“Those shoes are freaking awesome,” some girl at Disney remarked (she actually used another word but I wanted to keep this family-friendly). And she wasn’t the only one loving on these shoes; people all around Disney World were loving them.
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At the airport one woman said to their friend, “Look how cute those are.” To which the friend added something about how awesome an idea squeaky sneakers were for the airport.
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These are the honest reactions I hear each time we go out with the ikiki Shoes. Everyone looks and laughs, most people smile, many comment on them, and no one ever tells us to quit our squeaking.
This isn’t my first review of the Squeakers – as our family refers to them. I reviewed them about a year and a half ago but then the brand was called Yochi Yochi. Since then, they’ve rebranded, redesigned, slightly remodeled and have returned. It should say a lot that I jumped at the opportunity to re-review these kicks when they asked me; I had loved the first pair, which as I mentioned in that review, would be handed down to my son and now both kids squeak around in them and love them; him in his Prince Kairu kicks (no longer available) and her in her Mr. Barkles.
I’ll start with the most obvious ikiki squeaky shoe point – the squeak. When people stop me to ask about the shoes they inevitably ask, “So how quickly do they become annoying?” Here is my God’s honest answer: I’m still waiting. I was fully expecting to be annoyed by them – NO – more like sent into a psychotic downward spiral by the constant squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, squeaky of it all – but nothing. Not even a Stop that squeaking! outburst. It’s just background noise, and when I need it to be forefront noise – like when I’m trying to listen for where my kids have run off to in the supermarket – the squeaky, squeaky is indispensible. If, by chance, the sound does start to drive you crazy, you can use the newly added switch to silence them. Like the flicking a light switch, they go from squeakers to sneakers. Another new feature is the different colored soles. Each sole has a different design and color to help kids distinguish which shoe goes on which foot. #sosmart
Having to put my kids’ shoes on in a rush or, worse, having them put on their shoes in a rush is… let’s just say the struggle is real. But not ikiki sneakers – not the older version and not with the new version, which shows me that ikiki knows the struggle and knows how to help a parent out. Like its predecessors, Mr. Barkles’ shoe mouth opens super wide, easily fitting a kid’s adorable yet chub-chub into the sneaker with no struggle. The pull tab is large making it easy to grab and pull, and the velcro – well, its velcro – it’s always easy. All of this works together to make it a shoe that is simple to slip on. The other day, my 2-year-old son strut out of his room in pure pride boasting that he put his shoes on solo. In the life of parenting, anything they can do on their own is a game changer so a kid that can correctly put on two shoes? He might as well be a genius. #imraisingagenius
The shoes are lightweight and made with breathable materials making them a perfect travel shoe and also a great shoe for warmer seasons. Mr. Barkles came with us everywhere this summer (from Cuba to Disney World) and they have other adorable characters that work for either gender also. At the moment, I’m looking into Chairman Meow but am torn for my love of Sascha Narwhalski and Silk Von Webster. #parentingdecisionsarehard.
Personally, I love these shoes. They are our go-to airport shoes for the safety squeak feature and the ease of getting them on and off. The only downside I can find is that they only fit up to a size 11 so daughter will soon be too big to wear her squeakers. Waaaaaah! #insertmomcrying
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My review of ikiki Shoes is a sponsored review, in which I was sent a product for review purposes. The views and opinions expressed on Expat Village are 100% my own so readers can guarantee that, compensated or not, I give my honest opinion on produts, services, websites, etc.