Our Weekend in Pictures-Including Hanging Out With Mr Bloom

This weekend was gushingly one where I literally kept thinking, ‘Wow I’m so happy, I’m so lucky’…stick with me…You see we are all so busy rushing around aren’t we, running from here to there, working, hustling, multi-juggling that these last few days went by a bit slowly in comparison and allowed me to truly take stock.

I could really saviour how happy I feel, so fortunate that I’m able to do what I love every day, to have the most incredibly loving and supportive family, I just feel so grateful for all the fun we have and how good life is.

I really don’t take any of this for granted.

When I had my first child, Oliver, we all lived far from family in London, I felt lost and alone after a traumatic birth-then we moved to beautiful Bristol but finally returned to my hometown of Leeds and just like that, the jigsaw pieces fell into place.

I felt supported, back close to my parents and brother and my husband and I decided to settle here in Leeds, with me making my way back to London once a month for work and to see my much missed friends.

I can’t imagine living anywhere else than glorious Yorkshire to be honest. OK, maybe LA for half the year but then back to Yorkshire for the rest. That’s the dream I reckon. Who knows, the US is my 2nd biggest audience so watch this space!

Now though, back to the weekend up North…

Friday night was double date night with my husband Peter, and my brother and his girlfriend Lucy. I was a bad bloggery though and totally forgot to take any pictures (we all need a night off right?!).

Saturday was rather excitingly (more for me than the kids I think) dedicated to a Cbeebies’ Dancing Beebies family event at the Trinity Leeds shopping centre in the centre.

Press bands on, we were ready to rock-

Breakfast at the gilded and gorgeous Everyman Cinema with croissants, fruit medleys and colouring in for the kids commenced before a viewing on the big screen of the Cbeebies televised adaptation of Northern Ballet’s Elves & the Shoemaker, with commentary from the main man himself, Mr Bloom and the cutest group of ‘Tiddlers’ you’ve ever seen.

Oliver got stuck in to the colouring in and sticker fun before the screening-

Cute!

Proud face at his perfect picture-

Croissant and coffee then Elves & the Shoemaker time-

Having seen the Northern Ballet production last year, it was fun for the kids to watch it again in a televised version with Mr Bloom and a group of children explaining the narrative as it unfolded. It’s a truly stunning show that introduces ballet in a way even toddlers would grasp and will no doubt encourage kids to dance all over the UK. Utterly brilliant.

Just look at this excited face-

It will be broadcast this Easter so do look out for it.

I previewed it for Time Out Leeds whom I write for and wanted to write about it right here too.

I LOVE this shot!

…The whole of the shopping centre had a Cbeebies make-over and the power of dance was celebrated for the day with local children dancing on a stage to a captivated crowd.

The kids were utterly engrossed and Xander wanted to join them!

We even got to meet Mr Bloom to boot!

It’s so funny, before I was a pro-blogger I was a TV director so by rights, I shouldn’t get starstruck but there’s the odd person that comes along and makes you go, ‘Ooh’, and Mr Bloom is one of those. A talented guy who has gotten many of us through a sleep-deprived sofa day, huh!

…Thanks Mr Bloom for chatting to Oliver about the show and making him feel so special. As we left he gasped, ‘Wow, that was Mr Bloom in real life’. It certainly was.

Next stop was sushi and I was pretty impressed that Oliver tried raw salmon for the first time and devoured it too. Xander wrestled with chopsticks and won (kinda)- I had to clean the floor before we left!

Then, it was big strides in the sunshine to the Leeds City Market for fresh fish and seafood (halibut, swordfish and prawns) and brown bags full of seasonal fresh fruit and veg.

The fishmonger kindly accepted Xander’s request for a seashell. Pulling it to his ear, he listened to the sea.

I just love the hustle and bustle of the market, the characters, the flowers in bloom, the shops of bygone times (a button shop bursting with ribbons of every colour, and an M&S from a million years ago).

If you’re ever in Leeds, you must pop in.

Back home, Peter snapped some cherry blossom and pansies before they’re soon to be no more. So pretty.

…It was another first for Xander, as he gulped down cold Rooibos tea and loved it. Grandma Cathy and Grandad Davide who live in South Africa will be pleased!