Didicar Review

We were recently sent a Fiery Flamboyant Red didicar to try out. I was slightly apprehensive at first as we do have the tiniest house and it isn't the smallest of vehicles. However it's given Noah so much fun and happiness since it arrived. Here is a little video of him 'driving' round (and yes Isla is scooting round the living room on her OzBozz! Not ideal...) and when I asked him if he liked his car - he did say yes but my phone stopped filming at that exact moment!

As you can see Noah is driving around using his feet to propel himself but what he hasn't worked out yet is that he could actually put his feet up on the foot rests and just by using the steering wheel the didicar moves. I only realised it myself in the last week and I've had loads of fun driving it around (yes adults can ride on it too!) and the kids have chased round after me (it can pick up quite a speed on our laminate flooring). We took the didicar to the park as well and it works well outside on the pavement. It got quite a few admiring glances and Noah enjoyed having a bigger space to whizz around!

Didicar is a unique self propelled ride on toy for children. Available in a bright collection of colours, didicar is safe and ideal to use indoors or outdoors on any hard, smooth and flat surface. Didicar provides exercise in any setting and promotes physical development as well as balance, co-ordination, spacial and speed awareness. Didicar provides all the above, but above all else it's just plain FUN!!

I can truly say that this is a great buy. It was so easy to assemble - there were no expletives coming from the other half, that's how I know this! It is really sturdy and feels very safe to use. The design is great, really sleek and the materials used feel like they are of excellent quality. No batteries are required so there are no extra costs involved in running the didicar

Take advantage of the offer that didicar has on at the moment, they are currently on sale for £39.95 reduced from £49.95 with half price delivery. 

Check out didicar here: http://www.didicar.co.uk/

We were sent the Didicar for free in order to write this review, all opinions and views expressed here are my own

PEPPA PIG’S BIG SPLASH LIVE

BRAND NEW & BIGGEST EVER SHOW ON TOUR FROM OCTOBER 2013 

including 

FOURTH WEST END CHRISTMAS SEASON 

www.peppapiglive.com

Fresh from the huge successes of previous tours Peppa Pig’s Party and Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt comes Peppa’s brand new show, Peppa Pig’s Big Splash. Opening at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford on 24 October, this touring production will travel throughout the UK and into Ireland until summer 2014. The tour will also include a fourth consecutive Peppa West End Christmas season (details will be announced in due course) and it will be the biggest ever to date.

The nursery roof is leaking and Peppa and her friends need to fix it quickly. They set up a fete to raise the money for Mr Bull to do the repairs. There’s plenty of fun to be had as Peppa, George, Mummy and Daddy Pig, as well as Danny Dog, Pedro Pony and Suzy Sheep put up bunting, run stalls and organise a great day out. There's also a Champion Puddle Jumping competition judged by Mr Potato where everyone gets wet and Peppa needs to find her Golden Boots. Another all-singing, all-dancing adventure full of songs, games and muddy puddles is guaranteed for all the family.

Peppa Pig returns live on stage with puppets and brilliant sing-a-long songs from BAFTA award-winning composer Mani Svavarsson. Richard Lewis adapts and directs this brand new show, following his previous successes with the first two Peppa Pig stage shows and the the current Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom tour.

Martin Ronan, Executive Producer, said, ‘Fiery Light are delighted to be presenting their third live Peppa show in 2013-2014. Following the huge success of Peppa Pig's Party and Peppa Pig's Treasure Hunt comes the biggest tour yet for Peppa. Touring the UK & Ireland for 47 weeks, Peppa Pig's Big Splash will be a fun-packed experience for all Peppa fans. To date Peppa Live has played to almost 650,000 people and as we approach the 10th anniversary of Peppa being a family favourite, we hope the new show will thrill fans up and down the country’.

Find out about Peppa Pig's Big Splash UK and Ireland Tour at www.peppapiglive.com

Dates close by in Surrey are:

SAT 2 – SUN 3 NOVEMBER FAIRFIELD HALL CONCERT HALL, CROYDON
Sat 2 at 1 & 4 pm www.fairfield.co.uk
Sun 3 at 10 am & 1 pm

TUES 5 – WED 6 NOVEMBER G LIVE, GUILDFORD
Tues 5 at 1 & 4 pm www.glive.co.uk
Wed 6 at 10 am & 1 pm

Another fantastic National Trust Day Out - Hatchlands Park

As National Trust members we try to make as much use of our membership so that it effectively becomes pennies to enter some of these amazing properties and gardens. This weekend we went to Hatchlands Park and we loved it! We're trying to do some of the National Trust 50 Things to do before 11 and 3/4's with the kids and so over the weekend at Hatchlands they had pony rides which helped us to tick that off the list. 

If you live in the Surrey area and you've never been to Hatchlands then you should as the grounds are beautiful and at this time of year there is a bluebell wood in full swing. It's the first time I've ever seen so many bluebells in one place and it was so pretty. In order to make it appealing to the kids there were 'fairies' dotted around in the trees for them to spot. We did so much walking that day - we walked through the fields where cattle were grazing in order to get to the bluebells and on the way there was Wizard Wix Willow Warren, a natural adventure area for children, which they loved running around in. There were also dens ready made for the kids to sit and play in too. 



Here are a few more snaps of our day - it was so sunny and being outdoors all day was so good for us all. Roll on another weekend of outdoor fun!

Should My Pre-schooler Already Be Learning To Read?

This morning I had a massive crisis of confidence about my parenting and in particular the fact that we’re not doing anything ‘phonic’ related at home in preparation for Isla starting reception in September. I was reading a few things on the train on the way to work and seemed to come across people talking about their pre-schoolers' reading alone – only small words admittedly – but words are words! Also that they were looking at phonics together at home. This had me in a bit of a panic. Are we doing enough at home? Is Isla already going to be behind the other children in terms of learning before she’s even started school?! 

Obviously she’s learning all the time, from all the things around her and as a parent I teach her but I don’t want to be her formal educator – I’m not trained to do that. I planned for her to start her formal education at school and in turn I would learn how to assist her learning by taking the lead from her teachers. But now I feel like we’re somehow behind. I don’t want to feel pressure over these things, as that will in turn lead me to pressurise her. I want learning to be fun in these early stages and I was happy with what she knew until I started making comparisons to others and I guess that is the crux of this whole thing. Making comparisons is very dangerous, our children aren’t all the same and I need to remember this. What one child finds easy another finds difficult and vice versa. So should I worry about this and am I doing her a disservice by not getting the Jolly Phonics books out now and getting her on the reading ladder before she starts school? Should I already be thinking about whether she is going to be top or bottom of the class? That last question sounds like crazy talk to me but I have a feeling that things become rather competitive once school starts.

I’m a bit torn. With Isla being a July baby she will be one of the younger ones in her year, so that could be a drawback and she *may* not be as ready to learn as some of her elder peers, so perhaps this is a key reason to give her a head start? Then again if she starts familiarising herself with it all now is there a risk that she will be bored of it when the time comes to do it at school? We read to the kids every day at home, and they have loads of books. I actively encourage spending time reading together as I feel it’s really important. I loved reading as a child and always had my nose in a book rather than watching TV and I’d love for them to be that way too. Isla also knows about half of the alphabet, she doesn’t know it all – is this a worry? Should I be green-housing her for the next 3 months so she knows all of it!? She can also write her own name (albeit with the S round the wrong way) and can count pretty well. This morning I’ve found myself trying to think of all the things she can do and it’s quite frankly made my head hurt and is unfair on her. I put the question out to my facebook friends who on the whole suggested that I do as much with Isla as she is comfortable with, play letter games and maybe start with a few letter sounds, and in no way make it feel like a chore, which all sounds like sensible advice.

Interestingly there is an article in the Guardian today referring to the very subject of whether summer babies are at a disadvantage and evidence is conflictual. If you look at statistics of those who get into Oxbridge or Cambridge, then a baby born in October has a 30% higher chance than a baby born in July. Now I’m obviously not saying that at this early stage in Isla’s life my eyes are on Oxford or Cambridge (that would be ridiculous – although I know some parents eyes are firmly in that direction before conception in some cases!) but it does seem to suggest that an enjoyable fumble between me and my OH in October led to us setting our kids up at a disadvantage straight away. Then again, apparently Barack Obama, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and Stephen Fry are all highly intelligent summer babies so maybe the statistics shouldn't be believed.

What do you think? Do you have summer babies who are thriving at school and are ahead of their elder friends in their studies? Do I have reason to worry and should I be hot footing it down to Foyles in my lunch break to pick up all the Jolly Phonics books I can lay my hands on? I’d really love to know what you currently do/ did with your pre-schoolers.

Walkers Hoops and Crosses Review

This weekend we got a little surprise of a packet of the new Walkers 'Hoops and Crosses' and they were accompanied by a cute Monkey - this worked brilliantly as Isla immediately claimed the monkey and Noah claimed the crisps. The packet lasted all of 3 minutes. We were sent Roast Beef flavour and I already knew that Isla wouldn't like them as she's not really adventurous with flavours - she is a cheese flavour crisp fanatic. However before I knew it Noah was making his way through half the bag and I hadn't even had a go yet! We shared the rest and I really liked them and it was clear that he did too at the rate they were disappearing down his neck!

• Each bag has 85 calories - they are a baked snack so have less fat
• Hoops and Crosses are made from 56% wholegrains - which is great as experts agree that a healthy balanced diet should include wholegrain but around 27% of kids don't get any at all
• They have no artificial colours or preservatives 
• They come in three flavours – all suitable for vegetarians (prawn cocktail, roast beef, salt and vinegar) 

My thoughts on these crisps are that they are really tasty and have a good crunch and it feels like there are plenty in the packet. They would make a great lunchtime/ lunchbox snack. They are fun, the hoops and crosses appeal to kids sense of fun, the hoops work well as rings on little fingers, you could also play a game of noughts and crosses with them. Noah rather liked them as glasses....

My only comment would reflect the fact that most brands of crisps have a cheese variant and I think a cheesy flavour would be great in this range. We're looking forward to trying out the other flavours soon.


I was sent a packet of Walkers Hoops and Crosses and a cuddly monkey for the purposes of this post. This is a sponsored review and all opinions are my own.

Race for Life Training

So as I mentioned at the beginning of the week I'm running Race for Life at the end of the month. I decided that this will be my cue to get fit! So on Wednesday after finishing work at lunchtime I put on my exercise kit (it still fits after a 2 year break - good sign!) and stepped outside my front door to have a light jog and see how I got on.

Well I was pretty pleased with what I did actually considering I have done no real exercise in about a year (do a few Zumba classes count?) and I've not exactly been a healthy eater. I just did a 20 minute circuit locally to me that I calculated afterwards was about 1.6 miles. I jogged the whole way, and surprisingly I didn't have my usual mental battle going on of "I can't do this" the entire time. In fact my mind was pretty clear and I enjoyed the whole thing.

Only things I did wrong were to not take water, I know it was only a short jog but I did feel like I needed a slurp and I took the wrong key and ended up being locked out!! Durrr. Luckily my neighbour didn't mind having my sweaty personage on her property for a bit!

So there we have it. I've started training and it feels good. I plan to jog the same route again tomorrow and then next week I have an even better route in mind from my office to Victoria station which will take me past Buckingham Palace! Looking forward to that one! Will keep you posted.

If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here: https://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/sharondonnelly0/

Race for Life 2013 - Support Me to Raise Some Dough

BRIOCHE PASQUIER UK LAUNCHES FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT CANCER RESEARCH UK’S RACE FOR LIFE 

This year Brioche Pasquier UK, French Family Bakers since 1936, are supporting Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life. The new champion sponsor of Race for Life hopes to raise £15,000 to help fund vital research to beat over 200 types of cancer, as well as offering up to £10,000 worth of free child entry vouchers in the lead-up to race days throughout the UK.

Me, back in 1999, before my first Race for Life in Cardiff!

I will be running Race for Life in Guildford at the end of May and I'm really looking forward to it. I first ran Race for Life in 1999 in Cardiff with my best friend as that's where she lived at the time. It was a great event then - I looked back in my diary to that day and my comment about it was that I was breathing like Darth Vader by the end of it - my fitness is not so great now, so they'll be no change there then this year! Since then I've taken part 6 times and I've loved it everytime. There is such a feeling of cameraderie and that everyone is in it together. I was first inspired to run as my Grandfather had passed away from a form of bone cancer and it was my way of trying to do something positive in his memory. Since then in 2009 my Dad was diagnosed with Myeloma and other family members have also suffered, most recently my wonderful Nan who is about to be treated in the next couple of weeks. So you see it affects a lot of people and it's the work of Cancer Research UK that helps to keep the likes of my Dad and Nan surviving. This year I'll be running the race with both of them first and foremost in my mind. If you fancy sponsoring me then you can do so at 

https://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/sharondonnelly0/

If everyone I know sponsored me a teeny tiny £1 it would be fantastic! I've been very lucky to be sponsored by the Race Sponsors at Brioche Pasquier to the tune of £250, so any more on top of that would be amazeballs.

Brioche Pasquier have got two fantastic Race for Life promotions that are worth checking out:

The first of the promotions, ‘Run with Your Mum’ packs, hit shelves recently in leading supermarkets and will be included on the filled brioche range. The initiative is to encourage up to 1,000 mums to run with their children by covering the £10 entry fee for the child.

The second promotion, ‘Raise Some Dough’, which runs throughout June and July gives customers the opportunity to win donations of up to £100 to send to friends or family taking part in a Race for Life event through their JustGiving page - or alternatively they can simply donate to the Brioche Pasquier Race for Life team.

At over 200 Race for Life events this summer, Brioche Pasquier UK will also be rewarding every participant crossing the finish line with a sample from PITCH, its filled brioche range. In addition, Brioche Pasquier will be hosting a variety of exciting experiential activities across 10 events, enhancing the overall race day experience for participants and their families.

If you fancy entering Race for Life, enter now at www.raceforlife.org or via the hotline on 0845 600 6050. The entry fee is £14.99 for adults and £10 for girls 16 and under. This covers the costs of staging the event series and means that money raised in sponsorship can go to help beat cancer. Events take place across the UK from May until the end of September

Facts about Race for Life

· Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life is the UK’s largest women-only event series that helps raise vital funds to help beat cancer

· Since Race for Life started in 1994, an incredible six million participants have raised over £493million, more than any other UK event series raising money to fund cancer research

· Race for Life raises money that goes towards beating over 200 types of cancer affecting both men and women


Facts About Cancer Research UK

· Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research
The charity’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.

· Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated

Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years

Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses

Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook