Category: Reviews

1. Am I a Morrisons Mum?

   Posted on 6:52pm Saturday 10th May 2014

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   It is no secret that I love to shop on the internet, I buy presents, clothes and food online. When Britmums announced that they were looking for Morrisons Mums to take £80 worth of vouchers and shop over the bank holiday weekend, I knew there was little I could do to resist. Going into an "actual" shop and pushing a trolley full of food around a shop was a novelty (although I have found out that I am no good at navigating one once it is full of food), so armed with our vouchers we set about our mission. We received a friendly welcome ......

   

   Morrisons announced last week that they were cutting prices, not to price match or any other such temporary measures but significant price drops that appeal to our money saving hearts. They can tell you about it a bit better than me:

   From today, we’ve cut the prices on over a thousand of your favourite products. Not temporary reductions or supermarket smoke and mirrors, these are new every day low prices on the things you buy every week. So you’ll notice the difference with every shop.
   
   And although we’re cutting prices, we’re not cutting corners. You can check our pricing at www.Morrisons.com/pricecuts.
   
   You’ll still get award-winning meat and fish, still get trained butchers and bakers, still get the best of fresh on Market Street and still get friendly Morrisons service.
   
   Look out for the yellow markers when you shop in store and online at morrisons.com. If it says I’m cheaper you know it’s staying cheaper.

   And there were PLENTY of offers to be had (Plenty .... see what I did there???)

   

   
   My friend and I have resolved to have a "dry" May, so I was delighted to find my non alcoholic alternative on offer at half price .... so I bought twice the amount!!

   

   We decided not to price everything up as we went round the shop, prefering to play games with the girls, such as "find something with a flower on it", I won that particular game! Can you guess what product this flower is on?

   

   Our usual weekly shop is in excess of £100, so I was pleasantly surprised that the shopping came to just over £82 so there were definite savings across the store. 

   

    

   As for our bank holiday meal, well I am never going to make it onto Master Chef but with a light meal costing only £1.97 per person, I will happily invite everyone over next bank holiday weekend!

    

   

   So the question remains, am I a Morrisons Mum? I think I may just have been converted!

2. Hatton Country World : Review

   Posted on 4:36pm Friday 25th Apr 2014

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   We have been enjoying a lot of time outside this Easter, blowing away the cobwebs and getting outside. I have even been known to wear wellies and flat shoes on more than one occasion. I kid you not! So when we were invited to Hatton Country World for the day to enjoy their Easter Eggstravaganza, I knew we were up for the Challenge ..... and a challenge is what we got!

   We were greeted by this gorgeous Peacock, who took no convincing to show us his feathers! It was a unique way to be welcomed to a park!!

   

   For my big girl, there was The Adventurers’ Challenge, which has been created for families to compete in a number of daring tasks across the park, including braving the Big Red Drop Slide in Superslide Mania and holding an exotic reptile in the new Scales and Tails attraction. For the little one, was an Easter Bunny Hunt and we did try very hard to track down the "big bunny" who was wandering around Hatton all day. The Easter challenges were in addition to all the usual exciting activities like the farmyard favourites, fairground rides, family theatre and guinea pig village.

   The little one LOVED feeding the animals and was much braver than only 7 months ago when we came for her birthday.

   

   

   Newborn piglets made me broody (for a baby not a piglet) .... stinky but adorable!

   

   The 8yo loved taking part in the Adventure Challenges and was determined to find gold and get her medal ....... she did aswell!

   

   The Easter Egg Hunt was on at set times throughout the day .... and is still on until 27th April, if you are quick!! This is not counting all the rides, trampolines, councy castles, slides and outdoor play activities that the girls ping ponged around all day.

   

   When little legs were tired after all the fun, big sister was there to help carry her along. (a rare moment of sibling kindness). There is so much to do at Hatton Country World that it would be difficult to find just one single thing that was my favourite, so I asked all the family:

   The Man on the Pad : Feeding the animals on the farm.

   The 8 year old : Mining for Gold or the Red Drop Slide

   The 2 year old : The bouncy slide

   

   Me : Well for me the best part was having a great day out with the family, somewhere that caters for all ages. (which is a bonus for our family)

   
   

   We were sad to leave (albeit, the shops on the way out did ease this for me somewhat) but I did happen to notice that they had schedules up for Whitsun week ...... so I think we will be returning very soon.

    

   Disclosure : We were given a family ticket to Hatton for the day but all views and opinons are our own.

3. Little Fun Fest - Fantastic fun for little funsters

   Posted on 9:03pm Sunday 6th Apr 2014

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   We have lots of adventures on the Lilypad and today our adventures took us to the Red House Barn and the Little Fun Fest.

   

   It was our first ever festival (yes mine included) and I totally embraced the whole thing by ensuring we ALL had wellies. The weather forecast wasn't brilliant but a few rain showers weren't going to dampen our spirits and once as we saw the Big Red Top as we came closer to Red House Barn, we couldn't contain the girls excitement. They grabbed their wellington boots and off they went through the mud.

    

   With varying ages, there is usually a debate over what activites we were going to do and amazingly the girls were generally happy to take turns in choosing an activity, with the little one only getting a bit upset over there being water on the bouncy castle. It was a little "bounce, splash" .... which added to the fun in the end!

   The venue wasn't huge, which was perfect for us (and the little legs) as we could happily choose activities from either side and get there quickly. There was an amazing array of things to do and see from Baby Ballet, Dr Ranj's travelling surgery, Mr Yipadee to cBeebies very own Alex Winters, without all the extra's like the fair ground rides, stalls and play area. Mr Yipadee was a particular favourite, with the little one getting right in front of the stage and dancing and singing along. 

   We had to take cover from the rain showers but the craft corner came to the rescue .....

   

   And don't forget the parachute .....

   

   As soon as the rain stopped, we were outside again and this time learning circus tricks from tight rope walking to stilts!

   

   Little Fun Fest is all about providing top class family fun! It is marketed as the under 10′s first family festival and I was worried that it maybe a little too young for the "almost" 9 year old but she loved it and wants to come back next year already!

   

   We didn't get a chance to meet and greet the stars of Little Fun Fest as the little one was beyond exhausted from all the excitement and she was asleep within 2 minutes of us leaving the car park but it wasn't about the characters for us, as it was just a fabulous event although we were able to watch the princesses from Frozen sing "Let it Go" before we left .....

    

   The girls just didn't want to "let it go" and want to come back again tomorrow!!

    

   We received a family pass for our entrance to Little Fun Fest but all opinions and adventures are our own.

4. Skribbies : Review

   Posted on 1:13pm Tuesday 1st Apr 2014

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   It is no secret that there is a love of shoes by the girls on the Lilypad, so when we got the opportunity to review the Skribbies shoes, we jumped at the chance! Skribbies is a UK based company founded by Jennifer Duthie. The idea behind Skribbies came when Jennifer was reminiscing about the sweeter days of childhood. Jennifer wanted to develop a product for kids that was more versatile and would allow kids to keep on customising and as a result, Skribbies was born.

   So what is in a Skribbies box? The 8 year old takes her first leap into (a very shy attempt at) vlogging. 

   I have to admit I *may* have teased her with the box until the weekend and I purposefully didn't look inside either, so we were both thrilled with the contents. The Skribbies come with 6 pens in varying colours, monster stickers and a wristband.

   

    We made sure that there were no distractions (i.e 2 year old sister) to encroach on her artistic talents and she got to work straight away.

   

   She couldn't decide between the stickers or the pens so ended up using a little bit of both. The Skribbies come with a handy wipe clean cloth (that doubles up as a funky wristband for art on the go) so if you don't like what you have done, you can simply wipe away.

   

   Uh oh ... then the peace was shattered as the 2 year woke from her nap and insisted on getting involved! The chunky pens were the perfect size for her, much to her sisters dismay.

   

    Et Voila!

   

    You can just imagine how delighted the 8 year old was when the 2 year old found the cleaning cloth ...... (action shot to follow)

   

   I am told by the ever critical 8 year old, that the trainers are really comfortable to wear and she loves showing them off when we go out.

   She is a bit of a creature of habit, so once she has a design she tends to stick with it ..... until her sister gets hold of them of course.

   My mum was a little worried at encouraging the children to draw on their shoes but they both understand that they are a special design and you can only draw on the Skribbies. At £39.99 they are not the cheapest shoes you are going to buy for your child but certainly not the most expensive either and with the ability to change the look whenever you want, it is a great way to encourage their individuality too.

   We love them ..... what do you think?