The Family Panel Reviews

VIDEO REVIEW: My Life as a Courgette on DVD

2017-08-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

Mini has been snuggled up watching family friendly film My Life as a Courgette, which is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray. With it aimed at her age and with a fantasy twist, what did she think?

To buy "My Life as a Courgette" head to Amazon where it is £9.99 on DVD and £12.99 on Blu-Ray.

VIDEO REVIEW: Posh Paws Back Pack

2017-08-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

Mini, like most kids, is making the journey back to school, and like all kids, looking for the perfect rucksack to take all her stuff with her. It has to be practical and stylish, as well as comfy for days where she has to bring everything but the kitchen sink in. Posh Paws said they were up to the challenge of a fussy year 6 pupil! Here are Mini's thoughts;

To buy any of the Posh Paws range of rucksacks across a wide range of character options, head to their website

VIDEO REVIEW: Mini Reviews Primark's Unicorn Flavoured Water

2017-08-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

Its another video for you today from our Top Tween Vlogger, known to longterm readers as ten year old Mini. Mini is not a fan of anything that may be considered healthy, so when Primark got in touch to ask her to review their new range of flavoured water, she was prepared to finally not like something from the mega retailing giant!
To find out whether it passed her fussy test, click to watch below!

The Unicorn Flavoured Water is available from the tills at Primark, along with other flavours, and is priced at under a pound.

Stretch Vac-Man Toy

2017-07-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Littlest has been happily trying out a new toy from Character, the Stretch Vac Man- so what did he think?

Vac Man is a baddie- he is Stretch Armstrong's arch enemy. I'm sure I wont be the oknly parent to remember Stretch Armstrong from my childhood in the late 80s and early 90s- he was the toy that you could- as the name suggested- stretch across a room and he would snap back into place.

Vac Man is a little different and I think in today's hi-tech world that is quite a welcome difference.

Box appeal wise the box is bright and colourful, and definitely grabs the attention of any child who has a love of cartoons and action heroes. On opening it there's nothing to assemble and no batteries to fiddle with so you can play with the toy from the off.

The Stretch Vac Man can be played with as a smooth, non-pumped up character (and actually, Littlest has had the item like his at night and cuddled him!) which you can stretch just like his vintage pal.

However, inside the box is a bicycle pump type affair, which, when you attach the end to the toy- and this was very simple for small hands and something Littlest at age 8 found easy without any adult supervision- pumps the Vac Man up.

He has beads inside and, once the pump is used, his "skin" becomes scaly and he can be stretched even further. It is also pose-able and will stay in any pose until the air is released.

Littlest found this hilarious, and happily played with him against his other action hero toys.

To make him go back to his soft, in Littlest's view cuddly state, you simply press the air out from his ear.

It didn't take much effort to pump him up although smaller arms may need a couple of go's but to be honest this was just another element of the toy that Littlest found fun. In fact, it started off competitions to see who could pump him up quickest between Littlest and Mini. Mini, at ten, also loved Vac Man and she's not traditionally a fan of action toys at all.

Littlest gets to grips with Vac-Man from Character Toys

The detail in the toy is fantastic, he has a very well designed face which puts you in no doubt that he is a baddie character.

The boredom factor is very limited in this toy for younger children as they can play together stretching him and he fits right in with imaginative play.

I'm sure once the tie in series arrives on screen Vac Man and Stretch Armstrong toys are going to become ever more popular and I for one am happy to say we are fans in our house.

The Vac Man is 35mm high and comes with his pump in the box. He is suitable from ages 5 and up.

He costs around £30 from most major retailers including Amazon.

Veet Sensitive Precision Beauty Styler

2017-06-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

We're back!

Family Panel has had a bit of a break- families get busy after all and what with health issues, moving house and the like we've been away.

But the original and best (if we do say so ourselves) is back and we'll be keeping you updated on the good, bad and overpriced of consumer products.

First up, it's the Veet Sensitive Precision Beauty Styler.

Its June and that means all us ladies out there will be looking to beach holidays, swimming pool days out and casting off all those jeans, jumpers and winter clothes we've been covered in for months.

That of course means the arduous task of hair removal begins. However, Veet promise they can make the whole ordeal easy for us all!

The first plus point for me was the packaging. I hate plastic packaging that usually needs a degree to work out how to get inside to the product. The amount of times I have cut myself opening the plastic or on the sharp plastic itself is ridiculous, but Veet has a handy pull system in place that makes opening it safe and takes seconds. I hope other companies can adopt this too.

The styler itself is sleek, not too weighty, and angled to fit your hand beautifully. It also comes with two different styling heads- a small double sided one for eyebrows and a larger one like a mini hair clipper for the bikini line. It also has two pink plastic guards so you can trim easily without trimming too much.

Finally it has easy to follow instructions, a bag to put the gadget in and a brush to clean it. It was also nice to see a battery included as there is nothing worse than buying a gadget, getting it home all ready to use and then realising you don't have a battery for it.

Its very user friendly, you twist the top to chose the styling wand of your choice depending on what hair you wish to tackle, and then once that clicks into place its simply a case of lightly twisting the base to turn it on.

I am terrible at remembering to get my eyebrows threaded, and tend to hack a them badly with a razor. I'm not very confident at styling them at all, which is annoying as they are quite bushy in places!

The Veet Precision was very simple to use though, and at first I was quite nervous of dragging the small wand with the guard on it over the thicker areas of my brows but actually it was very safe and I didn't take too much hair off at all.

I could also shape the brows very easily and quickly. It wasn't as great at removing the hair completely as with threading, but for a quick fix when I've forgotten again it was fine, and to be fair, if you do notice some regrowth after a few days (I have PCOS so my hormones mean a swift regrowth of hair) it was simple enough to go over it again with the Veet Styler.

The bigger wand was also just as simple to use, it didn't pull, and even more satisfying was the lack of shaving rash that I usually experience on my underarms and anywhere else I attack with a razor blade!

As I'm prone to sensitive skin, shaving and threading can be a nightmare and has previously ended up with me covered in spots. As you can imagine, when your goal is to be silky smooth like the ladies in the adverts, and then your end up covered in a rash, it doesn't have the desired effect and leaves me reaching for jeans again!

Its very simple to clean and although they don't recommend getting the wand incredibly wet I used it in the shower on wet skin and it coped very well.

The only negative point and was probably down to my wonkiness was changing the wands proved a bit tricky, but Elder came to the rescue and managed it with a few clicks.

This would make the perfect addition to your suitcase whether going abroad or staycationing, I also think after a wax before you can book another one it would
make a great stop gap to remove any pesky regrowth.

The Veet Sensitive Precision Beauty Styler is available at Amazon for £15.99

You can find a video guide to the Veet Sensitive Precision on their website

Halfords Folding Picnic Table

2016-08-10T02:17:00.003-07:00

This year, we travelled light to Camp Bestival, but you can't go without something to sit on for comfort! We tried a special offer foldable picnic table from Halfords. How did we get on?

In the previous two years of Camp Bestival, we've brought a roof box for our car and filled it with all sorts of tat we didn't in the end need. This year, having hired a car without roof box attachment options, we had to travel lighter.

However, we didn't want to go without something to sit on, which meant something which had functionality and which didn't take up too much space.

The same time as we bought our tent from Halfords, we saw a foldable picnic bench on sale too, reduced from £50 to a reasonable £20.

It was pretty compact when removed from the box and I had no trouble fitting it snuggly into the boot of the car (a Peugeot 2008) we hired.

On arriving, after the tent mishap, we had concerns that maybe the picnic bench wouldn't be great either, as we had already found we got what we paid for (eg: not much) when it came to that.

Luckily, Halfords redeemed themselves a little!

It was very simple to open out into a picnic table, and was quite sturdy when on flat ground. It had several locks which kept it all together safely, and which were easily pinpointed by helpful stickers underneath.

It was lightweight and made carrying it around simple, folding into the shape of a briefcase when not in use with a handy handle to the top.

It took the weight of our cooking stove easily, and the kids had fun sitting at it to eat or to read and play games.

Adult weight wise, I felt a little uncomfortable, as the seats were pretty basic and thin, but it managed to take my weight without collapsing. It wasn't the most comfy chair in the world, and I had to sit sideways rather than with my legs under the bench as there wasn't the space, but it did the job. It was better than sitting on the grass, but not as great as a lawn chair.

For £20, it's gone in the shed for next year, I wouldn't recommend it for regular garden use, but for camping or day trips to the beach it's well worth having to avoid having to take along extra chairs. If space is an issue, you could do a lot worse for the price.

You can buy the picnic bench at Halfords for the same price we paid.

Groov-E Portable Solar Charger

2016-08-08T07:30:00.001-07:00

Going camping is fun, but wanting to charge your gadgets in a tent minus electric sockets is not so much fun. Of course, you could go cold turkey and give tech the cold shoulder, but why when you can charge your phone with the sun!

I tried a solar charger last year at Camp Bestival, and found it really poor! At first, we were impressed on the ease of use, to just charge it via USB and then stick it in the sunshine outside the tent. However, we found that after the first use- when of course it was charged from being USB charged in the same way a Powerbank works- it was rubbish and it ended up in the bin.

Groov-E however is a slightly more upmarket model, and we tried it with high hopes for charged phones over the weekend.

The Groov-E is sleek, it's lightweight, and it comes in a handy velvet pouch for easy transportation. It also had a USB charger cable (although not an iPhone one, but these would fit too) included, and, when charged, provided a handy little torch, which made plugging a phone into it in the dark easy.

It again needed to be charged at first via USB connection to a PC, and did so pretty quickly. You can tell it's charged as it has handy lights to the front which show when you press a button on the front. his of course stops the lights draining any charge it has.

When I first used it on my phone, which has the crappiest battery life ever, I found it charge it pretty swiftly, in a around an hour. It also stayed charged just as long as it would had I charged it on a conventional plug socket at home.

The great thing is that it also has an auto cut off for charging, so if your item is charged, it wont waste energy it has stored continuing to charge.

It's also compatible with cameras too, and it's top charging time for gadgets is two hours. The way I used it was to charge my phone at night, ready for the next day when I could put it outside the tent ready for night time.

Included in the box is a little metal hook, making hanging it from a tent or a window very simple to achieve. We then left it whilst we went off exploring.

So, did it charge my phone after being in blistering sunshine all day?

It did!

I was shocked to be honest as after last year's cheaper version by another brand I was rather dubious. But give it credit, this little gadget did the job impressively. In fact, I managed to keep my phone charged during Camp Bestival, which I've never managed before.

I would highly recommend the Groov-e to travellers, its so easy to use and works just as it should. I usually rely on Powerbanks but these work once and then need to be plugged into an electrical source so for trips they aren't amazingly helpful.

I will certainly be using the Groov-e again next time I'm camping, and at under £20, its a purse friendly solution for when you really don't want to be without a phone or want to keep kids amused via their tablets.

Budget Car Hire

2016-08-06T03:18:00.003-07:00

In the next of our season of Camp Bestival tie in reviews, it's car hire. This year, we hired a car from our local Budget Car Hire company. Was it all smooth motoring?

Hiring a car is pretty simple these days, and there are plenty of websites online- third party or otherwise- offering the latest deals to customers whatever your vehicle needs.

We wanted to hire a larger car for Camp Bestival, or a mid size with roof bars, and found Budget our best bet.

Like most sites, booking in advance can save you cash, but we weren't able to book as much in advance as we wanted as Littlest had a bit of a health scare and we weren't even sure we could make it to the festival until pretty much 12 hours before leaving!

We visited the Budget rental office locally, it was easy to find and the website gave great directions too. The website itself is pretty easy to navigate, and you can get a quote either there or on the telephone before booking.

The lady we spoke to was lovely, we told her what cars we were interested in and found one car- a Diesel Peugeot 2008 was available. We were happy with this as we hired the same model last year and used the roof bars to put our roof box on top.

The paperwork was pretty simple, with Elder's drivers licence being used to complete the set up.

We were then asked to inspect the vehicle, and made notes of any marks on the bodywork or interior. We were happy to do this as obviously, although Budget offer you insurance as part of the deal, any marks or imperfections will have to be paid for.

One member of staff was a little sullen, and I did feel for the lady we spoke to- she had to ask several times for this male staff member to complete the check in of another customer returning his vehicle and eventually gave up and sorted us and the other customer out instead.

He did, though, on hearing us mentioning wanting to use a roof box that the model we were hiring didn't allow the owner or hirer to use the bars on the roof for that purpose. We told him we had done just that at Peugeots advice the year before, but he rather ominously said a previous hirer had done this and had to pay £1,600 to replace a damaged set of bars to the roof!

All in all, with a returnable deposit, we paid £407 (£200 to be paid back at a later date) and were asked to refuel the car on it's return.

We didn't use our roof box in the end, taking a smaller tent than we'd planned on as to be honest I was concerned we may be billed for using the bars if we did. That did cost extra- £50 for a hastily bought tent which turned out, as per my last review, to be a nightmare.

We set off on Thursday and problems began quite soon after.
It appeared there was a problem with the engine as it would suddenly lose power trying to climb a hill or if we'd been in stationary traffic. Elder kept having to accelerate to keep the revs up or the car would just stop, and it meant a journey that usually takes an hour and half took 3! It also meant we used up more diesel,

The car was a concern whilst we were away, usually we go into Wareham to buy supplies to avoid having to pay premium prices for food on site, but we didn't feel comfortable with regards driving it. We were unsure where we stood with regards breakdown cover too, and didn't want to be left stranded in Dorset with no car if the hire car was taken to be fixed, or worse, we didn't want to have to come home and return it and ruin our trip.

In all, the car took 6 hours to get us home as it just kept losing power and Elder had to pull over as a result. It was a cause for concern all the way home as we worried we would break down on a back route or in the middle of a lane of the motorway with no warning.

On returning the car, Elder told the same lady about our issues with the engine, advising that perhaps it needed to be taken in for a full service to find out where the problem was. For a brand new this year car, it really should not have such a major issue so soon, and we knew, from driving the petrol version last year, that the car is usually a great and smooth drive.

She was very kind about it, giving details of who we could contact about the problems, but I would advise Budget that check in on return should also include a check of the engine as not everyone is safe, careful driver and sadly with the car we hired it feels someone may have taken the "not my car, I can drive like a moron" idea too far.

Would I hire with Budget again? Yes, as the lady who dealt with us was incredibly professional and polite, and it was short notice to hire and we still left with a vehicle. Next time though I would ask when the engine was last assessed for peace of mind.

Budget Car Hire can be found online

Aventura 4 Man Tunnel Tent

2016-08-05T02:48:00.001-07:00

When camping, a tent is top of the list of essential items. But finding the right one can be a hard task. For this year's Camp Bestival, we purchased an Aventura 4 Man Tunnel tent. What did we think?

As an ex-Girl Guide, I like to think of myself as a tent expert. I have camped in some very old, shaky tents which took hours to put up, and I've also camped in the newer, much easier to put up modern style too. Such is my prowess with a tent, I was once given a challenge on an outward bound course to put a tent up blindfold with help from someone else, and managed to do so with ease and little help from my non-blindfolded team mate.

We did have a very good Halfords tent for five years, the review of which can be found here, but it was a casualty of last year's Camp Bestival so went in the bin.

It was the obvious choice once again to grab a tent from Halfords, and we found the Aventura 4 Man Tunnel tent for £50, reduced from £100.

We wanted a simpler tent without losing some of the size, and we felt sure the specs of this tent were what we were looking for, and the price was great too.

It came in a compact bag, as we were travelling lighter this year having taken far too much stuff in previous years, and we arrived on Thursday of last week to put it up.

Now, we've put tents up and down in appalling conditions, rain, high winds, the lot, there was a bit of a wind behind us which is typical of the campsite as its at the bottom of two steep hills.

The instructions were pretty straight forward, and the tent consisted of two shorter poles and two longer ones, with a middle area for "living" and two pods for "sleeping."

It went up pretty simply but it didn't look as big as stated on the website at all. To be honest I've slept in bigger two man tents, and couldn't see how on earth you'd fit two air beds in either pod.

The worst part though was when we tried to zip the middle door up. This comprised two zips on either side of a flap.

Except that it became clear that one was already broken.. Not a great result- we'd travelled for three hours, it was late, we were all hungry, and now we had a tent which was broken. To make matters worse, the groundsheet was far too small so the cold had yet another point to come in at, and any clothes had to be put in the -already tiny- sleeping pods to try and stop them getting damp.

We made the best of it whilst we weighed up our options and grabbed a bite to eat.

On returning, the tent was freezing! We tried to put an airbed in one of the pods whilst it was inflated and couldn't get it in there without first taking the air out and only half inflating it whilst in the pod. To make matters worse, the two single air beds wouldn't both squeeze in at all in the other pod, so one had to be left in the middle living area. Not a problem so much if both zips had been able to shut, but not great when one is broken and flapping in the wind.

We all spent a rather cold uncomfortable night in the tent, annoyed to have wasted £50 on something that was ready, straightaway, for the bin and disappointed that Halfords and Aventura had marketed a tent that clearly was meant for two at best as a four person tent. Considering two of our group are 7 and 9, the very idea that four grown adults can fit in this tent is laughable.

The next big issue down to the zip was that, inevitably, the condensation which worked its way into the pods, which has left all of us with stinking chest infections.

It was also a complete farce trying to live in the tent, as the middle area offered no room to stand up, so getting dressed or leaving the tent to go to the loo was the stuff of nightmares.

On day two, the second zip broke too, we were shutting it to grab some breakfast and it just came apart in my hand. We had been forced to improvise with the other broken zip and had used our flag- meant to mark out our tent for ease of finding it on the walk back- to cover it, but now we were screwed.

The problem was, Lulworth is in the middle of nowhere, you can't even get a reception on your phone there with our network, and the nearest town is a good 45 minute drive away, so we were stuck in the middle of a tiny village, with a tent which wouldn't do up.

Another "feature" is a porch arrangement, but this never even went up, it was impossible to work out and we gave up.

I'm sorry to say this tent, had we just been on a camping holiday, would have ruined our holiday, it's just lucky that we were at Camp Bestival and could enjoy the music and fun until late and had two children who were so sleepy when they got back at night.

I was asked by Halfords to return the tent, but it went in the bin, I wasn't going to drag it back to Reading and take up space trying to fold the appalling thing back in it's bag- the only zip on the thing which didn't break.

Don't waste your money on this tent, it should be recalled as its not safe and its not as described at all.

Christmas in July: Food, Fashion and a Whole Lotta Toys Part 2: Tech and Budget Buys

2016-07-24T02:11:00.000-07:00

If you missed Part 1 you can find it here, where I give you a sneak peak (along with my helper for the day, Littlest) into what Aldi, Morrisons and Asda have on offer for 2016.

Next up, another Wednesday and this time no Littlest who sadly had to go off back to School (with much persuasion after a day spent eating cake and playing with cool new toys).

First up, back to One Marylebone for Currys PC World.

It was tech heaven here! I am not kidding, I am half surprised I'm not still there, looking at all the amazingly cool gadgets on display.

Now that the two stores have merged, not only do you have all your kitchen and home gadgets sorted, you also have all your PC, tablet and even Virtual Reality covered in one place too.

Yes, I did say Virtual Reality. It is here, but it's probably going to take either a very large credit card bill or a few years before the majority of us can own it in our homes. The one pictured above, from HTC, was at the lower end of the cost bracket at nearly £700, but I did see another for £900!

However, if you prefer not to enter an alternative dimension (or value your credit rating), there were plenty of nifty Tablet computers for all ages. A particular favorite was a kid friendly Amazon Kids tablet with bouncy sides to stop it breaking when dropped. At £99.99, it is pricey for some, but if it's anything like my Kindle Fire, the kids will love it and it's a speedy little machine for kids gaming and for homework research too.

As a kitchen gadget lover, I was very impressed with the shiny mixers, of which there was an abundance of brands and colours to suit all kitchens. I particularly liked the range of Smeg kitchen accessories, which featured an unusual lattice design with chrome accents.

There was also a great display by chef Luis Troyano, who used many of the gadgets to show us how to make delicate and tasty meringues, and a very Christmassy Mulled wine (although at 11am, it was a little early for me to indulge ad successfully make it around London!).

Next up, Argos, who always seem to have everything covered across the board in one catalogue.

I love Argos at Christmas as I have many happy memories of the Christmas book being available and of grabbing it, biro in hand and circling all the goodies I wanted to find from Father Christmas as a child.

I went straight to the toys and it has to be noted that Argos definitely put on an amazing experience for us to go back and write up. I've not been to many events where the adults are encouraged to play on the bikes and scooters in the middle of the space.

It was also great to see children there who you can ask what they thought of the toys too. There was plenty to see, and the guys from Argos were very knowledgeable on release dates.

Lego is a massive fave in our house, with Littlest dying to know when the new Ninjago sets are coming out (September in case you also wanted to know). Considering how long Lego has been around, I feel it carries on its success across generations as it taps into the modern world. None more so than with Lego Nexo Knights. These are more than just sets, including an app and TV show, where the child is encouraged to collect special shields to unlock features in the game.

For doll lovers, and all things pink, Argos is a one stop shop. I was impressed with the great range of varieties, from well known brands such as Zapf to Argos own versions, all budgets are covered, from the big toys to the smallest gift.

Gamers are sorted too, with new add-ons coming soon for Wii U, XBox 360 and Playstation too. I really loved the Lego Dimensions sets for Wii U, and like that boredom factor is taken into account with the unlocking of new levels and features. I also think that incorporating the building of Lego into the game is fun too and harks back to my days of building a house for fun!

Another interactive toy which I got to try out (and I'm sure I was allowed to win) was the ONKI Overdrive. Think traditional Scalextric and add a phone and virtual rocket launchers to stop your opponents car! Using a sensor filled material, you place your race car- or lorry which is coming soon- to the bendy track, pick up your mobile with its free app and play along. Unlike the Scalextric, the cars don't leave the track and aren't restricted to one lane, and there's no bits of plastic to attach which will break after a bit of a tantrum. I really loved this toy and for £150 for the starter set of two cars and lots of track, which can be added to, it's a toy I feel that would go down very well during Christmas and beyond.

Onto the homewares and electricals, it was great to see vintage re-imagined with the Bush portable record deck, which no doubt has far better sound quality than the 1960s versions it pays homage to, and the vintage designed radios with DAB capabilities. The colours were great with pops of pastels and vibrant hues a plenty. Last stop, Poundland.

Now, there is sometimes a certain level of feeling that everything from Poundland will be rather plastic and cheap and cheerful.

Now, cheap, yes, cheerful, plenty, but plastic and not all that good? Never!

I was really impressed with the level of diversity available, all for £1. I loved the decorations- something that I know from going into the store at Christmas are always very popular. There were ranges which would convince people you'd shopped in the likes of John Lewis, with particular mentions for the wooden handcrafted fox and owls.

For Marvel, Secret Life of Pets and Frozen lovers, Poundland has a range that not only includes funky baubles for the tree but sweets, colouring books and stocking filler toys too. For a few pounds, you could sort out all the friends from school with quality Christmas gifts.

For older kids, look out for the new ranges hitting soon of make up and jewellery sets too.

You will ask yourself "did I really get this for a quid?" and of course, for those who find Christmas a budget nightmare, Poundland should be top of your list.

After viewing the Christmas shows, I'm up for some snow and turkey as soon as possible!

Hope we've given you some ideas for this year!

Christmas In July: Food, Fashion and a Whole Lotta Toys! Part 1- Supermarkets

2016-07-22T06:49:00.002-07:00

It's July, we have a mini heatwave in the UK, the summer festivals are on right now, and so it must be time for mince pies, Santa hats and talk of Christmas.

Yes, it's Christmas in July season here in the UK, and over two Wednesdays in two weeks, LazyGirl has been all over London seeking out just what brands think we'll lust over come December.

On the first Wednesday, unusually for The Family Panel, I had a helper with me- Littlest, who had to be in London for a hospital visit too. He was very excited as he has never been to anything like this before for our blog, so anything child related was left in his capable hands.

Our first stop was Morrisons, at One Marylebone, a really great setting to get you in the mood for all things winter related.

First up, Littlest was shown how to make Panettone with one of the Morrisons in store bakers.

It was great for Littlest to get dressed up in the hat and pinnie, and he really enjoyed copying exactly what the baker was doing. As for the all important taste test, it was a big thumbs up from Littlest.

It was also great to see just how far Morrisons goes to check every ingredient, a big consideration due to the allergies which our youngest son has. There was no "oh maybe this might have nuts in it" everything was clearly listed and defined, which takes the guess work out of party food (and beyond). After all, you want to have fun, not a massive allergic reaction with your Christmas dinner.

The range of food and drink on offer is amazing, there was something for all palates and budgets, from the mini burger sliders (loved by Littlest) to the beautiful Norfolk Bronze turkey, and fizz for every occasion throughout the holiday season too.

It would seem Morrisons has listened to customers who may have started to shop at the cheaper stores like Lidl and Aldi, as the quality of the more purse friendly items was very good.

We also had a sneak peak of the clothing from Nutmeg and whilst that's not really Littlest's interest area (food, toys and tech and he's happy), I spotted some very well designed pieces for party, bedtime and Christmas morning.

A particular favorite was the girls partywear, which took in that not all young girls of Mini's age of nine want pink, cutesy and girly. Rather, my fashionista daughter wants the type of clothes worn by Little Mix (but toned down to please us parent's), so Morrisons had fierce biker jackets, funky dungarees which could be dressed up or down, and chunky knits to keep you warm as winter draws in.

For boys- one thing I'm sure will fly off the shelves are the range of Marvel 3D tops- yes, 3D on clothing! Which child wont want to show that off at a school disco next term?

Old favorites like comfy onesies and Christmas jumpers were also in attendance, and Littlest has already bookmarked the one he wants- featuring a "Santa- Define Good?" design to the front.

Again, the prices vary but are with quality and attention to detail like we saw, and clothes I would have thought were from Next or Zara, the prices are reasonable.

Next up, we went to Bank Tube for a Morrison's rival with Aldi and their Christmas showing.

We were handed a very handy IPad (I say we- I mean Littlest pinched it), to have a look at prices.

The food was pretty much a carbon copy of what we'd just left at Morrisons, but unfortunately most was to look at rather than to eat, so it looked very nice! We did get to try some wrapped chocolates, which were tasty, and I'd be a box to receive a box on December 25th.

By far my favorite bits of Aldi's offering is their gifts.

Whilst it's true that Aldi tend to only have a short availability for non-food items, you can now order online and have them delivered, which is a bonus if your store sells out quickly.

Its also going to worth keeping an eye on their website as the gifts I saw were flipping amazing and despite looking like high end luxury items, were unbelievably cheap in some cases.

Littlest was very happy to be allowed to try out some of the toys on display. He was very keen on the great range of heritage style toys available in wood, including a play kitchen complete with food. I was happy to see Star Wars toys as those are already on Mini's list of must haves, and because they're from Aldi, despite being official merchandise they were far cheaper than in other stores. I wouldn't mind a blow up remote control Darth Vader myself!

From a kitchen gadget lovers perspective, I fell in love with the range available soon from Aldi. They have two ranges depending on your budget.

The more expensive range includes Tri Ply Copper pots and pans, which would last for years if looked after properly and which looked great shining away on display. These were competitively priced, considering the quality of the range. The range starts at £2.99 for individual utensils, with a stock pot with lid or a 28cm frying pan priced at £34.99.

For those looking for a cheaper option without losing quality, Aldi also offers a more budget friendly cookware range, which although wont last as long as the Copper, will still look good, cook well and give you plenty of years of use. These started at around a tenner.

Next up, Asda, who I always feel has lots to offer.

Again, there was a great mix of toys and food for everyone, we were very impressed with the quality of the Christmas decorations on offer this year, starting at under a pound.

It seems that most supermarkets food and drink offerings are pretty much standard across the board, with Serrano Ham on a stand and chopping board being a particular favorite. Its all about the wow factor and indulgence at Christmas and the stores have this in spades.

It's great to see a mix of styles and prices though and if you're prepared to shop around online then you could save bundles and still fill your tables up with everything traditional and then some. We had a taste of the Mince Pies and turkey at Asda which were very tasty. The Mince Pies didn't look over produced and you could easily pass them off naughtily for home made if you get caught out by a school party last minute!

Again, Littlest was happy to see his fave toys will be available with new Lego sets, and lots of Marvel too.

Next up in part 2, we cover Poundland, Argos and Currys PC World.

We will update with prices and some more images soon!

Interplay FabLab Hair Flair

2016-06-01T05:30:00.002-07:00

In another review as Interplay Experts, Mini gives her thoughts on the Hair Flair kit. Mini is now 9 and is moving on in her toy tastes, so what did she think of this all in one kit?

So far we've loved the Interplay kits and found them really simple to use, so for this challenge I left Mini more or less to it to work the set out.

The Hair Flair is for age 8+ and comes with enough kit to make 8 possible designs as well as a instruction booklet.

It was something Mini had been looking at using her pocket money to buy. Being 9, she is now at that inbetween age where she wants to be more grown up and try out hair and make up stuff, but still considered quite young by us so we try and bridge the gap with kits like these.

To be fair, Mini did find the kit quite hard to work out. It's quite fiddly, not so much the plaiting of material but the little clips which fit in the hair are really difficult for her age perhaps, and she did have a few moments of having to ask me to do these for her.

I found that the hole to put the pre-made extension into was very tiny- too tiny for the end to fit through, and worked better with the plait it yourself string.

She was most interested though in the pre-made, funky coloured extension though and wanted to get stuck in to this straight away so it did cause a bit of a meltdown from her when we found it impossible to fit.

The Instruction manual is quite good though for the plait yourself version, with helpful photos which made it simpler for her.

The quality of the materials is good- the clips could be better as they tended to slip out of her hair easily- so if you were to wear one outdoors after putting the effort in to make it I'm sure it would cause tears if it slipped out and went missing.

For girls who like to fiddle with their hair its a good little pocket money set but perhaps suited to a little older than Mini.

The Hair Flair is available from Interplay for £8.99

Interplay Secret Fairy Door

2015-11-17T03:45:00.000-08:00

Another month and another in our series of reviews for Interplay UK. This month it's Mini's turn to review, and she chose the Secret Fairy Door set.

As an old skool parent, I am so very aware of the effect of social media, multi channel TV and gaming on my very much interested and modern children. I much prefer a toy that can encourage imaginative play.

So far I've found Interplay are experts on this type of toy, and can encourage imaginations whilst still keeping our hard to please generation of kids happy.

Mini asked specifically to try out the Fairy Door after seeing similar on TV in woodland in the school holidays. At 8, nearly 9, she is on the cusp of toys with fairies and dolls going out of popularity but is still happy to get caught up in wonder and make believe.

The set arrived with easy to use bits and bobs which meant that, once it was unwrapped from the box, she was easily able to fit it all together.

She loved the stickers to go on the wall- although we've put these away for now as her room is in the middle of a much needed redecoration- and liked that she could put little bits of personal importance, like a pound coin she has from her savings that she kept trying to hide from her brother in the tree too.

She adored the fairy and made up little stories for her and the tiny but highly detailed hedgehog straight away. The story book included is also a very good extra, the illustrations are just superb and add to the stories a younger child could make up.

The attention to detail on such a purse friendly product was great. from the backing of the tree showing a little cottage interior to the fairy herself, it was very nice to see such effort go into the toy.

Even the key for the door had a little heart design molded in. I liked that there were two keys as being quite small its usually the first thing to go missing and end up up the vacuum, so now I have a spare "fairy key of magic" as Mini has called it o my key-chain.

Despite having to take up residence by the wall, we did try out the sticky pads and fund them very strong and yet they did come off easily with a little persuasion. She's now dying for her room to be finished so the door can go up properly with it's stickers.

For around £19.99, this is a great addition to any child's Christmas stocking, its big enough to place a few coins in and perhaps a child sized necklace, or just the little characters it comes with. Its definitely a great addition to our imaginative play toys.

The Secret Fairy Door from Interplay is suitable for age 4 and over.

Christmas Preview: Lush Winter 2015

2015-11-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

Last night I got treated to the heady scents and vibrant sights of Lush and their Winter 2015 collection....

I'm a recent Lush convert, by association of moving to a town where there is a store and my son being overwhelmed by love for their bath bombs shaped like robots.

So, when Unique Young Mum asked if I'd like to be her plus one for their event I was very pleased to come along.

I think the great thing about Lush, certainly my local Lush, is the staff and how much they appear to love their jobs and the merchandise they sell. There is nothing these girls and guys don't know about their products. They are also great at telling you what works for certain skin types too, which is handy with my sensitive skin and Littlest and his range of allergies. Yes, even soaps can cause him to have flare ups and he loves being able to go in store and asking if it's OK for him to use in the bath.

The range is just eye popping, with every colour accounted for, the smells are amazing, from earthy hues to flowery scents. If you love something subtle, or like a strong perfume, flowers in the bath or a coating of skin and environment friendly glitter, Lush has you covered.

I personally love the gift boxes they currently have for Christmas. Even something as simple as the box is seen as an excuse to go to town. One box doubles as a musical merry go round which you could use again and again without anyone realising it held soaps. There were kid friendly boxes with clowns which can be mixed up. I also liked the soap canon, a Lush nod to the traditional Christmas cracker.

They also sell a great range of cosmetics, and hair care too, all of which is not tested on animals, and is as natural as can be.

Lush also encourages customers to bring back empty cartons to refill rather than buying a new one and throwing the old tub.

I think if you have a family member of any age and you aren't sure what to buy them, Lush is the answer. Its so nice to receive some artisan bathroom goods, but Lush just looks as impressive as you're going to find and they look so good you almost don't want to plonk them in the bath!

They have prices to suit all budgets, and the staff are happy to help you decide if you get stuck.

I really enjoyed seeing the new range for Christmas, and now have a rather epic list of must haves!

You can find more from Lush at their website

Laughing Cow Mini Cravings Cheese

2015-10-01T03:13:00.000-07:00

Finding snacks for lunchboxes and curbing boredom can be a minefield- not only do you have to consider a picky child eater but also the never ending lists of foods that school's ban parent's from providing. One thing which never seems to find its way onto the banned list is cheese, and Mini and Littlest have been trying a new range of Laughing Cow Cheese, Mini Cravings.

I lose count of how many times I have to come up with a new option for lunchboxes- Mini gets bored easily so often expects something different each day. Littlest is easier to provide for in terms of he will happily each whatever is given, but his allergies are always a consideration.

Both of them, happily, love cheese, but I'm not a massive fan of certain shaped and molded cheese, I would prefer them to have a big lump from the cheese block but both of them prefer anything in a handy wrapper.

Laughing Cow Mini Cravings certainly make everyone happy.

They are tiny little packages of flavor rich cheese, each with an individual twist, and each not taking up much room, so you can add a few different varieties to a lunchbox.

Each packet contains 24 Mini Cravings in 3 different varieties, and there is something to please even the most fussiest of eater. They are a good source of much needed calcium and not filled full of sugar and salt- something we are now all aware of when making choices of what we feed the kids.

Mini's favorite was the Ham and Herb variety, which had a subtle taste of what she felt was cheesy bacon- combining two of her preferred savory foods in one handy square. Littlest meanwhile could not get enough of the Smoked Cheese version.

They are versatile too, tasting great on toast at breakfast time, and the small helping was just enough for younger chef wannabes to pick one for their toast with less mess than giving them a whole tub to spread on.

I found a few of them went great stirred into pasta too, creating a really tasty and light coating- especially if you chose a few versions and add some chopped ham and peppers to the mix.

At 14 calories they are great for snacking on a diet too.

I think these are great for Mum's as they are small but perfectly formed, and pack a punch. They would make easy finger foods too for on the go.

At £2 for 24 they are purse friendly too.

Mini Cravings from the Laughing Cow are available from most supermarkets.

Interplay Wood Worx Kit

2015-09-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

Littlest is a typical boy who likes to get hands on with his toys these days. At 7 years old, it can be quite hard to find the right toy that isn't too easy or too hard. Interplay asked him to pick a kit to try out and he decided to have a go at a Wood Worx kit.

If there is a toy which will make Littlest step away from his laptop, it is a dinosaur based toy, even better if he can get hands on and make it himself.

The Wood Worx kit from Interplay is very solid, and so user friendly. Some kits are just too fiddly for his age, and end up causing tears and the odd tantrum. They also end with me covered in glue trying to show how easy it is whilst not making it look easy at all.

The set he tried took a couple of days in the holiday (handy when the weather was utterly awful), but not due to difficulty. He got everything out the box, had a quick look at the booklet, and off he went.

We're currently trying to instill a sense of independence in Littlest- he has just started Year 3 in Juniors, but has just also turned 7, making him the second youngest in his year, so he does tend to still cling to the last days of co-dependence. He also has the bossy madam that is Mini too, s it was lovely for him to take a box of parts and paints and produce a toy almost entirely alone (until Mini saw the paint aspect and designated herself artist for some of it).

The sense of pride he had in himself after fitting the model together was great, he had thought he'd need help but not at all. The instructions were very simple, step by step, and being that the chunky model was pretty easy without the booklet made making the model a doddle.

There was plenty of paint in the box, as well as stickers for the face- although Littlest decided to forego these and make a freestyle "happy" dinosaur instead of a scary one. The set of course allows you to really get creative and choose for yourself.

It does take a little while to glue solid enough to paint over, but obviously you can't expect the glue to be super strength toxic stuff in a kids set and in fact it added to the fun factor as it wasn't all done and complete in a few hours- we stretched it out for several.

Mums will be pleased to hear that the paint is fully washable- Littlest got quite a bit on his clothes, hands and my glass table, and it washed off with a baby wipe from the table and a normal wash for the clothes.

The only thing I would suggest is a bit extra glue as we ran out (but that's probably down to the liberal application of it by a heavy handed Littlest).

At £9.99, it's such a cheap way of getting a start in crafts and independent play, the price tag would suggest it would be flimsy but not at all.

We love the Wood Worx T-Rex, and you can see all the sets available at the Interplay website.

BACK TO SCHOOL: Stamptastic

2015-08-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

Like most busy Mums, Lazy Girl finds the annual back to school uniform labeling task a boring chore. Stamptastic feels her pain and so suggested their Stamp kit....

Every year, without fail, I buy sew on or iron on labels for school uniform. After all, we know our little cherubs can, and will, happily leave a sweater, or an entire PE kit, where so ever they can. They then, in the case of my pair, forget where that was and chaos ensues.

Having a name on their uniform may not make them absent minded child proof, but makes the schools job easier when it's time to hand the items back. It can also make light work of searching in the lost property bin, something I seem to do on a weekly basis in term time.

However, despite my sewing the labels on, the Brats end up knocking these off, or fraying them, and, despite iron on labels sounding easy, they tend to stick to the iron, the ironing board and in one awful, scar inducing incident, to my finger. Yet they do not stay stuck to the actual item of clothing they are intended for.

This means that, without fail, by he end of the first term, I usually revert back to a biro.

I had heard about Stamptastic, but hadn't tried them myself, purely because I was going with the "old methods are best" approach, forgetting the calamity that is sewing on labels you know will last no longer than a term.

We tried two stamps, one for each child, a stamp pad and a white fabric pen.

Ordering the stamps was a piece of cake, the website is very simple, very quick to use and within 2 minutes my order was made. The kids liked picking which icon they could have with their name, with Mini choosing a Butterfly and Littlest going for a paw print. There are a number of little icons to chose from to suit most junior school ages, and for the teens they can simply go without one and just have their name.
There are several fonts to pick from too, and if like my children your name is quite long, you can resize to fit the length.

You can pay via PayPal too, which I find I prefer online just for the security aspect of using the net to pay for things.

In a few days, I received a well packaged parcel, ready to go and very user friendly.

I had thought that the amount of uniform my two have would mean the stamp pad of ink would run out halfway through. I have so much uniform, as the school has winter and summer variations, as well as having winter and summer PE Kit, and swimming kits too. With my two constantly losing uniform (or having it pinched as with one of Littlest's shirts last year after swimming- everyone else came back in a shirt, by the time he got to the stage of putting his on there were no shirts left in the changing room, and we never got the worn once item back), we always buy extra when it's easy to buy cheaply from the supermarkets.

I stamped well over 50 items, and the pad barely looks like it has a dent in it. Its just the right size for the stamp pad too so you don't end up using too much and smudging the name on the label.

The white pen was also handy for some labels which had big logos and writing on them, as well as inside shoes and trainers that tend to have darker insoles. You simply shake it and dab it on. Leaving to dry for a few minutes means you can carry on stamping until its ready and then stamp straight over it.

It was so simple, and the result is really pleasing and clear or the child to look at it and know it's their stop, skirt or PE Kit. It also meant no sewing, no achy hands (I have arthritis in my fingers so sewing can be a right pain to that), and no burning my fingers either.

Of course, like most things they will no doubt fade after several washes, but for ease of use and being as stress free as they are, Stamptastic can't be beaten. Bearing in mind most Infant and Junior age kids will grow out of uniform after a year, so the fading wont matter too much.

You can buy Stamptastic stamps, ink pads and white pens, as well as other innovative items such as birthday and Christmas gift tag stamps at their website. The standard name strips are perspex and durable, and cost £10 each, whilst the white pen costs £4.99 and the ink pad £12.00.

£12.00 may seem a little on the expensive side but it's worth remembering this is not the same ink as you can buy in stationers, or that we got in sets as kids. Compared to name tags that are cheaper, the stamp sets will last for much longer and the fact it takes an annoying task and makes it take less than half the time I think its well worth it.

We can't recommend them enough.

Aldi- When £30 Goes Along Way in the Holidays

2015-08-20T07:02:00.003-07:00

The Lazy Girl likes to cook, and thinks camping should be no different. So, Aldi decided to send her £30 of vouchers to show how far that will stretch when planning a long weekend at a festival.

After the first time I went to a festival back in 2010, I have learned that the best tip for saving money whilst camping is to bring your own arsenal of camping stove, gas bottle and tins of food.

Yes, tin food is possibly seen as not that palatable, but Aldi say that there's is just as good as their other food, as well as providing other essentials and the odd cheeky alcoholic beverage as well.

We found it hard to spend the full amount, and came away with food for the camping trip and then some.

We went for a massive selection bag of crisps, some chocolately rice cakes for the children, a box of breakfast cereal, mini concentrated bottles of squash, boil in the bag rice and noodles. We also bought tins of hot dogs, curry (both extra spicy and mild), meatballs, ravioli and mac n cheese.

Not only that but we picked up handy packs of wipes, and loo roll, bin bags and even some UHT milk too, some dry shampoo and sun screen.

We ended up with several heaving bags of shopping and still had a fiver left over.

Armed with our goodies, off we went on our camping trip, safe in the knowledge we wouldn't go hungry.

The first night we decided to pick up some bread from the local shop on the way and had a round of hot dog sausages as we'd eaten a meal on the way to the site.

No, hot dogs aren't the great British banger, but when you're in the middle of a field, with two hungry children and have just put your tent up after lugging all your gear down a hill, they were the tastiest hot dogs this side of the campsite.

I like a hot dog though but find some cheap ones are pretty watery and unless you cover them in sauce they are pretty bland. These were meaty and I found I could go without sauce happily. They didn't leak water everywhere and make the bread soggy either.

In the morning, the kids helped themselves to bowls of chocolate hoop cereal and rather than their usual moaning for food we get on campsites, they happily munched away, letting us get the tent ready for going to the first day of the actual festival itself. We also got a lovely, hot cup of coffee using the 2 in 1 and 3 in 1 tubes we found in Aldi- considering these were 99p for 6, they were a massive bargain- the coffee on a stall on our field was £4.20 a cup!

We took crisps and rice bars with us up to the fields, as well as filling the kids sports bottles with water and bringing the handy squeezy concentrate bottle with us to give them a drink (again, a carton of juice on site can be up to £1).

At dinner time, the kids had noodles (Mini) and Mac n cheese (Littlest) and both were happy with their meal options. Mini can be very hard to please, but was stuffed with her packet of noodles, and Littlest- not the easiest to feed down to his allergies, loved the mac n cheese, saying it was very cheesy and the pasta was soft.

Us adults had boil in the bag rice, which was easy to cook and took minutes, and a curry each. These had big chunks of chicken in, not just bits of stringy mush. They weren't very spicy- not for us but then we do add chili to most food anyway, but adding some tandoori powder I had brought with me certainly spiced it up. It was shockingly delicious, and we did have a few folk walk past us on their way to the food huts ask where'd we got our curry from! They were quite surprised when we said it was tinned and boil in the bag!

Over the course of the weekend, we were all well fed, had plenty of juice and coffee, and certainly enjoyed my cheeky lager too! When a pint costs £3.20 on a stall, you are very happy to have a sneaky can back in the tent.

The sunscreen and essentials like the wipes were a god send, the wipes cleaned up everything from mucky hands and muddy knees, to cooling down necks and wiping off my boots that got covered in sandy mess walking back. The sunscreen let me get a tan but without burning.

I can happily recommend all you thrift lovers go and have a look round your local Aldi. For camping trip must haves, they will leave you happily well fed and not out of pocket.

PREVIEW: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Old School

2015-08-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

Mini is a massive fan of books and one of her most favorite series is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. So, when she was asked if she'd like a sneak peek of the new, not even released book, called Old School, she was very excited indeed.

Here are Mini's thoughts on the first chapter:

And if like Mini you can't wait for the new book, you'll be able to order it on November 3rd from Amazon

Dork Diaries: Once Upon Dork, a Vlog Review

2015-08-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

Mini does love giving her opinions on video and here she is with a review of the newest Dork Diaries book, called Once Upon a Dork.

You can buy this Dork Diaries book and the rest of the series from Amazon

TP-Link 4G LTE-Advanced Mobile WiFi M7350

2015-08-14T03:10:00.001-07:00

The Lazy Girl does love her mobile internet, but, in some situations, it doesn't always love her. TP-Link sent her a mobile WiFi device- the LTE-Advanced M7350 to see if she could get WiFi wherever.

I love to take my mobile to the local park, and, living just outside Reading, nearly everywhere has handy free Wifi. The only place that doesn't? The Park.

Which of course is where the Brats want to spend every moment of the holidays when it's not raining.

I also want to use my shed as my office, but there seems to be some force field in the garden from the back door that blocks it 80% of the time.

With the 4G LTE mobile wifi device, I can place my mobile phone chip into the handy portable device and away I go.

The signal is very strong, on a par with my home broadband. It means that, whilst they run off steam in the park, I can park up with my laptop, and the 4G Mobile WiFi, and as long as my battery lasts on my laptop I can carry on with blogging and tweeting.

For something so good at providing a signal, its tiny and sleek, no bigger than a wallet or mobile phone.It gives you ten hours battery life from fully charged, and can also take an SD Card for 32GB of storage.

Even better, it can run 15 devices, so it's perfect for a camping holiday- you can get the same level of powerful WiFi connectivity regardless, and can host everything from a laptop, to a tablet and mobile phones too, keeping everyone happy,

It supports older devices too which run below 4G, and can contain micro sims as well as the old style ones.

The set up is very simple with clear, precise instructions that even the most tech phobic could figure out.

Overall, for holidays or work on the go, you can't go wrong with this small but mighty powerhouse. So long as your data is fine on your sim, and you can pick up a signal (although using 3G we find better for those on pay and go or limited contract as it eats less data) this will allow you to work for anywhere you please.

The TP-Link M7350 4G LTE-Advanced Mobile WiFi is £75 from Amazon, and well worth it too to stop any holiday rainy day angst when travelling! It also has three year warranty too at no extra cost, so is safe for the beach and around active kids!

Zippo Flexible Neck Utility Lighter

2015-08-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

One thing the Lazy Girl house loves about camping and summer is firing up the camping stove or barbecue. Doing this safely though can sometimes be a problem. Zippo asked us to try their Flexible Neck Utility lighter to see if we could camp a little safer this season.

I hate lighting anything- gas cookers, barbecues, camping stoves, you name it, I will girlie out of it and pass the matches or tiny lighter to Gadget Dad. It all stems from the dodgy gas cooker I had in my first shared house, which required a brave soul to get in to the oven to light it to successfully cook even the most basic of oven fayre.

The amount of times I burned myself meant I was put off for life.

The Zippo Flexible Neck lighter is so simple though that even a wuss like me can light even the hardest to reach places.

Such was its ease of use I now feel I know what our earliest cave dwelling ancestors felt like on first discovering the power of fire.

As the name suggests, this classy looking product expands and wiggles round to keep hands (and eyebrows) from any source of flame at all. The neck is akin to the 80's bendy necked desk lamp so favored by set dressers in furniture stores, you can bend it anyway you like and it then bends neatly back again.

It takes up little room in your packing for camping and we found it an utter god send at Camp Bestival last weekend.

It was actually lovely for me to be able to cook on the camping stove for the first time since we bought it, and not have to wait for Gadget Dad to put the kettle on in the morning.

Its stylish and sleekly designed- as you would expect from Zippo and is now ready in the shed for barbecue season too. There are no over the top buttons and things, you simply click and go from filled.

Priced at £17.99 (Amazon), its refillable (also very simple and fuss free) and is far less stressful and dangerous than throwing matches around hoping for a spark.

I cannot recommend it enough.

CAMP BESTIVAL 2015: A Crowdsourced Review

2015-08-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

The Family Panel of Lazy Girl, Gadget Dad and the Brats have just returned from four days of Camp Bestival at Lulworth in Wool. And, as with previous years, we've got lots of opinions for you. However, we also thought we'd get some perspectives from other weary festival goers via the Camp Bestival Camping Forum over on Facebook. Here are their crowdsourced views too...

THE GOOD:

Camp Bestival is still the number one festival to bring kids from tiny babies to hard to please teens to. Its on a smaller scale and easier to mange in one day than its peers such as Glastonbury, T and Reading, and has a whole field just dedicated to the enjoyment of the younger members of the family.

There is still, also a great mixture of music to please even massive music snobs such as us! We love that the main acts tend to start later, so should your children not be used to the later nights (as the headliners were on at 10pm and finished at 11.30) you could happily have a lie in, get a good breakfast and then stroll up to whichever stage took your fancy.

For those whose children still woke early, there was no need to stay bored in the tent, as films ran from early in the Big Top and the Children's Field.

The friendly atmosphere of the festival never ceases to amaze me, within five minutes of arriving and setting up, both the children were in the thick of a big group of children in the row we were on, playing football, frisbee and trolley racing too. It certainly makes it easier when you're cooking or want five minutes peace on a chair to sunbathe and collect your thoughts knowing the children all played safely together. (a big shout to the Medway Clarkes, Sid, Violet and their Mum, Molly and her family and everyone else near Yellow Car park one and the donut stand row).

Everyone is also very sensible when it comes to pitching tents and giving each other space, and being quiet if they were back later, neither of our two were woken by later arrivals and enjoyed uninterrupted sleep.

The toilets were so much nicer in general than last year! We spotted stewards refilling loo roll and cleaning them regularly, and only once each did we go in and find no loo roll (being seasoned campers we had loo roll anyway). The water stand was also much cleaner and cold- blissfully so- this year.

We had no issue with finding the roads and right place to park either, with plentiful sign posts and not too many closures of roads either- everyone was warned about their sat nav being useless after Wareham, but this didn't matter as you find your way easily enough.

We loved the Bollywood tent, it was beautifully decorated inside, had soft carpet for those whose legs were knackered and needed a soft space to rest, and the music was great. We loved Big Fish Little Fish and Fun DMC, and the mixture of young and old showed how popular it remains. It also provided a spot from the heat too at the top of the hill.

The medical team were fantastic too, we needed to pop in with Mini after she managed to get stuck playing on the I Love Camp Bestival sign and grazed her back. We were seen within two minutes, and I was made to feel very welcome- I felt a bit daft going in but the sign was a bit minging after several hundred dusty feet had used it as a climbing frame and she was utterly distraught. She was made a massive fuss of, given a huge plaster and cleaned up. Thanks to the guys there for their help in cheering up a more embarrassed at getting stuck than actually hurt 8 year old.

90% of the stewards (more on the 10% later) as usual were amazingly helpful, friendly and fun to be around. I saw many dancing like loons, entertaining children and generally looking like they loved being there too.

Bands we loved? Cymande- who we have vinyl of at home absolutely rocked the stage during their early slot and surely should be considered for a longer slot at some point in the near future. They had great crowd interaction, and were just fantastic musically.

Soul II Soul were who we personally went to see, our must view in fact, and they didn't disappoint. Caron Wheeler dealt with sound issues very well, and you can tell Jazzy B uses his entire 30 year career experience to provide a performance that was a pleasure to watch. The fact that younger kids were driven to dance by a band that probably enjoyed their biggest career peak before they were born says it all. They were polished, and again, they interacted with the crowd well- Gadget Dad had found a T-Shirt with Jazzy on and one of the backing singers spotted it and pointed him out. He was also very pleased to hear Jazzy ask who remembered their earlier days at the Africa Centre as this is were he first heard them play back in the day.

Terry Hall from The Specials and Fun Boy Three gave us an epic DJ set of funky old skool tunes as diverse as The Message and Here Come the Hotstepper, and the Big Top was just the place for it. I felt, due to the brilliance of the equipment providing crystal clear sound matched with the dark atmosphere of the Big Top and the lasers it felt like you were in a hot sweaty club at 1am, not in a field in Dorset at 8.30pm!

Wretch 32 was someone I wanted to see but who Gadget Dad wasn't that bothered by, but actually ended up quite enjoying too. Again, he was a great crowd pleaser and I did indeed get my "London Skank" on as directed by Wretch himself (it's OK- Mini was off on the Big Wheel at the time).

Talking of the Big Wheel, this was enjoyed plenty of times by my daughter and her friend Helen who met up with us down there (eventually!). At £2.50 a go, it was not as expensive as I feared, as was the Helter Skelter at £2 a go. We also watched the Ferret racing and paid a £1 to bet on one of the critters. Littlest loved The Wall of Death and was amazed at the talent of those on the bikes.

From the crowdsourcing, the posher showers and toilets were very clean and well maintained, the kids fields friendly and full of fun activities which were cheap as chips and great for the younger camper too. There was free phone charging in the Hello Kitty area (great considering other parts charge quite a bit for this) and a good mixture of food areas too.

The costumes were fun too, with many people using the "Go Wild" theme as creatively as usual. The Inflatable Church was a highlight too although was booked up very quickly.

There are mixed views of things to do for the tweens aged 10-13 as some felt there wasn't as much laid on for this group that warranted a higher ticket price but other's pointing out the football skills area and skate park too.

THE NOT SO GOOD:

Thieves.
One thing I've always said to Festival nay sayers who say they wouldn't want to go as they hear festivals attract thieves is that Camp Bestival isn't like that. And actually, up until this year for us it hasn't been.

Sure, we wouldn't leave laptops, phones and money unattended whilst out and about, and the car was securely locked at all times when we weren't in it, but we've always left our cooker and chairs out the front (you can't and should never leave a gas bottle inside your tent as its just incredibly dangerous), and we've never heard of thefts before. We've even lost jackets and heard of other's who have lost phones in the crowds and have had them handed straight in (one Forum user lost a very expensive mobile phone and thought there was no chance of it being handed in, but indeed it was so well done to those who do the right thing).

However, this year I am sad to hear of people being robbed, a lot of people, of everything from wine boxes and snacks to money, and even thefts from tents occupied by sleeping children.

Whilst there is always going to be a chance of thefts occurring as you cannot ever have a situation as tempting as Camp Bestival, with people knowing you have a large amount of tents empty for large parts of the day, I would say some- not all- the Stewards- some of the 10% I mentioned who did little to help.

On our first night, around 2am on Friday, I was woken up by a woman of around her mid forties with our camping kettle in hand and her other on my stove. Luckily, for a change being a light sleeper due to Littlest being unwell during the night came in handy, as I managed to stop her pinching our only source of cooking for the weekend, If I hadn't, we would have faced vast costs to replace the stove and gas bottle or having to pay out for food on site.

However, we got lucky, as I have been told by the forum that they had money and gadgets pinched whilst they slept, with one camper saying she saw a male step over her sleeping child as he made his exit armed with cash and goods. One camper was told by Saturday, at least £2,000 had been stolen, as well as cigarettes, booze, food and gadgets. They also felt they knew who the culprit was too.

I cannot fault the response of some stewards who made night time checks constantly, however, there were a few who made no attempts whatsoever to check wristbands- something we have always been asked to show at all times. There were also those who reported tents full of people who had chanced their luck with no wristband or ticket and people climbing or rolling under the fences who were largely ignored. Behind our tent was a dirt road leading to the caravan park, and it was easy as anything to roll under. At one point it had been left open and I had to ask for it to be closed, I only found it open down to Littlest getting his frisbee lost over it, and then suddenly appearing with it again- I asked had someone throw it over to be shown he'd got through the fence and retrieved it. This is also a concern as some of the cars went very fast down the track and he could easily have been hit by one.

We also experienced one surly steward moan regards Mini tightening her wrist band and leaving us no option but to cut it off. We were told off and advised we'd have to pay to replace it at ticket price if she did it again!

The issue with wristbands and the kids is the younger ones tend to tighten them up and then they cannot be loosened off again. Perhaps a more user friendly wrist band for children under ten would be a good idea, similar to the plastic press popper bands which stay on all weekend with no fuss?

An issue which was mentioned in the crowdsource thread was the stewards allowing glass onto the field, again, something that wasn't an issue before. It led to one teen suffering a head injury when one person rested a bottle on a chair over the crowds head which fell two metres onto the teens head below, meaning an anxious visit to the medical tent and not the nicest end to the weekend.
I saw one young steward who was too busy being awful to a 13 year old girl over a bottle of coke (plastic and recently purchased from a stall) whilst he merrily waved through a group whose bags were clinking with bottles very obviously.

With staffing, its always going to be hit and miss as you will obviously get the odd chancer who comes along with no intention of following rules and to allow mates to sneak in or to bully others, but perhaps having a plain clothed group who watch the behaviour of the stewards and weed out those who misbehave would be an idea?

Another much mentioned issue was the sound on the main stage, which did distort down to the breeze and at times, such as I mentioned during Soul II Soul, cut out completely. Many people mentioned that unless you were nearer the front, you couldn't hear, as the Bollywood tent was quite loud as was the Big Top and all the noise mixed together. Other's suggested moving the Souvenir stall- which is right in the middle of the Castle Field- would be a great idea for next year.

One reason I'm pleased to have crowdsourced this post as it gives me an insight into experiences I would not have known of had I not asked.

Camping or visiting a festival is always difficult with children, and Camp B certainly makes this easier by hosting a varied mixture of events, tents and acts. However, if one of your group is disabled, or SEN it puts a whole new spin on what you can, and can't, take part in.

Two parent's I received a reply from have praised most of the facilities for disabled campers, but have said a few things could be improved.

They would like to see more disabled toilet facilities around the Castle Field, as one Mum had to change her older child's nappy whilst trying to hide in crowds, which must be slightly uncomfortable. They would also suggest a "Fast Track" ticketing system, or perhaps a quieter period between 10 am and 11 so they can take part in using as many activities as possible. I had never really thought about it, but trying to get a child with Special Needs onto bouncy castles or dancing during shows can't be easy or safe when lots of boisterous and excited able bodied children can't be safe, so perhaps this is something to consider?

The Wall of Death which Littlest enjoyed was also the source of disappointment for others down to the stairs to the viewing platform- one suggestion was a screen inside for those less able to manage the stairs.

Others would also like more Disabled spaces available as these tend to be popular and snapped up quickly. This shows just how great it currently is for these festival fans, but can cause disappointment for those who miss out or create issues if they go anyway and then find the Hills (of Doom) on the site a bit tough going,

As usual, a popular gripe was the loos and showers, and lack of hand washing facilities for those using the loo.

Personally, I only queued a few times, and no one was jumping in and messing about so I was pretty happy with the loo quota, they were clean and well maintained. Frankly, loos at a festival are always going be iffy- its not your bathroom at home and why companies like "When Nature Calls" can and do charge £2 a time for a Posh pee!

Others felt there were even fewer loos than last year though, so perhaps a way of bringing more next year would keep everyone happy.

We'd also like to see some hot water stations for washing up after your camp cook out or having some water to wash your hands in after using the loos, as currently there was plentiful cold water but no hot, and nowhere to empty loo buckets either.

One thing I do agree with though is the showers.

Having 20 for several thousand people on the vast Normal camping sites is just not on. We were a good 15 minute walk from the showers we were able to use, and at one point we walked past at 1pm, they were on ticket number 452 and an extra 100+ people were still waiting.

I gave up in the end and used my water jug to pour over my head by my tent, but in the heat we had over the weekend I was dying for a proper shower but didn't want to spend 3 hours waiting. No one visits a Festival to queue for a wash afterall.

We do need more shower blocks next year at the bottom of the hill in Yellow. Others camping round the site, such as in the Camper park, have expressed the same wish.

One very helpful suggestion during bone of contention chats was a one way system out and into the Castle Field, as this can get quite blocked up at the end of acts. There has to be a happy medium with those using chairs and trolleys- most are sensible and park these near the middle or side, but not all, so a few folk have suggested zones for these. Other's would like the stewards to be more pro active over adults standing and blocking views for children during children's acts on the stages.

We also weren't all fans of the Cup Collecting. Camp B encourages the kids to collect cups and return them for 10p a cup, but this did lead to some kids "bin diving" for cups (not safe when there was glass around this year) or hovering round adults they did not know to pounce on their empty cup. I see what they are doing with the recycling angle, but sadly some parent's did use this as a means of sending their older child off whilst they drank in peace- obviously Camp B can't parent the parents, but perhaps the Stewards do need to tell the kids not to remove cups from the bin for their safety.

THE REST....

A part from a few requests for the Illuminations to return to the Castle during the Fireworks, some discussion of for and against the Headliners (some happy with Underworld closing, others suggesting their personal requests for next year), the feedback from others, and us, is a big thumbs up.

One thing you note at Camp B is the happy atmosphere, with no trouble to speak of in the crowds, happy to help staff and great acts and things for kids.

A suggestion for next year is having a scale on the Booklet next to the activities showing how expensive they are or what is free as one thing I love about the festival is the amount of budget or free activities there are mixed in with more expensive things for those with bigger wallets.

My two and their friend loved making Shadow Puppets, and found the ladies running the activity friendly and fun. They also loved the Bear Yo Yo bear and his stall too.

Like any event, you can't please all the people all the time, but this year there is a resounding consensus from regulars and first timers that they will be back next year, even sparking comments of wanted acts (Kate Bush, The Cure, Talking Heads and Depeche Mode being names in the mix) and themes (Under the Sea, Childhood Heroes, Space, and Greek Mythology amongst many others) popping up already.

We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, we saw a vast mix of acts we loved, acts we'd never heard of before, and new experiences like the Wall of Death (which Littlest is still telling everyone he can all about).

Camp Bestival are just so good, the best in fact, at catering for a massive range of ages, musical tastes and for the disabled camper too.

Sadly, the thefts this year will put a dampener on it for some, but I bet that those who run the festival will be aware of it, gutted, and will be seeing what they can do to stamp this out for next year.

If you want a friendly, happy and fun festival then Camp Bestival is a must for all.

Fancy it? Early Bird tickets go on sale from Friday at http://campbestival.net, and you can spread the cost soon with their weekly payment scheme (for around the same per week you spend on your take away coffee).

Were you there? What did you think? Comments are open :)

Interplay My Style Steampunk Design and Make Jewelry Set

2015-07-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

It's Mini's turn to review for you all today, and it's the first we'll be bringing you as Official Interplay Play Experts.

Mini loves anything art or craft based, however, my vacuum doesn't, as usually these sets end up frustrating my daughter and she leaves them to go all over her floor.

The first thing I was impressed by with the Steam Punk set was the handy little holder the bits and bobs came in. This meant once my child inevitably removed every single little bolt and hook from it's bag, it didn't just end up back in a box which would end up ruined in five minutes.

To be fair, when I first looked at the very comprehensive and easy to follow instruction booklet, plus all the tiny accessories needed to make earrings, bracelets and necklaces, I did think perhaps Mini would struggle.

It says a lot for the detail within the booklet that within 20 minutes of sitting down with the set, Mini (8) managed to make me a very nice set of earrings. It was so enjoyable for her that she didn't mind a bit that her ears aren't pierced so she couldn't wear them herself.

Another great feature of the set, and one which has driven me to distraction with other sets bought for my daughter before was that everything she needed to make a small amount of jewelry was there in the box. I have lost count of how many times I have purchased a great craft set only to find out you need to track down items to make it work, such as a big Loom Band set I bought her last year that was impossible for her age without a handy Loom Band rack thing which cost extra.

Considering the price, the tools and accessories inside were very good quality, with soft handled gripping tools and strong metal loops. I would think these will be used after all the jewels have been used up from the set as Mini has enjoyed making things herself independently. I would think for the price the amount of jewels- such as angel wings and keys were fine, although I think Mini would say she wanted more as she loved using them so much.

The set is also conscious of safety too, giving clear warnings of the contents being unsuitable for younger children down to the tiny little rivets and things inside, so this may not be the set for your family if you do have a small child at home who likes to explore by eating what they find on the floor!

For £20 (priced at Argos), this is a fun set that will not require you to sit with your child for three hours making all the set whilst they watch, half bored, I literally opened the box, and let Mini get on with it. There were no tears, no tantrums, and she's already talking of making more little jewelry pieces in the holidays and to wear for school discos.

If you love craft without fuss and extra outlay, My Style sets are great for tweens for practice more grown up craft that they can wear and have fun with.

We would definitely recommend this.

Chemist Direct Online

2015-07-17T04:05:00.001-07:00

The Lazy Girl is a big fan of online shopping so when Chemist Direct asked her to try a different way of buying her first aid and beauty must haves, she didn't hesitate. Does it make life simple? Read on...

I used to be worried by online shopping, after all, you can't test out the products, you have to hope you don't get a dodgy courier, the list goes on. However, more and more I've found bargains are easier to locate online and have made the switch.

Chemist Direct promote themselves as the UK's number one for online medication management for households in the UK, and stock many big name brands across a wide range of pharmaceutical categories. They are GPhc registered and launched in 2007.

I was given a £50 voucher code and told I could use it across the site bar prescription items, but they do stock a good variety of these. The voucher also tipped me over the free postage after £40 offer, and delivery for orders under £40 are £3.49.

The site itself is quite basic looking, it's not overly busy, it simply straight to the point, different tags and sections, and makes finding what they do stock very simple.

I didn't find much make up available- this is one of he main reasons I go to a Pharmacy if 'm not filling a prescription so would suggest they need to get more cosmetics online if they wish to up their customer quota. Currently they stock Vichy, which is quite a specialist brand and expensive, as well as a camouflage make up brand, which again isn't going to appeal to the majority.

I did manage to find L'Oreal CC Anti Dullness cream, but this was the same price as I find it in most stores offline. One L'Oreal foundation was listed- the Nude Magique, but only in Medium dark and it wasn't currently available to buy.

Moving on to more camping friendly with kids items, I picked up some anti bite, antiseptic wipes and Sanitizing gel handwash, but again these were not bargains and can be bought from a High Street budget store such as Savers for less.

They do stock a good range of hair products though, with brands such as Schwarzkopf, L'Oreal and Herbal Essences all available. They also stock hair dye but personally I think if I was to dye my hair a new shade I would rather look at the box in my hand than try and guess from on my laptop screen.

The write ups for products were good, giving a good amount of information to the buyer on what the item was used for and what it claims to do, so you can make your mind up on skin care and the like easily enough.

I then registered for an account, clicked through a simple check out and waited for my items.

This is where I feel Chemist Direct is at it's weakest.

Obviously, I'm not the only blogger asked to review for the brand, so when after 2 days my order was still processing, I asked around to find out how long others waited for delivery. The site does say 5 working days maximum, but other's told me the processing was swift and most had next day or two day deliveries via Hermes.

I used their easy to find online chat, and after giving my order number was told an item I had ordered- Herbal Essences dry shampoo- was out of stock and they were waiting for it to come in.

Now, it's good that they try and fulfill your complete order, of course, as it's so annoying when supermarkets substitute items or simply leave them unfulfilled. However, with Chemist Direct, I think they could easily swap like for like with something simple like dry shampoo.

I do think that an email would have been spot on, giving the option to cancel the item, wait for it, or swap it. To leave a customer's order processing- especially if I had of been using the site to purchase hair care and beauty alongside prescription items- without giving a reason why unless you go on chat and seek it out is a real issue which they need to look at sorting if they want customer's to stay loyal.

Once the item was removed from my order, the items appeared the next day, all as described and nothing broken as it was wrapped well.

Overall, this is a site which could be a Godsend to people like myself who constantly have to have prescriptions and who often buy other items at the pharmacy to save time. Currently though, a few things let the site down, the lack of cosmetics, the prices of most items and the lack of email if a item is unavailable, but sort those out and I think this could easily take on the big pharmacy chains with ease.

You can find Chemist Direct at their website online.