Mog on the Tyne | Newcastle Cat Cafe Review

Guest post by one of our new writers, Jennifer, who visited Mog on the Tyne (a cat cafe in Newcastle) with their 5 year old daughter in September 2021. Please always check with venue direct for the most up-to-date information and use this post as a guide only. Over to Jennifer........ 

Visiting a ‘cat café’ has been on my bucket list for a long time, so I was really excited to visit Mog on the Tyne recently with my mum, and my five-year-old daughter.

Asmara Blyth Review

This post is based on a visit in September 2021. Always check details with venues direct when making plans as information may change over time. 

We have three family birthdays in September and it is a bit of a tradition that we go out for an Indian meal to celebrate. This year, we booked Asmara in Blyth for their Thursday night banquet deal. 

October Half Term | Our Plans

We have a busy October Half Term planned this year and I wanted to share our plans. I know as we share our days out I will be asked for the details so I am hoping that having it here all in one place will be easy for me to direct people to when they want to find out more. I won't be online much during the week itself. 

CJ's Funhouse | Cramlington Soft Play Review

I, like many people in Cramlington was gutted when I heard that TJs Jungle was closing. It was where Harry, Dee and Jack had many birthday parties over the years, where we attended friends' birthday parties, somewhere reliable I could take the kids after school for a cheap but nice tea and wear them out without spending a fortune. Basically somewhere with lots of memories for us. 

But businesses and time moves on and on 26 August 2021, the newly named CJ's Funhouse opened to the public. I visited in September with my nephew (6) and Jack (10). Harry (15) came along too. Not to play - just to have a look and order some infamous chicken nuggets to see if they were the same (spoiler - they were). 

Northumberland Country Zoo Review (with a pushchair)

This post is by Bethanie from Northumberland Family Diaries and based on a visit in Summer 2021. As always, please check with venue direct for the most up-to-date info especially regarding booking, opening hours and prices. Over to Bethanie....... 

Credit : Northumberland Country Zoo

We first visited Northumberland Country Zoo around six years ago when our oldest was just two years old. We liked it. It was small, the entry was cheap and they handed you bags of popcorn to feed the traditional farm animals that always seemed pleased to see you. 

Kirkleatham Owl Centre Review

This post is based on a visit in July 2021. Please always check information with venue direct when making plans as information (especially opening hours and admission) may have changed. 

We visited Kirkleatham Owl Centre in summer 2021 whilst staying at Saltburn Holiday Lets.

Kirkleatham Owl Centre is in Redcar and part of a wider estate - you can choose to visit all or some of the attractions on offer which are all close together.

The Best Adventure Playground in the Lake District (Lowther Castle)

This post is based on a visit in August 2021. Always check details with Lowther Castle direct before making plans as information can change over time. 

During our stay with Orchard Hideaways, I asked for recommendations for places to visit and Lowther Castle is somewhere which popped up time and time again. It was only a short drive from where we were staying, so we decided to go for it. Wow! we were blown away with how fantastic the adventure playground was and I cannot wait to share it with you in this post today. 

Lowther Castle is located near Penrith in the North Lakes. It is just under 80 miles / a 1 hr 45 minute drive from Newcastle. As far as I can see, there is no direct public transport but taxis are readily available from Penrith (which has good rail and bus connections). It is currently free to park at Lowther Castle. 

Disney On Ice Newcastle - Additional Show Announced in Newcastle

This is an advert for September 2021. 

Disney On Ice is proving to be the hottest ticket in town with an additional show being added to their run at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on 8 December 2021. 

Lots of readers have been asking for ideas for magical things to do in December which do not include a visit to Father Christmas and I have to say, I think tickets to see Disney On Ice fit the bill and I cannot wait to see the show myself this December. 

Weekend Reading (September 2021)

25 September 

Hello and welcome to another edition of weekend reading. My regular chatty post about this and that. 

This week we celebrated Harry's 15th birthday. It is crazy to me that I was around this age when I first met Steve! We enjoyed a few family meals to celebrate including a wonderful Indian banquet at Asmara.

Gulliver's Valley Stay & Play Review (Pirate Cabin)

This post is based on our visit in August 2021. Please always double check information with attractions direct when booking as information/details can change over time. 

We were looking for a one night short break to enjoy with my nephew (aged 5) this August and found many theme parks to be super expensive or for short breaks to have a minimum of 2/3 nights in August. I remembered the Gulliver's Theme Parks and noticing in the past that they offered good value, I checked again and they did have 1 night breaks in August which seemed like excellent value. 

What's On for Kids in the North East This Weekend

There are advertisements in this post. 

Hello! I usually share a few ideas for things to do over the weekend across North East England on Facebook and Instagram Stories every Friday morning. I am going to trial sharing this info as a blog post too as hopefully I can provide more info. Let's see how this goes! 

This post will always use this link so bookmark it and check back every Friday morning. I will of course re-share across Social Media each week too. 

10 Reasons to Visit Teesside Park

 This is an advertisement for August 2021.
Any shares / edits beyond this date have not been asked or paid for. 

Teesside Park in Stockton-on-Tees recently invited us to #SeizeTheDay and enjoy some much needed family time together and have a spontaneous day of fun at their centre whilst enjoying some of the activities we had missed over the last year or so.

We honestly had the best time and after a busy few weeks, it was so nice to re-group and spend a full day doing things we enjoy. 

This was my first visit to Teesside Park and I was super impressed with both the range and quality of facilities on offer. I really hope this post inspires more of you to visit and it is somewhere I would 100% recommend to families as a destination for their next day out. 

Let's take a peek at why we think you should #SeizeTheDay and visit Teesside Park.......