Silent Sunday 27.04.14
Now listen very carefully. I shall say this only once.
Hello you lovely lot *waves* um, it’s me, again. Right. Ahem. Er, it’s about the Wales Blog Awards.
Now I know a while back I asked you kindly to give me a shout out in the Mum and Dad Blog Awards for Best New Blog, and lots of you did – for which, a huge thank you/diolch yn fawr iawn. I didn’t make the final cut but I was really chuffed to receive nominations in the New Blog category, as well as a few others – including Most Entertaining (I presume that means accidentally) and Best Family Fun, sadly a view which my kids don’t share!
To be honest, I found asking for votes a bit cringy. Worse even than asking people for sponsorship – that’s hard enough, but at least you can big up the fact that you’re asking for money for a Good Cause. Unfortunately there’s no way of pretending that votes for an award will do any good for anyone, except provide a temporary boost to my sense of self worth and give the long suffering husband a night off while I go to the awards shenanigans.
So it is with a grimace and a wince that I write this…
Right. You might have read my post a couple of weeks ago where I rather gobsmackedly shared the news that I am a Wales Blog Awards finalist for ‘Best new Blog’ category – I still cannot even believe I am writing that, by the way! Well, all the blogs in the final are also up for the People’s Choice award, which is decided by – you’ve guessed it – voting.
I actually wasn’t going to ask for votes for the People’s Choice Award. I’m up against so many amazing blogs, and also let’s face it, there really isn’t any way to make a begging post an interesting read, whichever way you dress it up. But then I read that the winner gets the chance to write four pieces for WalesOnline – and you know what, I really, REALLY want to grab any chance I can to get some proper writing experience under my belt.
Now listen very carefully. I shall say this only once…and then we shall never speak of it again. If you enjoy the blog, and if you could suspend your disbelief enough to put ‘LearnerMother’ and ‘People’s Choice Award’ into the same thought bubble, and then hold hold hold that thought whilst you do the one-click voting thing here, I would be simultaneously utterly gobsmacked at your poor taste and at the same time embarrassingly grateful. There, I said it! Phew! *mops brow and uncringes self*
And as always, whether you vote or not, thanks for reading!
Review – Disney Worlds of Fantasy on Ice
‘Best night ever’ So said my little girl when I asked her what I should write about the evening that she and and two of her friends have just spent at the Disney Worlds Of Fantasy on Ice show in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena.
Anything else you think I should write? I enquired hopefully…but no luck. ‘What else is there to say? It was just the Best. Night. EVER! Thanks Mum, you’re brilliant!!’
Well, I’m not going to argue with that, ha! But I do feel it would be somewhat churlish to accept free tickets and then post a three word review, however heartfelt. So given my six year old is clearly not going to help, and her two friends have been despatched to their respective homes, here’s the thoughts of a forty-two year old…
Having not been to an ‘Ice Spectacular’ before, or in fact any Disney live shows, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and it’s fair to say I wasn’t prepared for just how magical the set and effects were. Right from the word go, the show was a fantastic visual spectacle, with four different Disney words colourfully woven into one story.
My girl and her friends were bubbling over with excitement as Mickey and Minnie started their journey, and were absolutely thrilled that, after a short interlude with Lightning McQueen and his Cars chums, the sea came rolling in, heralding the introduction of the Little Mermaid and her quest for Prince Eric – a story that ended with a kiss and a big cheer from the audience. Barely had we dipped our hands into our popcorn when we were introduced to Tinkerbell’s world, the part that my daughter was looking forward to the most – she wasn’t disappointed! Tinkerbell’s story was presented beautifully, with plenty of flying action and a spectacular finale as Spring broke out everywhere all around us.
The second half of the show was set on the wonderful world of Toy Story 3, and rocked along with plenty of energy and a couple of favourite songs – The Toys Are Back In Town certainly had me singing along in my seat, as did Kung Fu Fighting, Rescue Me, and Walking on Sunshine…This did not impress my daughter, who had that look in her eyes as if to say ‘MUM! I’m with my FRIENDS!’ Ooops. Never mind, her eyes soon turned back to the show where the Toys were working together to escape from the dastardly Lotso. What amazed me in this bit was the number of poor skaters who had to be the back end of various animals – Bullseye, Slinky Dog, Hamm – I can’t believe there wasn’t at least one icy disaster before the Toys made their final escape to be played with happily ever after.
What a brilliant show! The skaters were amazing, as were the colours and the special effects – sometimes we literally did not know where to look, there was so much going on. It was a lovely night for my girl and her friends, and even their hardened, cynical mother might just have been a little caught up in the Disney magic!
If you’re based in Cardiff and looking for a special treat to finish up the holidays, Disney Worlds of Fantasy on Ice is on at 7pm Thurs 24th and Fri 25th, then three shows on Saturday 26th at 11am, 2.45pm, and 6.30pm, and the two final shows at 12noon and 4pm on Sunday 27th. My absolute top tip would be to take food and drink with with you rather than buy it at the Arena – or you could end up spending the ticket price again. That aside, I’d highly recommend a trip through those Worlds of Fantasy – it’ll warm the cockles of your heart!
**Disclosure – we were kindly invited to see the show by Woody, Buzz and friends in exchange for this review**
