"Even the largest avalanche is triggered by small things."

Day 25:

We've reached that point in our self isolation already where lying under a pile of soft toys is seen as a worthwhile activity to pass the time. Well whatever it takes to get us through these crazy days I guess. 

"You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your wayout of this?"

With the release of Captain America Civil war a couple of weeks back, (which I am still yet to watch, grrr...! I have however read all of Civil War and it was truly amazing), Me and the boys went through our usual pre-superhero movie release routine and went window shopping online for the awesome products tied into the movie. The Disney store (as expected) had an awesome selection of products, everything a budding superhero could possibly need. The product that caught our attention the most though we're the Iron man gauntlet gloves and they were a definite must for the boys superhero armoury.

When they arrived, Opeie instantly dropped what he was doing and ran upstairs to grab his iron man mask for full effect. Then, of course, it was time to do battle. I'm so jealous of the superhero toys available these days, I'd have been in my element as a child being able to have Iron Mans gloves (even though I am definitely team cap). The gloves have light-up repulsors on the palms and shoot out rockets... AWESOME! The only negative about these gloves (and it's a big one!) is that they don't fit me! Come on Disney store, you must know that when the kids have gone to bed we're sitting watching the movies wearing this stuff, or maybe that is just me.

There are so many great civil war products to choose from and we've now got our eye on the Captain America and Black Panther masks to go with the boys collections.

If Iron Man's Gauntlet gloves aren't exciting enough (come on, you know they are), the boys also have the Civil war Deluxe figurine play set waiting for a rainy day stuck indoors. Which if the last two days is anything to go by maybe very soon. The set includes Captain America and Iron man (of course), Vision, Hawkeye, Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Ant-man, Black panther, Falcon and War Machine. So I love forward to battling with those very soon.

"A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth."

My mothers meet up turned in to an art session a few days back and while drinking cups of tea we took over the kids toys briefly. Uncanny i know, thanks Dawn!

"London, thou art the flower of cities all!"

I feel exhausted tonight after not getting home this morning till close to 1am. Many years ago strolling in at 1am usually meant something had happened to stop me from partying longer. These days though if we get home that late it has a knock on effect for all of us (not that I'm complaining though, we had an awesome couple of days). Mrs M had some work on in London and i used it as an excuse to get me and the boys down there too by offering to drive. Our good friends Sam and Jamie offered us beds for the night so we were sorted for our London adventures.

The drive down seemed to take so much longer than usual but everyone was in high spirits, looking forward to some vegan pizza (which sadly we cant get in Shropshire). When we finally got there it was great to hang out with Sam and Jamie and scoff great food. I wanted to make sure we made the most of the following day with the boys so Sam helped me out with a strategic plan of trains, stations and times.

In the morning Mrs M headed off to be amazing at what she does and i began our adventure with the boys being awesome at what i do best (being a dad). Our first port of call was the museum of childhood, Sam caught the first train with us to make sure we got off to a good start which was lovely. We got there a little early so we went for a wander looking for food and stumbled on a juice bar which was lush, after masses of pizza the night before we were definitely in need of some greens.

I'm a huge fan of the museum of childhood as many of the things on display there transport me right back to my own toy heavy childhood. The last time we visited, Seth wasn't with us so i was really looking forward to showing him all the toys from my youth as he is always asking about the things that kept me entertained growing up.

Boglins!!!! I didn't remember seeing this the last time we were there but this gruesome rubber hand puppet took me right back to 'bring a toy into school day' at the end of one of our school terms. Being a child at that age was amazing. Seth thought the trolls were really funny and he found it even more entertaining that when i was at school people would take them in to exams to bring them good luck (crazy). One of my favourite toys back then was my 'My pet monster' (remember them?). I took mine everywhere with me, carried by the handcuffs around my neck.

 Although i love seeing all the old toys it does make me a little sad that i sold some of my collections over the last few years. He-man was one of my favourite toy ranges growing up and i had a big crate of the toys until a few years back when i sold them to get Seth something that he wanted. Who knows maybe I'll start a collection again one day.

The boys had a great time pottering about looking at toys and we had a great conversation about what we thought may be on display from Seth's childhood when he's older. Seth said that if school is anything to go by it will just be a huge cabinet of video games and consoles. Its a shame really that that's how he see's it.

Before going in to the museum i said to Opeie that i bet we would find an old looking Paddington bear on display, It was London after all. Ive been looking at these Gabrielle Paddington bears for quite some time as a gift for Opeie so it was lovely to see one on display there.

After a couple of hours walking around it was time to jump back on the tube to get to our next destination on the list, The Tate. More trains meant more chance of taking the wrong one and that's exactly what we did, oops. Good old Seth pointed out mid journey that none of the stops were on our map and we had in fact got on the wrong line, so we jumped off.

We soon turned it in to a positive though when we noticed the following trains destination said 'via Paddington' so we used our unexpected detour for Paddington bear to get another fun photo opportunity. I actually think going to Paddington station made Opeie's day.

at this point the photos stopped for a while, walking around somewhere as busy as London with two children is really hard graft. When i wasn't carrying Opeie on my shoulders, i was holding both of their hands and it felt like i had really heavy weights pulling me down (on top of carrying a weighty backpack too).

By the time i had got the camera out again we were heading over to Hamley's for a spot of toy hunting. It was amazing how much more familiar parts of London were and as soon as we got off the tube at piccadilly circus we knew exactly where we were going for that enormous toy store.

Straight up to the top floor for us, its all about the LEGO. I love all the LEGO creations up there but ill be honest i was a little disappointed with the selection on sale. We were planning to spend some cash but there was actually a better selection in out local Smyths store so they got our money instead the following day. Hamley's is an awesome toy store though, its the way all toy stores should be, staff demonstrating the products, magic shows and people blowing bubbles.

I really wish i had taken more pictures during our day out but i am so much more over protective of the boys while we are in London because of all the people. Its handy when Mrs M is with us as the extra pair of hands really helps. 

The boys were shattered by 5ish so we headed back to Sam and Jamie's and got to hang out with Jamie for a few hours which was great as hes such a great bloke.We are really looking forward to our next London adventure and we're hoping to go with our friend LEGO Steve next time with his family so stay tuned.

"I am learning to forgive my inner geek, and even value him as a free man."

I'm a bit of an action figure junkie and its something the boys are taking on too, I've been this way for many many years and if it wasn't for that beautiful lady of mine with her love of cushions, chairs and home furnishings then our house would most likely resemble the house in 40 year old virgin. I'm not sure what it is about toys that gives me such enjoyment but one thing I do know is that I have never truly grown up and I'm thankful that I probably never will.

A few weeks back I popped over to see my friend Steve and his lovely family. His little boy is a little older than Opeie and they really play nicely together so it gives me a chance for some adult interaction (which if you are a stay at home parent you'll understand that is a must at times). Steve like me is a LEGO geek and I've been helping him with his series Minifigure collection which is coming along nicely. We got chatting about about nerdy stuff as we do and I found out that he used to own a shop that sold action figures. (Probably a good job that he no longer owns it as it may have put a strain on mine and Mrs M's relationship).

We moved on to the topic of what comics I read (yes I'm the full nerdy package) and he asked me if I'd read 'The Goon', I love the comic and had recently re-read it a couple of years back when I was at the hospital a fair bit helping a family member through a pretty tough time in her life. Thankfully she's alright now and my love of 'the Goon' was rekindled. Steve got up and left the room and returned with all of the figures that had been released and said take them.... Wow, I was in nerd heaven... Free action figures! Surely my life was now complete.

After a couple of 'I can't take these' and with absolutely no twisting my arm up behind my back i agree'd to give them a new home and they look great in the boys room (because that's the only room I'm allowed toys, boooooo!). Seth has since informed me that he would like to read the comic but I think it will be many years before that happens, it is a little dark after all. Obviously I went straight home and sorted some more LEGO out for Steve's collection and I will always be thankful of the very kind gesture. Thanks Steve.

"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.