Dinosaur Zoo, The Fairfield Halls - Review

On Saturday we went to see Dinosaur Zoo at The Fairfield Halls in Croydon. We decided to skip football and gymnastics classes for it as we love seeing shows and Noah is Dino mad at the moment. Every bedtime includes either a fictional dinosaur story - Dinosaurs Love Underpants is a big favourite or a factual book where I have to try and pronounce ALL the dinosaur names!

We arrived at the theatre and starting at the same time was a Frozen Singalong! All the little Elsa and Anna's were running around and looking very excited about the prospect of singing their hearts out to Let It Go (and the mums too I would imagine!). We went to a Frozen Singalong before Christmas and it was brilliant!

Anyway, back to Dinosaur Zoo. The show is really interactive with the kids, which is great - with each introduction of a new dinosaur a child in the audience gets invited up to take part. The whole show is about dinosaurs that lived in Australia, so that meant that we didn't see T-Rex but we did see his Australian equivalent, the Australovenator - he was fierce! Noah reassured himself that it was just a puppet when he told me that he could see the legs of the person inside! Aside from the fierce carnivore there were also some baby dinosaurs, some huge dragonfly type creatures that 'flew' round the audience and a really huge gentle herbivore dinosaur.

The presenter of the show gave the audience loads of factual information about dinosaurs throughout which was great for adults and kids and he was also really good with the children, poking gentle fun out of them to raise a laugh from the audience and with the little ones it felt like they believed the dinosaurs were real which was magic.

After the show the kids were able to meet and greet the dinosaurs, Isla touched the the Australovenator's nose and then got to stroke one of the baby dinosaurs. This was a nice touch as she is ever the child who wants to get up on stage, and this time she didn't so meeting the puppets more than made up for it.  

For more information about the show go to: http://dinosaurzoolive.com/

The Fairfield Halls always has a great selection of shows and screenings for all ages. This half term The Fairfield Halls are showing family films for only £2! For anyone who’s not seen Big Hero 6, then I thoroughly recommend it and it’s not long been released. Personally I think we’ll be going to see the Shaun the Sheep Movie, Isla is a big fan of the TV series and I hope to take the kids on the Shaun in The City Trail too. Going to the cinema can be such an expensive family outing, sometimes costing over £30 for a family of 4 but at these prices you could afford to go a couple of times in the holidays – particularly if we get typical school holiday wet weather! Details of cinema showings can be found on the Fairfield Halls website

 

Thanks to the Fairfield Halls for inviting us along to see the show, we look forward to visiting again soon!

Barbie Malibu House - Review

Our house feels like Barbie HQ at the moment! Along with all the other Barbie stuff Isla already owned she was very happy with the addition of a Barbie Malibu House, which is derived from the web programme, Barbie, Life in the Dreamhouse, something Isla has watched on YouTube a fair bit recently. 

Even Thomas and Friends were welcome at Barbie's pad....

As I was on my own with the kids when the house arrived I was charged with putting it all together. I'm not really a natural at doing that kind of thing but with very little stress and maybe only a couple of bad words muttered quietly, I did it in just under an hour - including getting all the stickers on and asking the kids to stop moving the pieces untold number of times..... 

The house has 6 rooms for Barbie and comes with some fixed furniture and other pieces of furniture that can be moved from room to room. The main bedroom also doubles up as a shower room with the clever use of a bed that you can stand up to become a shower and wardrobe. There are lots of small pieces in the set, food, drinks, items for the fridge as well as a tiny iPad and remote control. I would say if you have any really small children in the house, be wary of these pieces. Fortunately this isn't a problem for us. 

The staircase section of the house has an aquarium pillar going through the middle to which you attach your Barbie. Using the pulley system, Barbie can take the staircase to access the upstairs areas. I have found this a bit tricky to use, it needs to be a smoother ride for Barbie and seems to take a bit of effort for Isla to work and she is 5.

(Doll not included)

One of the upstairs rooms is equipped with a holder that you can hang on the wall to put your iPhone in so Barbie can watch herself in episode of Life in the Dreamhouse!

From a parents perspective I like that it folds up quite compactly. We live in a two up two down and with the kids toys gradually taking over the house, it was good to know that we can tidy this away quite easily. 

There has been some great imaginative play going on since the Barbie Malibu house arrived and the Barbie dolls have been played with a lot more than they did before we had it! I have to say I don't know many girls who wouldn't love this for Christmas, just maybe get Father Christmas to deliver it already constructed, otherwise you'll have one impatient recipient on the big day.....

Recommended for children aged 3+
RRP £99.99

We were sent the Barbie Malibu House free of charge for the purposes of this review.

Chelsea Flippin' Pup Pool Playset - Review

For a few months before we were sent this playset Isla had seen it on TV adverts and had mentioned it repeatedly when asked what she'd like for Christmas, so I know that it's something that will appeal to many girls in her age group. What's not to love? Puppies - tick. Waterplay - tick. Barbie related - tick! Look at her face when it arrived....

The set comprises of a pool, diving board, slide, Chelsea doll, 3 puppies, a dog bed and little towel. One of the pups is designed to flick over and do a somersault at the end of the slide. This is so simple but looks effective. The slide has a catch at the bottom and the puppy hits it and flips over, catapulting her into the pool! The other two puppies are squeezy and squirt water from their mouths so they can have a water fight with Chelsea who also has a dolphin water feature to squirt water from!

Isla, Noah and Cousin M all enjoyed some time at my parents last Sunday playing with this toy. Water play in the house can be a bit tricky but with a few towels down there wasn't too much mess and in the summer it will be perfect for the outdoors and will go nicely with the Barbie swimming pool we already own.  

This set really would make a fantastic Christmas present for any fans of Barbie and also any little brothers who particularly like to stick their Disney Cars in the pool for swim too! 


Recommended for Children aged 3+
RRP £22.99

We were sent the Chelsea Flippin' Pup Pool Playset free of charge for the purposes of this review. 

Trying out the Britax KidFix XP SICT Car Seat - Review

Ever since we reviewed the Britax B-Agile 3 I've been thoroughly impressed with Britax. I feel like they are at the forefront of innovation and safety when it comes to travel products for children. Not only are their products safety conscious they are also design conscious. I didn't think twice about accepting the Britax Kidfix XP SICT Car Seat and as Noah was getting too big for his car seat the timing was good. Now I know that you'll all think hold on a minute, Noah is only 2 years old and typically this seat is for 4 - 12 year olds/ children who weigh 15 - 36kg but he is the size, and weight at 19kg of a lot of 4 year olds! Big boy I know! So he fits perfectly in this seat and it isn't any the less safe for him being younger, it is the child's weight that you should consider most when changing up to new Group 2/3 car seats.

It's a forward facing seat and comes in black fabric and has washable covers - which is a good thing when your kids like to snack on longer journeys! But far more important than what it looks like is how it performs and this is where I was really impressed. 

It has advanced side impact cushion technology (SICT) which helps to protect children in the event of a side on collision. On each side of the seat there are two round white disks that you can unscrew. You unscrew the disk closest to the window in order to give more side impact protection. Then the other nifty thing is the XP chest pad that diverts 30% more crash energy away from the child's chest compared to a normal seatbelt. 

The seat uses our car's ISOFIX connections so it means that the seat is fixed firmly in place and doesn't slip about (unlike Isla's seat that we really need to replace!). The seat uses the existing back seat belt in the car, so no more 5 point harness for Noah (see my point about that below). Everything is geared towards total safety and touch wood we never have a serious accident but if we do I know this seat will keep Noah the safest possible.

One thing I will mention, just for the purposes of people who have rather large 2 year olds like I do - mentally they don't quite understand the need to not 'pop' the seat belt, which they are able to do when they use the back seat belts that come with the car. This happened on a couple of occasions. For us this actually happened when Noah was having a tantrum and this was always before we'd started the journey. My way to deal with it was simply to let him finish the tantrum (imagine a bucking bronco in the back of the car), calm down (him and me) and then belt up and get on the way. Thankfully tantrums are few and far between now and he understands the need to be belted up - "I won't undo my seatbelt Mummy" said on many occasions when getting in the car! 

You can find more information on the product here: http://www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/car-seats/kidfix-xp-sict

We were sent this car seat for purposes of review. All opinons are my own.

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland at The Polka Theatre - Review

Last weekend I took Isla, my best friend Soula and her son Samuel along to the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon to check out their new production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Soula is a busy mum like me but when I asked her if she'd write the review of the show, she obliged,as in another life she would have loved to write and with the little spare time she does have she wrote this wonderful piece for I Heart Motherhood! Over to you my lovely.

Having a best friend who runs a successful blog does have its occasional perks; so when she invited my son and I to go and see Alice in Wonderland with her at the Polka Theatre I thought I’d be a mad hatter to turn her down! 

I wasn’t even aware of the Polka Theatre (although later discussions revealed that I had indeed been there with my father as a child many years ago). The theatre is solely aimed at producing and presenting Children’s theatre and to my surprise has been there since 1979 (probably why I can’t remember going as a child)!   Samuel and Isla were born 3 months apart and the two of them are good friends, and their excitement as we walked to the theatre was palpable.  As we entered we gathered in the main foyer where the kids could play with the various toys scattered around, whilst we purchased some snacks for the performance  - from a reasonably priced bar which even served a decent cappuccino!  As we made our way to the main theatre we passed a lovely area filled to the brim with teddy bears, which the children can play with, and enjoyed the nostalgia generated by seeing the more collectible bears displayed in beautifully presented glass cabinets;  remember Super-Ted and Fozzie Bear from the Muppets anyone? Well this is where they are enjoying their retirement!

On to the show… Now I have to hold my hand up here and admit that I have never actually read the original book of Alice in Wonderland and have only seen the rose tinted Disney version – and even that was many years ago.  This meant that as the show began, I was trying to remember what I could about the Disney adaptation – and it ended up being quite different to what was actually portrayed!  The show opens with Alice and her sister stuck indoors on a cold snowy day. Alice is energetic, inquisitive and a total contrast to her older more restrained sister. They bicker and at this point I wasn’t really sure what happened as Alice calls her sister a ‘Pig’ and then suddenly she is falling into Wonderland.  If there was a reference to the rabbit hole I must have blinked and missed it because I remain still unsure of how she actually entered Wonderland!   

Alice’s indecision about whether she should drink the potion labelled ‘drink me’ had the audience laughing, and the way she moved her body to represent shrinking and growing, was clever enough that my 4 year old understood what was being portrayed.   The show goes on to accurately portray the chapters in the book (something I have learnt now having investigated the original story)  and Alice progresses through her journey in Wonderland meeting varied and interesting characters along the way.   The scene that introduces the duchess, her cook and the Cheshire cat is noisy and bewildering, with lots of shrieking and sneezing, and banging, amidst a smoky haze – and quite frankly is completely bizarre to those unfamiliar with the book.  

The fearsome Queen of hearts was played brilliantly and her frequent cries of ‘off with their head’ kept the audience amused before we observed the most entertaining game of croquet I’ve ever seen! As Alice’s journey through Wonderland comes to an end, and she herself almost becomes a victim of the queen’s ruthless rein, we breathe a sigh of relief when she is transported safely back to her home, just as she had left it – with head firmly attached to her body!

I thought the small team involved in the production do an amazing job – not only portraying all the main characters between them, but also managing all of the props and stage rotations.  The entire cast is played out by just 6 people, with some playing up to 5 characters each!  The costume changes were so quick it was hard to believe the same person had just been playing something else.  They were all great but of course I think it’s the Queen who steals the show.

Samuel enjoyed it although I think a lot of it went over his head (to be fair he is only 4 and the production is aimed at children aged 6 and over so he was probably a bit too young really).  That said, he and Isla were completely gripped throughout and both had a thoroughly good time. 

All in all I thought it was a clever production and well worth seeing. The Polka theatre in itself is a lovely venue and worth a visit even if you are not taking in a show – they even do children’s tea parties there which I imagine are a nice way to celebrate a birthday if you live in the local area. Thanks to Sharon for inviting Samuel & I to Alice in Wonderland and for introducing me to the Polka Theatre – I will be returning… and to make up for my ignorance I promise to also read the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (more commonly known as Lewis Carroll)!

Thanks Soula for writing a brilliant review! All I have to add is that I thoroughly enjoyed it too and the only thing that Isla was aggrieved about was that Alice retained her head! When her head was on the block she groaned audibly, to which I asked her what was wrong and she sighed and said she thought she would see her head come off….not sure what to make of that, she's not usually such a lover of gore… 

Alice in Wonderland is on at The Polka Theatre until 15th February 2014 and tickets are available here and by calling the theatre on 020 8543 4888. If you're looking for any other shows the kids will love then you should also check out our review of another Polka Theatre show Gorilla.

Thanks to the Polka theatre for inviting us to see Alice in Wonderland. We received 4 tickets in exchange for this review. All opinions and views are our own.

Review of King of The Railway - The Movie & Our Visit to Thomasland

Last week we were invited to a special screening of King of the Railway, the new Thomas and Friends film at Thomasland! This was exciting news for the kids, especially Noah who in recent months has been building up a nice collection of trains from Thomas, he can play with trains (and cars) for hours. At the beginning of the summer we went on a Day Out with Thomas, which the kids both loved so I was sure they would have a great day.  In order to make it even more special I booked us a night in a Thomas themed room at Drayton Manor hotel - the kids were blown away.

So on the day of the screening we had a nice big breakfast and then hit the park, we were almost the first ones in. It was a beautiful sunny day - in fact I think it might be the last day we can call summer, now this autumn weather has taken hold. The rides weren't open yet, so we took a look at the animals in the zoo area first. The Meerkats were the clear favourites for my two, particularly as there was a baby one.

Thomasland is an area within Drayton Manor theme park. It is like stepping into the show when you get there. All Noah's favourite trains and characters were there in ride form! First up we went on Winston, he took us all round the park from the air, so we could check everything out and see what rides we wanted to go on next. And at this point, Isla saw the Cranky ride and very determinedly said "I want to go on that one Mummy". I looked at it and I didn't actually think twice, she was very adamant about going on. For those of you who know, Cranky is a crane so it was a ride that took you up and then down, and then up, then down, you get the picture. From the first zoom upwards, there were tears, oh dear, I even had my eyes closed hahaha. I must say now though, it wasn't related to her age, there were children younger than Isla on there who absolutely loved it!! Moral of the story, just check and double check that your little one really wants to go on it. If they still seem sure then don't feel too bad about the tears.....

From that point we went on loads of other rides and the kids really enjoyed everything, the only thing they wouldn't try was The Troublesome trucks rollercoaster. Then at 12pm we made our way to the 4D cinema in the park for the screening of the King of the Railway. We caught up with a few  bloggers that I know and also played with toys from the Thomas range. There were some really great bits, the Mega Bloks Thomas packs looked great and Noah had a good time playing with those, he mentioned Father Christmas afterwards! He's so cheeky! We were also welcomed by The Fat Controller, which was cool. 

We took our seats in the cinema with our popcorn and drinks and settled down for the film. It was great! And I have to say that was my first experience of a 4D cinema, really good fun was the verdict. Bit of a shock for the kids when the seats made their first move but that was all part of the experience. We had bubbles coming out at us, steam and at one point we got squirted full in the face with water (OH missed out on that as he was on the floor picking up all the grapes Isla had dropped!). The film tells the story of the return of the Earl of Sodor to the Island along with a very old steam train called Stephen. All the trains bustle round and take great interest in Stephen and the exciting surprises that the Earl has in store. When Stephen goes missing, Thomas and his friends look all over Sodor for him and there is a nail biting situation where everyone pulls together to prove how useful they really are. There are some really sweet moments in the film. I liked the relationship between Gordon and Spencer, always vying for the title of fastest train, and racing another all over the island. The way that Stephen is respected by all the younger trains is also lovely. There are also some songs in the film, that Noah really likes.

Isla loved the film, she didn't move a muscle from start to finish and being only an hour long, makes it a really great film to show little ones who may not be able to sit through a longer length film. Unfortunately all the running around that Noah did prior to the film meant that he conked out asleep! He saw the first 15 minutes and then it was game over. We rectified this on getting home as the kids got the most fabulous goody bag with a copy of the film on DVD. Noah has watched it loads of times since.  

After the film we went back out to Thomasland and Noah woke up, a bit upset that he'd missed the film but excited to go back and go on the rides. We thoroughly enjoyed our day out to Thomasland and watching King of the Railway. The kids slept all the way home and Isla hasn't stopped talking about the rides she went on that day, including Cranky, who she tells everyone was horrible! Hahahaha. 

The DVD of King of the Railway will be available from 1st September from all good retailers. I think it would make a great stocking filler for Christmas for Thomas obsessed children! 

Follow Thomas’ engine escapades on the Thomas & Friends website: 

http://www.thomasandfriends.com/uk/Thomas.mvc/Home. 

You can also keep track of all the latest Thomas news on Facebook and Twitter

We were invited to Thomasland and to see King of the Railway free of charge. We paid for an overnight stay at Drayton Manor. The children each received a goody bag, filled with Thomas treats!

Walkers Mighty Lights - Review

We do love a crisp or two in this house so when we were offered some Walkers Mighty Lights to try we didn't think too hard before saying "Yes please"! We were sent a plentiful supply - 3 multi-packs in each of the 3 available flavours; roast chicken, cheese and onion and lightly salted. They arrived while I was at work, so being ravenous when I got home, I scoffed a packet of cheese and onion in 2 minutes flat! I thought they were pretty tasty, but I'm going to have to admit that they didn't touch the sides that first time! So of course I had to try them again, and again and again....

I thought they were were really tasty, they packed a good amount of flavour and crunch and were really fresh. I think a ridged crisp is generally crunchier and gives good texture. You can tell that the crisps have 30% less fat, they aren't greasy, have a drier texture - they go well with a cold beer I think - although that kind of undoes the benefits of less fat and all that good fibre!

The kids liked the lightly salted flavour, they weren't keen on the other flavours, but that's no reflection on the crisps themselves as they don't like flavoured crisps as a rule. I do like the way they tentatively try unknown crisps though - very lightly sticking their tongue on them to assess the flavour before accepting or rejecting them! I also am the luck owner of a licked crisp if they decide its a flavour they don't like! We took them on quite a few National Trust picnics and shared them out with other kids who also snaffled them quite quickly.

Now here are the facts! 

With 30% less fat than standard crisps, Mighty Lights are perfect for kids' lunchboxes. They are tasty, ridged crisps. All the flavours are suitable for vegetarians, and are available in shops nationwide. They're made from real potatoes with no artificial colours or preservatives -  and they're a source of fibre.

We didn't just eat the crisps on their own either, we used them to make a nice crunchy crumb on some homemade chicken nuggets. Now foolishly I didn't take any photos of these as they got scoffed before I remembered! But they are really easy to make and I'll be making them again like so:

Chicken Nugget Recipe:

Heat the oven to 190/ Gas mark 5

4 chicken breasts cut into chunks
1 heaped tablespoon of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of American mustard
2 bags of lightly salted Walkers Mighty Light crisps

- Mix the Mayonnaise and mustard together
- Coat all the chicken chunks in the mayo and mustard mixture
- Get the kids to bash up the bags of crisps with a rolling pin and then coat the chicken pieces in the crunched up crisps
- Pop in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes and turn halfway - should be lovely and golden when they come out

This one is great for involving the kids as they love bashing up the crisps!

We'll definitely be buying Walkers Mighty Lights again and with lunchboxes becoming a regular thing in our house with Isla starting school this September she might find them in her lunchbox occasionally.

If you want to check out the new Mighty Lights, take a look at www.walkersmightylights.co.uk 

This is a sponsored post

Loads of Fun at Lollibop 2013

Sunday was Lollibop day for Isla and I and we had a blast. We went with my best friend and her son just like last year. We set off early and headed to the Olympic Park, the new venue this year. I'm going to be honest and say that I much prefered the Regents Park location as for obvious reasons it's leafier and feels more tranquil. That said there were little parts of Lollibop that did feel like this, the area where the disco shed was grassy and felt a little bit removed from the madness of the rest of the festival. 

Prior to going to Lollibop I hadn't bigged up any of the events or acts with Isla as I felt it was important for her to not feel disappointment if she didn't get to see something or if I saw that a queue was too long to wait in. By taking this approach we could easily just mooch around and do things as we came across them, which made for a much happier experience. There was only one exception to this rule and that was when we walked past the Shaun the Sheep area and Isla desparately wanted to meet him, but they were closing the field, so I promised we would go back. 

Last year we hardly watched anything on the main stage and stuck to the Lollipalladium. This year was the opposite, we caught a bit of Sid and Andy (really funny!) but then spent a long while in front of the main stage having a picnic whilst Dick and Dom (bogies!) were on, followed by Hello Kitty and the man of the moment, Justin Fletcher! He was great, really got the audience going, singing and making the kids laugh. We left JF a bit before he finished so that we could get back to Shaun the Sheep and get in the queue, we were near the front and 10 minutes early for his appearance, so in total Isla only had to wait 15 minutes for this photo opportunity:

 

After that we went in search of the face painting - also included in the ticket price, and although it looked a long queue there were so many face painters it was moving fast and we could only have been waiting 10 minutes for that - result! They had a list of different options to choose from, I persuaded Isla that they weren't doing Shaun the Sheep and so she went for the Dalamation Dog instead:

 

Next up a trip to the ice cream man and a bit of a boogie at the disco shed! After a good dance to 'Superman' - remember that one from the early 80's (?!) there was tug of war which all the kids really loved (they kept queuing up for it)! Isla had never done it before and looked liked she really enjoyed the experience especially as she was on the winning team. 

 

We stopped off at one of the Imagination Stations and Isla did some printing on a cloth square. We also bumped into Postman Pat while we were there - no sign of Jess though. 

 

There was a bar for the adults at Lollibop, which at the end we treated ourselves to a Pimms, we felt like we'd earnt it  after all the running around we'd been doing all day after two excitable monkeys! Finally we ended the day at Lollibop by getting the kids (and their siblings at home) a Walking Pet Balloon, which they absolutely loved and played with all the way home.

Thanks Lollibop for a really great day - we can't wait to come back next year!

We were given free tickets as Lollbop Ambassadors. All views expressed in this post are my own.

Ella's Kitchen - The Red One Cook Book Review

We were lucky enough to be sent a copy of the Ella’s Kitchen - The Red One Cook Book to review. It is packed full of yummy ideas for making mealtimes fun for all the family!

There are over 100 recipes in this book for littlies and big kids. The instructions are simple and the emphasis is on getting children hands on and messy in the kitchen from a young age.

I love that this is more than a recipe book and also contains fun ideas and activities that get the kids involved with food other than at mealtimes. There are grow your own ideas, a fun activity to get the kids planting their own food, decorating the flower pots, watching it grow and eating the produce. Ideas for role play setting up a kids cafe, encouraging the children to use their imagination to make up their own menu and create fake food.

So far we have cooked 3 of the meals in the book. This is the Zingy Lamb and Cous Cous with Mangoes and Raisins. It was delicious!

We have also cooked Cosy Cottage Pie and Magical Moroccan-style Chicken. They were both also really tasty meals, so tasty in fact that I totally forgot to get any photos of them and they were eaten in no time!! 

We were always big fans of Ella's Kitchen while weaning Noah and so it's really great that we can continue to feel supported by them as he goes through toddlerhood. However don't think that these meals can only be eaten by toddlers as that is far from the truth, we have all enjoyed what we've made so far as a family. 

The recipes are really easy to follow and simple to make. There is nothing complicated about it and the timings are shown really clearly for each recipe, so if you know you only have half an hour then it's really easy to see which meal is more suited to the time you have to prepare that evening. We haven't tried any of the sweet recipes as yet, but they are next on the list of things to try out, I've got my eye on the Carroty Cakes, what better way to get some of that important Vitamin A.

Get your copy of Ella's Kitchen The Cook Book – The Red One here

We were sent this book free of charge. All views and opinions are my own.

Little Us Dolls Review and Giveaway

LAUNCHING IN THE UK, Little Us is a brand new range of enchanting dolls for pre-school girls, each one with her own unique personality. These adorable soft dolls will soon become the must have under arm toy with girls choosing the doll that is ‘most like me’.

Let your child begin the delightful Little Us story by identifying with one the girls – maybe it will be Chloe who likes everything pink, or Amelia who loves animals and reading, or perhaps it will be Ruby who’s just a little bit cheeky, or finally Millie, the tomboy of the group! 

Measuring approximately 12” high and made from the softest plush material, the dolls are so huggable they are perfect for young children as their first doll. The dolls are ideal as a snug companion for play or sleep time and will encourage creative imaginative role play.

Isla was sent a Little Us doll to give her opinion on it. I chose Chloe for her as Isla is very much into pink like a lot of girls her age. It's a really well made doll and perfect size for carrying around (my children both carry a toy ALL the time) and as soon as she got Chloe she was fastened in her toy buggy and was pushed around the house. Chloe has become a regular part of Isla's toy entourage now and has been elevated to sleeping companion. I asked her why she liked Chloe and she said "because she wears pink!", with a tone of disdain, it's obvious Mum!

I'm giving you a chance to win a Little Us Doll. All you have to do is follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!

Read the Little Us stories and follow their adventures on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/LittleUsdollsDolls will be available to purchase from Harrods, Hamleys, Asda.com and Debenhams.com RRP £9.99.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disney Pixar Monsters University - Guest Review

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to a first screening of Monsters University in the UK. Unfortunately we couldn't make it!! So I emailed a good bloggie friend, Jo at Adequate Parent (don't be fooled - she is more than adequate!) and she said that H, her little girl would love it, so here is her round up of the screening of Monsters University:

 

If you've seen Monsters Inc then you'll know what happens - this prequel shows us how Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (aka Sulley) meet and end up working together as a team. Actually, doing this is refreshing - it's not Monsters Inc 2 which you get which generally Disney-Pixar get right (see Toy Story). Here's the trailer :

There were activities for kids before the movie started - and we were lucky, H got her face painted and got a Mike balloon made for her, from this chap who made a huge balloon Monster hat everyone got to try - but the main reason everyone was there was to see the film, and we were told by the directors that actually we were one of the first audiences to see it in the world. Blimey!

We were introduced to Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae as well as other key people who made the film before Mike and Sulley came and waved hello to us all. After that, the film - we were treated to a new Pixar animation 'The Blue Umbrella' which was charming, and will be shown alongside Monsters University (so make sure you get there in time - it's only six minutes long). 

So, Monsters University. What is there to say? The film focuses around Mike which surprised me as I felt like Monsters Inc is definitely more of a Sulley film, but actually it works - and you find out about his background, and getting into University. He's the hard working one who dreamed of becoming a Scarer, whereas Sully is the laid back (almost horizontal) student whose father works at Monsters Inc. Mike has the ambition, Sulley the skills. Add to that they both become fiercely competitive - and take an instant dislike to each other.

I don't want to give a lot of the plot away, but going to Monsters University and being thrown out of the course you really need to get to Scare School isn't great, so they need to find an alternative way to get in - and both of them work out that working together is something they actually do well. 

Don't expect it to fall into the obvious conclusion either - that's what makes the film. It's a hilarious, happy film, one we enjoyed watching as a family - and was also our first 3D experience. Was it scary? Not at all. Did H enjoy it? Absolutely! It's rated U here and ends up being a nostalgic trip to University which people of all ages will enjoy - there's enough humour for a three year old and a forty three year old to laugh at the same jokes; we loved it! 

Monsters University is released on July 12th 2013, Certified U.

Directed by Dan Scanlon, Produceed by Kori Rae. With voices from: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Charlie Day, Joel Murray, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Julia Sweeney, Peter Sohn

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We were sent free tickets to the screening of this film, all words and opinions are courtesy of Jo at Adequate Parent and they are honest and true! Thanks Jo for stepping in for us!