My Little Pony My Magical Princess Twilight Sparkle - Review

My daughter is a huge fan of My Little Pony, much like I was at her age and with the release of the new My Little Pony film later this month, I have a feeling that everything MLP is going to be on the Christmas lists of lots of mini folk this year.

The Magical Princess Twilight Sparkle is without a doubt one of the most extravagant toys we've ever had, it reacts to touch and sound and is as bright and colourful as you'd expect a pony named Twilight Sparkle to be.

My daughter practically squealed with delight when she got home and saw the box waiting for her, the fact I had forgotten to buy some batteries did dampen the excitement somewhat but also meant she got to just stare at it for a day which built up the excitement even more.

I feel that this toy is going to split opinion; on one hand for a child it is the epitome of cool. A pony that talks and moves, lights up and is generally everything they want, some adults on the other hand may see it as a little bit robotic as it blinks and talks at you and it detracts from the magic somewhat.

Twilight has over 90 phrases, tells stories and sings songs. If you touch her horn, which lights up and flashes, she talks about her magical spells. You can also change the mode via a button on her hoof, this changes between Friendship, Story, Singing and Spells.

With posable legs you can make her sit down or stand up, although it was a bit tough for my daughter to do and I felt like I was going to break her, though it does state on the instructions to expect some clicking sounds.

Twilight Sparkle has a long colourful tail and mane which you can style and brush and she even has her own tiara to complete the look. I think what sets this apart though is the fact that it responds to your voice and when you stroke her cheek she also giggles.

My daughter has enjoyed playing with Twilight and she is a welcome addition to our vintage and non vintage pony collection, her only one little gripe would be that Twilight seems to repeat herself and I have heard her saying to the pony, "you've just said that".

Magical Princess Twilight Sparkle has an RRP of £134.99 which is quite a lot of money, however with Christmas fast approaching I see this as the big one. For a My Little Pony fan it is the perfect gift and if you can find her whilst she is on offer then she'd make the perfect companion.

We were sent Magical Princess Twilight Sparkle to review, all words and opinions are my own.

Blowing Away the Cobwebs at Kedleston Hall

After a few days of Christmas excess and not having left the house for a couple of days we decided to head out into the wind and sunshine to blow away the cobwebs with a walk around Kedleston Hall, on a rather windy day it did exactly that.

Donning our boots and waterproofs for the children, we headed out into the mud and high winds, with the wind blowing through the trees with a lion like roar.

The grounds at Kedleston Hall are vast and the house is beautiful, although we didn't get to go in as it is closed for the winter, but you can see why they chose to film some of The Duchess there.

There was lots of running...

Lots of leaf and stick picking......

I love this sweeping staircase....

Rarrrrrr...

Very Downton Abbey, lots of rooms and bells to ring....

Looking at the animals....

 In the church their was a nativity and beautiful Christmas Tree.

Gorgeous architecture and shadows were everywhere...

I love this bridge it sweeps wonderfully over the river...

Sheep spotting....

Walking through lots of squidgy mud and sheep poo...

It was verrrry windy but it was just what we needed, lots of fresh air and it most definitely got rid of a few cobwebs and hopefully a few calories too.

During the winter it is only £1 to visit the hall which is well worth the money and I think that so we can come back here again in the spring and summer we will definitely be looking at a subscription to the National Trust.

Linking up to Country Kids over at Coombe Mill.

Real Photos and a Wishlist Item

As much as I love digital there is something to be said for real pictures, printed onto real paper.

So many pictures sit on hard drives and cards throughout the house and never get looked at, so when I saw an advert for the Fujifilm Instax I decided it needed to go on my wish list...

How lovely would it be to take a picture and it be there for you to treasure, stick on your monitor at work or put in your wallet....I know it's so futuristic...well actually it's not but it seems so exciting.

I would really love to go back to something so tactile and being able to actually touch the picture straight away rather than look at it a few times and then forget it existed.

Digital is wonderful but it also feels so impersonal sometimes too, does anyone else agree or am I talking rubbish?

 

Tune on Tuesday

If you haven't seen the film Drive then you should, its really great and this song from the soundtrack is really beautiful and is my Tune on Tuesday!