Geronimo Festival 2017 new announcements - main stage celebrities

The Geronimo Festival will take place at Arley Hall in Northwich, Cheshire from 27-29 May this year. The children's festival is designed especially for families with children aged under 13, and promises to have far more than you can pack into a day for everyone...

This year for the first time, camping is available, and the event runs for 3 days over the entire 3 day Bank Holiday weekend. We'll be at Geronimo as ambassadors - and hopefully we'll get the boys on the zipline this year - glad it's not this weekend, Hurricane Doris would have put paid to that!

I told you about some of the 130 activities on offer in my previous introductory post, but it gets even better for those of you who are fans of children's TV especially. New announcements include children's telly celebs and You Tube stars, including some real crowd pleasers.

The Grill Sergeant Barbeque from Paladone Review

There's nothing better in Summer than eating outdoors. Sadly living in Manchester the rain does it's very best to prevent us, but we waited for a drizzle break amid the downpours, and managed a barbeque the other evening - on our back porch. Well, we'd promised the kids...

Paladone distribute all kinds of quirky and fun gadgets, gifts and household products, and they have sent us their 12inch Grill Sergeant Portable Barbeque to review. I thought he'd just have a fancy paintjob, but it turns out he's a well-designed barbeque that works really effectively.

Your Grill Sergeant arrives in a box and you have to assemble it yourself. You only need a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, and about 10 minutes. 25 minutes if you have a 6 year old assistant.

The Bubblebum Junkie - Back Seat Organisation for your family vehicle (Review)

The Junkie from Bubblebum is a whole new level in back seat storage and tidying for your children. Designed to go especially well in between two car seats, it'll hold your drink, your snacks and your tablet, as well as providing desk trays for 2 children to work on, plus places to store anything else you might need to keep the kids occupied on your journey.

We were sent a Junkie to review, and while I think the name is a bit awkward, it really does convey the idea very well. This is the most techno back seat organisation system ever.

Cobra CDR 840 E HD Dash Cam Review

When I was given the chance to review a shiny new HD dashcam from Cobra, how could I refuse? The HD picture is incredibly clear, even in low light, and it has night vision! It removes easily from your vehicle, is neat and small, and it looks good.

This is Manchester. To get just about anywhere you go on the M60, and heaven help you if you need to travel across the country, because then your option is the 'ever-slow-due-to-an-accident' M62. There's a fair bit of traffic, a lot of impatience, and you see a lot more accidents than you'd like.

We're going to the Just So Festival!

We're keeping busy this Summer and one of our busiest weekends will be the Just So Festival on 21st-23rd August near Congleton in Cheshire. An invitation to come and camp and join in the fun really was the email that made my week.

We'll be taking 3 of our children to Just So Festival - our 5 and 6 year old boys, and our 15 year old girl. None of us have been before, so we're really intrigued as to what will be there and how it will be laid out. The boys haven't had much experience of festivals, and probably none that they can really remember, but my daughter is a pro - she thoroughly tested the kid's fields at her first Glastonbury at 2 years old, and has been to a ton of other UK festivals too.

Hopefully my daughter won't want a shoulder ride this year!

Ventura Portable Power PB80 Powerbank with Jump Start Review

We camp a lot. With modern phones and laptops and teenagers you have to have access to electricity in order to keep everyone happy, so being offered a chance to review the Ventura Portable Power PB80 Powerbank with Jump Start from Snooper was perfect for us. We also drive VW's. Volkswagen vans are excellent, but the older ones especially are notorious for being a little heavy on the battery, and on cold Winter's days or after a couple of days camping you can often find that you aren't going anywhere without a jump start.

As soon as my package arrived I knew this was something a bit special. I've used instant vehicle chargers before, and they were the size of a medium suitcase.  This box was so much smaller and lighter than I expected, and when I opened it, the smartest little bag/case you ever did see...

I've used a standard teaspoon to show the size because it's genuinely so impressive. 

LEGO T1 Splitscreen Camper Van set 10220

On the day it was released we bought the Volkswagen T1 Camper Van set 10220 and it is a fabulous set. It is huge, it's too big for LEGO minifigures, but perfect for the old Technic people. With 1332 pieces and costing £79.99 it's only a mid-range model pricewise, yet the work and design devotion that's gone into this vehicle is astounding. As such it's an incredibly fiddly build, and the suggested age range is a mature 16+.

The attention to detail is amazing. Right down to the petrol filler next to the rear air vents, the engine including alternator belt in the engine bay....

The bench seat, super long gear stick and authentic dashboard with no flat areas...

The drop down table and 'rock and roll' bed which actually works better than they seem to in real life - when you've had a couple of beverages and you're shattered and there are 3 bags of clothes and some small children in the way....

 

And the 'pop top' roof, plus genuine 60's roof rack - only missing the vintage 'Coke' cool box...

Not to mention the 'barn doors' with attached cupboards, and terrific curtains...

The rear wardrobe has a t-shirt hanging up which is visible through the window (spot on).

There are so many other details it would be ridiculous to carry on listing them.

 

One of the most beautiful parts of the build though is the front of the van. The front windscreen glass opens outwards as a real Splitscreen van does, the wing mirror is perfectly and ridiculously small, and the swooping V is beautifully done.

This is a model I never tire of looking at, and my children love it when we bring it down for them to have a play. There are so many moving and interesting parts, the design is absolutely fabulous. The Volkswagen T1 Camper Van offers exceptional value for money in my opinion, and is my all-time favourite LEGO model.

I could be biased though, I met my partner because we both had VW campers....

The LEGO T1 Splitscreen Camper Van set 10220 retails at £79.99 and is available from LEGO shops and LEGO.com at that price with free delivery and VIP points that add up for free LEGO, or you can buy it on ebay for more.

If that's beyond your price range or ability then I've also reviewed the LEGO City Camper 60057, which is a much smaller and more child-friendly model.

LEGO Camper Van set 60057 Age 5+

It'll come as no surprise to anyone who knows us that we now have 3 LEGO camper vans (as well as a real one). The larger Volkswagen Splitscreen LEGO model belongs to the grown ups, but the 2 smaller models are the children's.

Friends sent the children the 60057 set as a gift, and without any prompting our 4 1/2 year old opened it and built it entirely on his own. He was incredibly proud. This is the first time he's taken a set with instructions and built the model as suggested, rather than just making up something himself or using the picture on the box as a rough guide for his own creation.

So what is the camper van like? It's pretty cool actually. The model has a suggested age range of 5-12, costs £17.99 and has only 195 pieces. This makes it ideal for a younger builder. There are no overly fiddly bits, and it's a fairly straightforward build. The shape of the vehicle comes together pretty quickly, so it's easy to see where it's going.

The previous (now discontinued) LEGO City Camper Van model 7639 was much smaller and a lot less sophisticated. It opened down the middle, and while it was still very cool and we were very happy with it, you can see that play is somewhat limited. The opening sides meant it took up a lot of space and the 2 seats inside filled the rear interior.

The current LEGO City Camper Van set 60057 is substantially bigger, and uses some of the different techniques that LEGO are regularly adding to builds nowadays, such as the hinged side and large windows and wall plates. The yellow surf board and red pushbike (not shown) are replaced by the red kayak, life jackets and paddles.

The increase in size allows for a table and a downstairs double bed - pretty essential in campervans.  It also has a huge TV sticker. Our 4 year old misread the instructions and fixed this to the window initially.

The increase in space also allows for the walkthrough to the front cab, you can then turn around the drivers seat as is possible with real campers, and the large roof bed (still only accessible from outside), plus additional roof storage.

Our 4 year old has grown up with little LEGO, so he's pretty good at it, and I think the age range of 5+ is right, he had no issues with the actual build. He doesn't quite understand how number plates work though, and although he can read numbers and recognise letters, he didn't think it was so important to have them the right way up....

...and why would anyone want to correct him when he's this proud....

I think it's a great build, and for the money offers a play set/vehicle that's robust and really easy to play with. It's full of potential for storytelling and imaginative play, and if your 6 year old only had this one LEGO set, they'd still be able to play with it for hours.

The front left Camper Van Play Set 7639 is a discontinued model.
The front right LEGO City Camper Van 60057 costs £17.99
The rear Volkswagen T1 Camper Van 10220 costs £79.99 and I've reviewed it here...

Penne Pasta With Sausage Recipe - The Camping Cookbook

I've always camped. My parents met through their involvement with the Scouts, and my grandfather and uncle were both wardens at Drum Hill Scout Scout Camp in Derbyshire. When I had my own children it seemed the best way to ensure they had holidays and freedom, and the space to be children - away from electricity and other distractions.

Checking to see if there's a troll under the bridge before he crosses!

In 2003 we bought our first camper van, and I met my partner when he was buying his camper and rang me for advice. My children have always camped.

Tatton Park VW Show 2014

Tatton Park Volkswagen Show is an annual event organised by Volkswagen Northwest. It is a 1-day show which takes place in August, and is generally really blessed with good sunshine. There's no overnight camping except for traders, but our friends Dave and Kate trade there with their business Campertronic - and it's this time of year that Dave's parents go on holiday, so we take their place setting up and packing away, occasionally selling things and helping with childcare.

I've been going to Tatton Park VW show for the last 12 years. It's the only show that I haven't missed, whatever else has happened in my life. Last year it was our first trip out when my partner was still very much recovering from Meningitis, this year it was our first overnight camp of the year - mainly because our teenagers haven't stood still long enough for us to do anything....