Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood at Nottingham Playhouse

Last weekend we were invited to see the opening night of this year's pantomime at the Nottingham Playhouse, Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood.

You may remember last year we were invited to see Cinderella; it was the first time my children had seen the Christmas panto and it was such a wonderful experience, so I was really looking forward to seeing it again this year.

As the curtains were raised, the dancers twirled across the stage dressed as the woodland creature residents of Sherwood Forest. Immediately, my daughters face lit up just the same as last year.

Hailing from Nottingham, Robin Hood is naturally a huge part of our cultural history, so this particular panto was always going to be hit with residents of the city.

The costumes were wonderful and the actors all bought their own element of excitement and humour, and with audience participation a must (otherwise you might just get taken on stage) the show was thoroughly enjoyed by us all.

John Elkington once again bought the panto dame to life as Nurse Nelly Noggins, he is hilarious and keeps the audience amused with his quick wit and great humour, Robin Kingsland was the perfect baddie and had us all booing as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.

There were lots of modern songs to keep it entertaining for all ages, they even got us dancing at one point. It really is the best way to get into the festive mood and with Christmas songs interspersed throughout, it was hard not to get into the spirit of the season.

I don’t want to spoil it by giving away the songs so I won’t, all I can say is that the show is well worth the money and it is by far my new favourite tradition.

The panto runs until 19th January and there relaxed performances, dementia-friendly and BSL-signed performances still to come. And with seats to suit all budgets, it really is accessible to all.

I can also highly recommend The Elves and The Shoemaker in the Neville Studio next door. Aimed at children from 3-8, we have been to these shows the last few years and they are an absolutely amazing immersive experience for the children and a great way to get them into theatre.

We were given two complimentary tickets to the show for the purpose of this review, all words and opinions are my own. Photos by Nottingham Playhouse

Winter Time Fun at Newstead Abbey

Happy New Year everyone. I know, I know, we are already near the end of January, but these past few weeks I have been working hard and looking after my two children, so me and my laptop have been having a break.

We are back now though with some pictures from our winter visit to Newstead Abbey. We love exploring the old gardens of this wonderful estate and with many different plants and corners to visit it is always a great adventure.

If you are visiting Nottinghamshire, then this beautiful estate once home to Lord Byron is the perfect place to relax and explore.

Whether you are here in the summer, winter, autumn or spring there is always something to see and do, wrap up warm with a hot chocolate or relax with a picnic on the lawns.

Just up the road from us it is somewhere we visit a lot, with so much to explore it never gets boring.

Whilst we were there we did a little photo shoot for Trespass, my son took some really lovely photos and is becoming quite the little photographer.

We managed to get  nice photo of the three of us, our new and adapted little family of three.

What have you been up to so far this year? I certainly wish all of my readers a wonderful 2017.