Things were a little different on Mother’s Day this year as I pre arranged gifts and cards for the Mums and told my husband he was taking me and the kids to a rave!

The Big Fish Little Fish events company planned a date in Bournemouth as part of the Camp Bestival tour and boy was it good fun.

Everyone was encouraged to dress up with this year’s theme being ‘Pop Stars & Rock Stars’ and I sooo wanted to get involved but the kids and my husband were a little shy (ok, I could have dressed the baby up I suppose since she can’t argue with me hehe).

The event was held in the Old Fire Station and as you went in there was a baby and toddler play area with some seating for parents to relax, a bar and some amazing cakes being sold (I tried way more than I should have and they were delicious).



As we followed the other families into the main room we could hear the music playing, not deafeningly loud luckily but just loud enough to create the right atmosphere.  Our DJ was Future Funk Squad and I was surprised that I actually knew most of the tunes. 

Now it’s been a few years since I was in a nightclub and I was never much of a dancer then, not unless I’d drunk my body weight in wine first and that hasn’t happened since the day the kids were born but the beauty of this event was that I felt no one was judging my swaying and occasional ‘whoop whoop’ with a baby in my arms.



Baby Lu loved all the lights and sounds but her big brother took some time to warm up.  I can understand that it may be a little daunting to a child so I waited for a huge balloon to come bouncing near us and I grabbed him quickly throwing him up in the air to bump it which he thought was hysterical.  That was it, he was desperate to catch it again and even treated us to his new dance routine which he’d been practicing at home.



Throughout the afternoon the DJ played some great songs including the dance version of Peppa Pig which cracked me up and you could see everyone big and small was enjoying themselves.  Quite a few people made the effort to dress up and some of the tiny rockers were sooo cute.



Within the main room there was lots to keep the children amused with a huge mural on the wall ready to be coloured in plus there was a face painter, free glowsticks, glitter tattooes and a crafts table. 



We flitted between relaxing in the little soft play area and dancing and you could see how much fun the kids were all having when they got showered in confetti or bubbles.  The highlight had to be near the end when a giant parachute came out and everyone danced underneath it with little one’s in their parents arms bouncing up and down.

And then sadly it came to an end and after a few screams and shouts from us all the DJ and event organiser said their thanks and goodbyes.      

So, if you’re going to Camp Bestival this year then make sure you pay Big Fish Little Fish a visit, I promise you’ll have a brilliant time and the kids will too.

Thanks BFLF for a great Mothers Day.  Your family rave was a hit and you clearly understand that happy kids make happy parents.  Hopefully we’ll see you all again soon.

Love Dorsetmum and family
xxx

We visited Koh Noi in Lilliput recently which I was very excited about because we’ve been several times before kids and I already knew the Thai tapas food, service and staff were all excellent.  This time of course was no exception.

We’ve always received a warm welcome from the minute we step in the door.  We love the décor, it’s very inviting with Thai inspired murals on the wall and authentic lamps and decoration.  If you go in the evening then the lights are down low and red candles burn bright which makes for a very romantic atmosphere.

Once seated we were given our menus and I had a good look at my sons to see which dishes on the kids menu he'd like.  For a very reasonable set price, children will get a starter, main dish and dessert.  The starter was spring rolls and veggies which was wonderfully presented.  He adored the curly cut carrots and even tried the sweet chilli sauce which surprised me although I’m sure he would of actually preferred ketchup if it had been offered (I’m not suggesting it should be haha).  For his main course he asked for the chicken and vegetable noodles which he shared with his baby sister and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I’m very predicable when I’m ordering in a restaurant and tend to go for the same things because I know I like them.  They make the best satay chicken I’ve ever had and I love tempura vegetables so I ordered them along with the spicy noodles to share with my husband.  With some of the dishes you’ll see a little symbol which means you choose chicken, pork, vegetable or tofu to add to your dish.  Alternatively you can add prawns or beef for a small surcharge.  My husband is way more adventurous than me and he’ll eat pretty much anything so he asked the waitress to choose 2 dishes that her and the chef would recommend and according to him they did good.  He would never had ordered dim sum but was pleasantly surprised and the lamb dish he said was out of this world.

There’s plenty on the menu to choose from, most have familiar names but will be created in a way you’ve probably never had them before.  The beauty of a tapas restaurant, especially if there’s a group of you is that you can order a few different things and try something you’d never have ordered otherwise.

Once we finished our food our son was offered a variety of ice cream flavours to choose from but went with vanilla which was served with a babyccino. 

Good to know:

• Koh Noi is situated on Sandbanks Road and there’s plenty of free parking on the side roads around.  Some have restrictions and some don’t so please check before leaving the car.

• The children’s menu is great value for money and far from the regular chicken nuggets and chips you see in most places.  The other main dish options were chicken veggie rice, chicken soya noodles and yellow curry.

• Keep hold of the children’s menu whilst waiting for food to come as there’s puzzles and colouring in on there to keep them amused.

• Koh Noi serves Thai Tapas food but I promise you, it’s not your average food, each dish is visually well presented and tastes amazing.  One thing I will sadly not learn though is that the spicy dishes are actually quite spicy and even though I asked the waitress about the spicy noodles (just to check) and she confirmed yes they are very spicy I still went ahead and ordered it.  Delicious but hot, hot, hot!

• There’s plenty of junk free drink options for the children including fruit juice.  We also received a bottle of tap water for the table which was perfect for the aforementioned spicy dishes.

• There are highchairs but no baby change facilities so I would recommend taking a foldup changing mat to be used in the toilet if you do need to change your baby.

To read more about restaurant locations, menus and events, please visit Koh Thai. 

Thank you Koh Noi for a fantastic dinner, the food was incredible and we'll look forward to dining at Koh That again soon.