Character.Com REVIEW

A while ago Eliot was sent some goodies from character.com which like the name suggests, sell products featuring characters. All that appear in TV, film, etc.. From Frozen to Batman to Peppa Pig, there's a whole array of characters and products to choose from. Not only for kids, they also have items for us grown ups aswell!
 

The first thing Eliot received in his Parcel was a George pig trainer bag, this one is no longer on the site but there are a few George Pig options to choose from!

 This came at just the right time as Eliot had just started pre-school and I wanted a suitable bag for all the paraphernalia that has to go with him. It fits his change of clothes, nappies and wipes, suncream and drink bottle no problems. The bag is strong and does the job I want it to. The only niggle I have with it is the Velcro tabs that connect the straps together, they can come undone quite easily but saying that it hasn't been an issue really.
 Eliot loves the fact it's a George Pig bag, when I first opened the package his face was beaming! 

Next we were sent some Thomas The Tank Engine pyjamas, anything with any form of transport is a winner with Eliot!

Unfortunately, as you can see Eliot did not manage to keep still when I was taking the photos! We were sent them in age 2-3 years. They fitted Eliot fine and still just fit him now, he's actually wearing them as I write this! If I was ordering another pair of pyjamas though, I would go for the next size up, so Eliot could get more wear out of them. He is tall and well built for his age but I do find some clothes aged 2-3 fit him with room to grow. 

After being worn plenty of  times, they have also been thorough many washes and some tumble drys. Despite this, they are still in good condition which I'm impressed with.

 

I definitely recommend checking character.com out, especially if you're after some birthday or (dare I say it?!) Christmas gifts. You can find them on Twitter or Facebook as well as the website.

 

*I was sent the products in return for a review. All opinions are my own.

Halloween & Christmas Bits

I thought I'd do a quick share of some bits I picked up for Halloween and Christmas, mostly from Poundland. I do love Poundland for a book bargain, last week they had most of the well known 'Large Family' books by Jill Murphy which were an absolute steal at a quid! They also had a few different hardback Halloween and Christmas books which my mum and I both bought for Eliot.

For Halloween...
Trick or Treat and Haunted House Books both have appealed to Eliot, although I haven't read them with him yet!
I bought the cake mix in Lidl for around £1.50, I thought it would be nice to make some Halloween sweet treats! Eliot also has a skeleton outfit from Asda which he will be wearing to really get into the spirit of things.

For Christmas...
I bought a Peppa Pig calendar for Eliot as he is a bit of a fan at the moment, I'm sure he will love getting a chocolate from it everyday.
The Santa's Workshop book looked adorable, I had to get it to add to Eliot's festive book collection.
They also have personalised 'Santa Stop Here' door hangers with lots of names available. Not Eliot's hence the 'Special Boy' one I picked up! Even if they did have his name, I'm pretty certain it would be spelt differently.

I thought all the bits from the Poundland were great for a pound, you can get some great buys there!

 

Have you bought any Halloween/Christmas bits?

Our Autumn Break & Peppa Pig World

Last week we went on a little holiday to Dorset with my parents. The OH couldn't get down until Wednesday due to work but myself and Eliot enjoyed the whole five days! The break was actually booked through The Sun's £9.50 holidays deal after my parents collected tokens and kindly treated us to a little break. You had to pay extra for entertainment passes and for electricity but overall it was a pretty good deal. If you're able to get away during term time there are some fantastic places to choose from on the deal.

We stayed at Parkdean Sanford a caravan park with a good range of facilities. We arrived around 5pm, checked in and drove round to our caravan, which was a luxury one much to our surprise. Everywhere was immaculate, it had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, even a washing machine! It was just perfect for a little break away with all the home comforts which I personally think you need when you have a baby especially if you are sterilising bottles.

 Once we'd  unpacked we headed for a nosey around the main building, Eliot was quite taken by Lizzies Limo ride in the arcade, particularly spinning the wheel! We checked out the restaurant and as it was getting late for Eliot, we decided to eat there. The menu was varied but in our opinion was overpriced. We weren't overwhelmed with the food, particularly my mum. After that we went into the main hall to see Sid and Lizzie (the Parkdean characters) say goodnight before I took Eliot back to the caravan for bed.

 Eliot slept through every night which was lovely and enjoyed having his breakfast watching Peppa Pig on channel 5.

Once we were all ready we went into Poole for the day, had a wander round the quay and shops. My mum and I also enjoyed clotted cream scones, a must when your away by the sea!

Before leaving Parkdean for the day on Tuesday and Wednesday Eliot had lots of fun in the Crazy Caves (soft play) and it was amazing only sharing with one other baby, one time and then having it all to ourselves!

 

On Wednesday we went to Swanage and had stroll by the sea, fed seagulls and I repeatedly failed at winning anything out of the teddy grabber machines! The OH arrived in the afternoon.

Thursday was my favourite day, I was super excited to be taking Eliot to Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park, as he has recently become a bit of a Peppa Pig fan! Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side and it rained on and off the whole day but we still had lots of fun. It also meant the park wasn't that busy and we hardly had to queue for the rides.

Entry is free for little ones under one meter so we didn't need to buy a ticket for Eliot. Eliot was able to go on all of the rides in Peppa Pig World apart from one as he wasn't quite tall enough.
There is also a large indoor play area which has different sections for different ages. It was simply fab, by far the best ever soft play area I've stepped into!

We also visited Peppa's house which was pretty cute but a little disappointing on the inside, it would have been nice if they'd made it bigger. Still all the kids were excited and that's the main thing.

 We then had a wander around the rest of the park and found a bouncy castle and trampoline area undercover that Eliot had a bit of play in. The OH and I also had a go on some of the 'older' rides whilst my mum looked after Eliot. We wandered back to Peppa Pig World through the gardens and had a look at some of the birds at a nice leisurely pace.

We arrived back in Peppa Pig World just in time for the last few rides, flying a helicopter, driving a car and sailing in Grandad Pigs boat.

 This was Eliot's favourite ride, he threw tantrums when it had finished on previous go's. Luckily he didn't make a fuss on his final turn!

Wanting to drive again!

I would definitely book a holiday with Parkdean in the future as I was impressed with the facilities and caravan we stayed in. There's no doubt we will be back to Peppa Pig World in the future too as it's brilliant for tots!

Here's a little video of our hol, including a caravan nose and Peppa Pig World!

Have you visited Peppa Pig World/Stayed with Parkdean?

 

Disclaimer-I was not asked to write about Parkdean or Peppa Pig World, all views are my own.