Andy & The Band Launch Party - Live on CBeebies!

Last weekend the kids and I headed into London for a very very exciting event - the Andy and the Band show live launch!

Regular readers of this blog will know that we have been fans of Andy's since Elliot was small and have followed his Odd Socks music career since the beginning. We love going to their live shows but the children were really excited to hear about a brand new show on CBBC featuring Andy and the Odd Socks. And they were even more excited to get an invite to the launch!

Saturday morning arrived and we were on the road by 6am...a little bleary eyed but raring to go. We parked at Richmond and hopped on the tube which was a massive novelty - the kids haven't really been into central London properly before so the tube was a totally new experience for them!

The launch was being hosted at the Royal Institution in Mayfair and when we arrived, the children were given an Andy and The Band lanyard which they immediately put on. We headed upstairs where everyone else seemed to be and waited to be let into the auditorium. In typical Elliot style, he was in the right place at the right time and managed to get high 5's when the band walked past!

It was soon time to head into the auditorium and excitement started to build as we spotted all the cameras and equipment! We found a seat and played a game of "who can we spot off the telly!" - the first being Dodge from CBeebies.

It was fascinating watching him - obviously he's a puppet but the man that moves him round and talks is just so funny! Elliot was really chuffed to get a selfie :)

Elliot also spotted Ed and Naomi from Marrying Mum and Dad - it's one of his favourite shows on CBBC so he literally ran over to them to say hello, it made his day!

Soon it was time begin and Andy and the band came in to rapturous applause - the audience seemed to be made up of mostly family/friends and fans so they got a brilliant welcome!

It was really exciting to hear that they would be playing live on CBeebies - apparently CBeebies has only been live once before so this was a real treat - it's not often we get to watch TV absolutely live.

The band had a few rehearsals, and they played some songs (including some new ones!) and soon it was time to GO LIVE!

After that we were able to watch two of the episodes of the new show and the episodes got a great reaction from the audience. Elliot and Erin were certainly transfixed.

Once the filming had been completed and the episodes watched, everyone headed out to have photos with Andy and the band. As always, Elliot was greeted like an old friend and even Erin was all smiles! Previously at meet and greets she has cried or screamed but this was the first time that she was not only keen to say hello, but actually smiled for the picture :)

We also caught up with some of the other Odd Sock families - we bump into each other at lots of gigs so it was nice to say hello.

Odd Sock Superfans!

Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and head back to Dorset after our whistle stop visit to London. We had a brilliant morning and it was amazing to be part of the launch. Andy and the band work so hard and it's brilliant to see all the hard work paying off. I think it's fantastic for children to have such positive and talented role models to look up to and I'm sure the Odd Socks are going to get a massive influx of new fans this year!

Andy and The Band is now streaming on iPlayer and you can catch them playing live all over the Country this year. 

**A BIG thank you to Odd Socks HQ for inviting us along to this - see you soon :)

Jawsome Sharks & Friends - Top Trumps - Weymouth SEA LIFE

We love a day out at Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park and in the half term holiday we headed down to check out the brand new Jawsome Sharks event. Running from 15th February - 26th April, visitors can take on a brand new quest for 2020 by helping Professor Finn find the missing Top Trump cards hidden around the park.

"Guests will learn fun facts along the way about the species of sharks and other amazing creatures that call the aquarium home. This latest activity marks an exciting new partnership with family favourite Top Trumps card games, which many of us know from the endless hours of fun provided as children" 

We are huge fans of Top Trumps and Elliot and Erin were very keen to start on this challenge!

As we headed into the park, we picked up our challenge sheets and pencils from the front desk and excitingly, our first Top Trump card of the day. As part of the quest, children can challenge any member of staff to a quick game of Top Trumps to see if they can win another card. This is a fantastic way of learning about the sea creatures and who doesn't love a fact!

We had a bit of a false start with our Top Trumps as the first member of staff we encountered didn't have any cards on him but this didn't dampen Elliot's enthusiasm as you can see from the pic above :)

We had lots of fun exploring the park zones and looking for the hidden Top Trumps. Some were easy to find but we had a bit of a tricky one which was being hidden by a stingray - he really didn't want us to see the info and we had to wait ages for him to move!

It was also really fun getting to challenge the staff - I think this was Elliot's favourite part of the day and he got some really interesting cards from different staff around the park. The staff are brilliant at Sealife Weymouth and it's something I always notice every time we visit - they are passionate about the park and always so friendly.

Of course we couldn't visit and not spend some time in Caribbean Cove - one of the best playgrounds in Dorset. The kids love it and could easily spend all day here!

Erin's still a bit too young to go on the big climbing frame but there's plenty to keep her occupied and she loved the toddler pirate ship.

The park is going through a bit of an update at the moment and the popular Ocean Tunnel display inside the Turtle Sanctuary is currently being redeveloped into an exciting new experience called Night and Day. This opens in April 2020 and we can't wait to see what they've done!

Once you have found all the Top Trump cards around the park and filled out your sheet, you will receive a special reward to take home...

We had a fab day out at Weymouth SEA LIFE and the kids were really chuffed to come away with a selection of Top Trump cards. I think having the staff there to swap cards with is a great way of getting the kids chatting, especially if they are a little shy.

The Jawsome Sharks and Friends event is now on until 26th April - for more information and tickets, please check out the Weymouth SEA LIFE website .

*Disclaimer: We are Weymouth SEA LIFE Ambassadors and received an annual pass in return for regular reviews, but all thoughts and opinions are my own