Myself Belts - Review & Giveaway of Wayyy Cute Belts For Kiddos! (CLOSED)

Have you ever experienced love at first sight? Because if YOU have, then WE officially have something in common. 

I fell, hard, head over heels the moment I first spotted an ad for Myself Belts. I die for cute boys clothes and accessories for Otto, but it's challenging to find anything that's even remotely above-average (as far as super-cuteness) in the mainstream stores. So when I hopped on the Myself Belts website I was drooling all over my keyboard for the style after style of cute boys and girls belts!

Myself Belts(tm), the belt kids can fasten themselves: as an added bonus, these belts are specially designed to be easy for lil hands to control. One end of the belt snaps to the first belt loop, the other end then velcroes the belt in place. Easy peasy!

The Review:
We love our belt! Otto gets nothing but compliments on his Construction Belt. But even more important than the fact that every adult who sees it goes gaga and asks me where I got it... Otto adores his Myself Belt! He sees it and screams "BELLLLT!" and walks around holding his shirt up to his chin so everyone can ooh and ahh over his coolness. Then he makes robotic digging motions to indicate that it's a "digger" belt. All of which is beyond cute to behold!

I'm also excited about the easy-to-use functionality of the belt which will come in handy soon, as we start the long, dark journey that is toilet learning! Otto will be able to easily undo/redo his belt like a big boy!

How to Buy It:
If you just can't wait to get your hands on one of these cute belts, here's where you can get your own Myself Belt. They come in all styles and sizes, from toddler through adult! Visit Myself Belts online HERE.

How to Win Your Choice of Myself Belt:
1 winner will receive their choice of Myself Belt! Excluding all personalized and leather styles.

Mandatory First Entry - vist Myself Belts, look around, and then leave a comment on this post, telling which Myself Belt you would choose if you won the giveaway. It's that easy!

Additional Entry Opportunities:

- Follow @myselfbelts on Twitter

- Tweet about this giveaway including a link to this page. In your comment below, put a link to your tweet (up to 3 bonus entries per day - 1 per tweet - 30 mins apart or more please)

- "Like" Myself Belts on Facebook (3 bonus entries)

- Blog about this giveaway. In your comment just put a link to your blog post (3 bonus entries)

- Follow TidbitsParenting via Google Friend Connect (if you already follow that counts too)

- Follow @OttosMomBlogs on Twitter (that's me!) (if you already follow that counts too)

- "Like" TidbitsParenting on Facebook (3 bonus entries)

- Grab the TidbitsParenting badge (on the right) and in your comment leve a link to your badged up blog homepage (3 bonus entries) (if you've already got the badge that counts too)

Please Note:
Just remember to leave a comment for EACH entry. For example, if you follow Myself Belts on Facebook since that's worth 3 bonus entries make sure you leave 3 COMMENTS for that.

Make sure that I can reach you if you win - via email or Twitter. We will contact the winner on October 1 and they will have 48 hours to claim the prize or we will choose a different winner.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on September 30. Open to US residents only. We will use Random.org to choose a winner and will verify that the winning entrant has played by the rules so it only makes sense to be honest! Also - I was given a complimentary belt of choice to review and was in no other way compensated for hosting this giveaway.

Congratulations to Heather R with comment #17 you are the winner of this giveaway! I'll contact you via email and Twitter to confirm your belt style/size of choice. Thanks to everyone for entering!

-Lindsey

Thrift Score!

Few things make me happier than scoring something really really super unique and awesome for Otto and paying, like, nothing for it. Twice recently we've gotten some amazing "thrift scores" and I just wanted to share.

We found this Ryan's Room fire station set at the Tucson new/used children's boutique, Lil' Traders.  It's in near-perfect condition and came with a firehouse, firetruck, 8 firefighters, and loads of furniture and accessories. It's almost entirely made of wood!

I looked it up online and had we purchased this new it would have cost about $150! Lil' Traders was selling the whole caboodle for $33 and we used trade credit to buy it so our out of pocket cost was $0.

$0 = Score!

My friend Kate, who is also a contributer to this blog, found this Radio Flyer Retro Rocket at the thrift store. It needed a spit-shine but is now in perfect condition including all the buttons for sounds, nifty thrifty! I looked it up online and had we purchased this new it would have cost about $50-70! Kate thrift scored it for $5 - hot damn!

$5 = Score!

What are your all-time favorite thrift scores? I have so many but these are my most recent triumphs. My all-time fave, though, was a lime green Kurt Cobain-style cardigan I got in the 11th grade for $2!

-Lindsey

Confession: I Throw Away My Husband's Dirty Socks

Theresa from Rock On Mommies launched Pet Peeve Monday today and I'm in love with her idea! Getting out the negative rants early in the week so you can focus on the lovely stuff; it's a great concept. So I racked my brain thinking of all the things that annoy me in this world. There are thousands, not the least of which are teenagers (yup, just teenagers in general, that's how I know I'm getting old at 32), or people who don't smile or say hi back to Otto when we're at the store or park (effing jerks), but my biggest pet peeve, the one that takes the cake, is finding dirty socks strewn loosey-goosey around my home! The perp: my darling dearest husband of 13 years, who, for reasons I can't really explain right now, I'm going to refer to as "Pepper".

I could go on and on about the years of begging, pleading, writing sternly worded notes on paper, writing sternly worded notes in sharpie on the socks themselves, holding socks for ransom, freaking out, and even crying that I have sadly waded through trying to convince Pepper that it is rude, dirty, inconsiderate, and just disgusting (and actually makes him a bad person) to leave his dirty socks sprinkled around the house. Nothing got through. Until the day I started throwing his socks away...

At first I didn't tell him. It just felt so good. I'd see the socks lying there and instead of picking them up and throwing them in the hamper, as I'd always done in the past (basically just giving him fresh ammo for the next time), instead, I'd pick those stupid socks up and throw them away! My heart would race; it was thrilling! And not another word was said. 

This went on for weeks. Until one day he finally noticed that he really didn't have any socks left. There were no man socks in the house.

He confronted me. I fessed. He was shocked. I was electrified! We both laughed. He couldn't believe it. I felt awesome!

That was about four years ago. I think the last time I threw one of Pepper's socks away was last week. That's right, he didn't stop. Buuuuut, he's definitely toned it down. And I still get a thrill throwing his socks away. I love it! I know it's totally wasteful and stupid, but it's our balance and it makes me happy. I used to be sour and unhappy every time I saw one of those things in my home. Now I get a huge smile on my face! It means I get to be devilish! So I guess I turned my justifiable peeve into a creepy fetish but who cares, haha.

Peeve vented. Thanks Theresa! And shout out to @EricaZHR another Pet Peeve Monday supporter!

So what are your pet peeves? And how do you deal with them?

-Lindsey

CLOSED - This Ain't Your Mama's Review & It's Not Your Mother's Giveaway! Fonzie!

Not Your Mother's - Styling Products...

Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray - 2 Reviews:

We were sent 2 bottles of Not Your Mother's "Beach Babe" Texturizing Sea Salt Spray to review and this worked out perfectly because I was headed to the San Diego beaches to visit my mama friend Annie. I brought along a bottle to try out while there & then left it with Annie so she could try it out and write her own review. I kept the 2nd bottle at home and I'm not sharing! I love it!

Note that Annie and I have completely different kinds of hair so although we both have positive reviews, it's nice to note that this spray worked well for both of our hair types.

Annie's Beach Babe Summation:

Not Your Mother's "Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray" touts itself as giving your locks an I-spent-the-morning-at-the-beach allure. Which indeed it does, as I witnessed on the waving tresses of the lovely Lindsey when she and her family were visiting us here in San Diego. I, however, have no natural wave to speak of. Also, I always wear my hair up in a bun or chignon as I have a super-strong ten month old son who LOVES to pull it! I wouldn't normally pick this product for myself for the aforementioned reasons, but it turns out it is great for me! In addition to being super straight, my hair is also super fine and slippery, and it is constantly falling out of its 'do. When I use this spray, it adds a nice texture to my hair so that when it is in its perpetual up-do it stays put--amazing! Without the spray, it falls out all day long. A real pain. "Beach Babe" has a nice limey, coconut scent that floats around your head, not overbearing, just light and tasty. In conclusion: a keeper.

My Beach Babe Experience:

I thought it would be more fun to give my review in pics. So I documented my hair stylings the other day and plus I'm getting all crazy with the photo editor lately so it gave me an excuse to go nuts on these! So here's my review:

In other words, I really love it! It smells like summertime: coconut, salt, and flowery sweet.

How to Buy It:

You can purchase the whole Not Your Mother's line of products on the DeMert Brands website HERE. 

How to Win Your Choice of 2 Not Your Mother's Products:

The Giveaway - 1 winner will get their choice of 2 styling products from the Not Your Mother's line:

- She's a Tease - volumizing hairspray

- All Eyes On Me - shape & shine hairspray

- Beach Babe - texturizing sea salt spray

- Beat The Heat - thermal styling shield spray

- Smooth Moves - frizz control hair cream

- Kinky Moves - curl defining hair cream

How to Enter:

- Mandatory First Entry - leave a comment telling me which 2 Not Your Mother's products you would choose if you won. It's that easy!

Additional Entry Opportunities:

- Follow Not Your Mother's on Twitter (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow that counts too)

- Follow @OttosMomBlogs on Twitter (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow me that counts too)

- Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this page in your tweet. In your comment below make sure to put a link to your tweet (up to 3 bonus entries per day - 1 per tweet - 30 mins apart or more please)

- Like Not Your Mother's on Facebook (2 bonus entries) (if you already like them that counts too)

- Like TidbitsParenting on Facebook (2 bonus entries) (if you already like us that counts too)

- Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow us that counts too!)

- Grab the TidbitsParenting badge (on the right) and in your comment leave a link to your badged up blog homepage (4 bonus entries) (if you've already got the badge that counts too)

Please Note:
Just remember to leave a comment for EACH entry. For example, if you follow us on Facebook since that's worth 2 bonus entries make sure you leave 2 comments for that.

Make sure that I can reach you if you win - via email or Twitter. We will contact the winner on September 1 and they will have 48 hours to claim the prize or we will choose a different winner.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on August 31st. We will use Random.org to choose a winner and will verify that the winning entrant has played by the rules so it only makes sense to be honest!

The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and the fabulous Annie's.

AND THE WINNER IS VHUBLER WITH COMMENT #41! CONGRATS! WE'LL CONTACT THE WINNER VIA EMAIL!

- Lindsey

#MummyTummy August! The Ab Ripped-ness Continues!

The Mama of Mojo is taking the #MummyTummy reigns for the month of August! Love that Mojo Mama! Click the link below to sign up!

#MummyTummy is a Twitter based ab workout club that I started last month. You get 4 dedicated #mummytummy tweets per day each one a reminder to do a set of 20 crunches, situps, or whatever ab workout you're comfortable with.

Sign up for the August #MummyTummy at The Mama of Mojo website by commenting your Twitter name on this blog post: http://www.mojomamablog.com/2010/07/mummytummy-part-deux.html

I'm all signed up already and hope to see you there too! My mantra for August "No More Muffin Top!"

ps. You can follow Mojo Mama on Twitter here and I'm on Twitter here.

-Lindsey

Stock That Durn Play Kitchen For Free! Upcycle!

Check out Otto's super-stocked play kitchen... 

We've been collecting pics from magazines and grocery/department store ads to cut out and tape into the kitchen. On the lower left we've got a nice amount of colorful pots on the shelf. On the upper shelf, some pantry staples:

Then, so Otto has something to play "with" we super-glued shut empty boxes from our own pantry.

Popcorn, soba noodles, whatever...

Look at that scandalous sink full of dirty dishes. I guess I'm leading by example, haha, because our real kitchen sink seems to look like that all the time (minus the corn).

And an added bonus to the whole "wow, it's free" thing is that it's all recyclable. If a box gets smashed or Otto wants to rip some of the paper pots down (so far he hasn't, knock on wood) well who cares. It can all go in the recycle bin and be replaced when the next annoying batch of junk mail arrives.

-Lindsey

Giveaway! Baby NasaKleen & Mama Nasaline - Breathe, Eat & Sleep Better! (Closed)

SQuiP manufactures a line of gentle, homeopathic and medically tested products that promote good health including nasal rinsing systems for adults, children, and infants. All parts of Baby NasaKleen are DEHP/phthalate, BPA and latex-free.

SQuiP provided us with a Nasaline nasal rinsing system and Baby NasaKleen nasal aspirator to review as well as one of each to give away! One of my close, wonderful mommy friends (Jennifer) agreed to do the reviews:

Jennifer's Review #1 - Nasaline Rinsing System (the adult one):

I had never used a nasal irrigator before. However, I took a quick glance at the large, colorful, and easy to understand instruction sheet, filled the Nasaline up, hummed ahhhh (which closes the back of your throat), and plunged away. Easy peasy, and it doesn't hurt a bit. The purpose of a nasal irrigator is to treat symptoms associated with allergies, sinus infections, colds, or the flu. It is a wonderful option especially if you don't like the side effects of decongestants or allergy medications, or if you are a pregnant or nursing mom and need to avoid those medications. The Nasaline also comes with 10 pre-measured packets of pure powdered salt to mix the optimal saline solution. This is important because a saline solution that is either too strong or too diluted can aggravate nasal congestion by causing the nasal membranes to swell. It probably takes a wee bit of practice to use the Nasaline perfectly. I experienced a little salty drip at the back of my throat, and some dripping from my nose afterwards. This is probably because I didn't take the time to make sure I blew my nose and tilted my head to get all the solution out. Overall though, I highly recommend the Nasaline.

Jennifer's Review #2 - Nasaline Baby NasaKleen

When we took Milo home from the hospital, we were prepared with one of the standard items every new parent purchases (or is given) -- the bulb syringe aspirator. What a terrible invention. It doesn't work worth a hill of beans and only leads to frustration and tears for all. Of course, there is no need for nasal aspiration except for when your baby is congested and feeling yucky -- which serves to exacerbate the frustration/tears scenario. Fortunately, when he was only a few months old, I found out about "snotsucker" devices. Baby Nasaline is a "snotsnucker" type of device. Snotsuckers consist of a nozzle, a plastic chamber with a hygiene filter, a tube and mouthpiece. You gently put the nozzle against your baby's nostril and, you guessed it, suck out the boogers. It is helpful if you don't really think about what you are doing and just trust the instrument. Which is fine, because then you can look at your baby and make sure he is doing okay while you entirely control the suction process, instead of pinning him down while trying to work that dumb bulb syringe. (Note: you may still need to pin them down, but eventually most babies realize that they feel much better after the snot has been sucked out -- unlike the useless hateful bulb syringe.)

I like the Baby NasaKleen because it has a soft silicone nozzle which would feel comfortable to a baby's nose (some snotsuckers have a hard plastic nozzle). The Baby NasaKleen also comes with a generous supply of replacement filters, well written and illustrated instructions, and a storage case. (Although, in my experience, because there is only one baby using the aspirator, a filter can be reused after being washed in very hot water and left to air dry.) Honestly, it will be quite a few years before your child will learn to blow his or her nose effectively, and until then, he or she deserves a snotsucker instead of a bulb syringe (did I mention that I think bulb syringes are a piece of crap?).

Can't Wait to Aspirate? You can buy SQuiP products online here.

Wanna Try to Win The Set? Read On...

Entry is easy! There is no mandatory entry but there are multiple opportunities to enter! Please remember to leave a comment for each entry to increase your chances.

* Comment your thoughts about nasal irrigation. Have you done it before? Does the idea make you nervous? Whatever it is, I'd love to know. And if you have questions, put them in your comment and I'll reply as best I can.

* Follow @squipUS on Twitter and comment, make sure to include your Twitter name.
 
* Tweet the following and then provide a link to your tweet. You can do this up to 3 times a day!
 
 Down with sinus congestion! I want to WIN Nasaline & Baby NasaKleen systems from @squipUS and @OttosMomBlogs http://ow.ly/2b80H #GiVeAwaY !  
 
* Visit the SQuiP website and tell me what other products you'd like to try or anything else interesting you find there.

Make sure we can reach you by including your email or Twitter name.

Giveaway ends 11:59pm Pacific Time on August 15. We will use Random.org to choose a winner.

Many thanks to SQuiP for contacting us to do this review/giveaway! We were not otherwise compensated. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and the lovely Jennifer's.

-Lindsey and Jennifer

Congrats to the winner of this giveaway Kim@ChubbyCheeksThinks with comment #48. I'll be contacting you via email and Twitter!

Good Clean Fun - Bubbles & Bath Fizzies Review and Giveaway! - CONTEST ENDED

We are very excited to have been approached by the eco-conscious guys over at Smith & Vandiver to review and host a giveaway of Good Clean Fun Dino-Bubbles and bath fizzies!

Among the features and benefits of these wholesome, cruelty-free products:

- PH balanced to be gentle and non-irritating to skin and eyes
- Sulfate-free and non-toxic

- Phalate-free certified natural fragrance
- Paraben and formaldehyde free
- No colors, synthetic fragrances or animal by-products

Check out "Mr. Cute City" (aka Elliot) posing with his Party Fizzy and Dino Fizzy for the review!

Our awesome contributor Megan volunteered to take a Party Fizzy, Dino Fizzy, and Ducky Bubbles home to try out with her 2 year old Elliot. Here's what she had to say about Bath Fizzys and Ducky Bubbles:

Bath Fizzys Review:

First off, they are really cute, the packaging is cute and fun, and they smell really good (on the strong side, but good). Even though these toys are geared for kids ages 2-10 I think the fizzys were a bit too much for my two year old and I would actually recommend them for kids over 3 years. They fizzed like crazy! Which would probably be a lot of fun for an older kid, but Elliot was overwhelmed by all the fizzing and didn't want to be in the bathtub with it. Once the fizzing stopped the toys inside appeared and that was a nice little touch. Again, though, because of the tiny size of the toy discs inside I would recommend for over 3-year-olds because littler ones (like Elliot) might be tempted to put the toy in their mouth.

Good Clean Fun Ducky Bubbles Review:The Ducky Bubbles would be appropriate for kids of any age. The packaging of all these products is fun and cute! The smell of the Ducky Bubbles is sweet but subtle. We added about 1/3 of the package to our bath and that created "optimal bubbling" (a scientific term). The bubbles were thick and fluffy.

The Giveaway - Enter to Win Dino Bubbles and 4 Bath Fizzys!Smith & Vandiver have provided 1 winner a Good Clean Fun prize pack of:

WIN THE PARTY PACK!
(1) Dino Bubbles
(1) Dino Fizz Tyrannosaurus
(2) Bath Party Fizzies!

How to Enter:

This is the last day and their website seems to be wonky so entries are easy today! Lots of ways to enter!

- Follow TidbitsParenting via Google Friend Connect (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow us that counts too!)

- Follow @OttosMomBlogs on Twitter (2 bonus entries) (if you already follow me that counts too)

- Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this page in your tweet. In your comment below make sure to put a link to your tweet (up to 3 bonus entries per day - 1 per tweet - 30 mins apart or more please)

- Like TidbitsParenting on Facebook (2 bonus entries) (if you already like us that counts too)

- Grab the TidbitsParenting badge (on the right) and in your comment leave a link to your badged up blog homepage (4 bonus entries) (if you've already got the badge that counts too)

Please Note:

Just remember to leave a comment for EACH entry. For example, if you follow us on Facebook since that's worth 2 bonus entries make sure you leave 2 comments for that.

Make sure that I can reach you if you win - via email or Twitter. We will contact the winner on August 1 and they will have 48 hours to claim the prize or we will choose a different winner.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on July 31st. We will use Random.org to choose a winner and will verify that the winning entrant has played by the rules so it only makes sense to be honest!

The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and Megan's.

- Lindsey and Megan

Stokke Tripp Trapp Highchair Giveaway! CLOSED

 
! ! ! WIN ! ! !

a Stokke TRIPP TRAPP high chair from PamperedTot.com

Gah! So excited to host this awesome giveaway from the lovely folks over at PamperedTot.com - a "mom and pop" online retailer, specializing in providing "the world's finest for your most precious". The owners of PamperedTot are parents to a couple of way cute munchkins themselves and they were extra picky when choosing furniture, bedding, feeding supplies, bath supplies, etc. for their own kids - so they set up a shop to offer the best of the best all in one spot.

Stokke TRIPP TRAPP

When Peter Opsvik started to work on the award-winning TRIPP TRAPP, his aim was for children of all sizes to be able to sit in the natural way at the family table with their elbows at table height. The TRIPP TRAPP can actually grow with your child and holds up to 300 lbs!

A research study from Cornell University even found that the TRIPP TRAPP helps improve preschool children's functioning while sitting.

Pronunciation: I found out today that "Stokke" is pronounced "stoke-uh" so there you go.

Here's a pic of my chubby cheeked urchin scarfing down sunbutter waffles and blackberries in his TRIPP TRAPP (please focus on my darling munckin and rad high chair and ignore messy table).

Soooo, we bought our TRIPP TRAPP chair when Otto was 9 months old and we did not get the "Baby Set" attachment which makes the chair perfect for baby-babies, so at 9 months Otto was a little wobbly in it at first. I think if you plan on using this highchair for a baby under 1 year of age the "Baby Set" would be highly suggested otherwise you might want to wait a few more months.

By the time Otto turned 1 he was totally comfy and stable in the TRIPP TRAPP and he loves it! We have two highchairs, an inherited "traditional" chair and then the Stokke, and we totally prefer the Stokke now that Otto is a toddler. He loves it too; especially being able to play with his feet while at the table (sigh) so we always have to make sure to wash his hands AND feet before meals.

We did purchase a supplemental "Chair Cushion" and although that isn't necessary, it does add a nice amount of cushy comfort so I'd say it's worth investing in a cushion to go along with the chair. As you can see in the pics, we got a very stylish cushion in the style "Tales Green" that fits right into our Torkelson-style mishmash of a kitchen. The cushion wipes clean super-easily and we've also machine washed it several times and it still looks like new.

I've known the owners of PamperedTot for a while now and when it came time to get Otto's high chair I was dreammmming of a TRIPP TRAPP the way that some people dream of an Aston Martin or a date with George Clooney. Well, I did not get mine for free, but it was worth every cent and I did get a discount and free shipping (PamperedTot gives free shipping on all orders over $100 delivered in the US).

The Giveaway:

PamperedTot will send one lucky winner their own Stokke TRIPP TRAPP classic collection high chair! Please note that this giveaway is available for residents of the US or Canada only who are 18 years of age or older.

So Easy - Mandatory First Entry:

Kindly note that before you can do any additional entries, you MUST complete this step:

Visit PamperedTot.com, take a look around, then come back here and comment below on another item that you would love to call your own from their selection of fine baby gear, furniture, bedding, decor, feeding, bath, and toys.

Additional Entries:

- Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this page in your tweet. In your comment below make sure to put a link to your tweet (up to 3 bonus entries per day - 1 per tweet - 30 mins apart or more please)

- Blog about this giveaway and in your comment leave a link to your blog post (4 bonus entries)

 Please Note:

Just remember to leave a comment for EACH entry. If you follow us on Facebook since that's worth 2 bonus entries make sure you leave 2 comments for that.

Make sure that I can reach you if you win - via email or Twitter. We will contact the winner on July 2 and they will have 48 hours to claim the prize or we will choose a different winner.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on July 5th. We will use Random.org to choose a winner and will verify that the winning entrant has played by the rules so it only makes sense to be honest!

The opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

Many thanks to PamperedTot for providing giveaway prize!

-Lindsey

The Mini-Time Machine (A Tucson Review)

If you live in Tucson, maybe you've heard about the Mini-Time Machine Museum of Miniatures. My husband and I, with our 2 year old son in tow, decided to check it out a few weeks ago. After all, a place that describes itself as, "a miniature time machine, by which the visitor sets off on a self-guided tour through different lands and times both real and imagined" is hard to resist, no?

After paying the $14 entry fee for both me and my husband ($7 each), we were off to the first of three rooms which was called, The Enchanted Realm. This room was pretty impressive; dimly lit with sparkly, magical lights and a gigantic fabricated tree right in the middle of the room. The tree was by far the best feature of the entire museum. It was built for little tykes to crawl around on and is spotted with tiny viewing windows wherein you can spy on a little mouse family that lives inside. Behind each window is a quaintly decorated room where little fake mice are going about their business, so cute.

Our son Elliot immediately zoned in on this darkened hole where a little holographic fairy lived. She would hover in the darkness for 30 seconds or so and then disappear, on to return about 2 minutes later. We must've stodd there for twenty five minutes just watching and waiting for the fairy to appear and disappear.

In the meantime my husband and I took turns examining the rest of the rooms, as Elliot count not be torn away from the Enchanted Realm. The museum definitely has an interesting collection of intricately and charmingly decorated little houses. After closely examining 5 or 6 of them however, I was bored.

Elliot didn't want to see anything but the tree and the fairy and all-in-all our visit lasted about 30 minutes, not quite worth the $14 to get in.

Not to mention that by that time I was nauseated by the amount of old lady perfume that was permeating every room of that place. Seriously, old ladies galore.

Highlight: Magical tree with mice and fairy

Planning a return trip: No

Appeal: Unless you're an 80 year old woman, pretty minimal

Overall rating: YYY (3 out of 6 hearts)

-Megan

Different Doughs - some recipes for you to try

We have been branching out lately with the play dough, so that besides making the awesome home made play dough we typically make - we are making some bizarre and wonderful stuff.

I think our favorite, by far, is the flubber. Unfortunately, I don't have the best pics at the moment, but we highly recommend trying this. It is surprising. We can play for a solid 3 hours straight with this stuff, so it is worth the expense in glue. It also lasts for at least 2 weeks if air tight.
Here is the recipe we like:
Flubber Recipe

Another new favorite is called Sand Dough. There are 2 variations, and currently we have only tried one...but look forward to the other one soon.
This sand dough recipe is really just like homemade playdough with sand in it. Dirty Dough, I suppose. I think one cool thing about it is that we can drop it on the ground, and it doesn't really get dirty, does it?
When molded it is smooth and when broken apart it has that neat wet sand texture.


This one is:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
several drops veg oil
mix that together first and then add sand until it is what you want (1/2 to 3/4 cups).
I think we did 3/4 cups from our sand box.

The other recipe, which we have not tried yet, is:
2 cups sand
1 cup corn starch
1 cup water
1 tsp cream of tartar

mix it together and cook it over low heat until it is difficult to stir, let cool and play!

Fun stuff. I will post more recipes as we find them

Kate