Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters--Child's View

So, I promised to let the little guy have a go with these little toys to see what he thought of them.  Now, we ran into one big problem; the big guy.  The big guy didn't want to give it up for the little one.  So, we hoarded it for ourselves for a week or better, then one rainy day when the little one couldn't play outside I broke it out for some indoor fun.

The little guy was in heaven.  Apparently this is all it takes to combat the rainy-day blues.  My little guy broke into a grin, gave me a huge hug, and tore off with the big guy to the basement for a little fun (consequently leaving me to start supper in peace).

Now, there were some definite things that I learned from his first day with these.  First, they really are "Tonka Tough".  It took all of 10 minutes for my guys to decide to run it full tilt down a flight of stairs.  Not only did it live, it had no ill effects from the trip that has maimed countless other toys.

My second note was that this car, fully charged, does not quite meet the attention span of my little guy.  Of course, he does have an abnormally large attention span so many toys don't.  At a full charge you can expect just under a half-hour of play time.  That is plenty for most kids, but you add my little one with the giant one and their imagination and it could stand a bit of a boost.  However, a charge is completed fairly quickly, so it was nothing to worry about.

Another important thing that I noticed was that this toy had to have some mom input somewhere along the way.  After hours of play in my living room (where it's not supposed to be of course) my walls are still white along the tire line.  I know for a fact that this car has been driven along the walls more times than they will admit to, and the lack of paint scrapes tells me there was a mom somewhere.

All things considered the little guy loves it as much as the big one does (perhaps even a smidgen more).  The only advice I can give to the moms out there thinking of purchasing this for the little ones is to keep plenty of batteries on hand, make sure that the boys have an area free of breakables to play with it in (no, I haven't learned this this hard way, but I can only imagine a ramp pointing at the china cabinet), and to keep something on hand to dig it out from under furniture (we just grab the nearest hockey stick, but I'm sure a broom handle would work just as well).

As always, thanks to BzzAgents and Tonka for the opportunity to let my little guy (and big one) have some fun with this car, words can't describe how much the two of them enjoy it.

Burt's Bees Sensitive Skincare Line

So like many other's I have skin issues.  I suppose that mine are a bit more extreme than the norm.  I have horrible allergies (this is a bit of an understatement).  I have to be very cautious what I use on my skin.  The wrong product can lead to a myriad of problems; I will break out in hives, I will get one heck of a rash, parts of my face will go numb leaving me running for an Epi-Pen.

This is all made worse by the fact that I have combination skin that needs to have something used on it.  I get massive breakouts on my chin and nose and dry out horribly on the sides of my face and my forehead.  My skin requires something to be used to keep all this at bay.

So I jumped at the chance to try Burt's Bees sensitive skin care line.  I have a good track record with their products.  Their lip balm is awesome and doesn't cause my lips to go numb, their lotion smells so good and doesn't cause hives.  I could only imagine how much I would love their sensitive skincare line.

This line has some positive and some negative things about it.  Let's start with the negative.  The smell of the line isn't great.  I'm not saying it's bad, instead I'm saying that it's not what I was expecting.  I have never used a product from Burt's Bees that doesn't have at least an undertone of beeswax scent.  This one does not.  It really does smell like cottonseed with a touch of a clay undertone.  It's not a bad smell, it's just not super-yummy.  The other downside (at least for me) is the lack of sun protection.  Okay, I know that adding SPF to it would make it less natural, but while I love makeup I don't wear it every day so some protection in my lotion has become a bit of a standard for me.

Now, the good points of this line.  It's mostly natural (99%) and we love natural products.  The cleanser is great.  It's gentle yet works (no pimples have managed to work their way in since I started using it).  The lotion does not clog my pores (it's specifically designed not to) which helps with the breakout problems as well.  The products contain lots good stuff that is intended to calm the skin and achieves its goal.

If you look at this skincare line from the attitude of someone who deals with natural medicine the line makes perfect sense.  It contains eyebright (which I was completely excited to see).  I have used an eyebright mixture for years to reduce swelling.  It contains aloe which calms and soothes over-worked skin.  Adding these products in (even without all of the other good stuff) just makes those of us who use natural medicine happy.

So, I am now a convert.  This line does exactly what it intends to do without causing any problems.  Of course we all know that every person with sensitive skin and skin allergies is different, but as long as you don't have a sensitivity to aloe I don't see this line being a negative for you.

Thanks once again to BzzAgent and Burt's Bees for the opportunity to try and review this line.