As a child of the 80s, owning a Mr Frosty has been a dream of mine. I was really excited by the opportunity to receive one for review.
Setting up Mr Frosty ready to go
The set comes with the Mr Frosty toy that has a lid to put ice in and a drawer to get the shaved ice out, 2 bowls, 2 spoons, a penguin shaped squirt bottle, an ice lolly mould and an ice tray with fruit and Mr Frosty snowman shaped moulds.
First up we washed everything ready for use with food and then filled the moulds with fruit juice. I also made a tray of ice with water.
Filling the trays with juice ready to be frozen
We left everything to freeze for a couple of days.
Using Mr Frosty:
We filled Mr Frosty with small water ice cubes. In order to get shaved ice out, it’s important to out the same amount of ice on both sides. We did need to ask daddy to help us use Mr Frosty for some muscle power as you need to be quite strong to push down and turn the handle. My daughters 6 & 3 definitely couldn’t do it on their own. That said, daddy made plenty of shaved ice which the girls were really happy with!
As well as using some muscle, if no ice is coming out, it needs a bit of a shake to get the ice in line with the blades.
Once we’d made the shaved ice and put it in the bowls supplied, we decorated it with the fruity ice shapes we had frozen!
Our shaved ice in the Mr Frosty bowls decorated with some icy fruity shapes!
Next we added pomegranate juice to our squirty penguin bottle to flavour the ice. We found this worked really well. You could add any drink to flavour the ice!
Penny demonstrates how to flavour the ice
The girls really enjoyed using Mr Frosty. They found it super fun to make their own shave ice and flavour it and they also found it really tasty. As I used real fruit juice, it was relatively healthy too!
My daughters enjoying their frozen treats
Last off I tried out the ice lollies in the moulds to see if they had worked, which of course they had. The girls were also thrilled with them.
Enjoying ice lollies from the moulds supplied with Mr Frosty
Overall, we really enjoyed this toy and although it involves a bit of pre planning to have the ice ready, especially if you want to use juice and a bit of muscle power, it’s a really fun toy that the whole family can enjoy including adults (especially given it’s nostalgic appeal to parents!)
We spent about an hour of quality family time making desserts using Mr Frosty and the girls are keen to give it a go again. It’ll be especially great when the sun decides to show up!
It is available at The Entertainer at £24 by clicking the link here
The girls cuddle up with their Simba Disney 100 plushes
How gorgeous are these sparkly Simba Smoby plush toys to celebrate Disney 100. Disney 100 is a full year celebration of the Past, Present and Future of The Walt Disney Company and so I wanted to share with you my souvenirs of Disney past – Penny’s vintage Disney dress and Minnie Mouse plush.
Penny snuggles my vintage Minnie Mouse in her vintage Disney dress
Simba Smoby UK is proud to be launching its own range of plush toys to celebrate the big occasion! The new Disney 100 Sparkly Mickey & Minnie soft toys (RRP £14.99) come in stunning platinum celebration outfits.
We received the Disney 100 Minnie and Simba. Standing at 25m tall, Minnie is wearing sparkly fabric with embroidered polka dots/buttons. Penny loves her so much. Penny is definitely her favourite character after our visit to Disneyland Paris last summer! I love that my children are building Disney memories just like me! I have so many wonderful Disney memories from my childhood – shopping at the Disney store, watching Disney on Ice & watching The Mickey Mouse club on VHS!
Penny enjoying the Disney 100 Minnie Mouse plush with its sparkly platinum celebration outfit and embroidered polka dots
Teddy chose the Disney 100 Simba plush. She loves Simba after watching The Lion King at The West End. The Disney 100 Platinum Colour Series (RRP £12.99) which has favourite characters (inc. Grogu, Dumbo, Pooh, Simba, Stitch) in gorgeous satin and sparkly fabrics is perfect for any Disney fan with a character for everyone!
Teddy has the Disney 100 Simba plush and it’s equally beautiful as Penny’s Minnie Mouse – in gorgeous satin and sparkly fabrics.
Both the Minnie and Simba plushes are the perfect keepsake to celebrate Disney 100. The girls love to play with them and cuddle them. They really enjoy the soft fabrics and sparkly colours. There’s no doubt that they will be cherished as long as my vintage Minnie!
The girls enjoying their new Dino Ranch Toys from The Entertainer
This week the girls were lucky enough to be able to pick out some new Dino Ranch toys from The Entertainer. The toys were gifted for the review.
Have you watched Dino Ranch? Penny and Teddy love to watch it on Disney+ but it’s also on Tiny Pop, The Pop Player and YouTube.
Dino Ranch follows the adventures of the Cassidy Family as they tackle life on the ranch in a world where dinosaurs still exist! It’s a cute blend of dinosaur programme and western with cowboys. It’s a lovely educational programme, which teaches children about themes such as family and community, outdoor fun, friendship and nurturing, teamwork and personal growth.
It’s great for boys and girls aged 3-5 – in our house, Penny mostly is the Dino Ranch fan but Teddy also enjoys playing with these cute pastel colour dinosaurs and I love anything they can enjoy together.
Teddy and Penny play together
I allowed Penny to choose her new Dino Ranch toys from The Entertainer herself and she chose the maximum dinosaurs for her budget!!
The first pack she went for was the Dino Action Pack – Ankylosaurus
Penny plays with her Ankylosaurus Dino Action Pack
Included with the Ankylosaurus is a 4-piece fence that you can use to ‘corral’ the dinosaurs in or (as Penny prefers) you can use the fences to connect them together. Theres a fun play element that one section is “breakable” – the dinosaur’s tails or heads can ‘break’ the fence so that they can crash through and play around the Dino Ranch all day.
Penny also chose the Brontosaurus action pack. It’s fun that the two connect together.
Penny plays with her Brontosaurus Dino Ranch action pack
Penny also chose the Miguel and Tango 2 piece character pack
Penny shows off the Miguel and Tango character pack
Penny loves the character Tango. Tango the stegosaurus has a “go go” attitude. She’s impulsive and acts first before she thinks. I think Penny has found her match!! The characters come with a saddle and a hat. The toys are really chunky, easy for young children to hold and they can either play imaginative games or replay scenes from the TV show.
Teddy is also really enjoying playing with them too just because the dinosaurs are so pretty and cute!!
Finally, Penny chose the Jon and Blitz vehicle set.
Penny plays with her new Dino Ranch vehicle
This fun vehicle has a pull back feature so you pull it, let it go and it whizzed along! It’s fast just like Blitz the Velociraptor. Jon can either sit on the dinosaur’s saddle or in the chariot! It’s another toy Penny and Teddy love and a good addition to the collection.
We love the whole Dino Ranch toy collection – no surprise as it’s also one of Penny’s favourite shows!! You can shop The Entertainer’s whole collection here: https://www.thetoyshop.com/brands/dinoranch
Teddy purchases Kala doll in our local independent toyshop
The Super Cute Little Babies are superhero babies on a mission! A mission to save the planet. This is an amazing brand-new toy range from GP Flair – a range of four lovely babies that have unique super powers that have been chosen to protect the environment, and teach other children to love and respect Nature.
Each baby has a special power associated with the environment. Kala’s is that she had power of water and can put out small fires. You can learn all about each of the baby’s powers on the YouTube show.
The dolls come packaged almost entirely in recyclable cardboard which has recycling instructions on it.
There are four main characters to collect:
Sisi – She has the power to control the wind
Sofi – She has the power to communicate with and control plants
Gabi – She can control the sun and heat things up with her hands
Kala – She can control the water and put out small fires
You can see the fun range of dolls and their pets available in our local toy store
The range of Super Cute Babies dolls in our local toyshop
Once out of the box, you need to put in 2 AAA batteries (not included) using a very small screwdriver. If purchasing as a gift you might want to do this before giving it to a child. Once you add the batteries she makes a drinking sound when you give her her cup and it plays the Super Cute theme music while the heart on her chest lights up.
The clothes on the doll are reversible.
Kala Super Cute baby as she comes out of the box
To turn her from superhero to baby, you reverse her boots, take off her tutu to reveal her nappy, fold up the cape and fold it into the bib and hey presto, she’s a baby again!
Kala dressed as a baby
The dolls are suitable for children aged 3-8 years old. My daughters (almost 3 and 5) both love them and I love that they are trying to help pass on an environmental message – albeit through a plastic toy that uses batteries.
Since we got Carla, we have been talking a lot about how we can use water sparingly and its power to help the environment.
You can buy Super Cute Babies at Tesco, The Entertainer and Amazon.
Weebles have been played with and loved for generations so we were super excited to received their newest release – Bluey Weebles. Bluey has been especially popular in this household this summer holidays thanks to the release of new episodes on Disney+ so the girls were so excited to receive these toys.
Weebles wibble and wobble but they never fall over! They’re the perfect size for small hands to play with and I love that small world play allows for open ended imaginative play!
Penny loves her Bluey Weebles toys!
The collection includes Bluey and her sister Bandit, mum Chilli and dad Bandit. The four pack is £15.99 but they are available in single and double packs from £3.99 making them percer pocket money toys.
Watch them wibble and wobble
Suitable for children 18 months plus. Weebles are a perfect first collectible for children and are available to buy from: Amazon, Argos, The Entertainer, Sainsbury’s and Toymaster
Teddy has a cuddle with the new Care Bears 40th anniversary Care-A-Lot bear
I have been a huge fan of Care Bears since my childhood. The beats take me straight back to my 80s childhood and I love to share all my childhood favourites with my own daughters! Although it does show my age now Care Bears are 40.
It’s so exciting that Care Bears are celebrating their 40th Anniversary with the new special edition Care Bears Care-a-Lot Bear.
The new Care-a-Lot Bear is 14 inches tall and an ombre pink and purple with unique silver sparkles in her fur, a castle belly badge which is totally different from the other Care Bears and 40th embroidery on her foot. There’s also a little Care Bears button on her bottom!
Each Care-a-Lot Bear comes with a certificate of authenticity to mark to celebrate the 40th anniversary and show how unique and special your bear is.
Care-a-Lot is a special bear because she encourages our children to care about others. She is never afraid to show how much she cares. She encourages us to care for our neighbours and our community & shows how important kindness and love are!
Care-A-Lot Bear has a challenge for us all! From 1st August until September 9th aka #ShareYourCareDay, aka the last day of the challenge, there will be a list of 40 daily challenges all revolving around caring! You can view the challenge page on the Care Bears website where the daily challenges will be posted. Every time you share your care and post about it on your Instagram or TikTok page, you will be entered into a raffle for a gift pack of Care Bear goodies! How amazing is that!
The Care Bears – Care-A-Lot 40th Anniversary bear is a super special bear for any child. Teddy really loves this beautiful and soft bear and I love the message behind it and the fact that it encourages her to care for others.
Care-A-Lot 40th Anniversary bear is available at the following stores at £24.99:
Smyths
ToyMaster
House of Fraser
John Lewis
And all good independent retailers
We purchased ours from our fabulous local independent toy shop, Argosy Toys.
My 5 year old daughter, Teddy, with her bee Jiggle Pets elephant
This toy was received free of charge for review but all opinions and content entirely my own.
We are a family of animal lovers and my favourite animal is the elephant so I was excited to receive this electronic elephant toy! It’s so cute with long jelly fur and a fringe covering it’s cute anime face and rosy cheeks. You can’t help but love it!
When you press it’s head, it plays a fun catchy tune and dances about in time to the music, jiggling and stepping. Its easy to operate firstly. It’s a large button on the top of the head. It’s really funny and attracts the attention of my 5 year old who thinks it’s really cool and fashionable at her age.
A taster of the Jiggly Pets elephant in action
The elephant’s body and face is covered in a stretchy rubber type material which is very tactile and the kind of thing 5 year olds love! You can stretch it, you can squish it & it jiggles really well!
Testing out the stretch!
The Jiggly Pets elephant is so simple to use with an on/off switch underneath. It’s super fun, it’s available on blue or pink and it’s almost guaranteed to delight your child! It also comes with the batteries included and the packaging almost entirely recyclable card bar a couple of cable ties.
Here is the on/off switch. So easy to use!
Overall, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the toy to purchase. With a RRP of £17.99, it’s fairly inexpensive for an electronic animal yet still extremely fun for children!!
Thanks for reading our review of the Jiggly Pets elephant!
In celebration on National Day in August the 15th, Penny was recently sent a little baby pampering package by the beautiful French baby brand Joone. It included their perfectly healthy nappy, their delicious olive oil infused wipes, a lovely little muslin & the perfect hair and body wash.
Penny with her National Relaxation Day package from Joone
I think we can all agree that Penny was fully pampered by Joone – their products are of the highest quality, very gently on a baby’s skin and the packaging fits beautifully with my “beside the sea” themed home.
I love the nautical touches – what a sweet mercat!
The baby wipes really are to die for – there’s no surprise Penny’s having a sniff of one here. They smell gorgeous! They are infused with olive oil and instead of a highly fragrant fragrance, smell like olives straight off the tree!
The nappies are really fantastic quality & stand out from other brands because they are CLEAN with no chlorine, nothing that disrupts the endocrine system and top layer is fully natural. They are TRACEABLE. They do FREE delivery & returns and the subscription service is fully FLEXIBLE.
What’s more they have the cutest designs! They sent us these cute nautical ones but my fave is the hearts! You can test a day’s work of nappies for free – you just pay the £3.90 postage – click here
The cutest little nappy bum
We also rescued the “perfect hair & body wash”. The girls love it because it’s so bubbly. I love the fresh citrus fragrance and it’s certified fully organic. It really does smell very luxury! And it’s ideal for some baby pampering and would be great for little ones with sensitive skin as it has no harsh chemicals.
Lastly, they kindly sent me the Joone Swaddle as an addition to my constantly growing collection of beautiful muslins. I am addicted but they have SO many uses! Again, I love the nod to the ocean. I also love that it’s 100% cotton and it’s Oekotex certified so you know it’s really clean against baby’s skin with no harmful chemicals.
Peekaboo with her Joone swaddle
Overall, I’m so impressed with the Joone products. They’re gorgeous for Penny but of course Teddy and I also wanted a share in everything too. I’ve been removing my make up with the gorgeous wipes and lathering myself up in Penny’s body & hair gel because you can’t resist the beautiful products.
I strongly recommend Joone and you can find their full range of babycare be clicking here.
Today we had the best afternoon travelling to Far, Far Away by magic bus to visit Shrek & Princess Fiona.
Shrek’s Adventure, London is located in County Hall on the South Bank alongside The Sealife Centre & opposite the London Eye. You can easily combine your visit with either attraction. It’s also really easily accessible with Westminster and Waterloo stations within less than 10 minutes walk (even with kids in tow!).
Teddy and Penny on the Southbank clutching their souvenir plushies
Shrek’s Adventure is an immersive journey through Far, Far Away in which you meet all of your favourite Dreamworks characters including Cinderella, Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, An Ugly sister working as a barmaid and so many more. You embark aboard the magical bus to Far, Far Away but from then on there’s so many twists and turns! The magic bus driver is replaced by Donkey who needs your help to even get his magic bus going and he’s not even sure where to navigate!
Beware of Lord Farquaad! Or there’ll be trouble!
During the theatrical immersive experience, there are so many amazing special effects – I was convinced at one point that I was sat on a rat! I got wet & I almost got hit by one of Puss in Boot’s fur balls! I asked Teddy what her favourite part was & she said it was Shrek’s toilet exploding, which is hilarious!
The end of your trip to Far, far away is marked by meeting Shrek himself for a quick photo opportunity!
Teddy and I meet Shrek!
Once you’ve made your way back from Far, Far Away, then you visit the new Trolls experience. You dance your way down the hallway with loads of buttons to press (Penny’s speciality).
You carry on down the corridor and come to some awesome Dreamworks photo opportunities, where we had fun taking some silly selfies with our favourite characters!
The girls enjoy posing for some silly selfies at Shrek’s Adventure
We then had some fun playing on the Dreamworks games. Penny loved hitting the punch bags but I think I was a pro unleashing my inner Panda in “Ready, Steady Po!”. Kung Fu Panda is one of my favourite Dreamworks films! It’s so funny!
Getting ready to play Ready, Steady Po!
You exit through the gift shop, which is really reasonably priced and has a lovely selection of souvenirs. We treated Teddy to a Dronkey (a cross of Donkey & a Dragon!) and Penny wanted a little baby girl ogre.
The girls with their souvenirs
Shrek’s adventure is located on the South Bank between Westminster and Waterloo stations so it’s so easy to get to! As it’s located in County Hall, you can also combine your trip easily with the London Eye or The Sealife Centre. We visited Shrek’s Adventure late in the afternoon after work and we extended our evening with dinner on the South Bank and ice cream and drinks before taking a whirl on the merry go round. There really is so much else to do within a short walk!
We all loved our visit to Shrek’s Adventure! It’s so fun, witty and interactive! You can book tickets to visit here (affiliate link).
(Please note that our tickets were gifted for review)
Michelle (known as Mothergoodofficial on Instagram and Facebook ) lives on the Essex London border and she is mum to Leonie who has just turned 3, and Michelle describes as “a complete wild child” and her son Devon who is 18 months and “so chilled and smiley”. As a family, they absolutely love to explore.
Where are your favourite places to go as a family?
It’s hard to say favourite, as we tend to go to different places. We have a long bucket list, which we love to work our way through, so you will often find us on a new adventure each week around London and Essex. Recently, two new favourite local parks within 20 minutes from our house would be Cedarsq Park and Forty Hall. Love them. Both are just so picturesque to walk around.
When thinking further afield though, I love Horsey Gap in Norfolk to watch the seals. I think it’s just beautiful being so close to nature. Last time we visited, which was about 1 week before lockdown, we were greeted by 1,000 seals. It was absolutely breath taking. Plus, another favourite is Ilfracombe in Devon. I love Tunnel Beaches where we got married. We even named our son Devon after this area, so he has a romantic element to his name.
Where are your favourite places to eat as a family?
Oh my god, me and the hubby are foodies. We love eating!! One of my favourites is Jimmy’s World Grill. I love that all foods from around the world are under one roof. I would literally starve myself all day before we go, then find myself rolling out afterwards for eating WAYYYYY too much. Plus, this is perfect for fussy kids. You will be able to find something they will eat!!! Win, win as you get to eat and enjoy!!
Tell me about your best family holiday
OMG we love to travel and before the kids came into the World you would often find me and the hubby on the other side of the world having quite the adventure. From campervanning around NZ, zip wires, sky dives, bungee jumps, walking the great wall of china to swimming in the reef. There are so many places on our bucket list to take the kids. They will be little backpackers!!
As a family, our best holiday so far has to be Crete. We absolutely loved it there. We are not the typical family who can sit and sunbath. I really don’t know the meaning of chilling. We hired a car and travelled around the island heading in different directions every day!! We loved it!! Our top tip with travelling with kids abroad is to make sure you take lots of new activities on the plane to keep them amused. And make sure they haven’t seen these toys/activities beforehand.
What are your go to activities at home?
We love a picnic at home. My Daughter loves getting out a blanket and it doesn’t matter if it’s indoors or out. Which is lovely as we all got to enjoy it as a family. With two toddlers we definitely have to mix up our activities. With my wild child Leonie, we could go through 10 activities within an hour. So, lots of arts and crafts keep us busy.
What is your child’s favourite toy and what do they/you like about it?
Leonie favourite is her two Jelly Cat Rabbits that she has to have in bed every night. For some random reason, which we still don’t know the answer to, is that she calls Rabbits ‘Mimi’. The white one is Mimi Uno and the brown one is Mimi Dos. Leonie is learning Spanish, so the Spanish numbers have come into this. I love these as they are hercomforters and it really calms her down stroking their ears at night telling them stories.
Then you have Devon who loves anything with wheels. He’s a typical boy, always playing with cars. Although he loves his broom as well. Often you will find a picture of him in bed with his broom held tightly!! A Mr Hinch in the making.
What is your child’s favourite book? Tell me a bit about it.
Finally, over the last 6 months Leonie has got into reading. She loves the Gruffalo, Stick Man and a new found favourite is Room on the Broom. She has really got into witches recently. Halloween will be big in our house this year. Reading is part of our bedtime routine to calm my wild one down and help her unwind. She loves spotting everything in the book and in Room on the Broom she loves the part where all the animals make up a monster together.
Are there any other ways you entertain your little Londoners?
My kids love going swimming. Prior to lockdown we would go on a weekly basis with Nana and have a good splash about. Swimming for me was really important to take the kids to, as I have a big fear of the water. I want to ensure my fear doesn’t pass over to them. I still can’t confidently swim and will only do widths as I hate the thought of not being able to touch the floor. But going weekly is definitely helping all of us.
A bit more about Michelle
My Instagram and Facebook names are “mothergoodofficial” although I’m not too sure the ‘good’ is appropriate at times. I often feel like I’m winging being a Mum. So, a little bit about us. I’ve been married for 6 years (14 years together) and we have two gorgeous little ones. Yes, I might be bias, but they melt my heart.
We call ourselves a little fruit cocktail family as made up of lots of different nationalities. The kids are made up of English, Spanish, Burmese, Kenyan and even Scottish!! See……quite the cocktail!!
The London Mommy 