Toy review: Big Waterplay Niagara ~ provides hours of fun for toddlers outside

I just had to write a review about this toy, simply because I think it's absolutely amazing....and my little girl most definitely agrees with this.

To describe it briefly it is a artificial canal system with a pump, dams and a water slide. Provided with it are boats and little people to go in them.

My sister gave it to Isla as a present late last year, but it had already gone quite chilly so we never actually got to unpack at the time. But then last weekend spring suddenly emerged in the UK and brought with it some gorgeous sunshine. My little darling wanted to play outside and discovered the box in the shed just as I was about to do some gardening. Needless to say gardening got postponed as I just 'had to' get this set up for her.

If you decide to buy it be warned that it is rather bulky, so you need a good amount of outside space to set it up. Ideally this area needs to be level in order to use the water play set properly. Setting it up took a little while to figure out - instructions were very limited on a tiny leaflet - and took a considerable amount of time ~ 1 hour. Once the toy is set up it is very sturdy and feels well made. It takes time to pull apart again so I would suggest to store it somewhere set up rather than taking it apart each time it is used. Fortunately we have a shed so it now lives in there and we just get it out as needed.

The toy is marked for age group 3+. My daughter is 2 years 10 months and I can say even though she is quite advanced she cannot yet make the most of all the features that toy has. Despite that she still had a lot of fun with the boats and spent a long time floating them around and doing pretend play. I do know though that she will still get a lot of use out of it in years to come.

It is definitely worth the amount spent on it considering the playtime that you get out of it. Big Waterplay Niagara is available through amazon and some other retailers for around £45 - £50.

I'm joining the bloglovin network

I love keeping up to date with all my favourite blogs via bloglovin, so I decided to add my own blog as well. I'm very hopeful and excited to connect with some lovely people.


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We like doing some dressing up...

Isla loves putting on a mix of my bracelets & necklaces and my dresses. The result is usually funny and I think pretty creative. I have never bought any dressing up clothes. I think it's far more fun to work with what you already have available at home, not to mention a lot cheaper. Excuse the mess in the background. With a toddler in the house it never stays tidy for very long.

So here my little darling has attempted to dress up like a princess. She has some really stunning dresses herself but of course when mummy's dresses can be worn that's far more fun for her.

just wanted to share....

I stumbled across a blog by a lovely girl called Jessica who has given me lots of inspiration to continue with my blogging. Our blogging subjects couldn't be different but I'm a girly girl at heart and love to dress up and put on some gorgeous make-up.

So Jessica is hosting a giveaway for some gorgeous make-up as it's her blog's first birthday. I really hope I will make it that far.
Head over to her blog to take a look:
http://ohsogawjess.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/happy-1st-birthday-giveaway.html

Dealing with unwanted advice or criticism on parenting

So every mum knows we get this all the time... from the moment you announce your positive pregnancy test there's no getting away from the unwanted advice and criticism. Among mums there is often an unspoken competitiveness and the older generation feels that they know best and need to tell you how it's done.

Of course I add that not everyone is like this, but it's pretty much unheard of to escape from it altogether.

My tips are:

• if it's about nothing important and you want to keep the peace then just let it go, say nothing
• listen to advice and nod, but then do what you feel is best
• be openminded- yes, it's easy to get mad and annoyed when the advice hasn't been asked for but I often find in the light of day there might be something to take away from what the other person has said.
• if it's something you feel strongly about then be polite but firm and tell the other person that you are dealing with the situation how you feel best. Don't get into a debate if possible but stand your ground.
• Don't let others make you feel inferior. I've experienced my fair share of this and cried over criticism over my parenting. It seems silly looking back but at the time it's so hard.
• be confident with your parenting choices - research if necessary so if your choices are questioned you feel happy with how you do things.
• Try to stay away from criticising other mums...after all you know first hand how hard this parenting lark is :-)

I had a very upsetting situation not that long ago where the way I dealt with one of Isla's tantrums was criticised in front of her by her grandparents.I was made to feel as though I don't care that she's upset and am a heartless mum. It was tough but I had to have a break from visiting them for a week and then I went over and spoke to them about how they had made me feel. in this situation I gave reasons for how I parented and me needing to be consistent. It was a long discussion but we got there in the end and I made clear it's not ok to undermine me in front of my daughter. Phew!! Just showing really how important communication was in that instance, and how it stopped further issues like that.

Fun in the snow

I know I'm a bit late as our snow is now all but disappeared but we just had the best time ever last weekend and I wanted to share a couple of pics of our pretty amazing snowman.  Isla has seen a bit of snow before but this was the thickest snow for a few years so I would still call this her first time in the snow & her very first snowman....with a little help of mummy.

So new to this.....

I'm a 30 year old mummy to my 2.5 year old little girl Isla. We have lots of fun and adventures together. I thought a blog might be a nice way to share some of our adventures.

As the title suggests my little princess is totally in love with everything pink, glitter, sparkles & princesses. We do lots of art and crafts together and also pretend play. I just adore this age though many would say we're currently experiencing the 'terrible two's'... I just tend to call my little darling strong willed and opinionated, haha. She can have terrific meltdowns...more about this on a separate post.

So this whole mummyhood business often seems like an experiment to me....I feel like I'm blagging my way through it all one way or another. I've learnt a lot in the past 2 years though, some of it with tears and a lot with laughter. the main thing is to never forget to laugh about yourself at the end of a bad day.