Bernard Bee Trunki

I bet you've read a thousand reviews on Trunkis.

I know, they're 'old news', everyone and their dog has/wants one and there's a lot of different designs to choose from. I picked Moo's Bumble Bee Trunki up from Boots when they had a third off of them a couple of months ago. I bought it with our holiday in mind and also for over-nighting with relatives (the imminent arrival of her brother included). It sat in her bedroom for a couple of months before it saw any use...but by gum when it saw use, it saw use.

I chose the bumble bee because Moo is obsessed with the colour yellow. I had only three to choose from (pink, blue and yellow) when I went in to the shop to buy and while she loves pink equally, I was thinking ahead to the second child and a few more years use that I could get out of it. The thought did cross my mind, what if it didn't last that long but that wasn't an immediate concern, despite I remember when they featured on Dragons Den and one of the dragons (Theo?) managed to pull the strap off easily.

The Trunki survived a stop over in Dover and it's trip in the car from Eastbourne to Paris without a single hitch and it did its job beautifully. On our first night I packed it with overnight essentials for the three of us as we were staying in a hotel closer to Disneyland. It weighed a tonne but as it was spending all of the first day in the car, I wasn't too concerned and besides, it had wheels! It would be fine...

When we arrived at the hotel, the lift was out of order. We had to climb up a couple of flights of stairs, the Trunki had to be carried by the shoulder strap. I wish I had taken a photo of it, packed as it was; 3x pyjamas, 3x outfits and one very full wash bag stuffed with three people's worth of toiletries, it was fit to burst but the claps at the side held fantastically (even if my cardigan was making a desperate bid for freedom out of the top). The shoulder strap held really well, I remember worrying when my husband swung it onto his shoulder, that it might snap (Dragons Den...) but no...

The next afternoon we had to make our way back to our campsite on the train after having stored our Trunki in a locker at the park. It received much of the same over-stuffed, swinging and shoulder carrying as it had the day before, this time on French public transport and the walk from the station to our caravan. All in all, I think my husband carried it on his shoulder for well over an hour, weighing more than our two-year-old. I have had adult suitcases that have survived less traumatising adventures and cost me more pennies. 

I was so, so impressed with how the Trunki faired against a bit of a battering and the weight of it's contents. As a suitcase designed for small children, you wouldn't think that it would be able to cope with the demands of luggage that even full-size cases would strain under. Here are my pros and cons...

Pros.

- Quite roomy for pint-sized people things, plenty of room for clothes, shoes, a toy and a couple of books.

- Brightly coloured so difficult to lose and attractive.

- Locking mechanism surprisingly strong.

- Shoulder strap incredibly strong.

- Has the ride-on feature it's well known for that works well with small children.

- Lightweight when empty and compact for easy storage at our destination.

Cons.

- The wheels aren't fantastic on corners so if you have an overly enthusiastic child, older child or you're just plain daft like me, it's likely to tip if you're wheeling it quickly around a corner if there's no child sat on top.

- The locks on the sides of the case sometimes turned too far with the key provided and were then not secure or not unlocked fully. It was also difficult at times to tell whether they were locked or unlocked.

So yes, I'm most definitely a Trunki fan now and would certainly recommend the, if you're holidaying with a toddler.

You can buy Trunki cases and other products from a variety of shops like Amazon, John Lewis and Boots as well as the Trunki store. The Trunki we have is Bernard Bee and currently costs £31.08 from Amazon.

Clare

Please note that I purchased our Trunki with my own money and was not compensated for this post in any way.

Miffy Swim Ring

I have loved the character Miffy since I was very, very young. I remember treasuring my 'Miffy in Hospital' and 'Miffy at School' books as a little girl. The sweet and simple illustration of the character and her books offer children a visual to go along with a clear and simple story, with bold, bright colours that also capture the imagination.

Miffy is one of those characters that I have passed on from my childhood to my daughter and I feel it really says something that she stands up on her own two feet against some very exciting competition like princesses and Japanese cats.

Now that summer has hit, there's a whole shed load of new items in the Miffy shop and we we lucky enough to get the swim ring and beach ball to try out for the summer. Living a five minute walk from Eastbourne beach, we were very excited and I had originally planned to review the two items together, however, between the weather (whenever it's beach weather I have plans and whenever I don't, it's raining) and my pregnancy, we are yet to get the beach ball to the actual beach!so today I'm going to tell you about this lovely, colourful swim ring!

Coming in a choice of two colours (yellow or orange), it's a small-child-sized swim ring with an opaque bottom layer and a transparent top layer decorated with Miffy illustrations; three of the lady herself, a walrus, an octopus, a seal and a few bits of beach-themed things. The illustrations are keeping with the books, still with bold block colours and simple lines, which makes it easily identifiable as a Miffy product. The ring itself is the perfect size for under fives, not too big that you lose them in it, but not so small that it offers nothing. It was a great size to go around Moo's waist, though she is tiny and so kept slipping down. My niece was also a fan and enjoyed splashing in the pool with it.

A fight did break out between the two over who would get to play with it and it did take a good tugging here and there, but withstood well against a couple of grouchy toddlers. It inflated very quickly (even with my baby-squashed lungs) and deflated at speed also which is handy if you were to take it to the beach, making it easy to fold-away in your beach bag. The stopper wasn't one of those tiny diddly or stiff ones, it was easy to plug and unplug as well as blow in to, super handy when you've got little people in an excited and desperate scrambled around you.

The ring pictured is the yellow option (which is Moo's favourite colour), here are my pros and cons...

Pros.

- Easy and quick to inflate and deflate.

- Perfect size for pre-schoolers.

- Folds up neatly.

- Attractive to look at.

- Brightly coloured so good for public pools and the beach.

- Came with puncture repair patch.

Cons.

- The packaging wasn't in English. 

All in all, I can't really fault this lovely toy/swimming accessory. Moo was very happy with it to play with and I was very happy, as a parent, to allow her to play with it.

The Miffy Swim Ring is available from the Official Miffy Shop for £5.99.

If you're interested in Miffy and her creator, Dick Bruna, his first illustrated book 'The Apple' has just this moth been republished along with two others of his older titles, in hardback priced at £4.99 each from book stores (there's currently a 3 for 2 promotion running on all of his books). The Tate are celebrating this event with a display of Dick Bruna's artwork at Foyles Cafe in Charing Cross, London from the 6th-29th August as well as offering themed activities and meals at all branches of Foyles Cafe and Tate Cafes so if you're close to one with the children, do pop in to relive 60years of charming illustration!

Clare

Please note I was sent this item for the purposes of review, however all thoughts and opinions are those of my own and I was not compensated in any way. The information given in regards to Foyles and the Tate was discovered by myself and not promoted by the Miffy brand. This is not a sponsored post.

Holiday Budgeting

So as I'm going on my holidays on Sunday I thought I'd do a few 'going away' themed posts for you today! So this is the first and probably the most serious, I present to you my top tips of holiday budgeting when you've got children.

- Budget yourselves as parents.
You know how much money you have, in cash or card so sit down before you set out or on your first evening and divide it up over how many days you are away for. Sometimes things crop up, especially whenever children are travelling too, however take this into account for future days, you will have to reduce your budget over multiple days OR from one, depending on how much has eaten into your budgets. I usually carry an extra $20/€ on top of my daily cash allowance plus we carry cards (as an example).
- Budget the children.
It sounds so, so cruel but children honestly do not need everything. They are no less of a person if they don't have things and you are no less of a parent by denying them. Their eyes can get very big when away, especially in attractions such as Disney and other theme parks. Give them spending money at the beginning of the day so that they know how much they have. This is better for older children, younger children obviously don't understand that value of money but it is still a nice experience for them to have their own cash in their own purse to spend. I'm a firm believer that children should not share adult concerns and never tell my child that we cannot afford something (even if we can't), I would like her to be young and enjoy it for as long as possible.
- Get them involved early.
A piggy bank/jar/tin is a wonderful thing. By getting them to save early and put money towards their own holiday spending money you will feel incredibly grown up and excited as they watch their balance grow over the weeks before you go away. I typically give Moo 50p pocket money a week and everything 20p and smaller from my purse at the end of the week. Even if its just a few pence, it all adds up and she's at the age where she's just excited to put the money in! Just before you go, take them to have the money changed (lots of supermarkets have those CoinStar machines), then to have it converted into currency. It's a big adventure for them and kills a morning successfully.
- Buy in bulk where you can.
If you're self-catering (even if you're not) try to go to a local supermarket and stock up on things that you think you will get through a lot of. An ideal example for this is bottled water. You will always need to have drinks throughout the day. You will save money by taking your own bottled water out with you.
- Avoid excess luggage charges.
If you're flying, watch out for excess luggage charges when travelling with a baby. Unless you're going to outer-Mongolia, chances are the will be nappies on sale near you. Buy them when you get to your destination and only take enough for your journey to save space and weight in your luggage.
- Exchange your currency early.
I know everyone knows this but I'm going to say it anyway. It's important. NEVER BUY YOUR CURRENCY AT THE AIRPORT/FERRY/YOUR DESTINATION it is notoriously bad value. Everyone and their dog does currency now so there really is no excuse. Research rates online in advance, I find that the Post Office and Marks and Spencer are the best though my mother-in-law swears byThomas Cook. If you live in a large or destination city/town there will be independent currency shops dotted about also that often have very competitive rates.
- Get a pre-paid travel card.
This is my husband's thing and he swears by it. We hold one for dollars and one for euros with Fairfx. There are a lot of different ones out there, this is just the company that we happen to use. You usually have to pay a small fee when they issue the card, then you load up your money and use it as you would your regular credit and debit cards. You get a slightly worse exchange rate on your money on a pre-paid card than you would cash currency, however you do not have to pay a fee for every time you use it like you do with your regular credit and debit cards, you also have the security of not carrying all your money in cash. You can have second cards issued so you and your partner have one each though we just carry one. If you have a credit card, take that also in case of emergencies. If you had planned to use your credit card for your spending money, you can load up the pre-paid from your credit card without facing any charges for using it abroad. Avoid using your debit card abroad wherever possible. They are incredibly expensive to use; you will be charged heavily per transaction.
- Going to a resort? Make it work for YOU!
All inclusive? Got meal vouchers? Get the full 'bang for your buck'. If your resort offers unlimited cold drinks/snacks/food etc make sure you get your money's worth and minimise dining out. If you're staying at a resort such as Disney that offers a meal voucher scheme and you buy into it, make sure you are getting full value. They are usually charge at one flat rate and offer dining at a variety of venues. Do your research, the only restaurants that they're actually worth buying for are usually the highest rated two or three. Most do not offer great value for money and it would be cheaper to 'pay as you go' so look up the menus before purchasing and ensure that the more expensive food is cuisine that your family are likely to eat. If not, it's probably cheaper to just budget for your meals out of your money rather than paying in advance
- Check your bank.
It's not said often, but banks are great! By upgrading your account you can usually save big time on things like home insurance, break-down cover, gadget-cover and yes, travel insurance! We are with Lloyds TSB and have the basic upgrade of silver on our joint account. It is £10 a month and we use all of the previously mentioned services. It saves us money on our gadget cover alone. Because we are paying it anyway, it meant that we didn't have to take out travel insurance, we are already covered and only need notify them should we need to make a claim. Most bank upgrades offer travel insurance as basic though be sure to call them if you're travelling with children, it usually only covers two of you and you will need to pay an excess to add your children (ours is £25 to add Moo for the year). Do it at the last minute so that you get the maximum usage out of it (you might be able to squeeze a second trip out of it if you plan your holidays accordingly).
- Buy in advance.
If you have an idea of what you're going to do whilst away, you can often by tickets for events and attractions cheaper online in advance before you go. It's usually around 20% off of the gate price.

So there we are, just a few little things that we use when travelling. I'm sure there're other things that I've missed or forgotten, if you know of any handy hints yourself, please comment to help others!

Clare