A delightful day in London - Preview Screening of The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar followed by afternoon tea at our favourite place

Life is busy at the moment. I know I keep saying that and I keep waiting for a quieter month but that never seems to arrive. I think things have felt particularly busy since J began secondary school last September. There is the constant treadmill of homework - every evening and then more at weekends too. He loves homework but it just leaves little spare time.

Miss T's planned and unplanned hospital visits tend to take up far more time than I'd like during the week, then by the time you've thrown in a few afterschool clubs here and there and the odd music lesson, each week is full to the brim.

It has made us conscious of the need to ringfence some family time together at weekends. That is easier said than done with all the jobs that we end up having to catch up on at the weekend. So when the invite came through for the preview screening of television movie The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, we decided it would make the perfect family outing to London for some good family time together.

The story of Disney favourite 'The Lion King' is picked up here when we meet Simba's cubs. Whilst their first-born cub Kiara is training to be queen, the boisterous mischievous second-born cub, Kion doesn't seem to want any responsibility and just wants to have fun with his best friend Bunga, a fearless honeybadger.

But unbeknown to him Kion has a far bigger destiny. The time comes for Kion to fulfil his calling as the leader of 'The Lion Guard' and this gives him a chance to show that he is ready for such a role and can be entrusted with great responsibility. He needs to select the strongest, bravest, fastest, and sharpest of eye to join him in defending the pride lands and preserving the delicate balance in the circle of life.

Just like the original Lion King film, this is packed with catchy songs that will get you singing along!

I don't want to give away the ending so you will have to see for yourself whether Kion is ready to lead The Lion Guard when it is aired on Disney Junior on Monday 8th February at 5.30pm.

Miss T meeting some of the loveable new characters in The Lion Guard

If you really can't wait, then there is a sneek peek trailer you can watch here.

Balloon modelling fun and lots more at the screening of The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

And then it was off to our favourite place for afternoon tea - the Park Terrace restaurant at The Royal Garden Hotel.

Last time we visited we had just Miss T and D with us. This time it was all 3 children and knowing that J can become anxious at times because of his aspergers, I have to admit I was nervous that he wouldn't cope well with afternoon tea.

Thankfully once he got over his excitement about the revolving doors into the building, he soon felt relaxed and enjoyed his afternoon tea very much.

It is really lovely that they have a kids menu afternoon tea available for children up to age 11. As well as a choice of kid-friendly drinks like milkshakes, hot chocolates and smoothies, this menu also featured some great cakes and sandwiches specifically with kids in mind (bottom right photo).

Each child got their own afternoon tea serving platter with chocolate chip scones, fun sandwich combinations like peanut butter and jam, and chocolate spread and banana, and sweet treats like homemade marshmallow and turkish delight. There was also a chocolate brownie style cake with a very cute fondant bear sat on top!

The grown up's platter was also delicious starting with a plate of sandwiches - We loved the roast beef, horseradish and gherkin combination! Followed by warm scones, a selection of tea cakes and other delights like peanut cheesecake, mini blackforest gateaux, Viennese whirl and a fondant fancy style cupcake.

So all in all a very lovely day and some much needed family time together!


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Further information about Royal Garden Hotel can be found here. 
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