Pack Up quick! It's time to go!
Do not be fooled but the happy bright colours of this game!!! We thought this would be a nice unchallenging game to play with our 9year old and the rest of us could take a mental break. I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH A WORKOUT!
The idea of the game is very simple! It’s time for vacation so pack your bags! The quickest one to pack their suitcase and close it properly wins. Those are the rules and they seem nice easy… The main issue – close the suitcase properly……
Inside the box you are given a great little rule book, 4 suitcases, 13 x 4 sets of play pieces and 30 destination cards of different levels. Each player has one suitcase and a set of play pieces. Have the destination cards in a pile, either shuffled or starting with the easy level first. The card is then flipped over and the aim of the game is to fit the objects into the suitcase and close the lid properly.
We all joined in and were almost immediately swept away but how complex this actually is! In fact, the 9 year old managed the packing first as our normal technique of piling in the objects and hoping the lid would shut doesn’t work here! This is a game of logic and technique and after spending 20 minutes on the first card and finally cheating and checking the answer we got into the swing of it.
An hour passed without us even being aware of it. This is a fabulous little game from Asmodee which is totally more challenging, complex and way more fun than we actually thought! The game is aimed at 6years + with 2-4 players and the average game taking 15 minutes. It currently is priced under £15 on Amazon. We have since played this several times and it really is perfect for letting an hour fly by. In one of the photos you can see that even the teen put down his beloved computer to join in the games! A definite 5 star game which is not just for kids!
We were sent this game as part of the Asmodee Blogger Board Game Club to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Buy your own below!
When was the last you had your feet measured? And did you know they change size and shape over time? New in at the Hotter Stores is an incredible device. A nifty new computer for Hotter Shoes allows you to get an even comfier fit but without the need to try on different sizes – Hotter Footprint! In all their stores across the UK from the start of March you can have your feet measured – 3d measuring to ensure that not only do you get the right shoe size but the correct width and the correct shape for your feet. The computer then stores your feet imaging for your next visit or your online account to make buying your next pair a piece of cake.
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| The lovely lady at Chichester getting me started! |
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| So slightly sock shaped but I can now longer on and ensure the shoes I buy should fit - saves on pesky returns! |
I bought my mum along who’s a new convert to Hotter shoes and we whipped off our boots – belle for those asking, my second pair and sooooo comfy and stylish for winter – and rolled up our jeans. The computer then takes about a million photos over the course of about 30 seconds and brings up a 3d image of your feet and even works out your arches and different in lengths of your feet. My mum is a whole half size different between left and right which is why she sometimes finds her shoes pinch. Going up the half size to the bigger shoe makes so much difference and her worry that her feet would be swamped, and she’d walk out her shoes are totally unfounded.
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| Arent they gorgeous? These are going to be the main centerpiece of my summer wardrobe! |
The clever Hotter Footprint computer technology then works out for the width, length and arch what style of hotter shoes would suit you best and what size – all this takes place within the minute you step on to the machine. The store advisors can then ask you what you’re after and disappear off to come back with pretty much a perfect fit – we went slightly crazy and ended up with six new pairs between us – none of which needed to be changed in size for a different pair. In fact once you’ve got this set up I think you could make shoe shopping a breeze and what would one have been an hours trip trying on different styles and size and width is cut down to a very happy 5 minutes! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!
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| Who could leave these behind? LOVE LOVE LOVE |
*I was given a pair of shoes in exchange for this article, but they are so gorgeous they deserve a whole new post of their own which is coming soon.
We’re rather an outdoorsy family and our holidays reflect this – mountains in summer, rivers and coast in winter etc you don’t really ever find us on the beach reading a book, most likely its looking in the rock pools or scrambling over the cliffs in exploration. But despite all of this we aren’t the dare devil sort, I have no wish whatsoever to throw myself out a plane, or bungy jump off the edge of a bridge – or really actually off anywhere! But despite that we do have a “travel bucket list” do you? Our top five:
Tall Ships
This is something that has been on my wish list for many years – since I was 17. I think the romance of the sea, the beauty of the ships and just wanting to cross the ocean all have something to do with it. The holidays are from young adults through to the retired so perhaps when the kids are older this is one that I’ll be able to cross off my list!
Okavango Safari
With my husband being south African we’ve been on safari there and driven through the Drakensburg have seen wild Zebras drinking in lakes and monkeys swing through the trees but the Okavango Delta in Botswana is the best place to see the wildlife in all their natural habitat. As the Delta floods every year all the animals come down to the river and waters to drink and its amazing to see them side by side in their natural habitat. I fell in love with the Giraffes in south Africa but I cant wait to see Elephants and lions!
Orient Express
This one that even the boys want to head on. I personally blame Agatha Christie entirely for this being on our wish list. While the original travelled from Paris to Istanbul you can now take it through the gorgeous rural French landscape and the gorgeous alpine valleys down to Budapest and well you know the glamour and luxury on board! I’ve always loved the idea of travel by train than by plane and to explore some of my favourite countryside with the wonder of the Orient Express just ticks every single box on our list!
Paragliding in the Alps
Every year in the summer when we visit the Alps as we climb higher and higher, we are greeted in the sky with huge amount of kites and they produce a glorious display. We go as high as we can and standing at the top of the mountains you feel on top of the world I can see the urge to run down the side and just jump and feel the wind sweep you off your feet and slowly let you down. The view must be extraordinary and stunningly beautiful. The air is so clean I should imagine it feels almost magical and I can’t wait to summon up the courage one day to just leap!
Deep South America
From seeing the history and tea plantations to taking a boat ride through the swamps of Louisanna something really appeals about exploring the southern states of America. My husband would love to be in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festivals and boys want to see the colours change as autumn hits. I think we’d have to make more than one trip for both of those!
This is out entry for the AliKats' Bucket List Challenge take a look on twitter at their page or at the hashtag #Alikatsbucketlist for more posts and inspritations for your next holiday!
When our latest box arrived from Asmodee Blogger Board Games
club the first game the boys wanted to play was the Blue Lagoon with the
youngest asking if it was a Moana game! It isn’t but isn’t a fabulous release
that had the boys hooked from the start.
It’s a really good family board game and we were
whisked away from the damp grey outside to island settlers and coloured huts in
a tropical location. It’s a strategy game that does require a little planning
at the start as you start to settle your villages.
The game is played in two phases. The first thing to do is to
set out the board and all the resources are placed inside the bag and blindly
withdraw then and place them around the various island on the stone circles.
You then choose your colour of villages and settlers and you’re ready to start
the game. Settler tokens have two faces, one side is land and the other a
boat.
Phase 1 starts with your initial move of placing a settler in a clear sea space – boat side up. After that first move you can choose to place either a settler or a village on land, however to place them on land they must be next to one of their tokens already on the board. If you’re lucky enough to place your settler or village on a space that has a resource on it you gain that resource. Once all of the settlers and villages have been placed on the board Phase 1 Exploration has finished and you can move on to Phase 2 Settlement. Before you move though you need to add up your score total and points so far.
Phase 2 Settlement – at this point all the pieces except for
the villages are now removed from the board unless the villages are on stone
circles in which case they get placed back in the box. The resources are
once again randomly placed across the board. This time only Settlers are placed
on the board. They must be placed only on the unoccupied spaces next to one of
their own pieces. So at the start they have to start next to one of their
villages. This also includes the sea spaces too. Once all the settlers have been
placed on the board phase 2 has finished and the points are again added up. The
winner is the person with most points when you add phase 1 and 2
together.
The game is aimed at 8yrs plus. Not for much other than the
fact that it would be difficult for younger players to plan strategically. When
we had younger players playing they really enjoyed the fun and making large
settlements and getting as many resources as possible.
It’s a quick game to play and theres completely different
ways to gain points:
Islands: Players with at least one piece on all 8 islands
scores 20 points. Players with a piece on 7 islands scores 10 points.
Links: Players earn points for their continuous chain of
pieces that connects the most islands. They score 5 points for each island
linked in this chain.
Majorities: The player with the most pieces on each island
scores 6, 8, or 10 points as shown next to that island on the board. If there’s
a tie, the points are split.
Resources: Players score for sets of resources they collect –
4 of a matching resource earns 20 points, 3 of a resource scores 10 points, and
2 of a resource scores 5 points. In addition, if they have at least one of the
4 resource types, they score an additional 10 points.
Statuettes: Players score 4 points for each statuette they’ve
collected.
All in all we really enjoyed the game, we thought originally
it was quite a simply game to play but actually there’s so many ways to win and
trying to figure out what the other players are doing as well bought in a fair
amount of competition! We enjoyed the second game far more than the first and
each game since then. It’s a great game to have on the side ready to whisk out
and enjoy for a half an hour!
Oooh
the rather fabulous Warner Bros. Studio Tours in London are celebrating all
things Slytherin! From this April when you visit you can discover the wonderful
secrets of the costumes and props belonging to the cunning Slytherin characters.
Not
only will you be able to delve into the Slytherin common room and see where Ron’s
Polyjuice potion wore off, but the Great Hall will be decorated in Slytherin
style! The scene will be set just as Dumbledore changed the victory from Slytherin
to Gryffindor at the end of the Philosophers stone.
The
Slytherin common room will be seen up close for the first time. A 25ft high
section of the set will be on display furnished and dressed with authentic props!
Also you have the chance to cast your eye over our favourite Slytherin family, The
Malfoys, original costumes and see for yourself how their designs changed with
the rise and fall of Voldemort.
Also
on show and I personally can’t wait to see these, will be the costumes of Voldemort,
starting off as his orphan clothes, through to Tom Riddle and finally as the
best villain ever!
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London’s Celebration of Slytherin feature will run from Friday 3rd April
– Sunday 6th September 2020 and all additions are included in
the ticket price.
