JOHN LAWSON'S CIRCUS | HALF TERM FUN

Every half term parent's everywhere have the task of finding something to keep the kids busy that doesn't leave them eating bread and butter for the remainder of the holiday.

Which really isn't an easy thing to do now days especially if you have more than one child!

Each half term John Lawson's comes to our local garden centre and at only £6 a ticket for both adults and children with under 2's going free we'd be silly not to snap the offer up.

We've attended John Lawson's circus each time its returned local to us for a number of years now and it's something I plan to do for years to come, Lottie first went as a bump and again as a tiddly in her sling and we returned again this February half term when she was 18 months, it dawned on me as we chose our places just how difficult it might be to keep her entertained and how many people we would disrupt trying to make an exit with her if she was to become unsettled as we were sat in the middle of the very back row.

I was proven very wrong! as the show started she was mesmerised getting involved with the cheering and clapping until half way through when the excitement became to much and as you can see from our photo with ring master Attila Endresz and Pip the clown she fell asleep and stayed that way until we returned home.

John Lawson's circus is brilliant for the younger ones with it only lasting 45 minutes it's not to long for them to have to sit still and is a great starter circus but also provides enough entertainment for the older ones too. 

Daisie is 7 and Issy is 11 and each of them have enjoyed each show we've attended so far,

Each show comes with a selection of new acts so no show is the same although similar in style not performed by the same people we saw before, each show also comes with a theme this terms was a winter theme with Boris the dancing polar bear and their very own Elsa on the aerial rope. 

There's a number goodies available to buy at each show such as popcorn, slush puppies and candy floss as well as flashy toys all at a reasonable price but you will need to make sure you have cash on you, something we ran out of time to get before we scrambled to the circus tent and our garden centre doesn't have a cash machine or offer cash back, so Andy had to run to the local petrol garage and didn't manage to make it back in time before they closed ready to get the show started. 

Much to Issy's dismay because eating it afterwards just isn't the same.

There's a couple of other circus' on my hit list with acts aimed at the slightly older children with a lot more danger involved which are Issy's favourite acts but John Lawson's will always be one we return to until Lottie is of an age she requests she no longer wishes to go. 

WICKED THE MUSICAL | APOLLO THEATRE LONDON

Growing up I was a big Wizard of Oz fan, I watched it so many times I drove my mum to completely despise it.

It goes without saying that I'd want to go and watch Wicked the musical although I'm not a great lover of musicals now days, It was as if this would be a final chapter to my childhood,

I'd wanted to go for years and promised myself I would so I finally bit the bullet asked my friend if she would mind looking after the girls for me and booked myself tickets for my 27th birthday last year.

I booked directly with The Apollo theatre and was pleasantly surprised by the ticket prices, the main reason I held back on booking tickets for so long was because needing to book 2 tickets was sure to end up pricey and not something I could just decide to do randomly.

I was surprised at two tickets only costing £52 with booking fee, I did find ticket prices varied with which day of the week you go we could have had central tickets for the price of our dress circle ones if we went in the week. That being said although our seats weren't the greatest it was all about being there for me and we still got to see the show perfectly minus some fidgety head bobbing in front of us but even that was minimal. 

While waiting for the show to start I was sure it had been hyped up so much and being such a Wizard of Oz fan it wouldn't live up to my expectations and I'd be disappointed, Would it actually follow the stories of the witches of Oz? Would I get any answers to their back grounds? Would it trail off onto its own thing entirely? 

Oh how wrong was I!

I loved every minute and cried twice to the point I was actually sobbing much to Andy's amusement.

It was so much better than I'd expected it to be, covering stories of characters I didn't think could be linked into the story line as well as they did,  I got all the answers I needed and more.

 From the minute I left I was set on going again with a friend and again to take my daughters with possibly closer seats so I could see the detail of the make-up slightly better.