Posted by bassgiraffe in children, giveaway, kids, review, Toys | 98 Comments
NEW Raggedy Ann doll from Aurora World Inc.- review & giveaway
My Thoughts-
Growing up I had a special Raggedy Ann doll that was given to me by one of my mom’s relatives. I got this when I was a baby and remember many house playing with her and cuddling with her. When I heard that Aurora was coming out with the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls I was so excited. I now can share a memory with my daughter and let her start new memories with her own doll.
When I opened up the box the doll was in I became overwhelmed with a flood of emotions. She looked almost exactly like my doll and the happy memories from my childhood kept coming back. I took the doll out and started hugging her and remembering. I love that they didn’t change the look of the doll from what I remembered as a kid. I really couldn’t wait to give her to Lee and see what she thought.
As I knew she would, Lee was ecstatic to see this doll. I then sat her down and shared with her as many memories as I could about the doll I had growing up. She told me she hoped to have a lot of memories with her doll so she can share them with her kids when they grow up too.
As with all Aurora products I wasn’t disappointed. Amazing quality, great detail and totally cute. Did any of you have a Raggedy Ann or Andy doll growing up? Don’t you think it’s great to be passing them down to the next generation and share our memories with them?
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Posted by bassgiraffe in Canada, children, giveaway, kids, review, Toys | 24 Comments
Modular Construction Toy, 3D Race Track Kit review & giveaway
Chris’ Thoughts-
As I sat down to watch the last few moments of this years summer Olympics I decided to start getting everything prepared ahead of time for my kids to start playing with this cool looking toy (Modular Construction Toy, 3D Race Track Kit). I spread everything out to make sure I had everything then started taking everything out of the separate little bags. I tried to find instructions as to what decals went on what pieces, but couldn’t find anything, but soon found it to be pretty straight forward and was able to use the outside of the box as a reference as well. I was very glad I started doing the decals while the kids were taking a nap as I know our youngest wouldn’t have had the patience to wait for me to get them all on. I figure it probably took me a good 20-30 minutes to get all the stickers put on.
Once I had the stickers on and the cars put together I started putting together track that was included in the instructions. I found the instructions very easy to follow and the pieces went together easily yet firmly. They have a very unique locking system that helps keep the pieces together very well and the plastic for the track was also not too soft or flimsy.
Soon after I put it together my youngest woke up and she really enjoyed pushing the cars around the track and investigating and discovering all the little details like the stop lights, gas pump, flags, police man and stop arms that can go up and down. The whole set is full of colours which make it great too look at and help add a sense of learning to play for our youngest. She loved to switch back and forth between the blue and red cars.
After my oldest woke up and played for a while, we decided to try a different configuration. Unfortunately, only one set of instructions was provided, but the box shows three different ways that it can be setup (they say there are over 10,000 possible configurations, but it would have been helpful to have at least a few more instructions to kick-start our imaginations). It took a little extra time, but we were able to replicate one of the designs on the box and they had fun playing with it that way as well.
I would definitely recommend Modular Construction Toy, 3D Race Track Kit (the the other kits) for boys or girls of a wide range of ages. It is well built and even though our youngest may have pushed a little hard and some pieces slightly separated, it was easy to just click it back in and keep playing. We also love that the box doubles as a carrying case to keep the pieces together and out of the way when not being played with. I’m sure we will see hours of fun both playing and creating new and exciting configurations.
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Posted by bassgiraffe in kids, review, Toys | 0 Comments
Little Miss Muffin- toy review
My Thoughts-
I have Little Miss Muffin. There are 9 other Little Miss Muffin dolls pictured on the box with names like Little Miss Blueberry, Cherrie, Chip, Pumpkin, Coconut, Cinnamon, Sugar, Vanilla, and Plum.
As the pictures show, she starts out all scrunched up inside what looks like a paper muffin cup (made of plastic). If you pull her up out of the cup, she’s sitting in it, then you turn the muffin cup inside out and all you see is Little Miss Muffin.
It’s cute enough, but reminds me a lot of Strawberry Shortcake dolls. The worst part is that it doesn’t have much of a smell. The cup itself has a very faint cupcake smell, but the doll doesn’t at all. Other than flipping her inside out and back again, I don’t know what a little girl would do with them. I guess collecting all 10 and lining them up to play imaginary games like girls do with any doll.
My doll measures 9 inches fully opened. There are 17-inch dolls and dual packs available also. I know my girls would love to collect them all.
They aren’t expensive compared to a lot of products out there, so I would recommend them for gifts or stocking stuffers.
Product Description
There’s nothin’ like luvin’ a Little Miss Muffin!™ Who’s that peeking? Who could it be? A little Miss Muffin seeing me. Pop out her hands and feet and flip her magical muffin cup for a special treat. All the muffin friends have their own muffin fresh scents and are wonderful Pop-n-Flip™ fun! Collect Little Miss Muffin and all her sweet muffin friends!
Manufactured for and distributed by Jay at Play Int’l HK Ltd., a subsidiary of Jay Franco & Sons Inc., New York City. Made in China. Recommended for ages 3-5.
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* Disclosure: I received a Villeroy & Boch platter and a Little Miss Muffin doll for posting about the Food Blogger Bake Sale, in support of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Posted by bassgiraffe in children, kids, review, Toys | 0 Comments
GUND Girls- Deedee doll review
My Thoughts-
New GUND Girls
Meet Deedee
*She loves traveling and having adventures with her friends!
*Her favorite color is violet like her eyes!
I love the idea of these dolls. They each have their own personality and allow you to pick out the one perfect for your little girl. Lee, my 6 year old absolutely LOVES her DeeDee Gund Girl. The minute she say her should couldn’t wait to get to play with it. She acted like it was killing her to wait till I was ready to review it with her, lol.
Each GUND Girl is 17″ long, has removable outfits- for playing dress-up and is really soft. When I asked Lee why she loved the doll so much she said the following, “She’s sooooo pretty, I love her hair, her dress is really soft. plus she is wearing my favorite color, Purple.”
Since getting the doll Lee has taken her everywhere and even sleeps with her. She is even planning on taking her on vacation with us. Which is perfect since DeeDee “loves to travel”.
Lee LOVES her and wants to get more of her friends, at least she want to get one for her younger sister so they can play together with them.
I think they are a great doll. Great quality, totally cute and fun for the kids.
There is also-
Emma who loves dance parties, painting and anything with stripes!
Sloan who loves hanging out on the beach and her style is hippie California chic.
Brooklyn who is a big city girl, her style is super girly and she loves to shop.
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* Disclaimer / Disclosure: I received a free sample to facilitate my review. This post reflects my honest, personal opinion and experience with the product which may differ from yours. Product information courtesy of the sponsor. No monetary compensation was provided for this post.
Posted by bassgiraffe in kids, review, Toys | 0 Comments
O.O.T.W. Girls- toy review
My Thoughts-
I was so excited to get the chance to review a new toy from Blip Toys, makers of Squinkies, called O.O.T.W. Girls. (Out of This World) totally trendy and cute. My oldest LOVES Squinkies and I knew the O.O.T.W. toys would be a huge hit too!
We were given Astra, she lights up and plays two different O.O.T.W. songs. When you push the button the music reminds me of someone going to space in a 70′s type movie. Her hair lights up and does two different patterns too. I also want to mention her arms can be moved up and down my your kid. My kids like to make her look like she’s dancing to the music.
Something unique about the O.O.T.W. toy is it has a QR code on the box. When you scan it you get taken to a link that takes you on a virtual tour of the dolls and the world they come from. Right now there isn’t much on the site from this link but the toys hasn’t even hit stores as of me writing this review and I’m sure way more will be added.
There are five dolls, two pets and a couple of play-sets so far for this toy. I know both of my girls want the whole collection and I;m sure it will be on their Christmas list this year. They LOVE the Astra and like to pretend to make her fly around the house while her music is playing.
My only complaint for this toy is there is no off switch. My youngest loves to push and push and push the button all day long. I would love to be able to turn it off for a bit while she plays (although knowing her, she’d figure out how to turn it off and on and drive me nuts that way, lol)
Besides the sound I really love this doll. It may only light up and play music but I love that it allows for them to use their imagination as to what the doll can do and is doing.
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* Disclaimer / Disclosure: I received a free sample to facilitate my review. This post reflects my honest, personal opinion and experience with the product which may differ from yours. Product information courtesy of the sponsor. No monetary compensation was provided for this post.
Posted by bassgiraffe in Canada, children, family, fitness, giveaway, kids, review | 22 Comments
Stop-it! (The Driveway Net) review & giveaway
My Thoughts-
When it came to my kids playing in the driveway, whether it be coloring with chalk or playing with balls, I was always worried about them running into the road (when I’d turn my head for a second), their toy going into the street and they chase after it or a car coming into our driveway and not seeing our kids. We used bright orange cones to help as much as they could. We’d tell the girls they couldn’t pass them and we also hoped drivers would see the cones and not turn in our driveway. The problem was it was too easy for the kids to just run right past them and toys still would roll through them, and when there was wind the cones would slide across the driveway. My solution didn’t work well and I needed something better, safer.
When I found a company named Stop-it! I couldn’t wait to try them out. It’s a retractable driveway net. The net came in a nice handy carrying case for easy storage and for when visiting other homes. The directions were simple to follow. My one suggestion to everyone is to pre-drill holes in the ground before trying to install. Our ground was too hard to push the net pegs in. Once the holes were drilled it was much easier to install. I want to note that our driveway is a bit higher than the ground so our net went up a bit crooked, but it worked perfectly fine for us.
Once the net was set up on our driveway we put our kids to the test. They had a ton of fun rolling different balls down the driveway and seeing if they would stay. Plus they spent the rest of the afternoon coloring on the ground. The net does not replace parent supervision but it did help me not worry so much. I knew if I looked away for a few seconds I didn’t have to worry as much about one of the kids running down the driveway right away. I still kept a close eye on them, as should all parents. I also love that the net has a bright red top and bottom, this will hopefully help cars see it and keep them from hitting my children when using my driveway to turn around or to come visit.
The net was easy to roll up and take down too. Overall we are really impressed with the Stop-it! driveway net. I know I will be recommending this to all my friends and family. It’s an amazing invention, I love it, my kids love it and I know we will be using it all Summer.
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