“Work, love and play are the great balance wheels of man's being”

It was lovely to hear Mrs M last week say "shall we go scooting?", she's been out with us a few times over the last few years but it always felt like it was solely for the boys benefit, which is fine as it just makes it even more clear what an awesome mom she is. This time though was different, this time it seemed that she was looking forward to getting some wheels under her feet. Since donating our black Micro to Emma at Another last story and with Mrs M's new found interest in scooting we were two wheels down on our family scooting adventure. It was time to include a new set of wheels into our family dynamic.

*I'd just like to point out that every time I visit the Micro scooters store there seems to be another cool new scooter to look at. Opeie just spotted the new Micro Sprite Scooter - Tea Owl and let out an excited shriek! The new patterned decks range are amazing.

Anyway back to our family scoot dilemma, When Mrs M's new set of wheels arrived it was time to hit the streets in search of adventure. The new Micro flex deluxe in Berry is lush, when Seth had chosen his pink Micro flex a while back I was a little jealous as there were no pink adult scooters like it. While we were out scooting a lady stopped us and commented on how lovely the colour of this scooter is, its a real attention grabber. The wide fibreglass deck gives the flex deluxe a springy smooth feel much like the suspension scooter. I'm definitely more of a fan of micro's larger wheeled scooters although I did spot someone riding a monster kick board recently and it certainly did make me double take and wonder what they were like to ride.

  The Micro Flex deluxe is available in Berry, Matt Black and Blue.

The new addition to our family scooter had us looking at all of the scooters available on the site, I'm so intrigued by the Pedalflow and Ive never seen one about, I'd love to give one a try. Mrs M is fascinated by the Micro luggage scooter and due to Seth struggling on his scooter recently because of his muscles he would love to try the emicro (I'd secretly love to whizz around on that too, shhhh...).

With Christmas around the corner, any of the Micro scooters range would be an amazing present. Whether you are out playing with the kids or saving the environment by lessening your carbon footprint I think everyone should own a micro scooter. It has had a huge impact on me as a dad and it gives me a great reason sometimes to leave the car on the drive.

"Dude, suckin' at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something."

The Wii U has definitely taken over as the most played with Console in the house and Ive been loving getting back in to sitting with the boys and playing games. Mine and Opeie's recent favourite is the fourth installment from the Adventure time games, Finn and Jake Investigations. Personally I wasn't a massive fan of the last three but the boys loved them. Finn and Jake investigations is a completely different concept and when I read up on the game before hand I knew it was going to be my sort of game. Apart from the mid level fight scenes the game is a slow paced puzzle adventure game. You play as Finn but use his trust companion Jake to progress through the level.

With countless items to pick up through your adventure, you need to work out how to use each one or which of their many from the land of Ooo to give them too. My favourite part of this game is that each level plays out like an episode from the series and they are equally as bizarre as the show. When we first started playing I thought that the game would be too difficult for Opeie to play (being 4), but we've been sitting down together and working out the puzzles as a team, he's picked up on quite a few of the things Ive not noticed too which is interesting.

I wont give too much away about the level content but in the first two levels there are people being kidnapped and hairy beasts upsetting the residents and characters to spring from jail. We're only three levels in but we are really looking forward to completing the rest of the game. Finn and Jake investigations is available on all the usual consoles but also available on the Nintendo 3ds (perfect for mobile gaming). 

Algebraic!

Now time for a little outdoor adventuring I think....

"I find your lack of Christmas cheer disturbing"

It's that magical time of year again, everyone is prepping for the big day and the streets and shopping centres are bringing out the baubles and glitter. As exciting as this time of year is there is also another huge event celebrating its enormous build up. Star Wars the force awakens is soon to hit the cinemas and even though I saw the excitement and crowds building up when the last 3 movies were released I'm still surprised at just how huge Star Wars is. With the two countdowns looming over us like a fully equipped Deathstar it seemed only right for someone to somehow combine the two.

There's that old joke every year about people being bought gordy Christmas jumpers that are begrudgingly worn to make a family member happy, thanks to Numskull though you can wear your Christmas jumper with style (you just need to sway that Nan or distant Aunt in the right direction), With the release of the official Star Wars Christmas jumper range. I thought I would finally get to model something for a review for once but Opeie his eyes on it as soon as it was out of the package and  informed me that he would be modeling this Christmas AT-AT jumper because its apparently a perfect fit.

Ill be looking forward to Christmas dinner even more now dressed in the height of force fashion

Star Wars not your thing? there is an awesome Dr Who Cyberman Christmas jumper too (and its on sale). For more fun Christmas jumpers check out Yellow Bulldog.

"Everybody's out there wrestling like a robot."

When it comes to Nintendo I love the classics, Super Mario for me as a kid was the best and when Yoshi was thrown in to the equation I was in my element. Although I have followed the mustachioed plumber through his glorious career and plan to continue until I am old older and grey, I think its awesome when I am introduced to something I'd not heard of before like the new Chibi-Robo! Zip lash game. I am however a little disappointed with myself for not realising that the game is a follow up to the earlier release on the Gamecube many years ago (I did own a Gamecube when it was released but sadly girls were also a part of my life at this age so I may have missed a lot).

Chibi-Robo Zip lash is a platform game where the hero adventures through each 6 level world using his trusty power cable to progress, while trying to stay charged. The little robot who whips his way through each level is also big on cleaning up mess along the way and picks up litter that is left about to give to his friend at HQ to gain extra points. 

Opeie was the first to point the game out when we were having a mooch on Nintendo.co.uk and said that the game looked really cute. This is one of the things that will always be a huge factor in why I love Nintendo games so much. Most of their games appeal to all age groups and Chibi-robo is definitely no different. I did think after watching the video that it may be a little difficult for Opeie being only 4 but this mini hardcore gamer of mine flew through the early levels with the greatest of ease. I love that the boys are in to gaming and I will always embrace that as it is something that was big in my life as a child, I do limit them though as I think anything they do should be done in moderation. With each game we play though I do try and find the educational advantage in each (there always is one). The legends of Zelda / Pokemon (strategy), Mario Maker / Animal Crossing (design), Super smash Bros... how to brawl? (I jest). Chibi-Robo though gave me a chance to give Opeie a Nintendo themed home school lesson in 'angles'. As the levels progress you need to bounce your power cable off of angled walls to get to higher sockets and Opeie was getting a little frustrated by not being able to advance. The game is great as when you aim your power cable at an angled wall it shows you the trajectory by dotted line to help you along your way. So my lesson in angles showed Opeie throwing the power cable at different places on the angled wall caused the plug to take a different path, Genius!

Chibi-Robo Zip Lash has been great for taking with me everywhere I go helping to bridge that boring gap when I am waiting in the car (which happens a lot). The levels are short and not too testing, although I am only 3 worlds in and there are fun extras as you progress, my favourite so fare being  'The Adventures of Skater Bot' Where Chibi-Robo! dons a skateboard and whizzes through the level shooting his power cable at sockets while moving

The game is fun, effortless play, the only downside for me (and this is just personal preference) was the product placement throughout the game. Console gaming is frowned up on enough, which I can definitely understand if it is not done in moderation. I don't think that any computer game for children though needs to be advertising confectionery throughout the game, it took me right back to Mcdonald land released in the 90's.

That aside though the game play is a lot of fun and being a lot cheaper than many of the other latest 3ds releases you really cant go wrong. I love the Wii U but I seem to get much more time for handheld gaming as it fits in to all my quiet moments and Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash has become another great Nintendo title to add to our ever expanding collection.

There seems to be a fun amiibo section of the game too, sadly we couldn't find out more about that as we are playing the game on the older 3DS. With all the games being released with amiibo extras I'm starting to think that we definitely need the New 3DS XL.

"We ape, we mimic, we mock. We act."

Sometimes we have a quiet weekend where we just spend time together around the house playing, reading and enjoying each others company and Other times (like this one) we have the kind of weekend that will be permanently etched into the boys memory as two days full of fun and adventure. It all started Saturday morning, we were up bright and early and it was one of those mornings where everyone pulled together to get everything sorted so that we could get out of the door on time, I really wish school days were as effortless as that. 

Our plan for the start of Saturday was to spend our morning at Delamere forest, high up in the tree's. We had visited both Wyre forest and Cannock chase and both times the boys were mesmerized by the children at Go Ape walking through the trees above them. If I am honest (and I feel so bad for thinking it now) the only reason I had not booked us on the course before was because I though that Seth would back out at the very last minute. We had attempted an indoor course similar when we were in Florida a few years back and as soon as Seth had walked up the starting steps he had a meltdown and we had to come back down. I guess I didn't want to put him in that position again.

We arrived at Delamere forest and it was freezing, Mrs M wasn't attempting the course due to her fear of heights and I wasn't sure our camera lady was going to last long outdoors as she really feels the cold. When we arrived at the main cabin a lovely lady called Laura booked us in and took us through the health and safety list, before sending us on our way towards the Tree Top Junior course.

 I'd just like to point out first that the staff at Go Ape are amazing, friendly, welcoming and most importantly extremely patient when it comes to the kids. A very friendly chap call Joe got us fitted with a harness each, explaining what he was doing and then walked me and the boys around the safety course. The boys really paid attention and when they were quizzed before going on, about the amount of climbers on a platform at a time etc, Seth jumped in excitedly to answer. So, the moment of truth, we walked towards the stairs and despite the excited faces on them both I was still expecting Seth to have a freak out and change his mind, I couldn't have been further from the truth.

Seth, without a care in the world didn't even give himself time to think about what he was about to do. He was off like a rocket, I really thought his muscle issues would hinder him slightly but there was nothing slowing that boy down, I was so proud of him. Opeie surprisingly did not want to go and started to get a little upset. I did my best to get him to attempt the first step but he definitely wasn't going to budge for me, he just wanted a cuddle. Then like some sort of tree climbing super hero Joe calmed Opeie right down by attaching himself to him with a Carabiner. He was still a little dubious about what he was doing but Joe talked to him all the way round. It seemed like Seth had been waiting for ever for us at the Zip wire, he must have whizzed around the course. At the zip wire another member of staff (unfortunately I can't remember the guys name) explained what to do and again Seth just threw himself off, It was awesome to watch. Opeie had a bit of a wobble again but then 'DER DER DERDER... Super Joe to the rescue again to talk Opeie in to feeling confident, what a guy. Opeie was soon shooting down the wire shouting 'WOO-HOO'.

 

*Mrs M saved the day right before Zipwire #1 by popping to the Go Ape store to get me some gloves, I had managed to pack some for the boys but not myself and my fingers felt like they were going to snap off, Go Mrs M!!!

Time to hit the course again, this time though I was going to be the super hero and when asked if Opeie wanted to be attached to someone again Opeie said "No I'm going to go on with Daddy", take that super Joe! Seth disappeared in a blink of an eye which was fine as he was securely attached to the course and I think it did him some good for his confidence to not have me checking he was okay. So the moment of truth, Opeie and super dad on the first obstacle....  Sadly he wasn't going anywhere again, I used to think I was good at those father/son motivational speeches but here I was up in a tree going nowhere. Yes I bet you can guess what happened next, below us on the ground came a voice. Super Joe was at it again and managed to talk Opeie across the first 2 obstacles, was there no end to this guys powers? After that it was smooth sailing for me and Opeie and he was having an amazing time.

We made our way to the end of the course again and hit the zipwire like a pro, Well Opeie did, I ungracefully hit the ground like a sack of spuds every time, dragging my bum through the dirt.

It was clear at this point that Seth was eager to attempt the harder course, so while me and Opeie went round the easier course again, Seth with this new found confidence set about his mission. As me and Opeie went around the course I was watching Seth and he was doing great. He did manage to loose his balance early on during the course and was sitting on one of the platforms but he picked himself up and continued along, what an awesome kid.

Me and Opeie completed the course again and he let me know that he had had enough. There was 10 minutes left of our visit so I was going to call it a day and just watch Seth. I spotted two kids get on after Seth that looked like they were eager to get round the harder course and Seth looked like he was in a spot of bother so I clipped on to the harder course and followed them round thinking I could at least calm Seth down a little if he got stressed out. There was one obstacle that Seth really struggled with because of how wobbly the platforms were and he ended up on his bottom again. I think he'd have been fine getting up if he had been left to his own devices but the two boys behind him were putting unnecessary pressure on him to get moving which made him struggle a little more. Thank fully Super Joe was on hand again to climb across and help him up. Seth got round the harder course and that little twitching smile in the corner of his mouth told us that he was really proud of what he had achieved and rightly so, he had blown me away and I was so proud of him.

It was an amazing morning for us and the boys didn't stop talking about the experience all day. For confidence building and excitement I cant recommend Go Ape enough. The course was fantastic but aside from the excitement and pride on the boys faces, what really made it for me was the staff. Go Ape is definitely an experience we want to have again soon.

"well there's just an empty space..."

If your child is really in to music then there is a good chance that like us you get to hear them walking about singing snippets from different songs, sometimes slightly off key, sometimes with their own lyrics remixed in to the tune but always adorable and very entertaining. Opeie has been singing the same few lines for two days now and although the lyrics didn't instantly make me think of a song there was something about the structure of the two lines that had me racking my brain everytime he happily walked by singing. I asked him what he was singing and he said he wasn't sure what it was but I had played it to him, it was a man playing a piano and he really liked it.

The words "there's just an empty space on my side" and "look at me" had been ringing around in my head for days and as I typed them out just then I realise it should have been as clear as day what he was singing. Opeie even pointed out that it was one of the songs that I had chosen during a game we were playing last week where we were picking our favourite songs from 1984 (when I was Opeie's age) and I still failed to make the connection.

Right before bed I asked him to sing the lyrics to Mrs M to see if she could shed any light on the lyrical puzzle. Using her best friend Google she found the song in seconds. It is such an amazing song that I should have got it straight away. I am loving Opeie's new found love of music and his music taste is impeccable.

“The thing all writers do best is find ways to avoid writing.”

I'd love to have time during the day to sit and plough through blog posts but with two demanding and adventure seeking children its just not on the cards. When everyone is in bed though (Mrs M included), I curl up on the sofa with my laptop and write. I don't generally like writing in silence so Netflix has been a great friend on these quiet lonely nights. I do try my best to pick something that isn't going to grab my attention too much, if I have work I desperately need to get done I will opt for something I love that Ive seen many times as it wont distract me and is just noise in the background. Sometimes though I click on shows I have never seen before and I get transported to another plane, where absolutely no writing gets done at all.

Here's my top 5 Netflix shows for binge watching (and getting minimal work done)...

1. 'Lie to Me' dragged me in by the title picture, I thought to myself 'there's that guy off of the Hulk movie, I like him' and BANG! that was a good few weeks of my evenings taken up with minimum work completed! Cal Lightman as a character won me over from the first episode. The show is about a deception expert who can read all manner of facial expressions and works with the police and private clients, it is extremely clever and well written and Tim Roths character is just the right amount of crazy.

2. Its really hard to find a show that me and Mrs M can sit down and watch together. I love action and gritty drama but Mrs M has a very nervous disposition and things tend to play on her mind so its usually the Carebears or Spongebob for us! (Seriously, if there is anything that Mrs M cant stand more than violence on TV its Spongbob). If Mrs M had it her way we would watch Gavin and Stacey or Sex and the City episodes each night. One evening though (again while I was trying to write) we came across 'White Collar', a show about a convicted conman working for a white collar division of the FBI to shave time off of his sentence. I'm not sure if it was the episode content or just the main character that hooked Mrs M but it was 5 seasons that took up many of my working evenings. It was great to have something to watch with Mrs M, who doesn't love snuggley sofa time!

3, From the list so far (and including this one) it seems that my top 5 is going to be police/crime heavy. I'd  actually not thought about it until I started writing this but I guess that must be what I like. 'Person of interest' was a great show for having on that had my attention but I still managed to get a little work done. The thought that we are being watched continuously is something that concerns me all the time. Im surprised this show didn't freak me out but I loved every minute of it and I am hoping the next series pops up on Netflix very soon.

4. Oops! another crime related show has jumped in. I wasn't impressed by the movie years back and I thought Ben Affleck had made a complete douche of the character but the Netfix Original series Daredevil was amazing. Being an enormous Marvel fan, the show really did the character of Matt Murdock justice. I debated putting Gotham in here as it was also and amazingly well written story line but for me Daredevil definitely came out on top.

5. I suppose I better put in something a little lighter and with less police presence despite going to add 'Prison break' in next. I was going for a show that me and Mrs M sat and watched together in its entirety but sadly 'Californication' is no longer on Netflix (such a shame as it was a great show). hmmmmm.... something funny??? Me and Mrs M have watched a few funny shows together. 'The unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' was a great show and I loved 'The Fuzz' as it appealed to my very childish side but seeing as I've had to replace 'Californication', 'Benidorm' solely on the fact of the amount of time it has taken up while I have attempted to write. The show is cliche british humour at its best and I think thats what I love about it most.  Plus despite trying my best most nights to write, I'd take curling up with Mrs M on the sofa for a giggle any day.

This top 5 came about because as of tomorrow with the release of the Netflix original Marvel show 'Jessica Jones', I know that all writing will be on standby. There's nothing that is going to get in the way of a new marvel show and with Netflix doing such an amazing job with Daredevil I am expecting Jessica Jones to have me hooked within the first five minutes.