review

Penguin Love

Pink Lining Penguin Love Messenger Bag Review

I am very excited to announce that we have been chosen out of hundreds of applicants to become a Pink Lining Ambassador.

I have been a fan of Pink Lining changing bags since my best friend owned one and I longed for my very own. I finally got my own when I had Sebby and it is still the bag that I get comments on whenever we go out with it. I went for a large rucksack style which has the ability to hold all the paraphernalia that comes with days out with the family. Hubby always jokes that I carry “everything but the kitchen sink”, but when you add in clothes for 3 children, waterproofs, a first aid kit, camera and snacks, that space soon fills up.

When I found out I could review a bag from the new range as part of my ambassador duties, I had every intention of picking one of their fabulous new range of bags for children as Sebastian and I are nearing the end of our changing bag journey, however, that was when I spotted the Mini Messenger Bag in Penguin Love.

The Mini Messenger bag is a compact and light bag, perfect for use with a toddler who doesn’t need as many nappy changes! It still contains a foldable pink changing mat and insulated detachable bottle holder which can easily be removed if desired. There is a large front zip pocket is to house all mummy essentials such as my mobile, keys, money and lip balm whilst the large zip pocket on the back is for the folded changing mat.

There is also a long adjustable strap which can either be worn across your body, over the shoulder or over the buggy handlebars.

Pink Lining

Also in the Penguin Love range is a laminated zip around style wallet perfect for day-to-day use. Inside is their trademark shocking pink lining with a zip coin section, three large rose pink metallic note pockets and ten rose pink metallic card pockets and also features a photo display section so you can keep photos of your little ones close at all times.

Penguin

The Penguin Love Messenger Bag is really good quality and the laminated material is easy to clean. It retails at £40 and the matching wallet is £25, making it an inexpensive changing bag option, or you could remove the changing mat and the bottle holder and use it as a fashion bag instead.

Pink Lining

Konfidence Floatsuit Review

When we were chosen as Konfidence ambassadors we were sent a pack of Konfidence goodies to try out which included a Konfidence Floatsuit. As Sebastian had been having swimming lessons previously for around 18 months and was very water confident and able to swim with a woggle I was unsure if we would use it, however I packed it in our case when we went on holiday to Turkey with the intention of trying it out.

The Konfidence Floatsuit is made from comfortable soft Lycra fabric for children aged 1-5 years. They work on the same principle as the Konfidence™ Buoyancy Jackets with eight individual removable floats are worn in outer pockets which can easily be removed for tailored buoyancy as the child grows, develops and learns water confidence. They also come in a range of adorable and fun designs, and all with 50+ UPF sun protection on covered areas, making them great for holidays too.

They make two styles of Floatsuit – the traditional swimsuit style and the combination Sunsuit/Floatsuit styles which is the one we had. Both stay ‘fixed’ on the child, and hold the child in the correct position to aid swimming.

Sebastian wasn’t sure when he put it on, after all he is used to swimming in just an aqua nappy, but once he was in the water I was genuinely shocked by the difference it made. He was off and swimming by himself!!

Konfidence Floatsuit

The suit held him in the correct position and he was off and swimming between Daddy, Kian and myself. Normally when holding him in the pool he doesn’t really kick or paddle much because he knows we are holding on to him, but with this suit on he was really motoring around the pool and you could see the sheer delight in his face that he was swimming by himself.

With Sebastian wearing the Floatsuit it also made us more relaxed in the water and although he was closely supervised all the time, it meant we also had a hand free to play with Isaac and Eliza and having a 50+ UPF sun protection rating I was satisfied he was safe from the sun too.

Konfidence Floatsuit

The Floatsuit is designed using quality high content Nylon Lycra that is comfortable against a child’s bare skin and comes in some fabulous designs, ranging from the Breton Stripe inspired Original Floatsuits to the fun and funky clownfish UV protective Sunsuit style. Sebastian has the Octonauts Floatsuit, with Captain Barnacles on the front.

Priced at £23.99 the Konfidence Floatsuit is perfect for taking on holiday and using at the local pool to help teach your child to swim.

 

 

 

Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Shipwreck Rails Playset

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be invited to the premier of Thomas & Friends Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure in Leicester Square.

The film was a big hit with my three younger ones and since our return Sebastian has been demanding we build train sets on almost a daily basis.

The new Thomas & Friends™ TrackMaster™ Thomas’ Shipwreck Rails Set is the latest Thomas toy train set in the trackmaster collection and is inspired by this film.

We have been sent one to review and set it up secretly whilst Sebby was at pre-school as a surprise. We initially started setting it up on the table, but it was soon clear that it was going to be too big, so we moved it to the floor. It took around 10 minutes to build and was easy to snap together following the instructions.

Thomas Shipwreck Playset

Sebastian’s face when he saw it was a picture and he played with it solidly for 3 hours, even refusing lunch as he was so interested in what was going on.

Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Shipwreck Rails Playset

Daredevil Thomas climbs the steep incline towards the ships mast, then plunges towards the deck and turns upside down in a 360° spiral as he speeds along the spiral track. Featuring incredible upside-down spiraling action and an auto-reset function that enables continuous play.

We set it up next to his Breakaway Bridge Set and Sebby has transferred the trains to and from both tracks. The next stage will be attaching them together as the beauty of trackmaster sets is you can mix and match and build huge train tracks.

The Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Shipwreck Rails Playset has an RRPof £42.99 and is available in all good toy shops.

At-Bristol Science Centre

A couple of weeks ago we visited Bristol to go and see Captain Barnacles Pantomime aboard The Matthew. As that show was only 90 minutes long we had plenty of time to visit some of Bristol’s other attractions and At-Bristol Science Centre was top of our list.

We had no idea what to expect, other than it being a science centre but I cannot fault it. We could have spent the whole day in just this building as there was so much to see and do.

We started with the “all about us” exhibition where we got to see how our body works, could see blood flowing through our veins and even discovered that we could use vibrations to hear.

At-Bristol

Eliza was especially fascinated by the babies at different stages in the womb and was comparing the size of a baby at early gestation and full term. You could even go inside a large womb and hear muffled talking and gentle rocking as mum moved around.

At-Bristol

The best thing about the centre is that it was perfect for all ages. There was information that Eliza and Isaac could understand but also things that caught Kian’s imagination too. Even Sebastian got to join in although was more fascinated by the senses activities as he understood more of what was going on.

The sensory arcade had lots of information about food and calories. It was fun learning where food came from and how the body uses energy and we got to test how much energy we used by doing different sporting activities. Eliza even got to milk a (pretend) cow and they also dressed up as bees and learned how bees made their honey.

At-Bristol

We finally managed to tear them away from the downstairs exhibition and headed upstairs to the animation zone. This appealed to Hubby, Kian and Isaac more than the younger two, but thankfully there was a small soft play area with soft LEGO like bricks to play with which they were more than happy with. The animations that Hubby, Kian and Isaac made were all emailed home to us for us to keep.

At-Bristol

The Curiosity Zone was also upstairs and we got to discover the world around us, become spacemen and even made some giant bubbles which was our favourite part of the day.

At-Bristol

I have to admit it was really hard to tear the kids away as there was so much more to see and do but we simply ran out of time. I have promised Isaac and Eliza that we will go back soon so we can go to the Planetarium and take part in more science experiments.

 

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