We have decided to end the summer holiday’s with a bit of a bang.
This week has seen us in London and back down south, for not one, but two festivals.
The first of the two, Victorious, is a firm favourite but I have to admit that now the kids are older, there isn’t as much for them to do. We found it much busier than usual and had to go in search of quieter areas, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
The second of the two, Runfestrun / Carfest, was just as busy, although more spaced out. The kids loved the mix of sporting activities, cars and music as there was plenty to keep them busy.
Here was our week:
Monday 23rd August
I have got quite behind on stuff for the blog, but all good intentions were dashed because Lilah was stuck to me like glue for the day.
We did manage a game of A Little Wordy, which we were sent to review, whilst she had her nap.
I thought it was going to be easy, but it’s actually quite challenging and lots of fun.
Tuesday 24th August
Ever since our visit to Warner Bros Studio Tour, we have been on a Harry Potter / Fantastic Beasts movie marathon and looking for other Harry Potter themed days out.
With a trip to London planned to attend a Disney+ event, we made our day longer and booked into the Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition in Covent Garden, with Eliza’s equally HP loving friend in tow.
The exhibition takes you on a journey through the memories of the 10 years spent creating filmmaking magic in a display of behind-the-scenes images, and props, never before seen in one place.
Every photo had a description next to it, with the actors names, name of the film and the location. Safe to say we have added a few must visit places to our list.
Once we had finished, we headed off in search of the phone box at Whitehall, used in the film to get into the Ministry of Magic. There was an Extinction Rebellion protest happening, so they were blocked off, but as it was a peaceful protest, the policemen on duty, opened the path to let us through.
From here, we jumped on the tube to Paddington, where the Disney+ event was.
The event was themed around three films, Luca, Soul, Raya and the Last Dragon and TV series Loki, with activities for the kids to try and food and drink from the locations on offer to try.
It was my first “event” back as a blogger and it was lovely to see some familiar faces again.
Wednesday 25th August
Back in March, my husband and I did a walk to find the dinosaur footprints near Swanage, with the intention of taking the kids there once we knew where we were going.
5 months later and we finally made it back with the kids in tow, although this time on a guided walk with the Jurassic Coast Trust.
John, our guide, was fabulous with the kids, answering all their questions and pointing out things that my husband and I missed on our visit.
Eliza and Sebby busily filled in their summer diaries with facts and diagrams of what they had seen. Can you see the tracks?
Thursday 26th August
A work day for me and I came home to find the kids playing outside with their school friends, taking it in turns to ride a hoverboard / go kart………guess what they are asking for now!
Friday 27th August
Another work day and my colleague and I both got pinged by our NHS app at the same time.
Thankfully I am double jabbed and have no symptoms, so don’t have to isolate, but I did do a lateral flow test to be sure, after the app kept going off.
Saturday 28th August
We headed to Portsmouth today to Victorious festival. We found them much stricter than Camp Bestival with their restrictions and had to prove negative lateral flow tests for all of us before being let in.
The music line up was fantastic and we enjoyed sets from Craig David, Morcheeba, Stereo Mc’s and Rag N Bone Man.
The kids found the Kids Arena too young for them now, but it was nice to see them actually enjoying the music this year, especially Rag N Bone Man.
Sunday 29th August
Another day, another festival – this time RunFestRun!
RunFestRun is the UK’s biggest running party and runs alongside Carfest at Laverstoke Park Farm. You can enjoy lots amazing races across the whole weekend, from 5km runs, 10km runs, family fun runs and even a half marathon as well as talks from running heroes such as Paula Radcliffe, Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell and fun activities for the kids.
Once we had finished exploring Runfestrun, we crossed the bridge into Carfest, where the boys got to enjoy all the cars.
The music line-up for Carfest was brilliant and we enjoyed sets from The Fratelli’s, Texas, Ronan Keating and McFly.
Safe to say we are all shattered now, but thankfully next week is much quieter.
How was your week?
What a wonderful end to the summer holidays. You have crammed so much in. The festivals sound fantastic fun and I love the sound of the Harry Potter exhibition. x
Wow what a busy time, looks like a lot of fun. i was fortunate to be on set at the filming of the first Harry Potter movie in Gloucester, feels like a lifetime ago now. Hope you enjoy visiting as many of the locations as you can
I’ve still never been to a festival! I want to go to the HP exhibition as I’m reading the series to the kids. #project365
Looks like a busy but good week! The Harry Potter exhibition sounds good!
A Little Wordy looks like a fun game. Glad you had a nice time at the Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition and enjoyed the Disney+ event. Looks like you had fun at the two festivals – had quite a few family members going to Victorious as my family are from that area and my nephew was also performing. #project365
The music line ups at the festivals looked great. I’m very jealous. I wish we’d gone to Big Feastival as that’s really close to us, I think Rag n Bone man played there too.
What a brilliant end to the Summer holidays. We have been going a bit mad on Potter destinations this Summer too. I wasn’t aware of the Covent Garden exhibition will have a look at that and see when it ends.
I would love to go to the Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition but I think it ends in December and we just can’t fit a trip in. I’m very jealous you got to go to the Disney+ event. I think we were on the Disney cruise the day it was on so I shouldn’t really complain lol. You had such a fun week with festivals we have never been to one #365