Awesome Toy Cars for Big Kids!

Awesome Toy Cars for Big Kids- Modarri Kit Cars Review

I love cars and always have done. When I was little I played with mine all the time- having races, creating traffic jams and causing smashes but as I have got older I don't really get them out much now unless Lottie wants to play but I have recently been sent some new cars that are going to change that.

Trends UK have added the amazing Modarri Kit Cars to their range. These cars were developed in the USA and are customisable to build any way you want. All the parts are included to make an awesome car from start to finish with real steering, suspension and rubber tyres. They don't take batteries and the tool is included which works with special screws that you can't lose.

There are three types of car- dirt, street and track and they all come with the chassis, suspension, hood and tyres - even better they are all interchangeable so you can have great fun swapping the parts around and building then rebuilding them over and over again.

Once you have built them you can then get on with playing with them but unlike normal children's cars you can actually 'drive' these by placing your fingers in the seats which allows you to spin, jump, do wheelies and just drive the vehicles before starting again.

I have really loved playing with these- they are for age 8 plus and I have found them to be relatively straightforward to put together but they took long enough and made you think enough that it feels like a proper activity just to build them. I love the way if you have a couple of the cars you don't have to exactly follow the instructions you can just see where your imagination takes you- in fact I saw thereare over 13 billion combinations of Modarri cars you can create- which is pretty amazing.

I have spent quite a lot of time playing with these over the half term- they are good fun to build and also great to play with. The cars are very responsive and I have created a track with a bundle of packaging that we had to recycle which gave them loads of obstacles to get round and over and we spent ages racing around.

I am looking forward to playing with these with my car mad friend who will absolutely love them and would I recommend then for any child who enjoys building, taking things apart or just playing with vehicles.

They have a RRP of £19.99 and my Mum is planning on using the idea for several people's birthday presents as we have never seen anything else like this and we know they will be really popular.

My recycling car track with jumps and obstacles!

Disclaimer: We were lucky enough to be sent the Modarri Cars from Trends UK to test but all views and opinions are my own. Thank you

The Best Things About Autumn

The Best Things About Autumn

The clocks have changed and it's getting dark really early now. I know we will soon have to start coming straight home from school because it will be too dark and wet to go to the park but I still have lots of things I like about Autumn so during a long car journey earlier in the week Lottie and I decided to make a list of our favourite things about this time of year.

1. All the colours- the trees that I can see from my bedroom window are really lovely colours and there are lots of different greens, yellows, oranges and reds wherever we look. I am going to collect some leaves tomorrow and do some prints.

2. Blackberries. I know I have said how much I love apple and blackberry crumble before but there are still plenty to pick round here at the moment and we have frozen enough to last us through the winter too!

3. Crunching in the leaves. When the trees do completely lose their leaves I love it when it is cold and dry and we can crinkle and crunch through them. There is a bit on the way to school where they gather in a dip and they are really fun to kick through and it sounds awesome if you push the buggy through them. I also LOVE using my Grandparents leaf blower!

4. Coming home when it is dark, closing the curtains, putting the fire on and having a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows- yum!

5. Conkers- I think this is our favourite thing about this time of year, we have collected a huge stash between us and our favourite harvest time song at school is about conkers - you can find it on YouTube but doesn't show the best bit though where we all shout loudly 99...100- it's quite fun to see the teachers jump! We aren't allowed to play with them at school but Dad is going to set them up so we can play against him and Mum says we need to put them in vinegar to make them stronger. Next collection will be pine cones to decorate for Christmas!

What do you love about Autumn? Do you have any great tips for a perfect conker? 

All images in this post kindly supplied by and used with the permission of 

Emma Hearn- for further details please use the contact form

The most awesome and disgusting book EVER!

Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Eye Popping Oddities 2016- 

The most awesome and disgusting book ever!!!

I have recently been sent a copy of Ripley's Believe It Or Not! and it is quite possibly the best book ever.

I have never read their books before but I love this. The front cover is amazing- it has eyeballs and because it is 3D they actually follow you around the room.

There are loads and loads of little stories and facts throughout the book and they are so interesting. Some of them are really freaky though and make you squeeze you eyes closed and say ewww and I am really liking finding lots of stories about snakes to show my Mum who hates them!

I took this book to a family get together at the weekend and everybody had a read and all the people I showed found something that they wanted to read out loud to everybody else so I think this book is perfect for all ages.

There is even an app you can use to have fun with some of the people from the book- you can set yourself up in one of the pictures- it was really funny using one of my baby photos to fill on of the faces and we all had a go! It's very funny and you can have a go here to try turn your family into some very unusual characters.

I would say this would be a fantastic Christmas present or even just a treat for anyone age 6 upwards who enjoys reading about unusual things and I am definitely going to be going back to this book time and time again.

A note from Mum- 

At an RRP of £20.00 this is quite a pricey read, however, having watched Luke read it nearly constantly over the weekend I would actually say it is well worth the money! 

With just the right amount of 'disgusting-ness' this book is perfect for children of all ages from age 5-6 upwards. If the yucky bits aren't your thing there are also plenty of other just plain amazing facts too. The bite size snippets of stories make this book perfect for both reluctant readers as well as the more confident. 

I can see this book being dipped in and out of for years to come.

If you would like to order a copy of this book, which we feel will make fantastic reading for all the family it can be found here on Amazon and at the time of writing was listed at a much lower than retail price.

Treats for friends

Giving Gifts: Bargains to be found at The Entertainer!

I love this time of year as I can start counting down to Christmas and my birthday- it's hard not to get excited once the Christmas decorations start going up in the shops. All the celebrations, school holidays, good food, fun times with friends and family- not to mention (hopefully) a few presents.

Of course it's always so exciting receiving presents and I love to write my 'wish list' in the hope I might be lucky enough to get something off it but now I also love giving presents that I know the people I am giving them too will like too. I normally make something for Mum and Dad, Granny and Grandad and my sister (and this year my brother too!) and Mum helps me out by getting a few little bits for my closest friends.

Next week however, one of my best friends, is going to be getting a treat that she will love (even though it's not Christmas or her birthday so it will be a real unexpected surprise! 

The Entertainer have been kind enough to give me something she will be absolutely thrilled with.

The toys from The Entertainer are a set of One Direction dolls- she is a huge One Direction fan and also being a 7 year old girl quite likes her dolls too. These dolls come boxed as collectors items so she can either keep them safely in their boxes as keepsakes or she can play with them as toys. They look quite funky and the resemblance to the band members is good.They seem to be quite sturdy and good to play with and are a similar size to other fashion dolls so could be used with them or mad One Direction fans might prefer to keep them boxed. 

Either way though these are great value at just £3.50 each- they are currently reduced at 

The Entertainer by over £10 each so if you are stuck for a gift idea these are a bargain. Zayn is sold out but you can get the whole of the rest of the set for under £15- you can't really go wrong with that as a gift can you?!

I can't wait to see my friend next week during half term- she is going to love her gift and have so much fun - thanks so much to The Entertainer for letting us have this fab set.

Half Term Fun

Half Term Fun

The RAF Museum in London    

We have been making plans for half term (not that I am counting down!) and it was suggested to us that we should have a look at the RAF Museum in London.

I love all things aircraft and engineering and this sounded like a great idea. I have been browsing the website and think it looks like an awesome day out.

The website gives you lots of information about what is on display and the history of the planes so you can decided exactly what you would like to see, there are also marine craft, medals and uniforms on display.

I am really keen to see one of the current exhibitions - The First World War In The Air. We went to Ypres last Christmas and I learnt about trench warfare and visited the Flanders Fields and Passchendaele Museums and found it so interesting and sad to learn about the First World War. I would love to learn more about this time in history and think this exhibition will be great to find out about the war in the air.

There are loads of other things to see and do too and I think it will be a full day out which is pretty good considering it is free admission! There are also lots of other things you can add on to your day with a small charge- I would hope to have a try on the flight simulator for just £3

During half term there is also the chance to make your own Airfix model at the Museum for £3 which looks like fun and would be a great thing to take home.

For the parents there is a restaurant and a coffee shop and then for children to round off the perfect day out there is a gift shop for the all important souvenirs- I have already checked out the site and have found some good pocket money toys as well as notebooks, teddies and Airfix kits as well as plenty of other things to choose from.

The Museum is open daily and further information can be found here on their website or check out the trailer below to see what's in store for you.

Country Life

6 things I love about living in the country

We live in a tiny village in the middle of the countryside and I go to school in a slightly bigger village ten minutes up the road. Our village has no shop and nothing much to do and we sometimes wish we didn't have to use the car every time we want to do something but there are lots of other things I love about living here. Mum says this will change as I get older so we thought it would nice to be able to look back and see that there were great things about being here at the age of 7!

- Nature

I know you can find nature everywhere but it really is right on our doorstep- we were closing the curtains the other night and saw a little deer nibbling at the neighbours plants, it was such a lovely, surprising sight we couldn't bring ourselves to shoo it away from the plants. We also get lots of birds of prey around- especially this time of year when they are plowing the fields. We have a little robin who visits every year and we have two hedgehogs that come into our garden- they make loads of noise!

- Machinery

At this time of year we get to see loads of really unusual farm vehicles along with the normal tractors (even if we sometimes get stuck behind them) and it it is really interesting to see them at work.

- Harvest

We aren't very good at growing things (expect rhubarb which takes over our garden) but have lots of friends and family who are- we have been given pears by my friend, apples from our neighbour and my Granny and then have been blackberry picking too so we have been baking lots of delicious cakes and crumbles- yummmm!

- Clear Skies

We get a great view here of the sky at night and in the middle of the night the other week when I woke up I got a great view of the Super Moon. I really like getting my telescope out and having a good look and have been able to see the moon really closely and spot some of the planets. Lottie has decided she would like to ask for a telescope for herself for Christmas but wants it to be pink!!

- Fields

I love getting my walking boots on and dragging Dad out for a long walk through the woods and across the fields- we collect leaves, sticks and have lots of fun running through the fields and jumping in the puddles.

- Snow

It is awesome when we get snow here, it takes forever to melt as not many cars use the road so when the snow turns to ice it lasts for ages and because it is quite quiet we have lots of fun sledging before getting started on the snowmen and snow angels! Oh and it's not too awful when we get snowed in and can't get to school for a day!

As you can imagine I am hoping for snow this year, we haven't really had a lot since Lottie was a baby so she has never really had the chance to play in it properly and I can't wait!

What's the best thing about where you live?