My Friend Cayla {Review}

We were recently given the chance to review a fun new interactive doll named My Friend Cayla. My girls were excited when they saw her and couldn't wait to play with her, but they were even more excited that she talked to them like a real friend! She doesn't just talk and say the same thing over and over, she can ask and answer questions and talk interactively! Cayla usually starts off talking with them with a greeting like "Hi! It's great to see you again! I like to play outside. Do you play outside?"  Then the girls can answer and even ask her questions which she will answer! Their favorite thing to do with her is play games, but she can also read stories or tell about the pictures in her picture albums.  Cayla is seven years old and talks about a lot of favorite topics of young girls like her pets, friends, shopping, and what she likes to do.  She is an 18 in. doll and so my girls can dress her in some of the clothes they already have from their other dolls. They also love styling her long hair! 

A few drawbacks that I have noticed are that when talking with Cayla, the room needs to be fairly quiet or she doesn't understand the girls.  This can be a little tricky at our house with several other kids playing around at the same time.  Another thing is that the girls are constantly asking to use the iPad.  We try to limit screen time at our house, and this is one more thing they want to use it for.  And finally, I am always a little leery about letting my kids loose with any internet related information.  I know that it is programmed with kid safe software, but somehow it seems that the hacker creeps can always find ways around things like that.  So for now, we allow the girls to play with her off-line and give them some special time to play with her interactively on-line when we can be nearby to monitor them.  We are also able to use a word exclusion feature to turn off any words we don't want Cayla to use.  She will simply tell the girls it is not something appropriate to talk about and they need to ask their parents.
Overall my girls have loved playing with her and beg to use the iPad to interact with her. I have been pleased with how fun she is and that there are safety features to help protect my girls. I think she will be a pretty hot toy for Christmas this year! Cayla will be available at Target, Walmart, Amazon, and other retailers tomorrow!

Cayla is:

International Best Seller

• Winner of Innovative Toy of the Year Award 2015

• Gadget of the Year recipient

• Fully compatible with most clothing and accessories for 18” dolls

• Available at major US retailers starting August 2015  






Blessings,

The Identical {Review & Giveaway!}



I recently had the opportunity to review another great family movie, The Identical. It is a story that begins in the 1930s during the depression with a life changing decision made by desperately poor parents to give away one of their newborn twin sons.  The son that remains with them grows up into a famous rock star.  The other is adopted by a preacher and his wife who were unable to have children The movie follows the life of Ryan Wade, a young man who loves singing but is trying to please his father by following in his footsteps to become a preacher.  He was unaware that he had a twin and other parents, but as the story progresses, begins to discover some of the secrets from his past.

 

I thought this was a great family-friendly movie that I can share with my kiddos some day.  I think mine are a little young to understand parts of it yet, but I would not be afraid to let them watch it.  With so many inappropriate movies out there it is nice to find some good ones.  I really enjoyed the story in this movie and thought the Elvis-style music was fun.  I was a little sad that it doesn't have a "happily ever after" type of ending, but I guess that makes it more real-life-like since life often doesn't have that perfect ending.   It also has a great message that you can choose to be content with the life God gives you instead of being bitter about it.  Hubby, who prefers action type movies, found it to be a little on the boring side, but I am glad this is one movie we can add to our family's collection.

 

 

The Identical, starring Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Seth Green, and Blake Rayne is a redemptive movie about a young man, the son of a preacher, who rejects his fathers desire for him to join the ministry and instead embarks on a career as a rock singer. As he struggles to pursue his dream and rise to stardom, he finds love, pain, success, failure and ultimately uncovers a hidden family secret that reveals who he really us. The Identical is a captivating story about a family restored and a life discovered that lifts your soul and warms your heart.

If you are interested in purchasing The Identical you can do so HERE where you will also find The Identity Series DVD free with your purchase!

And now for the GIVEAWAY! One of you will get to win your own copy of The Identical.  To enter, please just leave me a comment below with your favorite family movie.  Please make sure you also leave a way for me to contact you if you win!  I will pick a winner on January 10, 2015 at noon.  Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTCs 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

 

Blessings,