With 14 children between us it can be tricky to arrange any significant child-free time with my friends Gemma and Claire so imagine our delight when we realised we could all enjoy a day out at the recent Eat and Drink Christmas Festival, part of the Ideal Home Show at Christmas, sponsored by DenTek.
Much planning went into our trip which we decided should also feature a trip to the Harry Potter section at Primark and possibly a quick quiz round Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. With plenty of comfort breaks of course!
Obviously with so much to cram in we had an early start which turned out to be more exciting than we expected as a steam train hurtled through our local station just as we arrived on the platform!
First stop - breakfast. A cheeky fast food brekkie then into Primark where there was a lot of oohing and ahhing over magical merch (especially from Potter mad Gemma and my older daughter who had joined us too) and maybe just a touch of actual buying. Shhh! It's nearly Christmas so I can't say any more!
Then we headed to Winter Wonderland.
Our whizz round Winter Wonderland took longer than expected but we were very refrained and did not buy anything - I am going to Bath Christmas market at the weekend though so wanted to save my pennies for that.
Lunch then onto Olympia where we headed straight for the DenTek stand to say thank you for the tickets we had been given for the show.
DenTek manufactures and markets oral care products so no-one at the show needed to worry about getting food stuck in their teeth - the lovely ladies on the stand were giving away products including some very handy floss picks!
They also sell interdental brushes, dental night guards, tongue cleaners and a whole host of temporary tooth repair products - very handy for having on standby as you just KNOW that filling is going to come out after dentist hours.
We picked up a couple of floss picks in cute cases then I posed with my daughter for a social media snap in the hope of winning a brand new iPad. Mine is so old now it's getting a bit deaf and needs a bit of time to warm up so I'm crossing my fingers.
After admiring the DenTek tree which featured a tooth fairy brandishing a floss pick at the top, we headed off to explore the show.
We always have a laugh touring these things together and this occasion was no exception. We saw some fantastic unique products -and some which we weren't entirely sure would ever come out of the cupboard.
I'd love to share the picture of my friend Claire using the portable neck massager but her expression of bliss looks likes something maybe only her husband should see in the bedroom so I think I'd better not.
We were particularly impressed by Playbrush, a simple system which turns your child's toothbrushing into a fun game as the brush works as the controller for games on a tablet. We have enormous trouble getting our 9 year old with ASD to brush his teeth but he loves onscreen games and I think this would make a massive difference to his dental routine.
We also very much liked the Gallery Vodka stand where Claire bought a bottle of toffee vodka after we all tasted it and agreed it was very nice indeed. I like the marshmallow flavoured one too - would be awesome in cocktails I reckon.
The show was very Christmassy - I really loved admiring the trees and listening to the lovely carolling from visiting choirs and we all picked up a couple of festive bits and pieces to take home before collapsing exhausted onto the train home.
Many thanks to DenTek for gifting us tickets and many thanks to my lovely mates and my daughter for an awesome day out we will remember for years to come.
Much planning went into our trip which we decided should also feature a trip to the Harry Potter section at Primark and possibly a quick quiz round Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. With plenty of comfort breaks of course!
Obviously with so much to cram in we had an early start which turned out to be more exciting than we expected as a steam train hurtled through our local station just as we arrived on the platform!
First stop - breakfast. A cheeky fast food brekkie then into Primark where there was a lot of oohing and ahhing over magical merch (especially from Potter mad Gemma and my older daughter who had joined us too) and maybe just a touch of actual buying. Shhh! It's nearly Christmas so I can't say any more!
Then we headed to Winter Wonderland.
Our whizz round Winter Wonderland took longer than expected but we were very refrained and did not buy anything - I am going to Bath Christmas market at the weekend though so wanted to save my pennies for that.
Lunch then onto Olympia where we headed straight for the DenTek stand to say thank you for the tickets we had been given for the show.
DenTek manufactures and markets oral care products so no-one at the show needed to worry about getting food stuck in their teeth - the lovely ladies on the stand were giving away products including some very handy floss picks!
They also sell interdental brushes, dental night guards, tongue cleaners and a whole host of temporary tooth repair products - very handy for having on standby as you just KNOW that filling is going to come out after dentist hours.
We picked up a couple of floss picks in cute cases then I posed with my daughter for a social media snap in the hope of winning a brand new iPad. Mine is so old now it's getting a bit deaf and needs a bit of time to warm up so I'm crossing my fingers.
After admiring the DenTek tree which featured a tooth fairy brandishing a floss pick at the top, we headed off to explore the show.
We always have a laugh touring these things together and this occasion was no exception. We saw some fantastic unique products -and some which we weren't entirely sure would ever come out of the cupboard.
I'd love to share the picture of my friend Claire using the portable neck massager but her expression of bliss looks likes something maybe only her husband should see in the bedroom so I think I'd better not.
We were particularly impressed by Playbrush, a simple system which turns your child's toothbrushing into a fun game as the brush works as the controller for games on a tablet. We have enormous trouble getting our 9 year old with ASD to brush his teeth but he loves onscreen games and I think this would make a massive difference to his dental routine.
We also very much liked the Gallery Vodka stand where Claire bought a bottle of toffee vodka after we all tasted it and agreed it was very nice indeed. I like the marshmallow flavoured one too - would be awesome in cocktails I reckon.
The show was very Christmassy - I really loved admiring the trees and listening to the lovely carolling from visiting choirs and we all picked up a couple of festive bits and pieces to take home before collapsing exhausted onto the train home.
Many thanks to DenTek for gifting us tickets and many thanks to my lovely mates and my daughter for an awesome day out we will remember for years to come.