BRIO MY HOME TOWN LIGHT AND SOUND FIRETRUCK - REVIEW

Growing up with a big brother, it was inevitable that Erin would become fond of Elliot's toys at playtime. Of course she has her own big toy box full to the brim of age appropriate toys but right now, some of her favourite items include the plastic dinosaurs (of which we have many!) and the vehicles. She especially likes the "neenaws"! Fortunately Elliot has a big box full of vehicles so she is always sneaking off to Elliot's bedroom to have a rummage in his toys!

We were recently sent the Brio My Home Town Light and Sound Firetruck and as soon as it arrived, Erin was clamouring to open the packaging and play with it. In fact, she was so keen I didn't even get to take any photos of her opening it - bad blogger! ;)

Brio is one of those reliable brands where you know exactly what you are going to get. The toys are predominately wooden and always of a high quality - and they are the type of toys that never go out of fashion! Brio also guarantee that all their wood is from FSC certified sources - which basically means that all the wood they use is traceable and originates from responsibly managed forests.

The My Home Town range is a fantastic set, just perfect for sparking the imagination. Featuring farmers, policemen, camping sets, trains and much more, the figures let you try out different careers. The range is suitable for children 18+ which is great, so many toys are for 3+ and they are at that inbetween stage where they are growing out of the baby stage toys and not quite ready for the pre-school toys!

Our Light and Sound Firetruck is made of sturdy wood and plastic and features a working siren that is activated by a simple button on top. It comes with a fireman and fire lady - these are both wooden and have no moveable parts, these are perfect for little hands. There is a firehose which can be reeled in and out and the fire people can be popped into this. Lastly there is a removable ladder.

We were really impressed with the set and it has got a lot of play since it arrived. Erin loves pushing it around and turning the siren on, but Elliot has also enjoyed playing with it along with his other Brio vehicles.

I am sure this toy will continue to be a popular with Elliot and Erin and I'm pretty sure we will be adding to our Brio collection very soon!

The Brio My Home Town Light & Sound Firetruck is £24.99 and can be purchased from BRIO

Disclaimer: We received the product for the purpose of the honest review. All views are my own

Our Sunny Days - June 2018

I'm probably going to jinx the weather now by talking about the glorious sunshine....but wasn't June lovely!! I'm sure June is normally wet and dreary so it's been amazing to have so many sunny days in a row. We definitely feel like we're getting lots of wear out of our summer clothes! 

Beach Days

Living on the south coast, we have an abundance of beaches on our doorstep. I have to admit, I'm not really a lover of sitting on a beach in the boiling sunshine with hundreds of other people jostling for a spot but we have enjoyed finding some smaller beaches recently which are much nicer! 

Erin loves the beach - she loves nothing more than pottering around with a bucket and spade. She also loves a paddle too but she's a little monkey - on several occasions (like today for instance!) she has waded in fully clothed! 

We also have a really nice park where the above beach pic was taken and there is a massive paddling pool - needless to say the kids love going in there! 

Garden Fun

We treated the kids to some new garden toys and a cool new paddling pool so they have been having lots of fun outside. Last year I made the mistake of getting a giant paddling pool that took forever to blow up, and then forever to fill up so this year we scaled down and got something fun that they could both use! 

Elliot's a bit big (and heavy) for the little slide, but there's always a solution...

Erin didn't realise she was directly in the splash zone!

We have also been having lots of bbq's recently - and doesn't food taste so much nicer when you're sat outside in the sunshine! As part of his Father's Day presents, we gave my husband a set of personalised BBQ tools (from www.personallypresented.com) which he has been getting lots of use out of. One of the reasons I like BBQ's is the fact I don't have to cook so it was only right he had his own tools!

Days Out

A few weeks back we decided to book tickets for Paultons Park (home of Peppa Pig world!) as a treat for the children. Elliot loves it there but it was Erin's first time and she was so excited to see all the Peppa rides! It was such a hot day though, it genuinely felt like we were back in Florida at the theme parks. 

melting...

Paultons Park is great for children, there is so much to do and you could easily spend two days there. I love that different age groups are catered for - Elliot was in his element in the Lost Kingdom with all the dinosaur attractions, while Erin loved the smaller rides in Peppa Pig World. And they both loved cooling off in the amazing splash park! 

Days out don't have to be expensive though. We have recently started doing a bit of geocaching - if you've not heard of it, it's basically like a giant treasure hunt. There are geocaches hidden all over the world and you use an app to find them. It's a great way of getting children outdoors! 

We visited a place called Holten Lee which is literally a 5 minute drive from our house but there were lots of geocaches there to be found. It's a brilliant way to explore new areas too - we've never visited Holten Lee before, despite living so close but we had a lovely walk in the sunshine and I'm sure we will go back. 

I heard on the news that this weather is here to stay until September so I'm hoping and praying that's true. The Summer Holidays start in a couple of weeks and it would be amazing to have 6 weeks of sunshine! 

Just chilling....