Beth's bits and blog's reviews

Monday, 12 March 2012

We say 'Yezz' to a trip out on the bus to see the laser lights

We all know that the brand new Quinny Yezz was designed for the city life, small and light weight, ideal for taking on public transport and fitting into luggage compartments, or to carry on your back for those mad dashes. Find out how Freya and myself got on in a trip out on the bus...

We had been hearing from friends all about the beautiful rainbow laser lights that were lightening up the sky across the coast so we decided that for one night only my girls, Leah and Freya could stay up a little bit later than usual and we would take a trip out at night to see the laser lights event. Now normally we would all get in the car and take the easy way there, but i knew it would probably be quite busy and parking is quite restricted so what a good way to test out our new Quinny Yezz by travelling on public transport.. the good old bus. (well actually they are pretty new). After all this is what it's designed for right!

Wrapped up well, warm coats, hats and all, and making sure this time i had a well packed changing bag, certainly don't want to be forgetting nappies and wipes now. All ready to go, Freya comfy in her Yezz we headed up to the bus terminus, I just hope i had got the right time!

Sitting beside the Yezz before the bus moved

Now if Freya was a bit older I would have had the pushchair folded up ready, but she would be off like a shot so she's staying put until the bus actually pulls up. Luckily we left when we did as the bus arrived within about 5mins of getting there.
The bus drivers nearly always lower the ramp to allow you to push the pushchair straight on but knowing that at the next stop the bus will fill up fast, I folded the Yezz down before getting on. With the changing bag over my shoulder, Freya in my arms amazingly the Yezz was a doddle to fold with one hand and quick too.

No need to try and wheel it on I just picked it up using the large elasticated carry strap and popped it on my shoulder. Now you would think this would be pretty uncomfy and awkward wouldn't you and after all I'm carrying a toddler, change bag and a stroller but it really wasn't and it might sound quite weird but the Yezz actually sat comfortable over my shoulder on my back, I almost forgot it was there.

The Yezz in the small luggage compartment.

As the bus was quite empty to start with I kept the yezz folded up beside us (we had front seats) it's quite compact so takes up no space at all. Freya kept pointing at it the whole time I think she was making sure everyone knew exactly who it belonged too hehe! As we approached the next stop the queue appeared quite long, so now was the time to see if the Quinny Yezz could fit into the very small luggage compartment if you could even call it that. It certainly did!
As people boarded the bus I heard an elderly lady say to her friend "Is that a trolley in there?" I thought maybes it was in the way and she wanted to use the space, so I explained it was our pushchair and would she like me to move it. To which her reply was "Oh no pet, did you say it's a pushchair? my goodness haven't they came on over the years, it's very very small i can't believe it." Everyones heads turning towards the Yezz as they walked past and found a seat. I almost felt like i was on stage!
As our stop approached, i picked the Yezz up and popped it on my back again, it's great as it gives me a free hand to hold onto the bus handle and as Freya decided she wanted to walk that's where the Yezz remained until we met the crowds... it was rather busy so we strapped Freya back in. Leah could see the lasers ahead so it's handy that the Yezz is small and easy to manoeuvre, we could nip in and out of the groups of people to get a good spot.

Laser rainbow lights

The lasers were so bright and lit up the whole of the night sky, all beautiful rainbow colours, we picked up some candy floss and won a teddy too, who found a cosy little home for him in the back pocket of the Yezz.After a couple of hours we caught the bus home and as you can imagine the bus was really full, no room to pop the Yezz in the little storage compartment on the bus or stand by my side, so on my back it went, Freya on my opposite hip, my other hand on the railing bar holding tight. Now i remember a few years ago when Leah was a toddler and I had a normal umbrella light weight kind of stroller, theres no way I could have carried that on my back even though it did come with some sort of carry strap, although it was quite light it was pretty long though.
So I was thankful for times like this that i have such a compact light weight stroller that doesn't stress me out. Once off the bus Freya was quite sleepy, so with a push of a button and a push with my foot the Yezz is up in no time and its home we go after a lovely evening out.

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Amber Teething Necklace Review

After weeks and weeks of Freya suffering with her teeth, extremely bad nappy rash, sore gums, rosey red cheeks, i turned to the internet in search of a cure and found that many people seemed to recommend the amber teething necklaces/bracelets. I spoke to a friend who also has a little girl the same age as Freya and she also had an amber necklace for her daughter she had it from her being about 6 weeks old and she swore by them. I have to admit i was very sceptical as i just couldn't imagine amber beads doing any good, surely its just because it looks pretty! So i took the plunge and ordered the lovely cognac colour one from Amber pumpkin and was so surprised that it arrived within a couple of days. The amber beads are 100% Baltic amber and the beads are made from naturally round shaped pieces. The beads are all double knotted to ensure the necklace is strong and safe. The amber/plastic clasp has also been designed to release if excess force is applied.

Children/babies DO NOT chew on the amber, it is basically the warmth from the skin that releases the small amounts of soothing oil from the beads, as amber is a natural analgesic.

The necklaces are very lightweight so comfy for your little one to wear. They are also come in a range of colours/shades and at an affordable price too. Freya wasn't fazed by the necklace so i was pleased as i thought she might sit and pull at it, and although you are advised to remove the necklace at sleep times, i know some people wrap it around twice and pop it on babies ankle underneath their babygrow for safety but i have just left Freya's on her all the time, although i do remove it when we go swimming purely just because of the chlorine. She has worn the necklace for quite a few months now and within the first week or so of her wearing it i could see a difference, she stopped waking during the night and her nappy rash that was extremely bad settled down a lot.

I would definitely recommend the amber necklaces, and the few times Ive tried to take it off Freya she has wanted it straight back on again, and my oldest daughter who is 6yrs has asked if she could have one too, and as she suffers with earache quite often, we have now ordered a 'childs health amber necklace' for her which should be arriving within the next day or so. Oh and we decided we would get great-grandma an 'adult amber health bracelet' last Christmas to help ease her ailments.
Well worth trying them.
For more information visit http://www.amberpumpkin.com/

Monday, 5 March 2012

Please watch our Quinny Yezz video so we can be in with a chance to win

Quinny are currently running a fantastic 'QUINNY WALK YOUR WAY' competition, for a chance to win some great prizes, such as in ipad2, quinny yezz and a quinny bag.

We need as many views as possible to be in with a chance of winning so if you would like to help us please please view our Yezz video, just click on this link- http://www.quinnywalkyourway.com/GB/view.aspx?sid=6227912 that's all you have to do. It's free, no viruses or bugs don't worry, it's all legit with Quinny UK. Thankyou all :0)

thanks with love from Freya x

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Quinnycaster secret mission number 2 ~ Moodd walk your way video

The time has now come to share our Quinnycaster secret mission number two with you all, up to now we have had to keep it all a secret, but back in December just before Christmas we all received an email from Quinny HQ announcing our secret mission.

This is what the email read-

QUINNYCASTERS SECRET MISSION : QUINNY MOODD WALK YOUR WAY

It’s strictly dancing!

Quinny loves to dance and is a fan of the biggest celebrity dancing competition on the TV and can’t believe it all ends this weekend.

Never fear because Quinny has the answer to all your dancing dreams….

Be the star of your own show and whip-up a cerographical storm. Quinny brings to you the ‘Moodd Walk’ dance to celebrate the launch of it’s all singing all dancing new Quinny Moodd pushchair.

The ‘Moodd Walk’ is just that – a dance for whatever your mood may be.

As one of our beloved QuinnyCasters we require you for a secret mission. For this mission you will need some hips, an imagination, a video recorder and no shame!

To help you with this mission is a dance school from London. They put together a dance and some tutorial videos so you can learn the ‘Moodd Walk’ dance routine.

BUT QuinnyCaster we don’t want you to simply learn this dance and film yourself doing it…..no, no, no… Quinny wants to see some original moves and some smooth groves set to Quinny’s music*.

Use props, use children, use crazy make-up or get the neighbours round for a mash-up. Quinny is looking for something fun, exciting and original and Quinny knows the QuinnyCasters have got what it takes.

We were given a couple of weeks to complete this secret mission, but seeing that it was over Christmas and New year Quinny were very kind and extended the deadline until just after the New year. We had to get our thinking caps on for this one and it wasn't easy either.

I managed to rope in my mum and my brothers girlfriend Bekah in helping me out, as well as Leah my daughter who is 6yrs. Leah had already decided that she was going to be the Quinny Queen and was going to be the star of the show she stated! Well we spent a few nights practising the 'Moodd walk your way' tutorial video, and i have to say it wasn't easy as i have a memory like a sieve so kept forgetting the moves.

We decided that Bekah and myself would do the dance routine, my mum couldn't for the life of her remember the whole dance routine so she decided she would record it all instead, and of course we had Leah as our star the Quinny Queen. Leah was adamant she wanted to wear her princess dress and we came up with the idea of using face paints to create the Quinny logo onto Leah's cheek and applied a few extra touches to create that princess look.

So after a few attempts at recording and quite a few 'Cuts' later, we finally recorded our very own Quinny 'Moodd walk your way' video.

We hope you enjoy it, and for some reason as you will see the video has been cropped to half the size when i uploaded it, so I'm sorry we look a bit squashed in size.

Youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6tUiPoQsw&feature=g-upl&context=G25c4903AUAAAAAAAAAA

Sunday, 5 February 2012

The Quinny Yezz fits perfectly into my Ford Fiesta boot

For those of you that have use of a vehicle and would like to know roughly how much space the brand new Quinny Yezz would take up, well here is a quick picture to show you how much space it takes up in our small Ford Fiesta (07) boot. (please excuse the state of my boot we had just come back from a trip to the country park on a muddy day)

The Yezz is very compact and i now have room for extra shopping, unfortunately the yezz does not fit length ways it will only go in width ways as shown in the photo. But still it fits that's the main thing will plenty of room around it.

I have also included some close up pics to show the Yezz from various angles whilst folded and standing on it's own.

Side view

Front view

Rear view

My Buggy Buddy Clip Review

Black

The 'My buggy buddy' pushchair clip was sent to us from Mummy News on behalf of Kiddymania (free of charge). This black metal clip is designed to attach to the handle bar of your pushchair (for those pushchairs that don't have individual handles) The clip is made from metal with a foam covering to protect your handle bars from damage and to also allow the clip to grip.

The shape of the clip is designed so that it is smaller at the top part allowing the clip to be a firmer fit onto the bar and becoming wider towards the bottom to allow the clip to open and close easily, making room for all your bags. It has also been independently tested to give you that extra reassurance. I put the Buggy Buddy clip to the test on a few different pushchairs including a Quinny Buzz, Yezz and a Graco Symbio and it was a good fit on all.

Buggy Buddy do warn you not to overload your buggy as it may tip backwards. The amount of bags you attach will depend on the weight of the pushchair your planning to use. I have used plastic pram clips previously and even with quite a light bag i have found the clips to easily bend and fall off and it always ends up with me removing them as they just haven't worked for me. So i was eager to give the Buggy Buddy a good testing to see if it would meet my expectations, and bearing in mind my previous failed ones, my expectations were quite high!

To open the Buggy Buddy simply push the lever inwards and clip it onto your pushchair. To close just let go of the lever and it will spring back into place. It really is that easy to use.

Always make sure you remove your bags before you remove your child from the pushchair!
I haven't wanted to overload any of my pushchairs in case they do tip, but i have managed to fit comfortably three bags of shopping in carrier bags on the one buggy buddy clip. The clip could potentially hold more but you must be aware not to overload as tempting as this may be.
The clips are so strong and so easy and quick to use. I find it especially handy in the mornings for the school run to carry the likes of my daughters reading folder, packed lunch, gym bag etc. Definitely the best buggy clip i have used and i would recommend them to others who may be looking for something similar to this.

Pink

Buggy Buddy are donating money to 'Breast Cancer' charities and 'Help for heroes' for every pink and blue clips they sell. Available in Blue, Pink and Black and at a retail price of £5.99. These can be purchased online at-

http://www.kiddymania.co.uk/

http://www.buggybuddy.co.uk/

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

BuggyTug Review

We were kindly sent (free of charge) a BuggyTug from the lovely Di Mayze over on the BuggyTug facebook page to test and give an honest review on it. It arrived really swiftly via royal mail. I was quite eager to get it out of the pakaging and give it ago on our new light weight stroller that we are also testing & reviewing. As the pushchair is very light weight, 5kg to be exact.
I thought the BuggyTug would be ideal to use on the new stroller as it wheels away if you let go of it even for a second or two, it gives you peace of mind that in the event of anything happening when unexpected you have that reassurance that your pushchair won't leave your side.
The BuggyTug is very easy to use, you attach one end to your wrist and the other to your pushchair for that added safety. It is suitable for all single handle or bar pushchairs.

I expected it to be made from a more firmer material a bit like most walking reins you find in the shops, but i was suprised its actually soft and made of neoprene so just like the stretchy wetsuits you see divers in! The hand loop is comfortable to wear, i even kept forgetting that i had it on and it isn't too big that the loop could easily slip back over my hand and it wasn't to tight that it strangled my wrist, it sat just nicely and because of the stretchy fabric it was very easy to take back off again.You can see by the stitching thats its been very much well secured together, again nice reassurance that its not going to break free easily, it looks and feels nice and strong.
Should the strap ever become dirty or sticky or just needs a good clean it can be handwashed.

The rrp price for one of these BuggyTug's is £3.99 and can be purchased direct at http://www.buggytug.com/
or they an be purchased online at any of the following-

or at these stores

Nationwide

Kent

Herts & Essex

Windsor, Chiswick & Ealing

Daniel Stores

Surrey

Baby Boulevard

Devon

Glow Maternity & Baby

Wales

Beehive Babyland

Lancashire

Winstanleys Pram World

Northumberland

Little Dodo