Our Trunki Paddlepak Picnic Adventures with Ella's Kitchen

This past week, the Mellow family has been on holiday in the Yorkshire dales.  We started our trip with some concern that our two girls, 5 and 2 years old, wouldn't much enjoy walking through countryside but I'm glad to say that they both embraced the great outdoors, made all the more paletable to them through the medium of FOOD!  My girls are driven by their stomachs and so we took every opportunity we could to enjoy a family picnic out in the fresh air; Lara loved bringing along a bottle of water and some tasty snacks in her Trunki Paddlepak bag.

The Trunki Paddlepak is  a water resistant, really light-weight bag for children that comes in lots of fun shapes and colours.  Lara's is a purple octopus!  Because the Paddlepak is water resistant, it is great for taking out on walks (in the predictable UK rain) and, like us, to visit rivers, lakes and waterfalls (I think it would probably work well by the pool as a beach bag too!).

 

Lara and Holly's Trunki Paddlepak was filled with tasty, healthy snacks for big kids by Ella's Kitchen.  Holly single-handedly devoured a tub of "row row row raspberries and bananas multigrain nibbles" while Lara kept going back for more of her  "ee i eei oh raisins + spelt cookies" - any excuse for a snack break when you're 5 and climbing up a slippery stoney waterfall trail!  I was so impressed with how both girls took to the walking on our holiday - I think Lara clocked up about 40km over the course of the week over fields, through streams, gates and cowpats!

We found our Trunki Paddlepak ideal for taking on walks because it gave the girls a little bit of ownership - carrying snacks is a very important job!  Lara struggled a bit to keep the bag on her shoulders so I think it would benefit from a little strap across the front but I thought the weight, and the innovative roll-top closure were both excellent; as I'd expect from Trunki.

We had a wonderful trip to the Yorkshire dales - it was great to get out and explore!  You can find out about more Trunki Travels on their facebook page.

Trunki Travel Toybox Review

What's that you say? A toybox, by Trunki? The children's travel specialists? Tell me more!... Lara is now the proud owner of a vibrant blue Trunki Travel Toybox to accompany her bright pink Trunki suitcase and, as you can see, she's loving it!

The Trunki Travel Toybox is the kind of product you didn't really know you needed until you tried it and then realised you couldn't live without it. Why would I need a travel toybox? But then, when I thought back to the contents of my own suitcase (and Lara's Trunki suitcase) earlier this year, I realised that it was 25% Lara's belongings... books, crayons, jigsaws, cuddly toys. All of these things I pack into my bag every time we go and stay away for the night (and every time we go and visit Lara's grandparents). Lara now has her own handy toybox that I can put everything in to and then tidily place in the boot of the car when we go on our travels.



The Trunki toybox is not quite square but square enough that it takes up a sensible space wherever you store it. Our Trunki toybox lives in the main living room most of the time and Lara is free to take her toys in and out of it whenever she chooses. Lara regularly packs all of her toys away in it and then puts the lid on.... waits 5 minutes and then takes the lid off, and unpacks the box. Toddlers!!!



The thing Lara loves most about the Trunki is that she can sit on it and I won't tell her off! It is designed for sitting on. Turn the box over and the wheels on the lid mean that your toddler can scootle around until their heart's content. Lara likes to scootle in the living room and the garden but scootling on the grass is not that effective. I'm pretty certain that Lara would LOVE it if I bought her a matching toybox – there is a nifty loop whereby you can string more than one Trunki toybox together and then scootle around like a little train.



I like the concept of the Trunki travel toybox but I think there are one or two practicalities that have been overlooked, which is surprising from Trunki who normally have all these things covered. I'd like to see the attachment mechanism for multiple boxes to be built in – perhaps they could clip together. I also think the lid is too fiddly for little toddler hands. I always have to help Lara close the box and I don't think I would trust the lid to stay closed if I were travelling in public with it. I think it looks great, it is incredibly useful but... it is just a box on wheels at the end of the day. A gorgeously shaped, brightly coloured, tactile box on wheels that my toddler LOVES!