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We were sent the toys featured in this post in return for posting about the Paw Patrol Little Heroes Paw Awards 2019. This post also contains affiliate links.

Is there a little hero in your life between the ages of 3 and 10 that you feel deserves a little recognition? You might just want to consider nominating them for this year’s Paw Patrol Little Heroes Paw Awards and help them to shine with the help of their favourite pups!

This is the second year that the awards are running and there are eight different awards that can be won! The winners are chosen by a panel of judges and will be invited to attend a Luxury VIP Weekend in London to attend the awards ceremony on Saturday October 12th.

The awards are taking place at the Park Plaza Westminster Bride in London and the winners will be staying in a family Studio from the Friday until the Sunday with breakfast included as well as £200 spending money. Each winner also receives an award keepsake and a bundle of the latest Paw Patrol toys!

If you have someone in mind that you’d like to nominate, you can enter the Awards by visiting www.PAWAwards.co.uk and sharing why this little one deserves to be one of the PAW Patrol Little Heroes of 2019. If you are nominating someone else’s child, you need to seek permission of the child’s parent first.

So what awards can you nominate for?

– The Rubble Award for Strength

Whether physical or emotional, do you know a little one who has shown unusual strength? They may have been brave, tough or strong. We’d love to know what they did and how proud you are of them!

– The Skye Award for Courage

Has a little one you know shown outstanding courage. Did they face their fears or help others through a courageous act? Please tell us what happened and why they deserve this award!

– The Marshall Award for Loyalty

Sometimes, loyalty is tested and it’s not easy to do the right thing by others! It might mean missing out yourself or upsetting another. But if you know a little one has shown remarkable loyalty or willingness, do let us know.

– The Rocky Award for Making a Difference

Has a little one helped the community? Have they taught you a thing or two about saving the planet or shown inspiration, or wisdom or come up with a brilliant idea? Tell us why your little patroller is a shining star!

– The Chase Award for Leadership

Has your little one proven a responsible leader? Was there a time when they unexpectedly stepped up to the mark to lead, shown confidence, maturity or set a great example? Whether at school or at home, we’d love to hear!

– The Everest Award for Kindness and Friendship

Has your little one helped or supported a friend or family member in need or just been incredibly kind to others? Tell us how they have been a great friend or about their generosity and kind heart.

– The Zuma Award for Being Helpful

Everyone needs a little help at times and sometimes often and kids are not always first to offer – but if you have a special little assistant in your life then please share what makes them your helpful hero!

– The Ryder Award for Kindness to Animals

Do you know a child who is a hero who shows kindness above and beyond to the animal kingdom? Tell us how this child is a friend to pets or animals whatever their shape, size or wherever they live!

The Toys We Received

We were very kindly sent some of the brand new toys from the Paw Patrol range – the Paw Patrol Ultimate Construction Truck {affiliate link} and the Marshall’s Ride n Rescue {affiliate link}.

The construction truck is quite impressive. It comes with a movable front scoop, a wrecking ball, a mini vehicle and flashing lights and sounds. Suitable for ages three and up, it comes with Rubble and can be combined with the Ultimate Rescue mini vehicles in the range. Something the little ones will love is the fact that the truck also plays the Paw Patrol theme song! This truck retails at £33.99 which is a great price for an item of this size and what comes with it.

The Ride n Rescue comes with either Marshall or Chase – we received Marshall which is great as he’s the kids favourite pup 0f all! This is a fantastic toy – it transforms from a truck to a playset which the kids absolutely adored. You can open it up to an adventure straight out of Adventure Bay! Marshall can climb the ladder to put out the fire on the barn and save Chickaletta (the figure for which is included). There’s also Teddy the bear figure included too! There’s even a launcher to load, aim and fire water to put out the fire. This is also for ages three and up and retails at £24.99

These toys are a fantastic addition to the range – we’ve got a number of Paw Patrol toys in our house and these have been well played with already!

Will you be nominating someone for the award?

In Books

My 2019 Reading Challenge | Books 16-20

Rebecca Smith7 Comments

I was sent some of the books via Netgalley for free for the purpose of review. This post contains affiliate links.

It’s time for another reading round up and I am here today with books 16 to 20. You can read my other posts here: Books 1-5, Books 6-10, Books 11-15. I’m still very much in a crime/thriller mood but have been enjoying some lighter reads recently too.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley – 4/5

The plot is about a group of friends all descending on a remote Scottish hunting lodge for the New Year. They all met many moons ago – except for the girlfriend of one of the male characters – so there are many secrets. When one of them is found murdered, who could be the culprit – and more importantly, why?

I really enjoyed this book although found it lost its steam a little right towards the end. It takes a while to actually find out who the victim is although I thought that was pretty obvious from the offset. I also did work out the perpetrator and why but the way the author tells the tale kept me hooked. You can buy the book on Amazon here {affiliate link}.

Cherringham (A Cosy Crime Series): Cliffhanger (Book 33) by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards – 4/5

I always seem to bounce around the 4 or 5 star rating for the Cherringham series, this one was a 4 star rating. I enjoyed it immensely but couldn’t give it all 5 stars as I worked out the culprit early on and why. It was nice to see a bit more of other local characters though. You can buy the book on Amazon here {affiliate link}.

One Last Greek Summer by Mandy Baggot – 4/5 (ARC sent via Netgalley for review)

I’ve got a full review of this coming soon as part of the blog out but this was just what I needed. Sometimes you just need something a little lighter and I loved this. Recently divorced Beth heads back to Corfu years after her first visit with her best friend Heidi and just so happens to bump into her holiday romance from way back when. I loved Alex the Greek guy from many years ago and absolutely detested her ex husband as I was meant to. A great summer read. You can pre-order the book on Amazon now {affiliate link}. It will be published on July 11th 2019.

I’ll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie – 3/5

Families always have secrets, right? But the MacAllister family have more than most. Just what happened to Amanda Holmes?

The plot kept me gripped for the most part however I did start to feel things fall apart in the second half. The culprit made sense but it did seem like the author just threw that in out of nowhere when she couldn’t get it to fit another two characters it had been building up to. I’ll definitely check out future work by the author but this certainly wasn’t my favourite read of the year. You can buy the book on Amazon here {affiliate link}.

The Brighton Guest House Girls by Lesley Eames – 5/5 (ARC sent by Netgalley for the purpose of review)

I’ve got a full review coming soon as part of the blog tour but I have to admit I really loved this book. I wouldn’t normally read this type of book but the synopsis had me hooked and upon starting the book, so did that! The book follows the stories of Thea, Anna and Daisy; all strong and independent women in their own right but going through certain trials and tribulations. You find yourself cheering on the good guys, hating on the bad guys and willing everything to be resolved at the end. You really must check it out for yourself! The book is available for pre-order on Amazon now {affiliate link}. It is published on the 4th of July 2019.

What books have you been reading lately?

In Days Out, Travel

Our Travels In The UK | A Day Out At Woburn Safari Park

Rebecca Smith9 Comments

During the school holidays, we always want to do something fun. You may have seen that we are trying to get around the UK on holidays and days out so we chose to go to Woburn Safari Park which is just a short drive away from us.

The park is open daily from 10am-5pm with it closing at 6pm – the gates to the car safari close at 5pm though so if you want to go round again, make sure you are there before then. The park is accessed in your own vehicle and you can choose to go round the road safari or head straight to the foot safari and make your way around the park. We chose to go round the road safari first, then head into the park itself , then we did one final loop of the road safari before leaving.

Tickets are reasonably priced – we didn’t have to play for Olivia as children aged 0-2 are free of charge, you only pay from ages 3 and up. If you buy online before your visit, you can get a slight discount which is what we chose to do. You just need to choose the date you will be visiting, we booked the night before. Adult tickets are £23.99 each and child tickets are £16.99 each. A great price when you consider how much you get to see.

We decided to head round the road safari first. In the road safari wild animal reserves, you head first through the Northern Plans which contain bison, zebra and wild horses. You then head through the Savannah Grasslands where the rhinos, wildebeests, cattle, buffaloes, elands and antelopes are.

The Kingdom of the Carnivores is next – they have an eight acre enclosure with Amur Tigers. Next is perhaps Steve’s favourite part of all – the mixed exhibit with Canadian Timber Wolves (his favourite animal) and North American Black Bears – we actually had a bear walk right alongside our car! Finally, you head to the 32 acre enclosure of the beautiful African Lions.

After this, you go through Giraffe Junction which has a herd of the critically endangered Rothschild’s Giraffe. Our trip was amazing – the giraffes crossed the road right in front of us!

Finally you head through the African Forest with plenty of cheeky monkeys! We saw them jumping around and playing and saw many taking a ride on the cars in front of us which the kids found very funny!

Once we left the road safari, we headed to the foot safari and parked up before entering the park. The park is extensive with plenty to see and do. There were plenty of places to stop for food and drink and many toilet and baby changing facilities dotted across the site.

There are plenty of different sections to visit – Desert Springs with meerkats, mongoose and porcupines is just one of them. We headed into the Australian section to see emus and wallabies – Olivia was so cute and tried to act like a wallaby! We then headed over to the Elephant Meadow and were lucky to see a talk – and both Olivia and I got to touch an elephant – Jack couldn’t quite reach and was very disappointed so hopefully we can visit again soon and he will get the chance!

We went and booked tickets for the Sea Lion Cove later – this is an extra £1 per person so not exactly breaking the bank although we did not have a good experience with this. It combines an indoor sea lion pool with a 3D cinema experience. We were alerted that it was just a 2D cinema experience when we entered which was fine and we were told that they would go and get the sea lions to come in.

Now we completely understood when the member of staff came back and said that the sea lion was refusing to come in so there’d be no talk or show today and just the cinema experience but they were so uninterested and unapologetic, it left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths – many people left before the cinema experience started, I assume to get a refund because they weren’t getting what they paid for. Our kids enjoyed the cinema experience so we were okay (although disappointed with how blasé the member of staff was about the situation). There were some people who had big groups of people though who would have paid £10+ for something they weren’t getting so I totally wouldn’t have blamed them for going and asking for a refund. We headed outside to see the sea lions and only one was lazing around doing nothing – the others were all happily playing and swimming.

Penguin World was a fab place to visit – we happened to be there when it was feeding time which Olivia loved and they came up close, right up to the gate. This was perhaps Olivia’s favourite part!

We were very lucky in the Land of the Lemurs with a lemur walking right in front of us. We also managed to stumble in there just at the right time as a talk was going on – we were quite lucky on our trip as we managed to attend quite a few of the talks!

There’s a number of other sections to visit in the park although we didn’t quite manage them all – the park is so big and there is so much to see and do that we struggled to fit it all in around time to eat and drink too! We will certainly be heading back at some point though as the kids want to go on the pedalos on the lake too!

We had a fantastic day out. The tickets were affordable as were the food and drink options and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I hope to head back in the summer to discover even more of the park.

Have you ever been to Woburn Safari Park?

In Reviews

Review | Little Friends: Dogs & Cats on Nintendo Switch

Rebecca Smith8 Comments

We were gifted with a code in order to download the game and play it. All thoughts and opinions are our own. This post also contains affiliate links.

Ever since we got our Nintendo Switch, Jack has been obsessed with it and is always looking for fun games to play – he’s got quite a few. When offered the chance to review a brand new game, Little Friends: Dogs & Cats, I had to say yes for him as I knew he’d love the chance to give it a go.

The game was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch on the 28th of May 2019. You can choose from a variety of puppies and kittens to play with, feed, pet and dress up in a simulation game that is fun for all ages. They can play with their favourite toys, go out for walks and be dressed in 600+ accessories. There are six breeds of puppy to choose from and three kittens.

Jack has been having fun using the touch screen to pet his puppies and kittens and he has been taking his pets on walks too as well as playing games. He now has a number of different pets and loves them all and Olivia has been enjoying playing with the game with him too.

You also spend time learning what your pet likes – Jack has learned his pets favourite food and what they prefer to play. You can play on the console on the go or put it in the dock and play on the TV.

This is the first simulation game Jack has ever played and I am glad to see he is enjoying it. He likes being able to choose a pet, play with it, name it and do everything you would with a real pet. It is a joy to see his face light up as he plays with his puppies and kittens and I love that Olivia is getting to enjoy the game too.

Overall, I am very impressed with this game, exclusively made for the Switch. You can find out more about the game and the pet breeds available here and you can buy it on Amazon here {affiliate link}. Do you or your kids enjoy simulation games?

In Food, Reviews

Degustabox | May

Rebecca Smith5 Comments

We were sent a box for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

It’s time again to share the goodies we got in our Degustabox. This month, the theme was brunch & afternoon tea. The box retails at £12.99 but you can get your first box for just £7.99 with shipping included. Just use this code WDGX9 on the website here (the code gets you a one time discount of £5).

So what did brunch and afternoon tea themed goodies did we receive?

Koko Dairy Free Super Milk – £1.99

This milk is enriched with 9 key vitamins and minerals, making it perfect for all ages. We are not dairy free in our house so cannot comment on this as we will be passing it on to those in need of dairy alternatives.

Hellmann’s Vegan Mayo – £2.15

Not only is this vegan but it is also gluten free and contains no artificial colours or flavourings. It’s creamy, delicious, full of Omega-3 and a great alternative to the usual Hellmann’s mayo.

Splenda Sweet Minis – £1.50

I no longer take sugar or sweetener in my cuppa although Steve does and we do use sweeteners in our baking so we always have some in the cupboard. These will definitely come in handy for the future.

Oteas Black Tea & Apricot

This is the product of the month. Black tea infused with sweet and nutty apricots creates a fruity beverage. Steve isn’t a fan of flavoured teas but I quite like them and this is nice hot or cold.

Real Good Smokey BBQ Ketchup – £2.49

I don’t know about your household but we use a lot of condiments so this was a very handy addition and tasetes great. It is full of flavour, low in salt and has 80% less sugar than normal sauces – what’s not to like?

Daelmans Duo Stroopwafels – £1.29

Who doesn’t love a Stroopwafel? These tasty waffles with subtle caramel filling were always going to go down a treat in my house – so good!

Kuhne Gin Cornichons – £2.59

A rather unique product, these are crunchy gherkins infused with gin and whilst I am not always a gin fan, these are rather interesting to say the least!

Firely Drinks Lemon, Lime and Ginger – £1.55

Steve loves drinks like this so was interested to see this included. It is refreshing and zinging full of flavour.

La Giolosa Prosecco Brut Doc Treviso – £3.49

I love a bottle of Prosecco and always have one in the house so this was very much a welcome addition. Very tasty.

Fruity Beauties Fairtrade and Organic Snack Bars – £1.50

Fruity Beauties are on a mission to provide a fun and nutritious burst of life. These are high in fibre and one of your five a day. The kids had these as snacks and really enjoyed them.

SHORE Seaweed Puffs – £1.19

I wasn’t too sure how I’d find these but I was pleasantly surprised. There was a distinct burst of flavour however it wasn’t too intense that it overwhelmed the puffs. They wouldn’t be my first choice of snack but I wouldn’t say no to them either.

Indie Bay Snacks Spelt Pretzel Bites with Rock Salt – £1

I do like a pretzel so it is fun to see a snack made from them. These are sources of protein and fibre and contain less than 100 calories per portion. Very flavourful too.

MILKYBAR Mix Ups – 65p

The kids were very excited to see these, being big fans of MILKYBAR. These didn’t last very long and were very tasty. We will definitely get these again.

Bravura Foods Free From Fellows Midget Gems – £1.99

These are vegan sweets that are made without sugar, gluten, gelatine and dairy. I was pleasantly surprised by these, expecting them to be lacking in squishiness and flavour but they were great and the whole family enjoyed them.

I was quite pleased with the box this month although I do feel that only a couple of the items really fit the theme of brunch and afternoon tea. I can’t wait to see what next month brings.

What would be your favourite item from this box?