, dontcha know).

Positivley encouraging said boy to say “wrap-it” instead of “wrapper” even though he knew it was really “wrapper”. He still said it her way, through fear of the 3-going-on-30 year old toddler.

A slightly racist but completely innocent word that I am not going to repeat on here through fear of being a little bit too non-PC, even for me.

And her new made up word of the moment… When being flipped upside down by an overly hyperactive father, shouting “I’m upside down!” then being flipped the right way up and becoming, after much thought, “I’m upside….UP!”

A couple of mornings ago, she woke inconsolably. She’s been doing this every now and again because of whatever nightmare she was having. Possibly because the toothpaste tasted funny or the princesses turned into nothing more than a pauper. I don’t know.

Once we’d managed to settle her down (I say we, I mean James, because I was half asleep from working the night before), she managed to explain what her dream was about…

In her words…

“Gygy John (*that’s her great-grandad) stole my ice cream and licked it ALL OFF! I am never going to have ice cream ever again” and then wailed. Profusely.

Wow. I wish my nightmares were as innocent as toddler ones. How innocent their minds are.

Happy Feet Two was the first film I took Freyja to see at the cinema. Despite being terrified when the “big TV” came on with it’s booming noises, Freyja managed to sit through most of it. When we got the chance to review the film, Freyja was really excited to watch the singing and dancing penguins again and this time, I hoped she’d sit through it all.

Which she did. Contently.

Inside the fabulous box of goodies was also a copy of the first Happy Feet as well as March of the Penguins – a documentary I’ve been wanting to watch for a while now. Accompanying the Blu Rays was also a lovely selection of promo goodies, including a keyring, transfer tattoos and a colouring book. As well as a hat that Freyja seems to like wearing even though it’s adult size and drops around her eyes, helping her to walk straight into sofas and chairs.

Following on from the first instalment, Happy Feet Two introduces us to Erik – Mumble’s son (that Freyja really wants) and his struggle to realise what his talents are. At the same time as Erik trying to find out what he’s good at, Mumble and co also realise that their world is being threatened by powerful forces, and have to work together to save it.

An absolutely wonderful film, with great music that Freyja gets up and dances to, with a great underlying message – you can achieve everything if you put your mind to it and work together.

Well done Warner Brothers. The Happy Feet duo have found a place in our media cabinet and will certainly not be gathering any dust.

Happy Feet Two was released on the 26th March. You can buy it from Amazon, here with an RRP of £9. For an extra treat, I have a snippet from the voice actors if you fancy seeing what they had to say whilst filming this fabulous family film.

***We were given a selection of Happy Feet merchandise and blu ray films for the purpose of this review. All the opinions are our own. Freyja really does want an Erik and I really have said no because we already have a dog.***

Last night, we asked her what she was going to dream about.

“I’ll be dreaming about princesses, because I’m a princess. I’m a fairy princess and I’ll dream about castles and Princess Holly and Ben Elf…”

OK, so far so good. Not a random thought in sight.

“What else are you going to dream about sweetheart?”, expecting Unicorns? Fluffy marshmallows? Pink stuff? Anything semi normal for a 3 year old girl would have done. But no, the response was Toothpaste.

Toothpaste?!

The winner of the Orchard Toys jigsaw, selected via a random number generator, is…

The fifth person to comment with an interest in the prize… Emma! I hope your son enjoys the jigsaws, especially as he loves elephants so much! You should have an email from me; if you could reply asap I can get the jigsaw sent off to you. Thanks!

On 5% of occasions, I wish the ground swallowed me up whole. Especially now she talks. She talks for England. Again, on the most part, the word vomit that comes out her gob is witty, funny and inspiring. But again, on occasion, it’s not.

Like in the Post Office yesterday, when a lovely woman in the queue behind us was saying how beautiful she was, and that the mini-tantrum she had just had is bearable because she’s gorgeous and has excellent vocabulary and is really articulate.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Until said daughter turns to her and shouts I DON’T LIKE YOU! Not only does she say that, but she also develops an extremely pointy finger and a face that wouldn’t look out of place on Damien in The Omen.

What’s that Freyja? You see a ginormous hole in the ground and it’s swallowing me up? Yes, Freyja. Yes it is.

Before Freyja even managed to get her biscuit-covered mitts on the DVDs, I was in my element. Growing up with these sort of classic cartoons means I’m a huge fan of them all – my favourite being Taz, a later addition to the series – thus partly being due to my awesome late Grandad who was probably more addicted than I was. I still have two Taz character mugs that he gave one Christmas. Our impressions were disturbing, yet hilarious at the same time.

When Freyja finally managed to prise my fingers away from her goodies, she was mega excited. Having not really been introduced to the joys of Looney Toons apart from Tom & Jerry, it was lovely to see such a wide collection of them all in one place. I’ve had to put the box set high up on the shelves though to keep her from opening all the discs. With a slight element of anal pedantic-ness, my other half wouldn’t appreciate her mixing them all up. It’s happened before. It’s not a pretty sight.

With 10 DVDs in all, including all of the old school favourites such as Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzalez and Tweety Pie, it really is a fantastic set of DVDs for your children and those who are young at heart.

Combine that with a Scooby Do goodie bag and you’re lucky to be able to peel me away from the television for long enough to be a good parent!

I’m not sure who was more pleased with the box set – Freyja or myself – but it’s definitely one of those sets that she will grow to love over her coming years. She may be a little young for some of it at the moment, but she’s already taken a liking to the good ol’ Tasmanian Devil.

*You can buy the Looney Toons box set here. We were sent one box set and a Scooby Do goodie bag for the purpose of this review. All the opinions are our own. My Taz impression really is diabolical.*

I kinda want one myself!

The jigsaw puzzles are a particular favourite with Freyja and I. It’s definitely a lovely thing for her to have as a favourite toy, until she empties all of her jigsaws out at the same time and you have to sit there for the next hour to try and separate the pieces again…

The 4-in-1 box of jigsaws are no different. Varying in pieces from the elephant 4-piece to the penguin 12-piece, they’re fun little jigsaws to occupy her with. She does bigger piece jigaws regularly, but these are lovely even so. They have so much detail in them, and are numbered. You can ask questions about what animal is in the jigsaw, what noise they make, how they move. Having a 3 year old waddling around the room like a penguin is an entertaining sight, for sure.

Yet again, an Orchard Toy that will be gathering no dust at the back of her toy cupboard. Available from their website for £7.50, along with they huge range of fabulous jigsaws and games.

We have one of these 4-in-a-box jigsaws to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment below with your twitter addy/contact details and I shall enter you into the competition! Competition ends on the 13th March.

***We were given one jigsaw set for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own. Her impression of a waddling penguin really is hilarious***

  ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

It’s a list of live music I HAVE to see before I pop my clogs. It used to begin with my all time fave, Rob Zombie (*swoon*) but seeing as I saw him last year (and almost tripped him up), Rammstein took his place. If you’re not familiar with the sort of music I listen to, Rammstein are a German group that WIN at industrial metal music. Music you can dance to. Music you can headbang to. Music you can windmill to (and give yourself minor whiplash to in the process). In short, they are amazing and have been on my list of people to see for nigh on a decade.

Last week, I finally got to see them. At the O2 Arena in London. From a VIP box. That was once I managed to find the place using my trusty London guide. i.e. Google maps. How else are you supposed to find places?! Although you do look like a wally standing outside a shop, next to a post box, with your phone out trying to figure out road names. But, after a quick stop at the Intrepid Fox and the Crobar, and a trusty Spoons for some grub, we arrived at The Dome, among thousands of other Rammstein fans.

As soon as the lights dimmed and the starting chords sprung to life, you knew you were going to be in for a good show. As Rammstein wandered in holding fire-lit torches, looking like some sort of cult, eerily wandering down the lower seating aisle and through the crowd, you just couldn’t wait for the show to start. Anyone who makes an entrance which involves parting the crowds like the Red Sea are guaranteed to produce an excellent performance.

Rammstein are known for their awesome live performances. They don’t chat to the crowd. They don’t just play their music. They PERFORM. They have characters. They have pyrotechnics. Lots of it. They have comedy, props and treadmills. They have rubber dinghies that transport a sequinned-clad keyboardist around the whole ground floor of a massive arena. They have angle grinders, microphone stands that are alight, fireworks and a rig that transports them to a small, central stage on hydraulics whilst the drummer walks the rest of the band on their hands and knees with a leash that would work just as well on a husky ride. It really is a show and I am so stoked to have been able to see it.

Since the tickets went on sale last year and sold out within minutes, I didn’t think I’d get to see them. I just put it down to a “next-time” chance. But no, I got to see them. I got to watch every last song that was on my list to see live. Having to leave early for the train home didn’t stop me from seeing Du Hast, Feuer Frei!, Ich Will, Sonne and one of my favourites, Olne Nich live. Honest to God – the best gig I have seen, and I’ve been to so many I’ve lost count.

The only thing I find irritating about gigs in London, and this one was no different really, is that if you live outside of the city and aren’t staying in one of their numerous hotels, you have to leave before the end of the gig. You have to rush for the last train home, which usually always means you have to leave before the end of the gig. Which also means that, a lot of the time, you miss the encore which also means you sometimes miss the climax and therefore the best bit. Not to mention, navigating London, which, for an outsider can be difficult at the best of times, never mind when you’re keeping up with the hoards of people in order to avoid being trampled – being shoved into tube trains as though you are part of a cattle market auction. Yeah, not easy. Trying to navigate your way through a very bustly Underground system, to find your last train home is about to leave, trying to RUN up a flight of stairs in ridiculous boots with smokers’ lungs… Yeah, not easy at all.

After last night, my post it note of bands to see has got even smaller. Now all I have are a few metal bands (e.g. Machinehead and Five Finger Death Punch), a few grunge bands (e.g. Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots) and a couple of bands I don’t think I’ll ever manage to see (Kerbdog and Pink Floyd). For Pink Floyd, the Australian tribute will have to do. But, for now, I still have memories of Rammstein which I can look back on forever.