“Look at me! Look at me! Look at me NOW! It is fun to have fun But you have to know how.”

Opeie loves celebrating his toys birthdays, Rose the cat has had three birthdays in the last 3 months and it always seems like someone is getting the star treatment for the day. Last week the birthday boy was the Cat in the Hat and after receiving a package from Bigjigs toys Opeie came up with an elaborate plan on how we were going to celebrate. The sun was out and we had an afternoon to do what we wanted so Opeie informed me of his plans and we set about trying to make them happen.

The Plan:

• Pack a bag each full of relevent items for our mission
• Scoot to Ironbridge and embark on an adventure collecting items for the ultimate toy birthday party
• Convince local business owners to let us do what we want in their establisments
• Document our adventure with pictures (Opeie loves us taking pics)
• Make sure the Cat in the Hat has a Birthday to remember
• On completion of our tasks make our way home and party for the remainder of the afternoon

 He certainly doesn't ask for much that boy of mine, but who am i to deny him his fun.

The first stop on the Birthday mission was the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron where we pulled up our Micro scooters for a spot of tea and scones. We explained to the lady running the Cafe that it was the Cat in the Hat's birthday and that we needed to pick up supplies for a party (yes we did go through this story with everyone we came in to contact with that day). We spotted the perfect box of twelve biscuits skillfully baked by Bigjigs toys, delicious!

Like Opeie and myself, the cat in the Hat is quite partial to a peanut butter and jam sandwich and Opeie wanted to make sure that his friend had all his favourite food at the birthday shindig. As we were leaving the cafe we walked through the shop connected and noticed exactly what we were looking for, so with the help of a very excited Opeie we explained to the staff about the celebration and what we needed and they happily obliged. With our Bigjigs toys Peanut butter and Jam acquired we jumped back on the Micro Scooters and continued our adventure.

While scooting along the high street Opeie shouted "Cake!". You cant have a birthday celebration without Birthday cake and Opeie's sighting of Queenie's cupcakes made it quite clear where the next stop on our destination was going to be. The lovely lady on the counter asked all about the Cat in the Hat and his birthday and Opeie was loving telling her all about it. It was so great how everywhere we went staff were embracing Opeie's plans and being really friendly. We left Queenie's with our Bigjigs Birthday cake a perky cat and a very happy little events organiser.

There was only one thing left on Opeie's list and i think it was bright, hot sunshine that was keeping it at the forefront of his mind. We knew as soon as we spotted the sign for Vanilla ice it was time to pick up the Bigjigs Ice lollies and again the chap in the shop was very friendly, he even said we can go wandering behind the till for pictures. There must be something in the water in the river Severn that makes everyone so friendly. Well that was our shopping for previsions done and what a great spread we were going to be putting on.

The weather was far to nice to go straight home so we made the most of Ironbridge's beautiful park before heading home. Scooting around for an hour before parking up and having a run about. It was the perfect way to spend the cats special day.

The excitement of Opeie's garden party was getting too much so he asked if we could go home and start getting things ready. With all the great Bigjigs food we had collected on our shopping/scooting adventure the party preperation was going to be a huge job, but the sun was shining and everyone was having a great time. Opeie organised everything pretty much by himself and then it was party time.

 After a couple of hours serving our guests, playing pass the parcel and dancing it was time to relax with a good book. An eventful afternoon was had by all. Great food, Great company and some fast wheels to run our errands on, Perfection!

Until our next Birthday adventure... Have fun! x

"If baking is any labor at all, it's a labor of love. A love that gets passed from generation to generation."

Cooking is a big thing with Opeie, his block of chocolate sandwiches and hot boiled egg cakes are to die for. Of course, I am talking about his play food but we don't limit his culinary ideas to just role play. I like to think that I let the boys get involved with all the things I do, I think it's important for them to experience all the things that I do no matter how mundane. Opeie is quite partial to a spot of hoovering.

When it does come to food preparation though he is always excited at the prospect of getting involved. Making smoothies or green juices (hulk juices as he calls them) is what he enjoys most these days and I love that he just wants to be a part of everything we do.

He makes it quite clear daily that he is 'a big boy' and when a product comes along that is used by adults but has been scaled down for big boys and girls he is pretty much in his element. When our recent Bigjigs toys play patrol mission arrived, Opeie's little smiley face said it all. I could have written a glowing review just on that expression.

The young chefs baking set is a perfect product for a little chap who loves Mary berry and the great British bake off. With everything you need included for a miniature baking session it was time to get our hands dirty. Because of all the dietary issues in our house, cooking and baking is a great bit of education for Opeie, using different types of flour and being able to discuss why we don't use dairy etc.

Opeie was loving having utensils made for his hand size, i hadn't really thought about how difficult it must be using our whisks etc until this baking session. Bigjigs toys really did cover everything, mini rolling pin, whisk, tins, trays, cake cases, measuring spoons, cookie cutters and my personal favourite the mini oven glove (which we only used putting the cakes in the oven). Opeie had been desperate to get started on his baking session and with his young chefs baking set Bigjigs toys had helped him become even more a part of what was going on. All we needed to add were the ingredients and a chair to stand on.

"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

I've been sneaking in lots of spelling and phonics games into mine and Opeie's afternoons recently and he seems to be picking things up very quickly now. We've started playing a game each morning with Opeie's wooden Bigjigs Chunky Alphabet Puzzle which always has us laughing. I pick a letter from the board and Opeie gives me a word beginning with that letter. Before he gives me the word he's actually thinking of he laughs and gives me a word ending in 'at', he thinks this is hilarious especially when it comes to the words that don't make sense, 'Jat', 'Wat' and 'Zat' etc.

We've had some great words during our games and for a three year old he's come a long way, Dog has been replaced with 'disappointed' (which I thought was great) and words like question, Rhinoserous and Unicorn are becoming more frequent, he seems to have a great vocabulary for his age.

Last week when we were playing I picked up the letter 'N' and after the initial 'Nat' with a giggle Opeie very confidently said 'Nazi'. I was a little shocked but just took it as one of those odd times when kids are experimenting with their words. Like one time when we were driving to Nanny and Grandads, Opeie was sitting in the back saying Rock, sock, dock, Lock... Inevitably it was going to get to two of the words we didn't want him repeating to Grandad, and then "Fock". Stupid me said "don't say that Opeie" which was a bad move as the remainder of the journey to see my lovely in laws included an awkward 10 minutes of "fock, fock, fock" resonating from the back of the car.

Anyway back to our alphabet game and a few days later we reached 'N' again, 'Nat' passed with a chuckle and again I was greeted with an awkward 'Nazi'. I couldn't shake an image of a Hitler youth poster I had seen many years ago that had freaked me out and half expecting 'H for Hitler' or 'G for Goebbels' to be next, I asked Opeie where he had got Nazi from? In an adorable and very innocent way he just smiled and said "you know! Nazi, like in the bake off!" (he loves the bake off). I will get round to telling Opeie all about our history but for now his mispronunciation of 'Nancy' is so much more entertaining.

"You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."

Being a Play Patrol Agent is so much fun, Our monthly packages from Bigjigs Toys have been so exciting for the boys and it has been great to write for a company that we are so passionate about. This months package has by far been our favourite since last year and had Opeie running about the house squealing with joy. Our two little agents love role play, especially play food so the products we were sent were spot on and gave us the perfect excuse to open Opeie's Diner for business...

For breakfast this morning our little chef prepared a delicious looking pizza, i really should be watching the carbs but what the hell (how many calories are in wood anyway?). The Bigjigs Cutting Pizza is great for roleplay and we loved how all the toppings can be removed. The toppings and the six slices are attached by velcro, perfect as it means there is less chance of losing all the pieces (Clever Bigjigs).

With the pizza looking like a culinary triumph it was time to heat the oven ready for baking. Opeie takes his food preparation very seriously and wouldn't let me help at all. I just got the brush off followed by "i can do it daddy".

Opeie cooks pizza quicker than any I've ever tried to bake and it was ready for consumption within around 45 seconds, then it was out of the oven and time to dish up. Off subject completely, I found that while playing, the Pizza was great for teaching Opeie about dividing things equally and counting. Time to eat and my tummy was rumbling and it smelled delicious. The pizza also comes with the wheeled cutter which our little role playing chef really enjoyed using, slicing up our breakfast ready to be served...

 With great quality wooden pieces and bright vibrant colours it is everything you would expect from a company that really seems to know what children want. Plus the pizza was very tasty....erm you seem to have a little on your face there Opeie!

I thought that may be the end of our breakfast but our little Secret agent/Chef in the making had more food to prepare using the Bigjigs Toys Food in a net, Like i said before the boys cant get enough of play food and i love watching the boys come up with their (sometimes crazy) scenarios, he loves preparing meals for me. The set has a great selection of bread, eggs, fish, cooked meats (well quorn in our house) and chocolate which i thought was the one item that didn't really fit but was probably Opeie's favourite piece. It was interesting when Opeie asked what the chicken leg was, as we don't eat meat in our house. I forget that he wouldn't know what that was and when i told him what it was he just laughed and said "why would you eat a chickens leg?", an animal activist in the making.

Role playing is one of my favourite things to do with the boys, i love getting involved in all of their play activities but with this they are guiding me and i learn a lot from what they have picked up from me and Mrs M and our food preparation day to day. The boys ask a lot of questions like how to cook certain foods and its great to be able to explain to them using play food. Also (although its been explained to them many times) its great to teach them the importance of a balanced diet and although they love their vegetables it seems that Opeie's idea of a balanced breakfast this morning was a simple slab of chocolate between two pieces of bread, a chip off the old block.

Bigjigs toys have a great selection of play food to choose from, giving your children the chance to let their imagination run wild. Opeie has his eye on the Birthday cake with it being Seth's Birthday next month (he's such a cutie) and the Birthday boy thinks that the Diner is missing the Shop till with Scanner , which makes sense because as of yet Opeie has not asked for payment for all his hard work.

Fingers crossed there will be another post soon from the recently Michelin-starred 'Opeie's Diner' (I'm sure the five star reviews on trip advisor will come flooding through any day now).

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

Being picked to write for Bigjigs toys for another year is amazing. We had so much fun reviewing some great products last year. A few days back our first package came for 2014 and the boys were so excited to see what was inside. The contents gave us a great excuse to get the trains out as they hadn't seen the light for about 6 months.

The Rail and Road Overground Station Is a great addition to our ever expanding Bigjigs rail set. The boys loved this from the moment they unboxed it as it's the first larger rail piece they have had with an upper level. The weather has been great so we threw caution to the wind and built our track on the uneven grass in the back garden. One of the great things i love about Bigjigs products is that everything is so robust, you can be as heavy handed as you like.

The piece is great as it connects both Bigjigs road and rail sets together which i love. Bigjigs rail has such a nice classic feel to it and i love the boys playing with trains as it takes playing back to when it was a little more simple and imagination was the key ingredient. Its so easy these days to get dragged into new technology that its nice for the boys to be able to take a step back. Plus i always think that the boys play much nicer together with these sort of products as it encourages team work.

With our Bigjigs package also came a set of Farm Skittles which i planned to write a seperate review for but the boys being so creative and using their imagination they included the skittles in to their play beautifully. Seth placed the farmer and his animals on the platform to wait for their train (minding the gap of course). After boarding they were taken around the scenic route of our garden.

Opeie took a less delicate approach and lined them up on the road and used a car to mow them down. Not the sort of play we would expect from our animal loving vegan friendly boy.... but very creative.

As always when the Bigjigs toys come out, it was a fun hour or so of family bonding and It is so much nicer to be able to take our toys outside while the sun is out. One of the many things i love about Bigjigs Rail is the vesatility, no two tracks that we build are the same so this toy reinvents itself every play.

We took the Farm Skittles to Nanny and grandads a few days back too and Opeie and grandad had a lovely game (they've got great flooring for it). As expected these are two great products from a company we have grown to adore over our time working with them.