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One of the highlights of the year for Brisbane is coming up this weekend. On Saturday, September 29, Riverfire will once again be happening to wrap up this years Brisbane Festival. We’ve already talked about our top picks for things to do during the Brisbane Festival and we hope you’ve been able to get the kids down to some of the fun family activities.

If you haven’t made it yet this year you should check out the following link to see what other family friendly activities will be available for you if you do make the trip in for the fireworks tomorrow.

https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/family

Those of you who are interested in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) aerial displays, here is a timetable for the events tomorrow.

2:45 pm – C 17A Globemaster flypast

4:10 pm – Roulettes Aerobatic Display

5:30 pm – EA-18G Growler flypast

7:04 pm – EA-18G Growler flypast

7:05 pm – Fireworks display commences

According to the organisers of the Brisbane Festival these are the best vantage points for the show;

Victoria Bridge, South Bank, Kangaroo Point Cliffs, Captain Burke Park, City Riverwalk, including Riverside Centre and Eagle Street Pier.

According to the organisers there will be food and drinks for sale at many of these sights. If you would like more information about how to attend Riverfire we have a link to the event right here.

https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/whats-on/sunsuper-riverfire-2018

Roblox is one of the latest crazes in gaming entertainment that is capturing the attention of children. Two other games come to mind when considering whether Roblox as a suitable gaming option for your child. Fortnite and Minecraft. Both Fortnite and Minecraft are fun games that kids can play together, and that you will no doubt hear about their friends playing as well. Minecraft is a world building sandbox style game where construction of worlds on your own, and with other players, is a core part of the game. Fortnite is an action shooting game where players are pit against each other to become the last surviving player. However both these games also come with risks that exist for Roblox as well.

Like Minecraft, Roblox is more about world building. This allows your kids to be creative. They are able to build their own game environments for themselves or others to take part in. They are able to create custom clothing, accessories, and skills, and even their own adventures. In this way Roblox is a little more advanced then Minecraft. The two main issues that should bring parental monitoring are the social aspect of Roblox and the ability to make in game purchases.

Both Fortnite and Minecraft also have a social chat aspect in their games which, for children, is really not a necessary part of the gaming experience. As an adult I have played games of Fortnite and been put into chat groups with children as young as 8 or 9 years old. It’s not something that I’m comfortable with, and as a parent it’s not something I’m comfortable with my children being apart of. I have a rule in my house which I apply to all these types of games. You are not to engage in social chat activities with anyone in a video game. With Roblox you are able to prevent your children from being put in a situation where someone you don’t know is talking to your child.

https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/206224956-Chatting-and-Playing-with-Friends

If you explore the content on the Roblox website you will find all the options for disabling the social chat aspect of the game from your child’s device. With any game that allows online multiplayer it is a good idea to check what settings you are able to control. As parents we are always trying to protect our children in the world while allowing them to take part in the same activities as their friends.

As for in game purchases, handle that however you prefer. On my children’s iPads I don’t allow them to make purchases without being able to pass pin codes that I set up. I ask my children to do certain chores during the week and take certain responsibilities. I might have one of the girls stack the dishwasher a couple of times a week, and ask them to clean up their rooms when they finish playing with things. When they do these things for me I might reward them with $5. I encourage them to think about things that cost more than $5 and ask them how they might save up for those things. If they choose to use their money to make an in app purchase I’ll allow it. For me it’s the same as them saving up to buy a new toy. I do talk about the value of items for both short term and long term but I’m happy for them to make their own choices about the money they earn. Not too long ago our school engaged in a fundraising activity where money raised could be exchanged for gifts.

As for Roblox, it’s a great game for getting your kids playing together nicely and getting them thinking about how to make stuff. The characters are similar in look to Lego characters and I think that draws them in a lot more. My two eldest girls often played completely random apps on their iPads, but now I see and hear them sitting down together exploring different worlds in Roblox and working together to win games and improve their characters. While I do have to monitor how long they spend on Roblox overall I do think that they are getting a lot of benefits out of the game.

So many offerings at the Brisbane Festival!  From music and dance to theatre, opera and cabaret, there is a lot to choose from.  Here are our picks from the Brisbane Festival:

Séance

Become locked up together with a group of people in pitch black darkness in a 40 foot shipping container.  Experience what is happening inside the container with the thrill of using your other senses apart from sight.  What you think may be happening may not be happening at all.  How will you cope and what will you do when you are bombarded with suggestive material?  Experience Séance to find out.  Not for the faint-hearted.

Life – The Show

A mix of circus, cabaret and comedy, Life – The Show promises to be another awesome offering from the Courier-Mail Spiegeltent.  It is brought to us from the same people involved with Limbo Unhinged and Blanc de Blanc.  Cirque du Soleil’s Goos Meeuwsen, Violent Femmes’ Blaise Garza, and Limbo’s Mick Stuart and Hilton Denis star in this adventure.  It is billed as a celebration of life and what it means to be a human being in a fun and outrageous fashion.  It also comes with a warning.  Full frontal nudity, drug references, attempted pyrokinesis and other adult themes are strong throughout the show.  Purchase tickets only if you are not easily offended.

California Crooners Club

California Crooners Club is highlighted by Australian actor, Hugh Sheridan.  He’s starred in popular Australian TV shows House Husbands and Packed to the Rafters and won 4 Silver Logies.  However, he can also sing.  Sheridan is joined by singers Emile Welman and Johnny Manuel to bring us elegant tunes with swagger and style.  They won Pick of the Fringe and Critics Circle Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.  They were last present at the Brisbane Festival in 2016 when they introduced themselves to us.  They return in 2018 having established themselves as bonafide smash hit.

The Brisbane Festival is here again for another year.  There’s plenty to see and do, but not all of it is suitable for young children.  Of course, Sunsuper Riverfire celebrating the end of Brisbane Festival is a must for older children and adults.  As usual there will be a massive all-day concert, cumulating in a spectacular fireworks display.  The theme of the soundtrack this year is sci-fi and superheroes which sounds fun.  However, little children just can’t last the day and stay up late for the fireworks.  Here are our picks for the best activities for young children at the Brisbane Festival this year:

#CelebateBrisbane River of Light

The #CelebrateBrisbane River of Light is a spectacular show of lasers and lights over the top of giant spirals and dynamic jets of water.  This would be amazing by itself, but on top of that the technology is used to tell the traditional Aboriginal story of how the Brisbane River came about.  Come to the free show to experience how the Brisbane River was created by the dreaming serpent to become the life blood of Brisbane.

House of Mirrors

Located at the Brisbane Treasury Arcadia, the House of Mirrors is your classic maze of mirrors.  A myriad of mirrors are carefully arranged to provide optical illusion with precise geometry.   It will challenge your physically and psychologically as you make your way through.  Some people are delighted.  Some people are amazed.  Some people are frightened.

BrainBuzz Live

BrainBuzz is a new educational children’s show on Channel Nine.  It is produced in Brisbane.  It teaches children about science by answering all those scientific questions that they always wonder about.  This free show located in the Brisbane City Hall Main Auditorium will let children get up close and personal with the hosts and characters from the show.  They promise excitement, experiments and maybe even some explosions.

The Gold Coast Show is more or less the Gold Coast’s version of Brisbane’s Ekka.  Gold Coast residents get a public holiday to go to the show, similar to Brisbane’s People’s Day show holiday.  There are games, rides, showbags, animals and food similar to the Ekka, but at a much lesser scale.  However, unlike the Ekka, the Gold Coast Show has free entry.  That’s awesome considering it costs $35 for an adult ticket and $20 for a child ticket to enter the Ekka.

Sideshow Alley was of course smaller at the Gold Coast Show than the Ekka.  However, there were still plenty of games and rides to please all ages.  Most of the shooting, throwing and fishing games were present at the same cost per game as the Ekka.  There were a lot of rides for young children, but many of the big rides from the Ekka were missing.

Showbags were more disappointing.  There was only a small tent for showbags shared with other stalls.  The line up was so bad you couldn’t even walk closer to see what was in the showbags.  From what we could see, there wasn’t many different showbags to choose from and they looked like the same ones from the Ekka.

Food was even worse.  We thought we would have lunch early before 12pm to beat the line up.  However, many items at 3 different stalls were already sold out.  There were no shakes available at the shakes and dessert caravan, which was a quarter of their menu.   The soft serve stall shut their serving counter at around 12.30pm after running out of ice cream.  No pork or beef skewers were left from the BBQ skewers stall and we had to wait 30 minutes for our order of chicken skewers, mixed grill skewers and loaded fries.  Some customers got fed up waiting for their food and asked for a refund.

More organization regarding the showbags and food would have been nice.  Luckily, the games and rides made up for them.  You can’t complain about the free entry.  Overall, still a fun day out.

Video games get a bad rap.  They stop kids going outdoors to play.  Kids sit all day staring at screens so they become fat due to a lack of exercise.  The flashing lights at close range are bad for the eyes.  They are the reason more kids need glasses.  Kids sit in front of a screen by themselves and become anti-social.  They don’t develop the normal social skills through interaction with other kids in person.  These are all the negative things associated with video games.

What if video games were used for exercise?  You can’t sit to play the game.  You have to stand and move about in order to complete the levels, win prizes and unlock new content.  When playing these video games, kids would be keeping active, not just sitting in front of a screen.  There are many of these type of games now available.

What if video games encouraged you to rest your eyes?  Looking at anything for a long time can be bad for your eyes.  Being out in the bright sunlight can make your eyes sore if you are not wearing sunglasses.  Doing an assignment on the computer for a few hours can be draining on your eyes.  At least video games have an inbuilt warning and ask you to rest your eyes after playing for a certain amount of time.

What if video games encouraged social interaction?  There are many offline games that allow you to play together with a second player on a second controller.  Many online games allow you to play with and against other people.  This interaction is not just on the screen either.  Many games encourage the use of headsets with microphones and talking to each other while playing.

Video games are not as bad for kids as they have been made out to be.  These days video games are part of kids’ lives.  As long as playing is in moderation, there should be nothing wrong with it.

It was raining so we didn’t feel like going out in the wet as we originally planned.  We wanted to eat at home, but were too lazy to cook and we didn’t have a lot in the fridge to cook any way.  We decided to try one of the many takeaway food delivery options.  When you search Google for takeaway food delivery options, Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Foodora top the list.  We hadn’t heard much about Foodora so decided to cross it off the list.  Uber is well known, but more as a ridesharing taxi alternative.   The ads for Deliveroo are everywhere so it seemed like a safe choice so we gave it a go.

The takeaway food choices on Deliveroo were impressive.  A total of 38 options were available for my location from your typical burger joint to cafes to proper restaurants.  Most said the food would arrive in 20 to 30 minutes from ordering.  Ordering was easy.  Select the restaurant and then the items you want from their menu.  Pay with a credit card and wait for your delivery which can be tracked until it arrives.  The website will tell you if the restaurant has accepted your order, when they are preparing the food and when the delivery is on its way.  If there are any issues, there is online support via live chat.

The delivery person followed our instructions and used the intercom when they arrived with our food.  The food came within 30 minutes as promised.  Everything was packed neatly into containers inside a brown paper bag with no spillage.  The food was still hot and delicious.  Our experience with Deliveroo was a good one.  We will definitely be using it again when we don’t want to cook and want takeaway but don’t want to go get it ourselves.

The slogan for McDonald’s is I’m lovin’ it.  To be honest, most of us have a soft spot for their fast food at one time or other.  We know it is so bad for us, but it tastes oh so good every now and then.  However, are we really loving their latest marketing campaign?

Macca’s just maybe pushing their food a little too hard.  Not satisfied serving most of their items after 10:30am, select products are now available all day and all night.  You can now have a Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets and French Fries for brekkie.  Who really feels like any of these things for breakfast when they wake up in the morning?  However, we are now told that it is never too early.

The main issue is McDonald’s encouraging their unhealthy items more and more and more.  First it was All Day Breakfast where you can get the whole day many items normally served at breakfast time only.  I myself don’t mind a Sausage and Egg McMuffin and hash brown for lunch instead of the standard burger and fries every now and then.  However, let’s not encourage unhealthy eating all day and all night.

Breakfast is often claimed as the most important meal of the day.  A good breakfast helps kick start your day.  I typically have cereal with milk and some fruit.  I encourage my son to do the same.  Let’s not promote burgers, fries snd chicken nuggets for breakfast.  Shame on McDonald’s for giving it a crack.  Promoting unhealthy food all day and all night is the other problem.  McDonald’s message is you can have our burgers, fries and chicken nuggets for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  This is not the right message to be sending out.  I definitely don’t want my son to be thinking that this is the norm.

With a 4 year old son, it is difficult to see all the biggest movies at the cinemas.  Most blockbusters are rated M and aren’t suitable for him to see.  Even if the rating was suitable, he wouldn’t last the 2 hours most movies are these days at the cinema sitting still without causing a scene.  It is therefore more often than not that we wait for the DVD or Blu-Ray release of the movie and watch it in the comfort of our own home.

We rated the first Avengers movie one of best action comedies ever made.  The memory of Loki being punished by The Hulk still brings back chuckles.  With high expectations after the first movie, the second Avengers movie just felt like a big letdown.  A bit too serious maybe?  So we readjusted our expectation level for Avengers: Infinity War.

Luckily, it didn’t disappoint.  Non-stop action with special effects galore as different groups of superheroes from all of Marvel’s other movies combine to take on the evil Thanos.  The to and fro dialogue between firstly Star-Lord of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor, and then Star-Lord and Ironman is comedic genius.

The only real issue with Avengers: Infinity War is that you a built towards a final conclusion, but the conclusion never comes.  I guess that’s how you sell movie tickets to Avengers: Infinity War 2.  It wasn’t a problem for us as we have seen all the other Marvel superhero movies.  However, for those who haven’t kept up with the other superhero outings, some things in this movie may also seem to not make sense.

Nonetheless, a thoroughly enjoyable movie.  So much so that we would watch it again just to get all the finer details that you miss the first viewing.  Bring on Avengers: Infinity War 2!