A Magical Christmas Experience at LaplandUK.

When the email landed in my inbox to tell me we had been invited along to review a day out at Lapland UK I could barely contain my excitement! I rang my husband and definitely struggled keeping it a secret from the kids.

If you haven't heard of LaplandUK its an immersive family theatrical experience that replicates Father Christmas' arctic homeland of Lapland. Your visit will take you on a magical journey through a magical winter wonderland accompanied by elves as you help them out with jobs such as toy making and gingerbread decorating. Of course your trip wouldn't be complete without meeting Father Christmas who provides a personal meeting with your child complete with a beautiful present to take home. 

As part of the experience each child will receive a personalised invitation inviting them to LaplandUK which will be sent discretely along with your confirmation. You can choose when to give these to your child since their is no date on them, we chose the evening before so they would be all excited to go the next day!

Puddle Adventures with my little explorer.

If there is one thing Evelyn loves most about the winter its the puddles!

So you can imagine our delight when out latest challenge as HiPP Explorers was to slip on our welly boots and go jumping in puddles.

We received these adorable welly boots and waterproof jacket in this very cute duck print from Frugi to help Evelyn keep dry on her puddle jumping adventures!. Evelyn could hardly contain her excitement to put them on and get outdoors and insisted on wearing them on the school run just moments after they arrived.

We have a membership to our local WWT wetlands centre which always has lots of puddle jumping opportunities so off we went to find some puddles, and puddles we found. Its not just great for puddle jumping though there are lots of birds to look at and places to explore!

Of course all this puddle jumping uses up lots of energy and so starting off the day with a good breakfast is vital!

HiPP have a wide range of breakfast products in their range which are made with the finest organic ingredients, providing toddlers with a healthy nutritious breakfast to start the day. 

Included in this range is the HiPP Organic Fruity Muesli with Crispy Ducks contains the finest organic cereal and have no added sugar. These were a big hit with Evelyn and great for slightly older ones who want to feed themselves as Evelyn found this really easy to scoop up with her own spoon. 

Also available in the breakfast range are The HiPP Organic range of tasty Porridge Pouches which are the only porridge in a pouch available in the UK.  These handy breakfast pouches are packed full of scrumptious 100% organic fruit and wholegrain cereal,  providing valuable nutrition for little ones and contain no added sugar, only natural occurring sugars.

I really liked the pouch idea and they were especially handy to take along with us on the school runs when Evelyn was being fussy about eating breakfast at home before we had to leave. These would also be perfect to take along with you on day trips or holidays etc as they can just be popped in the a change bag etc. 

Evelyn loved the whole HiPP range and there is such a variety of flavours available she certainly didn't get bored, which is somehing I do worry about. I felt much happier knowing she had a good breakfast to start the day too since she always seems to be on the go throughout the day! 

HiPP Organic has a great range of products perfect for breakfast. Visit the website for more details - www.hipp.co.uk.

Do your little ones have a favourite breakfast food? 


xXx


**We were not paid for this post. We are part of the HiPP Explorers team and received some of the items featured here to enable us to write our post. All thoughts, opnions and photo's are my own.**

Something Special - Mr Tumble toys **REVIEW**

Something special is a program that is a firm favourite with Evelyn. She loves all of the different characters Justin portrays, especially Mr Tumble who always makes her giggle.

As a parent I really like the fact that throughout the program Evelyn started picking up some basic Makaton signs that she actually used day to day when she was smaller. 

So when we were recently asked if we would like to review some toys from the Something Special range from Golden Bear Toys we jumped at the chance, knowing just how much Evelyn would love them. 

The first toy we received is the Lights and Sounds Mr Tumble. 

He is a great size who really resembles the TV version of Mr Tumble, even coming with his own matching spotty bag which opens and closes! What makes this toy extra special though is that if you press his hand Mr Tumble says some common phrases and sounds along with a very funny laugh. That's not all though, when you press Mr Tumble hand as well as talking his bow tie lights up! 

Evelyn is besotted with the Lights and Sounds Mr Tumble and takes him everywhere with her, even storing little toys in the spotty bag. I really like the fact that his large non slip feet mean Mr Tumble can stand on his own. Mr Tumble has also become a firm favourite for nap time companion as she loves to stroke his super soft hair. 

We also received Mr Tumbles Spotty Bag and I don't Evelyn could contain her excitement when she realised she actually had her very own spotty bag to store all her favourite things. 

Evelyn is 2 and the bag was a great size for her, it does have an adjustable strap though if you need it slightly longer or shorter. The bag has lots of space inside and Evelyn loves using it to collect special things we find when out on our walks and the velcro fastening ensures everything stays inside. 

The bag itself is made with lovely bright fabric and has 4 different textured spots on the front - green satin, orange velvet, red plush and blue corduroy which Evelyn loves feeling. Mr Tumbles spotty bag also  comes with 5 brightly coloured cards featuring Makaton signs to help establish recognition of some common words. I loved this addition and we have been using them regularly and Evelyn loves having a go at using the signs. 

We have loved trying out some of the toys from the Mr Tumble range and they have a big thumbs up from us. They seem well made and sturdy and the bright colours and different textures are great for kids and really grab their attention. 

If you want to check out more toys from the Something Special range you can find the full range over on the Golden Bear Toys website. 

Do your little ones like Mr Tumble? 

xXx

**I received these products free of charge in order to write my review. All words, photos and opinions are my own.**

Summer Infant - My Size Potty **REVIEW**

Since Evelyn turned 2 potty training has been at the front of my mind. I know its something that as parents we have all been through and its one of those stages most of us dread and hope is over quickly. However very often its not and it can be quite tricky to get children completely potty trained so I am a big fan of any product that might make the process a little easier!

When we were recently offered the chance to try out the Summer Infant my size potty I knew it had to be worth a try. 

Evelyn seems to be a bit hit and miss with potty training, some days she is happy to use the potty or at least try. However other days even the mention of removing her nappy sparks tears so I was hoping the my size potty might be a positive on our journey. 

The Summer Infant my size potty is a children's potty which as been designed to look just like a real full size toilet complete with its own  pretend flush with noises. 

Assembly of the potty is easy and the instructions are clear and simply. It really is a case of placing some screws in a few pre drilled holes and your toilet is ready to use. There is even a space on the top of the toilet for you to place some tissue or wipes which I thought was a lovely touch, also meaning you always had wipes to hand! 

Evelyn found the potty funny at first but actually showed lots of interest in using it unlike any other potty we have tried. I think she loved the fact it looks just like mummy and daddy's toilet and she felt grown up using it. She loves pushing the flush down but was a little unsure as to why it didn't actually flush away the wee. 

The splash guard was my only dislike on the my size potty. It comes up quite high over the seat of the potty making it quite difficult for little ones to position themselves on the toilet without catching the splash guard in the process. We opted to take it off in the end and we haven't had any splashes or leaks yet. 

Over all we give the Summer Infant my size potty a thumbs up. It has definitely given Evelyn more of an interest in using the potty which is a big bonus. From a parent perspective I really like the fact you can remove the main bowl from the toilet unit meaning it can easily be emptied and cleaned without having to haul around the whole toilet unit. I also found it really handy to have the space for the wipes so I had some to hand when needed. 

The my size potty is priced at £34.99 which is at the higher price range for a potty but I would still say it is worth the price tag if you have a child who may may prefer using a toilet over a traditional style potty. I feel that using this smaller version of a toilet may make our transition from potty to actual toilet much easier in the long run. 

So whilst Evelyn still isn't totally potty trained we are slowly getting their and the Summer Infant my size potty is certainly helping us along the way. 

Do you have any potty training tips to share? 

xXx

**I received this products free of charge in order to write my review. All words, photos and opinions are my own.**