Review: Walkers Hoops & Crosses

Last week we came back from our weekend away to find a red card from the postman informing us they have tried to deliver a parcel.  When I got the chance to get down the sorting office, I was very excited to find a very interesting looking package.  I couldn't wait to open it up and was surprised to find this cheeky little monkey looking after a packet of Walkers Hoops and Crosses. 

Each bag of Hoops and Crosses only has 85 calories, making them good for those watching their weight and if your worried about feeding your child crisps, you can be assured that they are made from wholegrains and don't contain any artificial colours or preservatives.

I had planned on sharing the packet of crisps around the family, but Noah claimed them as his own as soon as he saw them!  Luckily, I did manage to steal a couple from him so that I could have a taste as well!  I'm not normally a fan of Roast Beef flavoured crisps, but the flavouring of these were not too strong, so I quite enjoyed them.  If I had them in a different flavour I'm sure I would love them even more.

Hoops & Crosses currently come in three flavours, Roast Beef, Prawn Cocktail and Salt & Vinegar.  All of the flavours are suitable for vegetarians.  I'm a fan of Salt & Vinegar and Prawn Cocktail crisps, but Aled is more of a Cheese/Cheese & Onion boy. 

I thought that the packaging is probably aimed more towards kids, but it's not so babyish that it would stop me from having them in my own lunch box, although at the age of 14, I think PJ would prefer more 'grown up' crisps in his.  Noah would have no fuss with these for his lunch or as a snack, but I do think the flavour options would put Aled off at the moment.  I may have to purchase a bag of the other flavours to see what his opinion of them would be.

All in all, I was pretty happy with these crisps and I would buy them again, although I would like to see more of a variety of flavours available.

Jackie. x

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but the views and opinions are my own.

Product Review - Littlelife DriStore Daysacks

Inspecting the bag

We were sent a Littlelife DriStore Daysack to write up a review for The Baby Website.  I didn't tell the boys that it was coming, but when it arrived, Noah was home.  I let him help me to open the box and he was really excited to see the 'shark' bag inside.  According to the packaging and the Littlelife website, it is supposed to be a dolphin and when I suggested this to Noah he told me 'no, it's a shark mummy'!  I guess that's me told!

This is what Littlelife have to say about the bag:

Children can take an orca, crocodile or dolphin swimming with these new and practical water-resistant daysacks. They have a spacious 5 litre main compartment to store kit and towels and a secret coin pocket for after-swim snacks. These new bags are a must for trips to the pool or beach. 

Dristore Daysack Features

• Water-resistant 5 litre main compartment

• Adjustable shoulder straps with chest strap

• Compatible with Daysack Rein

• Secret coin pocket

• Internal name and address label

• Top grab handle

Technical Specification

• Weight: 185g

• Capacity: 5 litres

• Dimensions: 17x14x30cm

• Suitable for Ages: 4+ years

Full change of clothes
and raincoat

I must admit, the bag looked much smaller than I was expecting.  Compared to Noah's usual school bag, it looks tiny.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find that actually, the bag could hold quite a bit.  The body of the bag kind of puffs out as it were, so you are able to fit more in.  We managed to get a full change of clothes plus a raincoat in ours, with room for more.

As it says in the information above, the bag is water resistant and on our first trip back from school with the bag, we ended up getting caught in the rain.  I can confirm that the clothes inside did stay nice and dry.  We've not yet gone swimming or had wet clothes inside the bag, but as the bag has a water resistant lining, I would be happy to have wet clothes in there.


The bag does have a chest strap, which I think is a pretty standard design of the Littlelife bags, but Noah was able to undo his pretty quickly.  The bag also have a loop for the Littlelife Daysack Reins to be attached to (not included), however, I felt that if I was to use the bag with the reins, I wouldn't feel very confident with them as my son would be able to undo the chest strap and take the bag off very easily.

All in all, the daysack has been a huge hit with Noah and when I asked him if Aled could have it, he flat out refused.  The design is very cute and it looks well made.  I don't think that I personally would pay the £20-£25 that it retails for, but I also don't think that the price range is that unreasonable.

Jackie. x

Disclaimer: We were sent this bag for the purpose of our review on The Baby Website, but all views are my own and written honestly.

Toy Review - Vtech Innotab

*I am writing this review as part of my application to be a Toyologist for Toys R Us.  It is also a post that I have been meaning to do for a while.*

You may remember that back in May it was Aled's 4th birthday.  For his main present we got him a Vtech Innotab.  This has been one of the best presents we have ever got any of our children!  Aled was always playing on our iPhones and iPads and we wanted them back!  For Christmas we had bought Aled a second hand Vtech Smile Cyber Pocket, however he didn't really take to it, so although the Innotab looked great, we weren't entirely sure whether he would accept it as a suitable substitute for the iPad.

"InnoTab is a multi-media educational tablet for children 4-9 that combines interactive and animated reading, learning games, creative activities and a rich collection of applications. It features a 5” colour touch screen, a tilt-sensor for game control, as well as interfaces for USB, SD card and a headphone jack, all housed in a sleek, kid-tough and compact design for easy portability." (from the Vtech website).

Before purchasing the Innotab, I did do quite a bit of web research as to whether it was any better to the Leapfrog's Leappad.  Both had their pluses and minuses, but after watching a couple of You Tube comparisons I settled on the Innotab.  I felt that the fluid movement of the touchscreen and ability to add an SD card far outweighed the camera and positives of the Leappad.

One of the first things that you will notice on opening the box is the Learning Lodge Navigator installer cd.  This is a great bit of software on which you can monitor your child's progress on your laptop.  You can also download games or ebooks in the download centre here.  When you register your Innotab to the software you get 3 credits, meaning that you get 3 free games or ebooks for your Innotab.  There is a good selection of games on there, but I do hope that even with the release of the Innotab 2 Vtech do release more for the original Innotab.

The Innotab is very robust and has taken a bit of a bashing from my boys, but is still intact and not even a scratch on the screen.

Aled has the Toy Story 3 games cartridge, which at approximately £20-£25 each are quite reasonably priced.  Aled loves to play the games on here, which have different level abilities.  Sometimes he chooses a level above his ability, on which either myself or hubby have to help out with, but on the whole he is able to play the game by himself with no help from us.

Aled is able to easily navigate the menu and find what he wants to play with.  As of yet we haven't tried out the function to play videos or music, so I can't comment on that ability.

With every great item, there are always downsides.  This is no exception with the Innotab.  The first thing to have gone missing from the Innotab is of course the stylus.  Anyone who has ever owned a Nintendo DS will know just how annoying it is to loose one.  Luckily the Innotab doesn't need the stylus as it does respond well to finger touch.

Next, the slide out plastic stand on the back came off within a few weeks.  I don't know if this is due to the 'rough and tumble' way that my boys play with their toys, or if it is just a flaw in the design, but the stand didn't last very long with my boys.  The clip part of the battery cover also broke off very quickly, which again, it could be from the boys playing with it too roughly or the fact that we have to change the batteries quite often, but our battery cover is now stuck on with tape!

That brings me onto the biggest downside of the Innotab, the battery life!  It takes 4 AA batteries and they only last about 3-4 hours of play.  We have invested in some rechargeable batteries, which has made a great deal of difference.  I would dread to think of the cost if we hadn't.  It would be nice if it had a rechargeable internal battery like a mobile phone.

All in all, the Innotab has been a huge hit in our house with both Aled and Noah.  So much so, that we have bought another one for Noah for his birthday in a couple of weeks (shh, don't tell him!).

Jackie. x