Archives for February 2014

Fun New Toys From NY Toy Fair

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NY Toy Fair was last week, and I’ve shared a few posts (and plenty on social media!) with you already about what we saw and did there.  Here are a few fun products that we got to take home and try out, and my son says are his favorites of the bunch.

new skylanders

The new “Dune” Skylander, which is available in stores in the blue and gold colors above.  It interacts with the Skylanders portal for your game station of choice, and plays with all the characters in the series.

Lil Bub Cat toy

The Lil Bub stuffed cat toy was a big hit with my son- it also came with a book about Lil Bub, where the cat explains his life on another planet.  My husband considers this book an exercise in insanity, while my son loves it and finds it hilarious.  Go figure!  My son has been toting this cat about since he got it- you may have seen it in our recent aquarium or museum posts or social media shares. Lil Bub is quite a popular kitty!

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Twitter Party! Win Fun Prizes With R&R Games 3/12

 R&R
Playing board games, party games and card games is a fun way to teach. Besides things like critical and imaginative thinking, logic, statistics and probability, math and vocabulary, games also teach important life skills like empathy, self-control, social interaction and mental toughness.
 
R&R Games has earned a reputation for delivering super fun, high-quality award winning games for kids of all ages. Most games have been listed in Games Magazine’s “Top 100”, and their popular Time’s Up!® party game has earned the MENSA Select Honor Award. Other notable award winners are Pluckin’ Pairs®, Pass-Ackwords® and Double Take® — all named Best Game of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle. Check out all their games at www.rnrgames.com and connect with them on TwitterFacebook, and Pinterest.

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La Bella Pink Bath and Body

Disclosure: The below was provided for me in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

 la bella pink

Bathes are a thing of wonder. They not only cleanse the body but also soak the soul, rejuvenating and re-energizing. After a long day of home tending or office tending a bath is a great way to de-stress. After keeping Tommy from either putting gum in Tina’s hair or gumming up the copy machine, a nice hot bath can make the day melt away.

 fizzing soaps

La Bella Pink has a line of soaps and fizzy baths to further induce soul soaking. With creative designs and conscientious products like those of their pink lemonade soap which includes curly swirls or their slice of Frosted Black raspberry vanilla cream soap which looks good enough to each and is as fun to use as any kids bath toy. Also available is the Ultimate Bath Cupcake which looks as good as it smells. You can feel good about using these products, too, since they are approved cruelty-free and vegan.
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R&R Games Twitter Party 3/12

R&R
Got the winter blahs?  Looking for something fun to do with the kids, the family, or in your homeschooling group?  Stop by the R&R Games Twitter Party at 9 pm EST on March 12, 2014 to win games and prizes.
R&R Games is a great company that makes all sorts of games- from classic style board games to stuffed animal games (a new one for me!) they really have something for everyone and every age group.  The mission statement of R&R is to “produce high quality family board games so that we can play around all the time. Fun games. Challenging games. Big games, little games, games that climb on rocks… (Oh wait, that’s something else…) Anyway, that’s our mission.”
They have a wide variety of educational games that would be great for the classroom or homeschooling, and have won more then 30 awards (including the MENSA Select Honor) so you know they have a proven track record.  But more important?  These games are just plain fun!

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5 Fun Summer Backyard Activities for Kids

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Every time that the summer season rolls around, we as parents find ourselves in a bit of dilemma. Although there are always things like swimming and going to the park that our children can do, we all know that kids tend want to break out of their play routine on a pretty frequent basis; this means that they’re always looking for something new and interesting to do.

So, as you’re gearing up for a few months of fun in the heat, we wanted to provide you with a list of five summer backyard activities that your kids can do; ones that will be sure to keep them happy all summer long.

Help them to make their own tent. Whether you want to “camp out” as a family or let a few of your kids’ friends over for an outdoor slumber party, rather than going to a store to purchase a tent, how about letting them make one of their own? In fact, there are websites that will show you how to make tints, teepees and even playhouses. One of our favorites is Spoonful. Just go to the site and put “DIY hideouts” in the search field.

Create a clothesline theater. There are some of us who remember growing up and putting on a puppet or even our own theater show. You can pass this tradition onto your own children by creating a clothesline theater where they can do the same thing. All you need is a couple of clotheslines, three white sheets (that can be painted or drawn on), some clothespins and a few metal binders. BunchofFamily.ca is one website that can walk you through the instructions. When you go to the site, put “cool clothesline theater” in the search field.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

Guardians of the Galaxy trailer below, check out the raccoon.

From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
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Marriott Rewards (and fun sweepstakes)

marriott

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Marriott Rewards. I received Marriott Points to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I just wanted to let you all know about the new Ambassador program I am in now for Marriott Rewards® and will be posting two more times in the coming months about the program.  There are so many cool things about this, one of them is it makes me happy to work with Marriott and of course I get the insider’s view of their new contests and promotions to share with you.  One of these new contests is called Year of Surprises. Year of Surprises is Marriott Rewards’ way of celebrating its 30th birthday.  To enter it is easy, just think of someone who deserves to be celebrated this year with a surprise party- so head on over to yearofsurprises.com to enter.  The first round of the contest ends soon (February 28th) so please get your entries in quickly. Nominations are reviewed on creativity, appeal of the nomination essay, and ability to actually throw the surprise party.  This first round of nomination’s winners will be announced in March.  Then there are two more rounds, one in May and one in August.  So Aunt Sue who recently moved the Arctic Circle might not win, but its worth a shot to nominate that special someone who lives near you.  In order to enter, you do need to be a member of Marriott Rewards, but this is more of an incentive then a chore.  To sign up click here: Marriott.com/rewards.
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Adventure Aquarium in NJ

This winter has been interminable, but there is plenty to do indoors.  Just a short drive from NY, NJ, or PA, is the Adventure Aquarium- formerly the Camden Aquarium.  There are many things to see and do inside, from new exhibits, to interactive touch pools, and educational experiences.  You can get a hot lunch there, bring your own and grab a table, and spend the whole day inside.  (There are also outdoor penguin enclosures, but bring your coats! Baby, it’s cold outside.)

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The latest exhibit, running through March, is all about our favorite amphibian- frogs.  Everything and anything frog related can be found here- and your children can even see (and touch, if they are brave!) a tiny poison froggie.  Don’t worry- it’s harmless to people.  Unless you eat it.  So, don’t.   🙂

Featuring more than 8,500 aquatic species throughout two million gallons of water, Adventure Aquarium is the only aquarium in the world to exhibit hippos and also home to the largest collection of sharks on the east coast – including a Great Hammerhead SharkLocated just minutes from downtown Philadelphia on the Delaware waterfront, visitors can get up close and personal with sharks and stingrays they can touch. They can also explore one-of-a-kind exhibits, including hippos, penguins and a shark tunnel.

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The NJ of Adventure Aquarium on the Delaware Waterfront’s newest exhibit, Frogs: Natures Messenger hops on to the scene and opens to the public, bringing the opportunity to come face-to-face with frogs of all types, sizes and vivid colors. More than 20 species of frogs and amphibians will invade the Aquarium through April — from the red-eyed tree frog, the poison dart frog, the tiger-legged monkey frog and the enormous African bullfrog, there will be something for everyone to croak about.
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